Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar (Comprehensive Grammars)

Routledge Grammars 13- d Cq&rnpir G-ir 4m m p h&na to camhacar spdren by narlve y & r s in Hang Kong.

guide

It pl~40nm a trmh a~nd xceasiblc dcxriprion ot th languag, conccntr~tingun & red patterns o f uw in currcnt Cdnmcu. Thi m a k it rhc i d d &rcncc mum for all learners and usem nf Canmnesc. irr~5pccti1rdlrrrl.in schmk.. col+, univenitie< and adlilt c l a w s of all qw. Monwcr, it will p i & a lasting and rcliablc resource For all fluenr .+IS of the hnguag.

The b m k is organid tu pmmotc a thorough undcntanding OF Cantonerr grammr. Art+ by hth syntarric c a q o ~ & and languagefuncricms, rhc G ~ ~ ~ ~ w r p m v ani indtpth dm rreacmenr of structw and p l a special sttmrion tu idiom and speed1 re*& Eqipbnacions are full. c l w and free uFiarpon.

-

& cxwmm &. 'wa d -r&r ~ dldll-. ~ I I A ~ C -d& V~I.~OU

Mmi

je g w ! pkase let past -Emme me (please let me pH).

we

I n Ioih Mi a d Idm 17.5 the particle denotes turning one%m m m a t i o n or rhotwghts to m e t h l n g wlricli hns k t 1 wl ul 1 1 1 +ulc: ~ run a dlilt: (13. En$& bnng up a ropic): E i h mh6u pi OI ni gihn dh. don3 again bring up this CL matter 'Don-t mention this matter again.'

ym

Ngdh @n ddu nn bin gyu jauh tam mi bn. I see V-FRT this CL honk then think V-PRT you 'Ithink of you whenwer I rn this bonk.' I n modal m t r u c t i o m daR LW may have hmeaning 'can afford to. (see 12.3.1):

(b)'over again': ~ g a ~ c ky~on yauh taun n o i h l j m h we need fmm head hegin do 'We have to start again frwn the beginning.'

Note that the above usages of p do not occur in the m n t i a l construetions with ddklMi because t k combination (&) dfiklriJr gum has an

fii may mean "tipwards' in n fiyrative aem, as in Edi

More idiomatically,@n may be used refle~iuelyb dcnulc quisition or retention of an ilem 'for m l f :

Nfl g

215

pwo. over

Gam do chin ng6hdeih sii-hh6nr dsk h5 sin? much money we 1a.e-not-lose can a f l d PRT Qn we afford to 1me ?umuch money?

w

. .'

ladi 'away' is used with both intransitive and transitive d:

E i h mh&i W n g yw don't walk -Don't walk away yet.'

I d

jyuh.

away yet

yiht &. (news) more many 'Che numher of pewple i n f m d with AIDS is on IIM I n mZ . '

KGhdeih m s h g Eih h6i Heunwng. they not-wish learn may Hongkong They donT want to leave Honfiong behind:

yahp 'in' occars with verbs denoting aquishion:

N m :It& a h seneg 85 a marker of M i h i d aspea (11.2.7). lnkk 'clown' is used as a prticle primarily in the potentiat mstructions with cbk (12.3.1) and &R (123.3): Gam d6 yih dim &I d&k lohk a? so m n y t h i i hmu place able down PRT 'How can we fil so many mmgs in?'

Keuih ksp yahp h&i d6 duhk k. h a t h e in =ry much poison gas 'She ha5 inhaled a 1m of p c h r m gas.' ~

Gam yiht, ng6h ~i h h lohk yeh. hnf 1 PA^ nnt dnvim thmgs 'I can't eat when it3 so hot.'

1132 RESULTATIVE PARTICLES

lokk-lwi, which as B directional verb means 'go d m ' (8.321, has the meaning 'continue' in the verb pnkk psition:

mdak

Ng6hdeih giin@

s i M lohk-1Rui

mr

Ime m t i n u e nothkay PRT

ge.

Yhrrcompsny can't atford to Eonllnue m n g money like this.' Similarly, wuht@~h wwld mean ' m e up' as a directionalverbverh, but hFi&lmg-ldilt as a verbal complement means 'begin' (Mandarin qilcfii: Keuih h dahtylhn ghn dhe very sudden so 'She mddenly &st4 crying.'

haam E~lmg-181h. my rise-up-cme

mdaih as awrlml partbcle meam "closed' or tOpthd, relatingto i t s use as a directional verb (83.2) rather than as a quantifyingpartide (I1 -3.3): Lkih fi d i h nghhn jauh pi c l m V-PRT eye then 'Clmyour eyvs and it won't hun.'

i ~ htring ge Iak. not hurt PRT PRT

Ng6h jDngyi t&ng lth Mi mhah yBWhh1. (film) I like mth ywu be V-PRT together 'I warn to be with mi.'

d u h g 'up' is -ionally

used as a prticle, for example to contrast with

Iokk 'down?

b m u M

yshn

chaao h h n g chaau ~ohk. people spcculae up specufate &nm "The sham prim are mnved up and down by speculators.'

CL share by

Ng6hdeih d i h yahp h&i d6 wthnggarn. buy in very m r yellow ~ gold 'We bought up a lot of gold.'

w

she

w

@m *ung company such way

o d from Mandarin such as ngoidulxng 'fall in love' and ylylm-duhq 'get infected Ylm4uhng n p i - j i behng ge flhn yiht l&h infed-up AIDS d'lselse LP people more ~ o m e d u b also appears in a few verbs b

These pa* me usad rnetherwhh a transitivewrh to i n d i e an effect on the ohjm. anrl they fwm rompourds dsh the. verb. Many d t h m exist idqendently as verbs w adjecrrues: some, kwver, such as h k with the mning'hish', do mlo a m independently. They may also be u dinp a w fwm. wljecltn thegeneral mltArtinmnnLhe u%crfIk -.(1(.4,1(.4.2). Bdau 'full up" m l l y apple m earing. hn a h figuratively to other &ties:

sihk bdim I6aih h. haby eat frill milk PR1 gihbi

'7he baby's had enough milk.' U i h tsi Mm dihndh mi? yru watch frdl television not-yet 'Have you seen cnwgh television?'

cho as B particle means 'wtongly' or 'by mistake', as in dfi clm iffinwd'dl the wrcmg number' and ping clm y d h %israke mnw0ne.s identity': Dcrkjyuh. n& 91% clw yihn swry I u.mng, person 5orqf,I rnistmk you for someone else.

v

Ngbhdeih tauhsin

h&Phng &o kwh. walk wrong r d 'We wem rhe wrong way jrM now.'

we

just-

hauhfui lkj6 Yih. regret know m g - P F V you 7 regm thar 1ever m d e the mistake of knowing you.'

Nfl I

P I 8 Cantcnese:a canprehem grarrrnar dihm 'decisively' denotes an activity reachinga wndusion. as in gdou &hm 'settle. deal with', g&g dihn W l e a matter (bytalk~ng)': E i h Ym

dihm

meih

a?

(TVad.)

Ng6h sihk gihk dCm h h Eih ge. I eat at m r d alsu r i d fal PRT 'Idon't get fat even though I eat a lot.'

thmk settle mt-yel PRT c : v e you made up y w r mind yet:j'

Ng6hdeih h h n g go king h h d h . we hvo CL chat not ~ t t k ' T k rwo of us can't m e to an agrrement.'

I n a fixed expression, [vwb] gihk F ~ I i - I m hmeans there i s a limit t~ the action or state denoted by the verb. #uh-hahn. E i h yiu jihg6i Wuih Wng gihk d l Iklr at r r m x t have-lirnir y mcd xlf

d i m 're;ldf denotes an &on done in advance or in preparation:

Eih juhng yiu ~ Q I dlhern leuihhbhng. you still need p ~ c k ready th~ngs go travel 'You m11have m get things ready fm the trip.'

*

Gang fi. jlh@ med hear child now

Ng6h jaohlbih yiu

mw3zdh dRmg

I

huy

Sam

soon

dung brtahnfaat think sdrnion WS only w much that she can do to help. You'd berter think of a solurion yourself.'

ready

LCih gc hrmuht, n w h ji gihk #oh hnhn. your LF s m t I knrpw at most have-limit 'As much as I know about your secrets. there's still a lot that I don%

sin.

clothes fid 'I'm having a child soon so r m buying clothes in ptqmration.' diru is an imponant particle indicatingaccomplishment or ~~l plerion of an d m :

know.' corn-

N@h n-m-n@am tmk d6n hah ySt hSan gEi. I justjust mnn& V-PRT next one CL plane 'I only just cariht the next Right.' Ng6h&ih we

nSdouh Sin MI 66o daaihlrihk tbih. here raeive not V-PRT mainland channel + W emn't r c d w thc mairrhnd [tclmisionl munncls h m . '

m.

ddu is also used to form vwts of perception, such as MI dbu We' 1.3). I t &mild be distinguished fmm dou denoting arnvd as in heui d m or Iriih dou 'arsive':

(21dim

Sam Fhahn SB a? fly a m v e &n Fmndsm PRT 'What time dn we arrie in Sari Frannsco?'

tEi d m

b w time

M u ' h i c h ' r s f e ~ sm the mmplerion of m ectionr U u i h ge

leohnmihn

meih

d

clause with

h6u.

n o t - ~ t write up 'He h m ' t finished his thffis yet.'

sIhe

LP t

b

Jyri I& Faalm meih a? cook finsh T 4 m t - ~ tPRT 'Haw you finished cooking?' J # U I ~ -remain'

as a particleind~mtesthe result 'left over':

Wmyaht s i i j i h g h6u d@ sung. yeslerday eat remain very much food ' Y ~ w r r l a ythere was a Int nlfwd left over.' png ng6h @t p. die remain me one CL -NowI'm the m l y one left alive.'

now

Ng6h @m jiu h&i j b b t%Z ni, a m J6n dm. I this morning vmy early get-up so early a r r w 'Ipt up early this morning so Irrriued early ' takes a &ve

Adjectim can also aDcur togelher wirh this prtide (9.1.3)

Wh@

Note chih dou 'he late' a n d m dou *beearly':

gihk 'had. at m,to the l i m M *tally W u %ilk

giik diju rhh mihng lPih @g mat. I th~nk hard also mt unde~stand p u my what 'However hard I try. Igill can> understandwhat you're sayng.'

Ng6h Um

IaaIm 'brnken':

hbnil~ WI~-jb la. shoes w a r hroken-PFV PRT 'These shws are worn out.' &u4

pdr

Jek g h nghmh h h n - j 6 douh d h n . CL dng ht hken-PRP CL door 'The door i s broken as a rermlt of the dog's biting a+' mlhng ' c b r , u n c k m l M goes with peroeption verb and verbs of tRih t a g

mlhng *§+ah listen undersmod Sir giai Wi ng6h Rng. explain to me hear you

'After you'ue listened and und&

g6ng mat @nub pi what lhen again

say

what the teffher io saying, -Id

mihng &-+%fin jnuh jikltHak gpeak clear marry-PW then i m d i

Ng6hckih g h g

y i h d h n ge. emigmte pRT 'We've said very cle*

that after we get married

ae emigrate

immediately.'

wuihn 'full' indicatethe state of being mkd to q m i t y : Mgd yahp mdhn Wurh r. please m t e s Full it PRT Till it up, please.' (lilling fuel tank) Ga che ch& mOhn smi. CL car sit full all T h e car i s f dl.' dhng denotff m x a s f u l mxmplishment (md s o 10.1.2,173.7):

GiingM Eih, j i i n m g i t d h n g f i n la! camgramlate you finally mamy-ed PRT 'Congratularionsl You finally managed to get marrkd.'

KPuihdoi

g&

PBnjnng jmh

@g

Behng

daan m g y i .

few mnutes then talk succeed CL business 'Thcymanugc to *kc e (business) dcol in a Fm minutrr' 1%

fi 'to death' is much used hypdalical?y: Ng6h Ei Fib glk I

by you annoy &ad

'You're driving me crazy!' dl go HhM h! ( n o r e x h w w d ~ ~ e e 4 ~ 1 2 ) hunpy die CL baby PRT .-The by% sawing.'

Ngoh

You ll wear nut ymr eyes that way.'

GBm yhmg w6ih gaau waalh mi di hohksaang ga. this way will teach bad all CL students PRT nK students will be taught an the wrong l m s thii way.' wdRn Y h m g b l f may he used in a ooncessive m s e to*

you explain it to me then?'

w

LPi g&m y€ung d h ELfl waalh devi ngdalm ga. , wch way will l w k bad pair eye PRT

with ddrr:

N@ win

wihn cbu mh gin E u i h . I seek m g h a h n u see him 'lhc b k e d cverywbm and J still can't find him.'

m n may also serve to quaqtify the qbjed I$the &, in t h s fundip it m M e s s u u i (113.3), with wl~ichit may m b i n e : (saai) AujSu Ng6hdeih ysI go yuM b h heni G h n wc m c CL mmtk within go r b u g h (all) Lurqx gzrm do (go) gwwm m y (CL) ccmmtries 'We travelled thrrrugh all the mntries in Ellrope in one month.' fib 'finish, to the c d in addition to denoting m p l e t i m , also gerves to i m l i t e tmnpmil m l a t h s l i i p ~mm c h m (lh.?..I): Lkii gaa-flhwyij meii a? yvu teach-finish-book not-yel etT 'Have you finished mhing?'

Mi yuhng flhn

yw

@

dihnchih Eyih wuhn

finish C L M e r y can chaw When p ' v e used up the battery you can change it.' use

ge.

PRT

Mo?l of the above wrbmrtide o w n t i d o n s mav l x used m tbe modal @ng&h d6u 'can't (patential) wnstnmiom i i t h rid! and dak (12.3). M,keui &k d h g 'manage to go': @ m - d a h n hDul dSk &ng. gwss tonigm not rmcceed 'I think we'll manage im tton~ght.'

Ng4h g6

go

wieuhng r h hh1i h61 h h s + h ~ M time hotd-meering M d not succeed 'Laatime we wem'i able to hold the meeting.'

N-h we

in the porrmial fonm thus dtitappears in gsn ddc chir 'manage to arrive on time* and g6n tfih ckrr 'hi1 to arrive on time' but the combinationg6n d& alone daes not m r . Certain addMona1 parride6 are used exh&wZy

t?~uhfaal ehng go kng saat. hair whde CL pretty d l 'She looks really nice now she's l a her hair grow long.' W h lhuhj6

113-3 QUANllFYlffi PARTICLES

The pwricles snoi and m h i h behave q m t x t m l l y like other v&l part i c k . but ka distinct quantifying funernon. ffm has a syntrm of I&own which is different from smi and mcimh. They are all peculiar to Cantonese. having no dl& oounlrrpartb In Mandmin.h The l o m l pop?niesof stsri are d ~ m & in Lee (1987). sum 'an. complelely' has m its p n m q furrction to quantify either the sub@ of an antransitwe or the object ofa Wanative verb:

(b) to ememphasize a vwb&jm idiom:

p gehn janhaih IHh-saaCp6u. that CL pffson m l l y leaveall-score That m i s mmplelrly off-the-wall (outrageous).(;i,

go-go q&u+asi-thh C L X L scratd-ml-head

N-h

Di yjhm

j5u

saai.

leave all 'Everyone's left.' CL

Nmdeih dhk mzi di dianggu6. we eat all CL fruit "We've eaten up all the h i t . '

'In a transitive sentence with a plural subiecf. m i may refer either ro the ot@ or m the subject. or to both once: KZuihdrih hcui-gwo suui Auj8u. they go-EXP an Europe W v e k n everywhere in Eumpe.' OF Thcy"VC 911 h C I l hr~pc.' or 'Tbq'ye all been everywhere in Europe.'

HFungg6ng a? w a d . ) H o n ~ k o n t PRT 'If e v w o n e leaves, who will take care of Hongkmg?' @an vifln

di

CL

h&tal

CL

ni

jek

llih-fan.

bihbi c h * h n h h h b y whole-lot

hahnfw. v-PRT means We've all k e n scratching our heads and we g t i i ain't see a solution.' chi

Ng6hdcih ylh* gau mai Hhng we now emugh all poor 'Nmv we're reaRy broke!'

saai. h-ngo Eih Y O h g d gvgo &I jfiu if CL-CL all leave all whu cat^

this

ddu l h hh still think not

Idwmp ~ saai (Rau 'enough*) emphzsizes an adjective:

In its quantifying function m i may combine wth other quantifiers such as &u and rftyhJInbuk (14.1.11:

Ni

chhhng

gmw-PFV long

d

ydm

sad

this CL m~lk-fxswder 'All the h b i R this h p i t a l drink this brand of milk powder.' m i may also be used adverbially, with an emphatic rather than quantifying fumchon: (a1 with an adjec2ive. d e d n g a change of sate: U l h dl-hsh. p a n f h g wjehng saai la I d - D E L CL mom clean all PRT z k , the mom's all nice and clean (ww)..

PRT

mt 8ooi @is an idiom used only with sm'( w k - p kdws not exist) meaning to ae owmmched or fradcally Grsy: Ng6h yst go @hn Wfaahn b8i ?ahp I me CL pxwn mk-fwd fm go flhn silk. jSnhaih tek gaai geuk In. CL person eat really kick all feel PRT 'hwrvkilg t u (ell puplle

drink all

la!

UII IIIY UWII,

vle~lllyd l d d 4 . '

Nute that the meaning dd-teidiomsthe m i t e of the English kirk one's feet m i n p to be idle or have nothing to do. mddh 'in addition' or -along' has a similar syntax to mi,modiFying the d an intramitivc nr thc W c t of o transitkc wh:

suwt

FnRIIm'liVO

Ilhn Bill dm liih d h . ewn Bill also come V-PRT 'Even Bill mme along.'

h

$11n wu, H l y b l ~l&li wd.11 lrl&nil~ Ii. people PRT rather you play V-PRT PRT. 'There aren't enough people, wby donY you join us?' pu

mt enough

mdaih has two other distinct uses:

Tmrrsirtvc

Ngdh hi m h i fahn bwjl heui Mi. I take V-PRT Q mwpper go red

Cia N h n

&i+n ng*. awwckPROG ahore The ship is appmaching Ihe shm.'

'I'm taking along a nnwpaper to read.'

U i h dsllg &ih you wait aka

CL drip

n@h l3! me PRT

Uii ddh-jh

'Wait for me m!'

cnmplcfinn:

Ktuih Jouh m&pth g&n nhn jauh jfiu gc lak. slhe work V-PRT thk y m then leave PRT PR'I 'She's going to work for the rest of rlns year and rhen leave.'

YPhgw6 n&~h d a m if not-have also

ni

go

gEiwuih, ng6h

thin ~9.cnam

I

jauh cllsarn la. then deqmate PRT 'If I lme this hsr cham 1'11 be in troukk.'

The meaning of aummuMon i s seen in the phrases p mrioih and Wn Mfi'includim~':

m h i h ga

blly

@m

go

this

CL month's salary

yuhtge

yihngiing, jauh gau then enough

cht.

a, r f l

-Includingthis month's salary. it11he emu* tn buy a utr: hl ga CE Iih rnsaih seui yiu m h p maahn. t k CL car indude ako tra: need eighty fen-thollsand 'This car $800.OW imluding tax.'

Fli tiis

gEi

nhn ng6h few yews 1

Qm ihh gau

a? (atAstaur8mletc) I'RT

dlian m h

clwcPW bin not-@ 'Have you paid the bill?'

you

In its quantifyingfunction m h i h denMes exparsion of a domain to indude the last of a series of items or to bring certain ongoing actions to

G i &I add also

(a) as a directional &, meaning 'approach' ~a +close7(8.33:

&aha earn

chin &I bi V-PRT CL money

ylhmhhn, sill nor enough emigrak 'The marey I've k e n saving up lttmz few years is still nor enough to emigrate.'

L3i mh6u mblb Isrh a. (see8.3.2) yru don't &se come PRT *Don't get ~ d o s e r . '

(b) m a asulltwive pwtide waning 'dm' or 'together' (m11.3.2). h thh m&ih 'can't say for sure' only exists in the form where the m i n g of mtkdk is difirrnt from & usual

rdiom: m ne-

meanings: w h ihh miaih ge,

Saisih

ge y41

-Id-matter

LP thing say

red sure

m6uh

PRT no

Jahn @ iingyaht wi%h dhn. person know twnormw wll how 'One can't say for sure abDut things i n the world; no one knows what's @g oing h a w tomorrowrrOW'

Both smi and mhh may m r follming a diredim1 or r e s u b h e pnide (113.1.11.3.2): Pin dhnjeung s4 h6u U M e write up The art#& is all written up.'

~ a la. i

Ng6hdeih h l Ean d a l h w arc h c k also 'We're badc logcther again.'

yWh8ih. togcthcr

all

mdd~ and m i may also oocur ic@her

Yhhgub k h i h it" dhe gau

PRT

(in this order):

di

pshngyiuh hi

CL

friend

m W i 4.jauh

come along

-iyimlaaun. enough a l l lively 'If her frimds all come along, it'll be nice and lively.'

all

then

&X and I verbal ~E*licles227

113.4

a mm m q be used with a pelmti= meaning, implying that someone does eveqt111ng (swi) even including [ m e ) the outrag~ousor e x m v e :

Idiom: the combination [ve~b]m

1

KPuih d h mhaL sssi g6 d i gaakyeh sung, dhe eat V-PRT all that CL l e f b e r fd

Ihh gwaaldak m h h

ylhngyhhng. surprising wt-have n ~ h i l i 0 ~ "She rneats all the leftover W,no wonder she's in bad shape."

M h sfudm, m b lhhng than. yw d l don't cold V-PRT a wid.' 'Be caret31 nor ta

D i sailoulq%i @wh h ism- di faahnfmt ge *h.

CL drildren do

also

all

C L illegal

Similarly:

LP thing

T h e r h ~ l k pi n up Inall mta of illegal thing.'

ngoh chsn 'go hunm' dung than @ dddd' pfik chsn Trip up'

D c l w thc usc d m1 i s d i s e u . . IImvcwx, noZc that thc pmitiom it m r s in ate very dierent from thme d the particles s w i and m i d ; in p h m l a r , it m n o t occur immediatelyafter a verb. SyntaUblly Fm h

With manative

h h n g yiu fim faahn sill need add rim ' Y w need mwe rice?'

'Dont frighten her.'

Ngdh f i u h - m h

I

ah?

Ng& I

w6n tCmg Gm an jjsu. 1 dknk une buwl S U U ~ V-PRT then 1'Let me eat a bowl of soup and then leave.' iii

pl

can a h functinn a?;a mtcnEe wide in aentenwfinrrl IWQjtim SW

chapter 18.

jek

duji

Mi douh

mDhn gihp chsn.

CL finger by CL h lam V-PRT 'My finger got nipped by the door.' Mi man nghuh chsn. I by mmquito hike V-PRT 7he been btten by E mosquito '

N@b

W s i k y8t

Ng6h y6m

chAai chsn 16h a' havenocham r r d V-PRT you PRT 'Did I tread on you'!' 1

chiin naturally wcurs in &%e mnshudons, emphasizing the efCen nf the action on the subject:

PRT

jahn tim joi hhahng. m e moment V-PRT again walk ~ ea blt ~ m t m for a while and walk agmn.'

me adremhve m m n g ot chm a p p l e to W e n (animate djecr) rather than a [hang.

Mh6u hmk &an ktuih wo. don't ware V-PRT her PRT

When functioning as a quantifying element, hkl h8s a m l a t d meaning, "-. The positmn where lim can mar i s very rpstrkted: i t only mcws after a complement phrase (mually with a quuntifter or n u m r ) -

rest 'Let's

V&E.

obpct. h c h must st a a

not hehave as a verb prticle, huwcm, it tbx. serve mquantifying function. has the meaning 'add' as a d Tim ding faat chhih! (greetingwed d C h i m N e w Year) aW male make mmmey 'Haw a son and make more money.'

ADVERSAllVEWHPJAL GM-RI

The verbal particle chan i s pculiar m Cantonese. It has two distinct meanings: the adversative meaning'to one's d s a d v a n t a g d m ~ n eand ' the hahima1meaning 'whenevererer Thr byntan uimlv&ivc u h m m b k Illat dmti a ~ &iIs d ill Illat il mod& either the subject of an intramilk u the object ofa tramitiue wrb. With inhansinw verb, the disadvantage is m the subjxt:

1

Itisalsoltsed dexivelywifh lmdypam:

than go t h h bump V-PRT CL head h4m

-bump one's head'

chin rarely m m n e s wan q x c t maficrrs or mner vemd parDcles. The perfective jd. for example. i s redundant. as &II already mmep the notion of result:

12 MODALITY: POSSIBILITY AND PROBABILITY

Mi haak M n tib) khih. you scare V-PRT (PFV) her 'Ywscared her.'

Adisrinct u s e o f c f i n is in habitualcontexh, with themeaning'whenever'. This diffm fmm habilual Mi (11.2.7) in that it oonirs only in the first of twommecutivpl clause% jauh maak d m Go bihbi siu go h5u dSn C L baby laugh v-W'C ~9.m r h rhen open rill

The nohm of modalii i d d R ~ i b i l i r y ahbili , and r e W conwpE. M o d a l i k expresed in Cantonese mt only by d a l verbs [IZl) and adverbs (12.2). as In English, but also, often more idioansrically. by a number dsptacticmnstructiom (123). TherPl is m subjum3ive mood or anything comprable in Cantonese. Imperarim. wh~chare h m e s begted as a fcim of mndalily, are d i d in chapter 19.

w

Every time the baby Inu&s, his m w t h opem wide.'

121 MODAL VERBS

K h i h hhu-rllm-sih c h i 16 jeui g 6 ~ ffin ge. she rake V-PRTexam all FL mlal ~ r ~ a r kPRT "ever she takes an exam she gets the highesl marks.'

Ktuii g h g f h M h n ~ 4&%I

mh tlhng da7r ge. wyV-PRTphme all no€ stop able PRT 'Eyery time he talks on the phone, he can't stop.' dhe

tllr: firm c l a w i s marhod by qhc quaNUPClhal Illr:puilidc d m (14.1.1) in the second. I t may also oocur reinforcing&-chi and m a chi n'ever':

K h i h &ISM

dClu

aai4Em-@m

she time-lime aqueV-PRT a l l 'Whenever she argues, she has to win.'

N g W h Aih

lsfh

n

ehng ge.

must w n

PRT

w6ih WilUwmlG h6ylh 'can, may' Sik, 'know how' lbhnggau 'be able+

&u

*h.

LP thing Whenever we m e , we cat the same thing.'

sihk ystyeuhng

eat

0-me

yTn@ shwld. ought to' yu,e d y i u 'want, need' m a , mxuiyiu h o need' dung 'wash'

-

As d a l verbs these mllst cwccur with an!verb. although of them (&. (--)ym, mwffil may also be u x d alone as main verb. These rwdah -ally precede the main verb:

Ng6h ylh@ yiu

hm-wui. need hold-meeting T have to attend a meeting now.' I

every time come V-PRT all

we

P

chi

yiu

A- in FnpJich, rhmf i e a m a l l rlaw nf mnrlal vertrp, nr uuxiliarks which behave differently fmm ordinary verbs. The main mcdal wrbs are:

now

They may k separated from the verb by an adverb:

DT

@khsak wbhn. immediately return 'We shwld m r n those books immediately.' s*

yine

CL bwks shDuld

Colloquially. modal verbs are often heard attached at the end ofa clause as such modal%men come after the an 'afterthorn (4.131. Note senparticle:

Hb

fmi jnuh flhn ga la. y w . very fast do finish PRT PRT shwld "We should be finished very soon.'

Modal8 maybe used in w impersonal sew, without a subject:

gukdak mh yim& lyuhn gam di chh. feel not should random so spend -money feel one shouldn't go around qmding money wlldly

N$h

I

'r

MsSi

k w e u n g g. nuneed so e x a p t e PKI "There's m need to exaegerate so.'

gmn

Modal vertn may hbe classified d i n g to the m d l n d o m II-WY +note. such as passibility. n-lty and obligatim. 121.1 ~ I B I L T T AND Y PERMISSlOhl

wriih has a complex set of meanimp relatingto possibfliv or pmbablity. Although mmt d m l y glmed as 'will' or 'vould.' it sh~uldrwtbe fhmght of as a future terse x such. F~raly,reference to the future i s made largely by advelts /10.3.3) and d m not q u z w 6 . Momover, the verb tdih itgelf has a n v b e r of ~ l a t e dTuncrlvns. of which predinrng the future 1s only one: {a) futurity or pdiction: Ng6h wdih M u p - j y u h Eih ge. 1 mll wy ~~s-COW you PRT 'I'm fling m miss you a lor '

(b) mditional (we a l w 16 3). N@h h h wfiih g8m @ng ge I not would thw say PRT 4 w l d n ' t put it Ilke that.'

Myfh means 'can' w miin the of something being pc~ibleor p-Me. It has tm senses, a d i n g l o the distinctinn hcrween demfk and ep~slmicmodality:

I

(a) permission (deontic: ginng or requesting permisrim):

1

I

M h Myfh yuhnrjyuh ng6h ga dihnl6uh sin. yw can USC-COWT my CL m p u t e r fiKt 'Yw may use my opmputer for the time being.' Ng6h M h - h a y r h j6u jh di a? I can-not-cm early kave PRT

'Mar I kayt a bit early?' @) ~ i b i t i r y (epistemic: mfemhg to an eventuality which may m r ) :

thh h6yIh daap b8sl Mi M3hnfa Jiing%n. you can catch bus go Cullural Centre 'Yw can take a bus (to get)to the Olltunl Centre.' Jauhsyun Eii mh a, dm h6yih gU-nah. even-if you not know also san guess-DEL ' E m it y w don't know the a r m , you can have a glle.'

and p o p s l i i i may alm be e q m z e d by the potential curshuctmns w t h dak (12.3.1, 123.2), a d impsibility by the [wrb] I h - [prtklc] m m n x i n n [12,7.3). Thew allernafiw am vfm m v idiomatk than Myfk. Tlie w i v e meaning 'could have' may bc by Myfh -her with W n l i h 'originally':

N m

~~

My& ganching M fahn gimg p. apply this CL job PRT you originally can 'Yuu w l d I~uvcnpplialh t Llib juL.'

LAh

(c) willingncs3: G h dih-mh-Wih Wng ng6h would-nm-would help me Would you do me a favwfl

-

MxIMiy 231

a?

PRT

(d) habitual action or occurrence: G h wiih-mh-wCih 15m hti keuih a7 yw wnuld.not-would think up her PRT 'Do you (sometimes) think ahout her?' (e) Alternatively. wuilr may have the meaning 'know how to'. thk being one of the meanlngs of the corresponding Mandann auxiliaryhrrk K t u ~ h wOih gdng M diS long flhylhn. she aMe speak wry many CL languages 'He can w k x w r a l languagw.'

Ngcihdeii bbnm h6yli m6h 9 h n gwo laih ge. we originally can sit bmt over mme PRT 'We mid have come over by boat-' p u n 'allow' may a h e~presspermi&:

Halaauhjhng j4un n w e i h j h jsu. headmaster allow IE early l e m T k headmaster is aowing us to leave early.' The negative f

m rsli&rm (brsr p cm in formal w d written Cantonese)

exprsses p d i i i o n . I t is usually used -ally,

q n nhng&. here not-allow slq)-car 'Ym're not allowed to slop (the car) here.' Ni-h

withwt a auqieEr:

. I I

1

G%wm&hn mgun gSng s 8 ~ g y i wo. lwnight nbl-allm talk buslntss PRT 'No talking abut hsinms tmght. okay?'

k h p m h i b i t h .apply W everyone V

I

n t or concerned.

1212 ABlLrrY sik'know3 is used fur can in rhe sane of k i n g able to do something:

fnh

sik

j-ht

I not know driv'I can't drive.'

ga. PRT

(~bnv.)

by a modal adverb such asp'fdilrng,meaning 'musl':

fJng s m n

ysWlhng yiu

Wih ch-m m h g

lmer definikly need ynu sign

name

sin

*M3auh. find havwz1'idiiy 'This letter must have ymm signature in order t o be valid.'

Note that the epistemic sew of mrst (meaning that, by inlerenm, 9wnething m W be the case) is exby Fdihrrg kmh (12.22): K h i h yitdihng hdh mgMtik-j6 hk. slhe definitely is forget-PIT PRT 'He must have rorgntten.'

klw r e f m to the knowledge of how do d o something:

Lkii ystdmng haih s& rho dcihji lak. you dehn~tely IS write m g address PRT 'You musl hove written t h address -81y '

bk. ng6h h h Mu dim jouh. you teacn me PRT I rm know h o w do 'Tve m ~deaholv ro go a b w r it. yw'll have m teach me.' n m

need: The cumpnund form s3tCyird unambiguomly fuhm6uh g M13ih go smiouhj8i d w sai-yiu

l and written

Cantunex (cf. M a d a r m hi).

each ability:

all

need

prenl

LP

pint.)

care

'Every child needs a parmVsare.'

&.L*M"i+

1 @I as a main verb may m eilhm 'want' or 'need'. As an auxiliary, y k

CL child

WarGirn.

go migaai ji $uh lCih 1 8 h n e mihngbaak ngSh. this CL world only h m you q m b b underwd me 'You're the only person in the world capable ofurrderstand~ngmc.' Ni

has the meamng 'need' or 'have to':

-

this CL

LCJi rlrlr m i diik e n gc mE? you not know can distinguish PRT PRT 'Don't you know how to tell Ihe diCference?'

Icihnggau 'be able' k a formal word referringto a

emrndahn yiu cWut heui sihk. ronigm rrped out go eat

'We h a w to & cmt mnigbt.' Jouh A hMmg yiu dAng h6u loih Sinji jaahn d6u do this Ime wait wry long only mr~ W R T daaih chin. big 'In this busines yw have to wit a long time to make big money.'

Ni

M h @je h6u slk duk tiuhji ga. p r sister bmy know can imesl PRT 'Ywsister r a l l y k n m how to invest.'

mZlh (12.1.1) may a h mean 'know how to' in h

w

Lkiideii h h n g p godihng giu gin-hfihihn. you-PL two C L definitely musr & - D L & 'Ywtwo really I-PM get together.'

s& is also used together with &k. meaning X n w , how to':

u h gam

Ng6hd-3

yiu maybe rein-

Wh sik-ihhi y&vh-&yi a? ynu knw-not-know swim PRT 'Can you swirnT Ng6h

Modality 233

& m , " h l h nuWb uli d 4 - n o t - n e e d - m t whole buy all PRT 'IMwe need to buy the whde lor?'

sdf

m= SG

Ji t l i y%t p dihnwd jaih rlihm sy la. just need ht one CL telephone then done PRT PRT 'AM it takes is one phone call and it's done.' Senten- with y* or yIngBiai (12.1.4) may be reinforced by the phrase Hn dbk. used to give m3viadvioe or admonirion:

1

1 2 1.4

@ng

jam

ws

sln

nh.

need s p a k W e words only good 'You need w tell the truth. o k a q

geui y& ms6 fi pi la. this CL thing nuneed again correct PRT "Thm's no nood to oorroct this scntenoc again:

Mseui-yiu pi g6ng lnhk-heui la. nm-need again talk mtinue PRT ' Ihere's no r e d to go on taking.‘

m d i is r e p l d by yiu in replies m A-noa-A qwstlms: A: % i ng6h lhih jip kih a? need-imt-need 1 drivear come m w t you PRT

'Doyrruneedmetopickyouupinthecar?'

B: TN need

a.

PRT

'Ye%' The poslhveform cal questiom:

occurs in notionallynegative Eontextssuch 8s rhrhelori-

JUnng sai gong me:l shi need what 'Need any more be said?'

(raQea0.)

(see 17.3.6)

PKI

dsUGATlMJ

whether the modalilyis &tic

i distinct o mearnnp accordlng to or epklemic:

(a) obligation (deontic: i n d i i n g a requirement):

Uii f i n e dm8m di. shwld d u l a-bit 'Youshould be more careful.'

you

Ng611 gakdL h h y i n m y h h jfingiuhk k$ihsih I

ge.

&wld

have r a x discr~minarionPRT '1 feel there shouldnr be racial discrimination.'

fel

:eel

(b) prolmbilii (epistanic: making a prediction): Ng6hdeih y i n m chB-m& sei dim douwc should a h t four o'clmk c k M 'We should be there s b w t four.'

The negative coun?eqmrt of yiu as a modal is msdi or m i - y f u 'need nor':

N7

jek?

p@, like shuurd in English, has ~

This aiom i s a b usd in impwatives (19.1). sm Mu is a similar pttem, which e m p h m the i m p w f m of follonrng the advice pisen: U i h yiu

douhhip

T-~ere'sno need to aprkgize.'

E h yiu hhoh dSk faai bi sTn dfik p! you need learn ADV fast &it only okay PRT 'Youreally reed to learn a W t f-, you know.'

y m

miil

need what aplogize

Idioms wiih yiu: jfyiu 'all you need to do' is typically used impersonally, with na s u w mentioned, for example in advertking:

fin& mhh maMh g i la. should nd-haw problem PRT PRT There shouldn't l x any pmb1em.' may refer retrosp3ively to the p d , with the meaning 'shmild have'; in this c3ise. an adverb m h as Mnldih 'orig~nally'or ycst-jdu 'much earlier, at the outs& may l x added to indicate referem to the p s t (see 10 3-31:

yi-

N@h T

Wnlbih ymggUi onginally should

gamyaht Ean-hohk. today w o o l

7 was suppwed ro go to dtoday.' Ngbh y?nggOi flt* $6ng Mi ICh Eng. I h i l d meearly say to ym heahear 'I should have told you much earlier.'

1215 VOLITION: WISHES AND DESlRES ~UII~Y~IIIW. ail, IhMli. take-finishleave only t a w a m The students donY want to have their exams till after the holiday.'

M hohkskng &IE CL mdent want

Ng6h rnhaih @i dung pi M lohk-heui. I not-k quite want e n drag m t i n u e 1 h * t m l l y want this to keep dragging on.'

Now. yiu

as a mmain verb may mean 'want', but as a modal aunilkry i t expresses b t y (12.1.3). Similarly, the mmhination s h n g y i r ~'want' also .expresses desire, but is a tmmtive verb rather thm an auxiliary:

KCuih m n g yiu dzr go bihbi-lhi. she wish need more CL baby-girl 'He'd like to haw another baby girl.'

(a) Ngdh &ng tituh Eih yst piu. I wish w t ~p u one vote '1 want w vnte for you.'

-

hdng rneam 'be willing', i.e. nd o w i n g to dning w h m g :

M h mahn k€uih hSng-rPIh-Mng je ghn G&m bEi ask herwill-not-wrlling lend CL shirt for you ask leih puk IS. you war PRT 'Ask her if she'll lend yw a shin m wear.'

jui 'comply, agree' and rkhjai'mt comply, not agree' is sinnlar in meaning to htjng and mh Sdng @ml?y used in response to a prqxsal or a hl; unlike kdng. jni annol occur with a follmslng verb but is itself a verb and can only be wed transitively.

Ngdh +ung I wish

(b) Ng6h a n g Eih tsuh r$6h ylit u '. I wish you mte me one vote 'Iwant ycd~to mte for me.'

'

I

Modal@ 237

K€uih thhhhg je cMn Ei ng6h. h e not willing lend money to me 'She won't lend money w me.'

Like hghsh w n t . rn'$ may l x followed either by a verb pMse wkh the same subjecl as in (a) below. or by a full clause with a charge d subject (b):

tlivm. ~ f l IP~w~SC l ~ ~ L L an inanimatesubject

I

daahnhaih ngdh my

many but

lizhmp5hngyAuh boy-friend

jai.

ltlh

not

mmply "I'd like to get e t e d h t my boyfriend won? comply.'

d a d d p,cd;etion and may take

can appear in A m - A qmsiiom. A N@h&ih

we

H6uchlh &ng lohk-fib gim. smn want fall-mn so 'It looks like i t 3 golng to rain.'

hhhnplouh heui walk-md' go

chE jaahm.

Eihdeih bus station you-FL

jai-mhjai a? a g e e - m t w PRT 'We are walking to the bus statition, are you willing7

Ri

h4uchih dung w a i h ghm. fruit seem want bad so That frurt I& like it's going bad.'

n

3: Ng6h jai ktuih inh jai. I agree .she not agree

'1 am,he isn't. hmmhg'hnpe, wisW hrs a similar syntax to s h n ~

Ng6h heimohng hah chi k?au diik hhivL 1 hope m l trme exam ADV god 'Ihope to do better in the exam noR time.' Ng6h hRmohng ltih wliih yahnleuhng ng6h. 1 hope p i w111 forgive me '1 hope youll forgive me.'

ylJmyi 'be willing' is a more formalterm, mhMe for solemnundemakiw: di. a-bit

U h yuhn-rhkyuhnyi j i u 1 1 ~ f f gu G i r l a? y will-not-wllling accept this CL challenge PRT 'Are you willing m take on this challenge?'

g h '&re'

and the colloquial gar &m

'haw the

m'also function as

auxiliaries: U i h gh-hh-gdm jeuk sEzm dim slk wlhngyl a? you darenot-dare wear three point style swnn-dortnng PRT 'Wculd you dare wear a bikin~?'

i

U i h jOngyi heui Faatgwok dihng heui Nnggwok go England gn yol~ like Fmnce clr

Ng6h h h gau dsam d n kCuih I net enough guts x e k him '1 daren't appmzrh him.'

121.6

d6

di a? m m a-bit PRT

Wkh do you p&er to gc~tu, Frrmrr: u BIilai~i'r

PREFEREWE

jiingyi cheung bm leuih @ a? l ~ k e sing which kind s c q PRT 'Which kind of song do yea prefer to sing?'

L h h jeui

nhgyun 'rathd expresses a preferenceamongtwopa!ibilies. It may be u d , for example. to express the speaker's p r i m t k

N@h 1

fihn@n rather

d6 61 tahng ngdh m o r e a h i t with my

p u rrmt

iikk&@hn home-&

ywchsih. mh w h gam&. mgether rwx play so much 'I'd mther tR with my family m m , and go nut lm.' K&ih she

h nhngyjn &, &u mh ~ i jouh rather die alm not w l l do

faahnfaat illegal

I

ge sih. LP thing 'He'd rather die rhan break the lm.' Note the mnjunctions jringjj % long aS and ji yiu 'if only', a prominent function of which i s m i n t d u o e a clause following Singyrin: jk% Ng6h hhngyin jaahn siu &. 1 rather earn less some as-long-s

?hh siht not lose

jauli d%k ge lak. then okay PRT PRT

I

I

'I'd rather make a bit lm. as long as I dar't make a low' Wih P m jibe dhe rather self

jfti

ski. Pylu Myih @u t%m go die if-only can save back C L

m b l i t y and d t y may also k m p r s d by advadve Like mlence adverbs in general (10.3). thw iterr6 immediatelyp r d e the verb. Wht-n used in wnjumhm with a modal auxiliary. they precede the mcdal rather than the main % ~ r b :

N@

dhou wfiih chtirmngij l(duihdcih & fillii. I probably will attend their LP wedding 411 probably attend their d i n g . '

Note that the typical English order. with the adverb between auxiliary and we*. is mt p ~ b l here. e Collcquially. modal adverbs may cwne at the end of the sentenee (10.3 1.4.13): A: A-Whg hsi bin a? A-Wmg is w h e r e 'Where's WongT

PRT

B Heui-j4 mAaih yel. dasou. p P F V buy thine most-likely 'Gone shopping. rnrm likely.'

tiuh rnehng.

son CL life

'She3 prepared to die. as long as she o n save her son's lie.' As h e examples s u e . R h n g y h often implies a rather negative form of pderence the preferred option re rmt particularly attractive. but the alterrrative is worse (i.e. the preferenoe is for the 1-r of two mils):thus Ng6h CitngyBn jd@ hm! 'I'd rather go myself' i m p l i i k t the m k e r prefen not to trust someone else with an errand. Mme positive prefemces m y be expressed by jnngyi . . . d.3 d7 'like . . .m'otjeui pngyi 'mmt Ilke':

I 1

iI

!

hdkkng ' m a w typically mmes b

m the subject and wrb:

hNAhn~f i i h @ mui. government m a w will raise tax 'The government might 'be going to vise taxes.' linfll

whkp'perhaps' may also begin the sentence: Waahkje n@h haahng-h%hmn@ ni$

~ r h q x1

wlk-PEL4m

fnst

CBan

ikk€i.

m m

'Perhap 1 1 do some shopping before coming home.' do11mdihng is u s 4 as a tag after a sentence mising a e b i l i t y :

I

A: A-MUi dnl@&k-@ @aU Abfdui prdmb1y forget-PIT pay 'Mui pmbbly foFgor m p y her taxes.'

&: $aht

meaning ' p r o w :

& 'mostly' may be d as a modal ad&

sure

Ng6h chtut-lln d m w~Xh heui Meihgwok I Arnerics next-year probably will go

M h

13.

Is

PRT

S2d.

'She must have done.' I

ivlJW'deiiaitely. ahhrely+may m d f y a modal vertt Ngah jyuhtdeui rhh wGih jungyi ril ring $hn. I ahdutely not will like this kind p a ~ m ~

jwh

dangyi. do hsiness "111 p r o mgo to the !State an IXE%ES next year.'

IThere's no way Imuld llkc this k i d ul ~CEUII.'

1222 ADEWS OF NECESSITY

snhr, fltdillng and khgdrhng all q m w ctrrainjr ~definibtly').They am often used to rein€orcethe niodal verbs, such as d i h and yiu:

G6 jek m6h d d d i h Fhng ge. that CL horse sure will win PRT That h m is h n d tn win.'

mtih bH is a negatiw counkrpn of t h e e a d w d x . litem* meaning no mpl"ion', i.e. 'nnt necessarily';

G6 jek m6h

meih bit *hng ge wo. that n horn nol necessarily win PRT PRT - I nat norse may mt win, p u M.' (expmlng huh)

It may combine with a d l verb:

L&h hsh chi @tdhng $In d s i l m di a. p u next time definitely need careful a-hit PRT 'Yru really must be more careful next time.'

-

Ng6h meih brt wGih GI1Ching p h h h n . I noi necessarily win apply emigrnte 1 w n Y mcs?arily t o emigrate."

T k w adverbs, together with h d ~ 'be'. alw q m s s the episfemic w inferential

of m W ('x must be the case'):

Idiam: the phrnses [wrbl

L€ih yMRms haih Mrp %ang Iaak. p u definitely are YIP Mr PRT You must be Mr Yip?'

W di mi MiylIhg that CL furniture certa~nly

Like the modal wrbs kp'h and pH, retmpxtively, meaning'mhave':

-d-hand

%e.

PRT

thii cmmtmction can alw be used

yardim haih keuih Iim go p & y m this CL d v e n m definitely is she think

Ni

cheut Wh

. .. '

k u s i d . dT @piu M @ng. @A rn 17 rfockq riw hmld 'With m much @ news, stocks a m h n d to g up.'

Cwm &

!mih ylhsaU

B T h a t furniture must be second-hand.'

w [verb] n p h n g ' h n d to

exprrss the inevitable: sa

much

Giim di mngrehng la, ldhl thm time di hwnd PRT you 'You've had ilrhis time!' ngaafrng ir an sdjeenw meaning'bird, h'as in klih n@ng

%and

firm'.

ge.

come PRT This advertkment must have heen his idea.' out

Scuhng chi hhgdlllng hrrlh Uih last time certainly is y y 'It must have k e n your fault last time.

dm. CL wrong

12.3 SYNTACTIC CONSTRUCTIONS EXPRESSING I\nOoALrn I n addition to the modal 6 and adverb. modal notions such possibility mn be omwyed by v&us s y n t h constructims. These

as

pclrtiadarly m m m n in their negative mtms. i n d i t i n g i n a b i l i or impsjbiljty. 123.1 VERB

- DAKMPRESSING POTENTIAL

'Ihis u x ofdbk shouldbe diiinguished from drSk in adverbid WmhvCtion5 (10.1.1). a l t h q h the same character i s used fw bnth. This wnstruclion i s qdd rn indlmte w n t i a l . indudingM h posslbilily and pcmnssion:

J6u a k g e Ink. kave can PRT PRT

I

I

d&

I

The construction i s also widely used in neffmive and int-ve

di

uk

thi

CL

h s e

dm~ haih masih also are buy

gm, miuh not pass not-hm

with peroeprion verbs (8.1.3), verb -dirk d?W In addition to its an indicste ability with a negativemmtation, mcming 'cpble nf

form:

doing':

!M@ad seui

yihhah yshmih inh yahp dik heiyik eighteen yean under person mt enter can cinemn

i

m m ksp pln. watch three class film Tkm under erghteen are not allowed to enter a cinema to watch a -gory IllAlm '

A: Ni jek d u h h euh-yihng wol this CL mrth wry havc-stylc PRT That w t c h is pmtty ~4~1ishl'

I

Ngah Gi dak cheut lfih jiingyi khih. (ne-0 I see c a n n u t youlike her 9 can see that ynu like her.'

hhl k w i i mW@h dOu Mh &k CL Madc society what all do can cEut our

ge

(negative)

PRT

T h e rriads are capable of anything."

B: LRih m H a i h - M h dGk Ei sin?

G&m d m g6ng dHk chCut ~1 (qatke) dso say can ouf PRT 9 didn't k m w you were capable of saying such things!'

you buy-ml-buy can up first 'But can you gfford itT

KEuih G n syii h6u nmmh dill? wo. slhe CL tTak yery d l able PRT "is bmk is very marketable.'

NT

maintenance PRT 91's nor safe to buy these houws, there's no maintenance.'

T a n I try this on?'

~i go i e u i h ~hbu ~ ds d a ~ ga. this CL girl very Qht able PRT This @rlreally k n m how to fight.'

hjk

m h @.

a? (used in clothing stnres) PRT

Tkc diik c n n ~ c t i r m mey Isc modid by hdu or g& or alsil~q:

of &k has a

mning:

Yahp diik lhih meih a? enter can come not-yet PRT T h n I m e in yet? lJy*l-Ly

rhese; figures are not worth believm&'

Tlw nepptive munkrpart with rith in p b x

'We mtt b n v c : t n w . '

Si-hh-si

Q S k [m] dnk g w implies-that something is safe or can {ck:vms bermad N&h seun dak gwo N h . I bcluvc can pw you T can trua you.' Ni 61 flfu h h soln d ~ kgm. thii CL information not belw can p s

so

i n d d n g potcntinl

Cdi sihk d8k wo, Wh! quite eat able PRT you 7011 mainly can eat a lot!'

&-k alone may be used as a predicate, meaning 'dcay': M h khrm4h

dnkmdak

takee~am okay-nol-diay 'Was your exam okay?' you

a?

PRT

Cki

dm

ynu

sn

y h n g mdik ge. way n o t d a y PRT 'You can3 behaw like that.'

h h i l i t y or impwibilii may a h be expressed by the € % s t e n t i a l d yduh and m#uh cespectively {see ch. 15) followed by dak and a verb:

DSk m i a? okay not-* PRT 'Is it ready yetT

JsdPl &H ~il~b. Is. (mcptliug lllar a n w l b ready) soon h a w can eat PRT we csn eat soon.'

rhh d ddk is a m n p k dim with m l related meanings. With a noun as its object, it means '-not do withwt':

Mi h h 1

dHk l€ih (go) leuih-phhngySuh hh? you nol miss can your (CL) @+friend PRT 'Missing your girlfriend. are p u ? '

Fdkrwed by a verb phase or clause, it means m n m t face': bak I&% jjsu. inh 8.5 not mi= can you leave 'I can't face your leaving.'

@ ;

Khih dlrn daW hh d &k mamh-j6 keuih slhe how all mt mi= can sell-PIT his p

n

4

G a W h m6uh dSk dehng-th (referringto restaurant) holiday n d h u v e cm reserwtable 'There's no way n sesem a table m hlidm' Y h h h& do faatsang haih nduh gwaai sih n is not-have have very many strange thing m ask gthi ge. can explain PPHT -of

Idioms: mduA d6k Mi there's mc o m p a M is isllsedwlth the w e r b tlrhng:

*&a.

Yinggwnk rini thhng Fad@ food with Frwh English

me-car 'He can't fax selling his sports. car at any cost.'

aMe

n&'

The rheroricol vmsion with b-dm&jVbrk (sm 17.3.1) in flare d m h h is equivalenr BIndouh e u h dsk M a? where have an compare PRT H o w csn yam compare the t d &h

&k ding u r dub JQk t . . .':

M r r

illcula

'thweb

IN

'there's nothing like

a m h y i n g h h e s . when

diik

mmpare PRT There's no mmparim between Engliih and French d

a h gam haan, dim gbai wriih gmn &dEk frugal how m e would so wilting you so m3aih e r n @? buy cloth- PRT " H w m ycu're w a t m a g a n t yw'te SO frugal?

thoi d i h f m d nw-haw

ge-

The p i t i v e C m s+ d& means 5uiIling to part with': l X h sddBk yuhng g m d0 chln Bih m h i h se much money mme buy yw wining use leng j&u Ah? fine aim PRT 'You ran priwiW t h a m1n-h m m q to buy fine wine?'

61mnp thin@ hmppunw h i i cmnnot ba explained.'

Gun-hhh skilldea

mhng ni di d'msam jmhah with these U pstries really

mauhdak ding ge. cannor sumstirure YKC The's no beating kung-fu tea with these: pmhie%'

h l ; ~ g 'w

This construction is alm used in qwaion h, i.e. ~ ask a l w t a v i l i t y : Gddouh yhh-m6uh

dSk yhh-shi

there ha--haw can swim 'Can you go swimming there?'

M diikd [verb17

1m

ga?

(w-VERBAL PARlXLE EXPRESSING INAStlrPl -

-

The combination [verb] riJr [psrtkle] i s the negative c a m W r p l of [verb] -diik - [prticlel, as seen in the fnllming exhange: A: N&h @ng &an hh dihm a. I h r nunage mt V-PRT PRT 'Pm afraid I can't manage it.'

win

enter

no1

then need

giing jouh.

seek work do 'If sndens mn't get inm university they have m find d.' NMhderh

a k h b Bsai di

mng.

eat nol up CL food 'We can'tfinish (eating) the food.' we

M h ySt

go

you

CZ.

gohn h n a m h ddihm s#am f!p ]dl. V n care mt manage t h m CL son 'You canY manage three sons by yourself.' one

Yiuln fi

wiijX

have m e -in

+

&i-yi3ei dGu h&uil~ washingmachine also kallvith it

mh dihm. not manage There are some mim even the w&ing

machine can't gel rid of.'

y h mh jywh h l M by a verb meam 'canno# help':

h h jyuh siwj6 I endutt not V-PRT lau&PFV 'Icwldnl help bunting out with laughter.'

daaihhhk jauh yiu

V-PRT university

+

mi

Ng6h y6n

The negative mnshuctlnr~Is very widely usal tu irlrlitala &&lily; ally d the verbal p t i c k s d i d in sechon 11.3 may he wed in this way:

CL mudent

(d.Ng6h giurhhdngkhih.)

Ng6h &j6 b$u h h , d?ju k$ih l h h. (fihn) I seek-PW you very Long sbll seek yw not Y-PRT 'rve been lookingfor you for ages and Istin couldn't find you.'

id&:

13: Gbnghih g h dik dihn IS1 o f a m nianaF can V-PRT PRT 'Ofcourse p u canl'

Dl hnhlrssq p h p rhh d h

T help you.'

Ng6h gin Wuii a h shg. we call him mr awake '1 canV wake him up.'

PRT

G6 jling hehng yhuhm6uh d& JT p'? that CL disease have-mt-have can mt PRT T a n t h d d i w w be hated?'

12.3.3 ME8 -

Ngah bhg l6h inh d h . (d.Ng6h hmg h h d h Wh.1 ITV) I 1wIp yo11 not suooperl

Ng6h ffm h h hiii g6 deui msaang jimiii. I tell mt qm-l that pair twin-born sisters 'Imn'i tell t h e twin r i m apart ' As an alternative word order, an c+ctpmnoun orshort noun phrase may wme behKeen the W and the -rive dzh:

cheut 1& h.i out orme

inh jyuh g6ng Wi Kih eng. endure not V-mT talk to you hear 'Ijust had to tell you.'

Ngah yin I

13 NEGATION

13.1 LEXICAL NEGATION: NEGATlVE VERBS AND ADJECTIVES

I

Canhw a rich range of negativewards accordingto whd is ne@: the word (13.1). the adjeaive (13.2) or a verb (133). Crlmonese alsa makes extensi%euse d double negation cI3.5). The native Cantonese neptive words are dingushed by beginning with the naslll mnsonam rn- m d low-reg&- tmes:

An importsnt distinaion is tn be made between 1negation. which m t e s a an& word, and WFWIncgatim which negates a statement (13.2. 13.3). A large number of v& and a d m ~ v e sare inherentl) -ega tlve in form. For example: nhgin 'he' mgeidak 'forget'

mh6uyisi ' e m h d mgyafuhk 'unmfonable- or 'unwcll'

Such words are wrirten here as prefixed with m. as the M i n g r ~ m d p fib tends not m be clemiiy heard.' These prefined negative fwns are distim from negatbn w t h Mi in m

inh 'not'

mhsih 'nnmot'(iAh + the q m l a r karl~'be? m6uh 'hme mt'(negative form d the existential verb y h h 'hme'; e

(s) The waningd w t i v ~d h sad adjntives i b mt simply thd of the verb or adject~venegated, but often more specific:

15 4)

gin meam W but mtn means specifimllv lase"; IAItng meam 'with or '-me' hut m&ng rn onony l mean UiFFerenl': syufuhk 'mmhrtable' butnrsy@ihk 'unoomfortable' or 'unwll. sick'.

mcih 'mt yct' (uacd to form qucstims: wc 17.1.4)

mMu. m%h 'don't' (in imperative mtences: mz 19.4) mji. mh daan j i hot only'

(b) Verbs and sdjeaivcs with the negative preiioc rimy fake zht: @dire

I n additinn to these, the follmng Manhrin negahve words are lsed in formal or literary Canrnncse and in faced expreswms:

ztspxt jo, which is inoomprltiile with the neganw prticle t?di { I 1.2.4. 13.3):

MI.thc Cnnrnwcsa wading fm thc Mnndnrin negpgarivc rnMkcv bfi, is hcard in m e mied e x p t m o m adopred from Mandarin. such as:

ern

h t tlhng haam not stop so qf 'cry without slopping'

in

-s Ng6h hat SE dsk Wh. I not lose mn you '1 miss you.'

(cf. h h l dBk: 12.3 1)

f i is an nmhnic ncgativc wmd mraning * n dW in Mandarin. Like h,it ir also used in Cantnnese primarily in hed expressions and compounds:

Mi m&l%ik-j6

I

bM h6 B-ylh not c m think "unthinkaMe'

MI may aim bc suMlutcd fm rbh to @c a literary quality, f m ma@

1 repas

I

sii ddsgg. forget-PTV rum& light 'You forgot to rum nff the light '

you

N@h m h G m j 6 hbu loih. I un- hap^-PW very long 'I've been unhappy for n long time.'

(c) The prefxed forms dstative v e r b and djectivesmay k pmmcld hy modifiers such as M u *very' and fPisPeakng 67~"mhemely': Ng5h h6u m&ng heui. I very notwant p 4 vary much don't want to go.* Ggm lCih hiru you very

mdakhhhn

11'

mt-free

PRT

&mp, sih-@i

so

talk right-g 'gw4ip'

"Ywmust be rery b y . then!'

fii hi l%t M (Mbe the h b k neptibn: 135) not gn m possible 'absdutely m w p-

Mhdeih j w h dsk Eishhng WIT do ADU atmrnely 'Youdidn't do I d l y w all!'

-

37

mdnl not bad

The difference is h g h t out where the adjective k qualified (see 13.2):

-

G6 p i n mhsih h6u leng jE. that CL nd-be very niw- PRT That one's wt very nk.'

Mhaih hbu sy~fuhk.

not-be very cnmfortabk 'It's not very ormfortable,'

G$n Wung mhaih p5 @-nplhq. an way mt-hc quitc f01r -It's not quite fair that way.'

H6u rnsy3uhk. very un-mmfnrtaMe

'ITS very uncomfortable.' (d) Only sententialnegation with rhh a

h an indefinite i n t q m t ~ t i o d n

a qu&-m word (15.4):

Ng6h Bmyaht hh &ung h w i HnTndcuh. I tday not rn m, where 'I don't want to p anywhere today.

The same vMb prpfimd with m- dries nnf allmv this (it i'invl p?Sikk tQ modify the verb as in (c) and have an indefinitequestion word, as in *N&h hdu r&ng keui bind&). Wh~le the d i i n c t h betweenmenth1and d dn@on is clear in principle in the above mnstrudions, in some casm either form of negation in particular with adjeaives and stative verbs: will be +bk,

Ni

thh m h h naarn. this Ct figure mt rorrect Wu figure is not Sight.'

A: A-Mng slng-jd Ilk wo. Ah-Ming rise-PFV grade PRT 'Mng's km pmnwwd. you know.'

B: klh gwaai no

d a

khih

wonder ADV she

em

~s~

la!

sn

hqqq

VRT

'No wonder M s rn pleasedl' YnhnMih Wn finally CL

haih Eih Ejjb,

book

is

you

inh

take-PFV rm wonder

d k ji d n mh d b . ADV k m w find not V-PRT '1 see, you to& the bwk. no wonder I couldn't find it.' riih chFm k+ih means 'not surprising'.

ur Ni

Idiom with ihh: mh gwmi dlik (13w r?~hg~t'm'jidiik'no mdei i s d o n rearing an explanahon:

tluh

sou

m-ngiiam.

A: A-DSk

kahmdahn yhwjwkjd Wh. dnnkdmnk-FIT PRT 'Appa~ntlyDak pldrunk last night.'

this CL figure incorrect T h i s figure & wrong.' N g d ~ gmyaht I tday

Ah-Dak lastmght

MI ahng jwh-@h.

nor wish d-k 1 don't feel like working today.' or Ngdh gamyaM d u n g p u h

w.

I n such mses the difIerenoe in meaning is minimal (with ~ i v verbs, e thc: rwo m y be diiinguished by criterion (6)above.).

132 ADJECTIVAL NEGATION

B:

h

chmt k2ih e. nor surprising PRT 'That's rot surpriang.'

It may also br IERI) rh~~orimlIy, with the firm1 partjdc ml(18,3.1)in place of rk11: H6u cheutkkih mE? ~ r 5uipi5i11g y PRT

That's hardly surprising?

To ne@c an adjective, the prtide &A prwedm the adpctiw:

a m f i ~ h leng. CL shin not nice T h c shirt h n ' t lock nioe.' Gin

Where the adjective is modified, mhuih, the negative form of huih 'be' i s ud:

13.3 VERBAL NEGATION In tlre w e d v c r h tlrc negative marker wed dcpends on the t h e b w h i i the verb p h m refers. Where the verb refers to the present or future. rkh is is:

B:

Gnm-yam ngdh h h gin haak. torlay I nol rn client 'I'm not &ng any dientstoday.' liingyaht ng6hdeih ihh heuiwian. tumorrow w r w t w day 'We're! not e o i r $ out tom-.'

meih f d m Idih would imply that the person is expeded to return whmduhfmri #h wmld MI haw, any such implhrlon:

B: Keuih giim)aM m6uh

Where the drefers to the past, and the funclh of negation is to szate that some event did not -, the &stentit11 negative word m6rak is used ilmxul: Wgdh l(bhmymM m6uh

chgut heui.

I yesterdsy bve-not out 9didn't go out y e s t d y . '

faan

Iaih

rercrrn

m PRT

wo.

'He ham3 heen i n today.'

meih may he reinForced by the adverbs juhrrg W and d m $I@ 'up till @u

nor-yet pay 'We haven't paid the rent yet.' still

we

K h i h gmai y?n psi inh dhng. dhe qu~t smoke quit not succeed We can'l manage to amp wndring.'

@I. rem

Ng6h don @gii hhng meih heui-gm I36iy&hng Gngyiin. I until now ail1 -I e E X P Oocan Pmk 'Even now Istill haven't been to Ocean Park.'

mcfh is a h w d to h

im

q W h , @ally

pet-lecrire and eqmkntial

(17.1.4): A-Diing &n-j6 Bh mew? Ah Dung return FFV m e mt-yet 'Hss Dungcome h k &3)Y

--

Idiom: j u A q m R 'still not' is used rktmhlly to make a fwceful suggesnon: rhh jbu Ah? mt leave PRT 'Why haven't you gone yctT juhng

No such quesricmcan be formed with M . m i h . . .jyuh in !mCemenF and m&

. . .@!I

in imperativesalso meam

'not yet':

ynu mill

faaim heui fast-ish go

m-have

Ng6hdeih juhq melh

I n the caw of verb1 prkh (11.3), the negative marker d ~ h m s e n the verb and the psrticle, with a meaningof inability (12.3.3):

Lei juhng lfih ynu still not

m y

ILW.'

go

Gsm-yaht mduh lohkyjh. not-have f a l l rain

Mi

K h i h meih Ban I b i w. he tlOt-yet return come PRT 'He h m ' t mme bsdc yet.'

anchfng? (did.)

apply

Mmh dm

jyuh.

nol

Y

O

~

w

"It's not ready yet.'

mi

mhdu @ guh. yaldDn'tleaveyel

'Don't go gn"'

Thii urn afM differs syntactidly and semanh~allyfmm m a t jyuh (see 11.2.3). Note also the uw nl rn& in meih chi3 'it's not too late' ITEWlkf h t t b i T k 1 tim6 hl A(r:

'MY not hurry UP a8-d wPyT

phng h@i SHnching ga, ylhg d€iu meih cMh. you still can apply PRT no^. alm not-yet late 'You a n gtin apply, it's not t m law.'

Mi Bnth rnM nnd maih c w q u m d tn Mandarin m

M u in ne@ing yerbs.

They differ in meaningmd grammatical function: maih e~pressesthe s p e d h meaning 'nor ye€':

A Cl&g

IIW &IIEI~ IIII %11g ~ I & - I ~ ~ I - I I A ~ ~ I I ? reqwa a& Tang Mr h-t-here 'b Mr Tang there. p h &

Wih nngynht

gsau @it@ c h m i chlh. m ~ m handill hnmvrk alw na-Kt IMS You can hand in your horn& tomorrow, it'll still be in time.'

4.9~ I

Note that mne of the negative d &, lllduA or meih can m

r

fihjoi 'no more' combines with wfh@hn

preEeding a verb with the perfective marker$. jd i 6the existence of an event (nmally in the papt d 11.2.4) and k imrnpahhle wilh n e g tion, which would entail that such an event did not take place. By conIran, the ey@ential marker gwo (11.25) occurs with both m W 'and me&, i n d i i i n g IhP h k nf an r q t x k n c t or m n c e : N&h

mhh

N@ I

'I'll t

h i - g w o dasihbhk.

I have-not p B P mainland 'I h m n ' t ken to maininland China.' K h i h ylhm8hnj6 p l o r 1 juhng long still miw i rlhe

fsan-gwo

nnfyP1

mtmn-F.XP

'N","zy ~b mji

Hmgkong Both mdrrA a d miI~may bc reinforced by the adverb &hngI&k to mem %ever' when &ing to the past. -1Iy 4 t h rheeaperienrial p w

"

N&h 1

'I%

W. t

I

the present, ~I~uhngIbih is used with the modal verh mh d h (I2.I .I): rkh m w 6 i i jc ~ chin not would lend money

b€i yhhn ge. to people PRT ch>hngf&Fl i s rwl -d *r d d to tlk future: ilubtad, r l l r h ~ Jd6u ~ and wi7mgvhhn d m are used with rirh kh.

yfhhauh

dou rhh w6ih

&erwads mlsa 4 1 never come bsdi.' I

rot

wifl

a n Ihih. mrn cnrne

(film)

h h wdih r~~gri&k1611.mill) also not will forgel you 'In ~ h g e t y o u . '

Ngdh wrhngy~Ihn &u

I

fnrpver

'not only

. . . but alsd i s mmpleted by the w r h l prticle

slhe

not-only help

cMn

flm

me

chnose even

prry V-PRT

I)rh&njiorbiirddan

jfkdjusl..

.' i s d i n t h e s a m e w a y :

yiu mbaih f ~ k tlm. wml huy hl?e too 'They're nor only staying here, they're evm taking about buying a house.' mJ.

. .+rhk

is IWIG

rurrrd:

Ni vdi du* ybhn leng, ylh& mji this CL young-lady ndanly person bewtiful also dng thm. wice meei

'People 11kehim would never lend monq. to anyone.'

pl&

scrrttntxs:

yAhn

Wuihdeih rhh dam ji l h h M i h h , juhng wah they not just only stay here even say

As noted above, the choice nf r n d i m p l i i that the speaker may have the eKperienoe inthe future, while m6lJl bno such implication. Referringto

I

. . .j u A q

kng,

money too 'She not only helped me chome, she even paid hr it,'

marry

d-dhnglbih m i ihk-gwo &h-Sng. ncvc? not yet aat EYP c m k e m p never eaten snake mp.'

K&h m jdng yAhn ~ .the thin kind p m n ever

business

mctoiR (11.33) a n d h the sentencepartirk flm (M.3 5p juhng M d a i h Kkuih mji h g ng6h @an,

'She ham't been kmk to Hmgkong since emigrating.'

Ng6h d-dhngbih m6uh lam-gwn I never no?-have think-EXP I thought about getting married.'

dangyi.

do

& kng bi. (lTad.) hot0 pretty person a b prew some in than lot lxtter too.' the pictures l m k @,the

&ng

Mji

mngg6ng.

jwh

@iWordy'

mjr'not oaly' is used to m h i n e meih

to mean 'never win':

wh&bn Ihh &I tbhng k h i h forever not again with him never do business with him again.'

T h k young lady it not only beautiful. 8he hss a h d y Mice.'

mjfmay be used alone as a mpomtu a statement or question;

eung h6ud-h mmsahp@i appearance seem thirtyShe looks abut I-hn i g.'

A: Khih gn

she

CL

B. Mjl pal not-only 'She must be more than that!'

m

seui g8m. y a m so

256 C a m : a comprehensive grammar

mhdu wah hei @hn Eng wo. people hear PRT

bihdonh jf. with the rhetorical w ofbfndoEak (17.3.4). is qivalerrt to mjl in rhi sense.

(yw) don't my to

rnhufh meaning 'it is not t h e e ' may be used to toan error or Fake

CMh) d i h g8m g h g #h la? (you) don't so talk rhlng PRT 'Don't talk like that.'

(LRih)

'Don't (you) tell anyone.'

impression: Ng6hdeih mhaih f l u h a m

jfnggS

Eih ga.

See further 19.4 on n e e i r n ~ v e s .

wi-be have-heart do-hick ynu PHT

we

'We didn't mean to trick y m '

Mhaih (mgyaht. haih hauh-yaht. nor-be tanmrmw i s afterday 'It's mt tmmmw. it's the day after.'

Note that rnkm'h. unlike the other negative words, can be used with the perfective j 6 N&h mhmi dBl'~-p Mu krlh p. 1 not-be w i t - P N very long PRT 'Ihaven't been waiting very long.'

m h i k is dm the form of n-n

used with quantitied phrases (14.1.1).

Idiorn: m h i k rvlok 'it's not m if i s &n m d i n n h b k n q d v c wnstruction (13.51 and fnllowed by a h r p o clause: Ng6hhdeih m b i h m h m h h chin, kitgwm hmn we rot-be say not-haw money but srlve

di

sC

h6u

bi.

m m d d a-tit

'It's 's as ifwe have no money. but it's better to spend a bit frugdy-' Ng6h mhsih wah HI JOI@ Wuih, htgwa I not-be say mt like hlm howwcr yfhging yhlwj6 Pahm-pZlhnmuh la. I already hsve-l'bT byfriend PRT 'It's nor that 1 don't like him, bur I already have a boyfriend.' np6h

m6UA IS the negative fwm of ydrrh (15.4), and means 'have not' or 'there idare not', m M ( m e the low falling tone) i s the C a n m e pmmnciation of Mandarin lvli 'without'; it overlaps with rrrdlrh a d hence tends, to replace it in formal and written Cant-. dis a h used in a number of phrases and i d i i :

m d w w n h o matter. whether' (16.2.4): Mbuhleuhn chhhng dihng W n , leih df tauhfaat n-rnatter long or short your Ct hsir

dou haih gam leng ge. also is m fine PRT 'Whether it's longor shon, your hair &llImh so good.'

rdwRwaih 'no need' or ho ux': Ng6hdeii mbuhwaih grrm hlan k. we nwrm?ml so frugal PRT 'We have m need to be so -1.'

h M h w a i h la cry also nwmmm PUT 'It's m use crying (over spilt milk).'

Haam

Blhh @uh jahn dh &hagon-dyUn haam Mi Seubqq-lhih. baby have wme time mreamrem cry up be* 'Baker. metima emn orging for or no-.'

13.4 r ~ W and u rf&~h

The words mhm and mdrh serve ro i n d m neganvemmmanbs: rnlaou is the m a 1 4,whrk t d h is d a t i d y dl& and more likely to be rrsed close friends or peers. The subject pmnwn is optiorml:

lunong

.

INDEFINE NEGATION: 'NOT. . ANY'

Indefinite expressiofis meaning 'not . . . aqmdanything', etc., are kmmd with a q-ion word (173) k@her with a negative word guch as hh. d i r k , m i t i or mM#. There are two distinct hrms, with ~li!#~tly dishades of meaning: (a) h k , mduA etc, t d W by the question word:

253 GantwRse: a aorrpeheegrammar Ng6h @m-yam m6uh

heui

Ng6h gam-yaht Yndouh dixl m h h hi. I today anywhere all not-have p 'Ihaven't been mywhere today.' 'Ihc s h w t u r c (n) is lcse cmphntio man (b) w h i i might be mnslnted 'any . . . al all'. This dihference:in force k brought out hy the fnlknuing two wntexs:

Ng6h em-yaht m h h heui I tday not-have gw

bindoah. jihnghaih hiahng walk anywhere merely

hbh giSngyin je.. a-while p r k PRT 7 haven't been anywhm (much) m y , I just went for a walk in the

prk.' heui. jihnghaih Ng6h g;bn-yaht k d m h dCm m6uh merely I today a n m r e all not-have go chdh hB ukWi je. sit at home PRT '1 haven't k e n w h e r e (at all) today. I just sat around at home.' Note thm bind&

d m m6uh I- i s inmmpstlbk with jihrrghmh h&n$

g%~un P

nnmr;ls~n M h s

fnr nther qu&m b h a r merning -mything' and dtm yPung 'how': A rlmllnr

Note that i f the indefinite phrase i s the subject of the sentence. only the W u wmtrucnrm (h) may he

hndcmh.

I today not-have go anywhere T haven't been anywhere today.' (ti)the q d m word hllowed by the quantifier dm (w14.1.1). both mming before the verb regardless d rhe grammatlwl futlctlor~d Ik q d o n wnrd (m8.2.3):

wnrds. such as ~ W f ~ 6 h

g&mg mity6h ah-. not-have my what PRT 4 didnr my arrything(much).'

1

1I

Gem-pht b-ngo d m m6uh & Eh. tnhy who all nothave emtact you 'Nohody has contacted you d a y . ' I n the akmarive srruculre. undoglod .rw 'wh?':

PS

in (a) above. brrrgc would have to be

FBmyaht hngo m6uh wAn Kih a? who not-have wntact you PRT

roday

'Whu didti1 w~ilm you d a y ? '

I

I I

I

I

Mmkh. . .mtWy6h) with a noun means 'hardly any' or 'mimuch':

mS$h Ng5h b?mg thh d& I help not PRT m y

du. daahnhaih hand but

hfyh $i-hah. can hy-DEL 'I can't be d much help, but I'll give it a hy.' Khihdeih dou yih@ h m h h d n d6u they until now also nd-have find V-PHT m w h jinggeui. wbat evidence They still hawn't found much in the way of evidence.' Similarly. m&h mEi dlm is an adverbid p h s e meaning 'hardly':

U i h m6uh

m i t dim tin wo! mt-have what how change PRT 'You*ve hardly chnged at dl!'

yw

(a) Ng6h m h h

I

@g r n m )dk~ mduh what all not-have say rhdnr say anything [at all).'

@) @ ; I

'I

mean 'mt ak.

a

PRT

i dim h ykmg chaamu ge. they not will how manner interfere PRT 'They won't interfere in any way.'

. .anyway' or 'm matter what': m

,

u

I

I

tag

n&ll

how all not willing hskn me *Hewon't Iisren w me. m matter what.'

(a) KhiMeib h h ~

(bj Khihdeih dfm yhng don Ihh wdlh c h a m g ~ . they how manner all nol w ~ l l interfere PRT There's rm way they'll interfere.'

,

13.5

&ll&

talk

DOUBLE NEGATIVES

A b r e of negatiun In Chinese is the us%d d w b l e negatk!., typically to make a p n t in an indirect or suhtle way. The meaning is m that of

douMe m e g a h in mm-srandard English, as in Cmkraey English I dunno

14 QUANTIFICATION

mhmg meaning '1 don't know anything', b ~the t logiFal w m ~ n whereby g the tw nephves make a (qualified) positive statement: N g d ~ mhsih &g heui. I m-k m-wan1 go 'It's nM that I don't wart to go.' A: Clp daahnpu

lkl sihk-hhnhsihk &k saai a? U cake p u eat-nofesf able all PRT 'Cam y m eal the whde cake?'

B. Ml-I,

,,&I,

not-be mt-have -Me PRT 'I wwkln'r say it's impossible.' Sirmlarty. the existential negative m6uh M o w e d by a negated verb g the meaning Aall'or 'every': R G u h ftlkm6uh rhh sfA

no

pmt

f911 parents

"ot

jih@

love self

i

gc jbi-hi p. POSS children PRT

Imp their children.'

M&h yhhn hh gA d7 $hngOngno one not want rarse more A t salary 'Eveayne wane a pay r k . ' DouMe negahves are widely used in modal oonshuEtions. for example to express obligation: mh h i mh d& e. I nM go not okay PRT 'I absolutely have t o go: N@I

~ e i h mh h4ylh h h t a g keuih gdng ga. you nc4 can not l i e n him speak PRT 'You ham m listen to him '

~

~

Quantifntion con~emsterns such m aU, meqwme. mryfiing and s m t e w M , which do nc4 refer to specific d$e& bur define c l a w s of objects. Quanfifiers in h g u a a generally have a syntax which is dishnct fmm that of ofher of speech, and C a m is no exceptirm here. The express~cmof quantihcation in Cantcmse d i e m substantially From Engliish There are n o wmds corrrspondinp, stra~@lfowardlyt o 'everything' w 'something'. fur example. and each o t h types d yuamificwioncalls for a d h n t srmcrure. To express unkerull q u a n t i h t i o n ('alllwegvtany') a quantifying expewon is used in conjunction with d& before the verb (14.1.1). T h e are astinct -&om comsporading approximately to the meanings ' dl'. 'eacNevery* d'my': h o h l c s g dih e u n g jdu. (14.1.2) 1111 wmt k m e 'Al the students want to go.'

Go-go

C L d student

Mm yaht &I haih @. (14.lA) each day a h is so 41's like this e m d a y . '

h o h k s h g aKm sik hem &kyii@n. which student all know go library 'Any s t d e n t kthe way to the lihraq.'

(14.1.5)

l o express exldenhal qumt~hmbcm(+some. none'), me existentiat verb ydrrk and its negative counterpart d u k are used (malso ch. 15):

Ydoh di *h misrk h h d h @ (142) have U thmg explain rot W-FRT PRT "Some t h m cannot ~ be explained.' h @hn b o q - w h . not-have person help-me-hand -PJaone is helping me.' W

(14.3)

Cornparkom w i n g quantififfs ('more' and 'W: 14.4) follow the mme pattern as comparison of ad+ves e.3).

--

14.1 UNIVERSAL QUANTIFICATION: 'ALL', 'EVERY' AND "EACH'

A wrietyofmeans are w d to exuniversal quantification. ing to English QII~my and pach. Quantifimhon in C h i n e ~ is d l m d in Lcc (19%). o throrctimt study of Modorin Hfin which Is largely applicsMe to Cantorwse dm. (Notethat Gnmnese ddu, bwever, may have the ~ n i n - ga W . cmmpnding to Mandarin yP. w z 103.2.)

Quantificatan 263 Similarly. y e s t i o m invdvmg quantifiers are formed with lun7mRaih (17.15) sather than a rlrnple A-not-A questim: Haihmhaih c h &ng Jauslk h=-not-he CGCL. all w& rrst 'Dws evqonc want a hreaW (nor T w g o d m s & r g d u n g -us11 a?)

a? PRT

Wh-mhaih 14.1 -1 SYNTAX OF

The adverb &,appearing immediately before the verb. is wed in neady an h s of universal quantiiicarirm, i.e. in expressing the meaninp 'a11'. heq' and 'each'. The mims mnshuctions w ~ l hddu have a similar sptax; in particular. quantified objects wrh d6u p r e d the verb (4.1, 8-2.3). W l e dbu imrneditely p o e d e s the verb. the qtiantified p h x may come in dther of hw positions:

In) betwen the wbjeFt and Ld: K ~ l h Ihril'S c h jtui ge. srhe CtU girl all pursue PRT 'He chases all the RirtS.' (b) preceding the subject. a s sentence tnpic: G a g I h i f i i k h i d6u jcui ge. CLCL pirl dk all pursue PRT 'He ham all the girk.' W h m b a h an auxiiiaty and a m m verb are m n t ,the quplnntifd p h m a d &u typically pecede the auxilraty N@h rnd h yiu jih&i mmgaih. 1 what all reed self buy 'I have to b!iy mrything mysplb' Ktuih jpk-jpk SBubm d6u d u n g maaih. she CLCL watch all wan1 h y 'He wanb to buy all the w a t k ' The negative word w e d in sentetms mth dm i s mlmik. which immediately plBCedes t k q u a n t i k l phrase: Mhaih go* d6u gam &khsahn p. nor-k CLCL all LO free PRT 'Notevet3pone has se much frre m e . (nor *Go-go &% mhaih gam dakhiahn) I h i I ~ l ~ d~ndrniln ~h Linngfi CLJ a 1 w. university nor-be who all accept PRT T h e univenity doesn't jmt m p t myone.'

douhaouh dOu y8t-yeuhng ga? Wt-be t h e t h e r e all OnPgame PRT '1s it the same everywhere?' ddu is also wed in the expresm MuRng L

U ] dGu"both"and slm~tBrlywWll

other numben:

LRuhng ga

dOu leng.

two CL. all niae "They're both n W KeuiMmil s-m

go W k u i . they thnx CL all go 'All three of ahem are going'

.

I d i h x haih . . & may express the meaniq 'way' or 'any' in colloquial v:

d h ji ga 11. people all kmnv PRT PRT

Haih film

k

'Eyeryme knows thm.' Haih y+hn

d6u wiiih ~ h n g d i i h q Wh ge. people all will sympathii you PRT "Anyone would syrnpthiee w ~ t hyou.

is

sPkng ?he wimle' is optionally accompanied by &u andlor the quantifyinp, verbal particle & (1 1.3.3): sehnp, gn

whole 'The &whole:

CL

gei

(h) Mau saai.

plane (all) plane is M I .'

full

V-PRT

Note that the presenceof d m requires an objea with &ng the verb. while m'alone does not:

to come heFore

~ ~ h d e i&hng h gaan uk d m chaak sad. we whde CL hwse all d e m l i i V-PRT

'We're k d n g the whole hcme down.'

--

N@h&ih

chaak

e h n g @an Ok. we drmdish V-MTT w h l e CL houm We're kraacking the w b l e house down.' Phrasa with &g

saai

may k used e d d y :

Keuih khrtg gu hrthjm j a u d i h hsahngpng+i. slhe whole CL afternoon around walkdore ' S k went arcund s b ~ p i n agll 3ftemmn.' Idiomatically, sPhng has the emphatic meaning 'all of: K h i h k h n g %?lawahps 4 dm% meih @-fin & whole t h i i years, ako not-yti rnarry 'She's an of thirty and d l 1 IWX mrned.' Ghng h h k dim jiing dOu meih N@h go ldtii CL daughter yrlwle six o'clock dm not-yet my finn nkkFi. return hnmc 'It was all of six o'clock and my daughter stin wasn't home.' Gl~ngvaht-always' i s an adverb which may oprion;llly be: reinforced by &u:

K h i h dhngyrrht (dm) chih dav Jhe

always

(all)

w-

late arrive PRT

We's always late.' Note that sPhngyhr is raed hyperbuliwlly, m Ihc nbwt- anmpk, and should n M be taken to mean iiterally 'every time*. c f i y h b o u h . . . dm 'the whole lot' is a mlloquial quantifier phd W;UI JGUU&I t l k q u b ~ i f ~particle l ~ l ~aaai (11.3.3):

fdb~rc6 ~ h r r - l m h n ~ m I musually g. reduced to Imkmba'Iaohng. b. used cdlquially to m a n 'atr or 'cwnpletely': Hahmhlaahng (dm) haih 11Bh p cho. completely (all) is your PRT fault 'It's all your fault.' Note that ddu can be omitted here, or replxed by the verbal parhcle m (11.3.3): DF yhhn hahmba'laahng CL people m p l e t e l y T h q y t e all gone.'

jhi

saai. leave Pl?T

di ch*hnbouh (&I) this U whnle-lot (all) 'All this m f f is Japanex.'

Ni

haih YahtWn fn Whga. is Japn goods PRT

Ng6h chflhnbouh (dm) yiu uai. I whulcckrl (nll) want all 9 want it all.' Idiom: IUrn

. . . dou 'even'

emphasizes a noun p h m or pmnoun:

h i Yih &u rhh M m h nMh. even p u a h nc4 give face me 'Not even yw lPsPfft me.'

Uhn jeujeui

d h o h k a n g d6u t1h3r that CL student alre not

@

li%

even mosl smart

daap. k m amwer 'Even the brightd studenf?:didnt know t k answer.' sik

sf c forher ~ sentence l y p s with ddu, objcms modified by IihnmlMprmxktheyerb: Nnte that

N&h guih dou fihn faah &u dhk rhh lohk. I tired unhl men food also eat not d m m 'Ihso tired 1 can't even eat+

'evetyone (here)" i s used espacially in plblrc contexts. addre* ing or referring to everynm present: Yuhgwd daaihg mnngyt if evelyorae a p ~ e e

ge

wah, nmhderh

the

fase

we

~auh then

kyutdihng gdm jouh. do

decide

so

If eve-

agree%well

deEide to do it this way.'

W j c h &&a &nu-deng. (radlo anmncemenr) thank everyme receirne-hear Thank you fm listening'

$ok wrii, Ilsinp, the polite classifier lvlri (6.2.4), i s a formal term to address everyone ptffent: F w h n g pbk wAi. w e i m e we^^ 'Ladies and pntlemen. w e l m e . '

E6 Centcnese: a mprshensive gammar 14.15 REWPUCATED QUANTIFIERS

A dasifier (6.2) may be reduplicated to express qummhcahon, with dm mming Mgre the verb as discllssed in 14.1.1. The noun K, which the dmifier refersmay beomitted where the context m k s in identiw dmr:

Go-go

(yhhn) dCiu &wng yiu d0 d rnhhnfi. CLCL ( p m n ) all want need more m e demorrncy ' E ~ e q m ewants a bit more demnrracy.' Mhaih jekkjek (WN) dGu Sng p. not-be CLCL (&share) dl rise PRT Wor all sham go up In prlct.'

Haih-mhaih yeuhngyeuhng aLrv &u sihk @? (at meal) all g c d eat FRT 'Is everythinp,good?'

(w

1 ~ ~ 1 - k

N d e -ally douh-d& dou 'ewqwhere' (do& being d as the clasdher for o r i n s mrch as Whfang'plxe'): his T ~

di

dnuh4ouh dm y6uh p lahave PRT PRT o find u these pmple everywhere.' yahn

CL pcoplc thcrcthere all

In a d d i h to classifiers. certain m m o n nouns have reduplimted fm, such as yRRn-@Im &M 'everyorae': Mhr~@hn

dtiu yiiggdr b6uwuh whhnging. slrould pmtfft environment 'Everyone should ptutect the envimnment.' person-person all

euh

Ng6h&ih Si-gwe (WJ rig@. we W E X P whatem have (LV e v j d e m 'Wr've a m all the evidence t h m is.' Ng6h daai mal s6 y h h (ge) jiIfu Wih. I bring all whatever have (Lq material rn 1 1 1 bri~~g all the m~uttrialswith m.'

Time dare reduplited to form adverbs with habitual meaning: $Lru haih g4m time-t~me all i s bo 'Ir'q l i k ~thiq p ~ p r y limp '

Chkhi

s. PRT

Llhn-Mm (chi) flub ni go mhntsih. Farye;lr (all) have this CL diem 'This pmblem arises every year.' K€uih yaht-gaM hetii yhuh&ui. she day-day gv wimmt~ ' S h e w swimmmg every day.' In cumpound m n s such asftsnmg 'minute' and mfuhjung Jemnd'.

. . . fhere are', and is wed in relatively fwmal m w n t e x t s as an emphatic ball'. If the: quantified phrase comes beFore the verb (as the ~ubjector topicalized object), i t must be m p a m e d by ddu: $6 flub (E) fihnmih d h tiihngyi. whatever have colleague all agree 'All our d h g u e s agree.' Ng6h s6 fluh (gc) fliu d h dasi sasi Ihih. I whatever have (LP) material all bring at1 m e Tll bring all the materials with me.' 56 y h h (ge) j~liu d w yiu daal saai bin. whatewr have (LP) material all d brlng all m e 'We need to brinp, all the materials with m.' If the quantified phrase is the object of the sentence, it may remain in its usual position after the verb, which msy take the guantifyine;w i d e swui 'Ibis phrase l i l l y mesns 'whatever

K€uih tou-lou (hei) aLru wuh mh6u @. (film critic) ma (film) all say n a - p d see PRT 'He pays every film is not wwth seeing.'

Ni

the firsl syllable is reduplicated, givinp, f i i m j n n g 'my mnment' and mluh-mfuh-jhg hny second': Fan-fin-lung &31Mdhhnp, bfi chaail6uh jnk d6u. mmuteminun all m n by q m catch V-PRT '(Tuu) mukl k caught by Mc cop a t any moment.' En-Wwjimg mi-yiu H h . (titk of a sonpJ minu*minute need ya~ 'I need you e v e q moment of the day.'

cmb

The w w d d i h 'mch' fiiractions like br-n relevant dasiiier and a m p a n i e d by d& Mulh go h o h m a n g yu each CL m d e n t all n e y 'Each student has to pay tuition fees.

'which', h i n g fdlawed by the I d w e the:verb: @au h o h k h . pay tuition

oxmmak269

b i w and m@h are used similarly wirh n w n s to m n 'any7:

Lkih mhih gmg &an

you

each CL

c h yiti dn-m. fom all nccd sign

dm h6yih *g p. you which cdleague a11 can i d PRT 'You can mnwte any d your dagues.' Leih mnpo tirhngsli

'You have to sign every form.' mfih m b i m with time exprasions to form adverbs of frequency such as mrirh yahr 'eachlevery day' (10.3.41. d h cht "evetyrime' s e w us a conjunctinn to mean %herever'. often W t h e r with the verbal particle ckn (1 1.3.4):

.~

NgM rnvb s i l k g. I what frph all eat PRT 4 eat any kind d M.'

(chin) nr Ng6hdeih mdih chi lsih gaan j5ul3tuh every time wme (PRV this CL restaurant we

The questbn words may have the indefinite meaninp, -any"in a n u m h of

mu h8i

(a) f o l l d by dm. m abme:

gddwh ch6h ge.

all at there sit PRT 'We sit there whenever we come to H i restatirant.'

Khih m w h

baatpw *h dFu yAuh-h~n@mi ge. stuff all have-interesr PRT 'He's interated in any kmd of p-mip.'

slht-

14d5 'ANY' The quantifier 'any' difkfersfmm 'acw and 'every' in tmplylng an elemenr o f c k : the sentence is tnw whichever ywi chocse. Ttns Ree clmice 'my' is clwely related to the megalive p o k i l y 'any', which o ~ r u r sin negative mtenoes (w13.4). the t w o t y p being expressed by similar means in hoth E n g l i i a d Cantcmse. Cantexpresses t h u oonoept using the appropriate question wmd hllnwed by dm:

bingo &u who all 'anpe'

what all 'anyrhing'

h*lh where

@isih dtiu when all

dm all

'allywhcre'

bin [a] dW which all kny'

mB*h

&

(Wng) how (manner) 'any way'

Bindovh n@h dUu hdym heui mywhere 1 all m m p 'I can go anywhere 1 like.'

gossip.

(b) in regatbe mlexts (13.4);

N@h d u h gbng m w h ak. I not-have say wbat FRT 'I hsvcn't said anyth~ng' (c) in condioral sentences (163):

Y f i h p 6 flub mbty5k mahnthih, E i h jikhlak wAn ,,gdtw. if h m e my problem you atonce seek me PRT 'Let me know W i g h t away ~fthere's any problem.' Lkih e m y a h t y l u h d t i h gin p u today have-not-have we

dliu

a11

Like d h e r &u-ph(14.1.1). these phrmes must precede the verb, whethcr thcy lurpction a s subjem or o w :

Ng6h bindouh c h Myii heui. 1 where all can go 'I mn go anywhere I like.'

whnL

Id) in A-rat-A questirms (17-1.2):

*any tim '

dfm

mntexls:

rnFiq&

what "Havep

chi

PRT

sSang h - y i h n a? onfarnilisrqmsm PRT i m n any stmngen today?

G h d e i h fongga

dih-fmh-wGih heui bindouh a7 go &re PRT 'Will yw be going anywhere in p u r vacation7 ym-PT.

t n k p - l ~ m will-tmt-will

Several a h e m a t k terms meaning any- exisr:

ydmh6h k a 1term for 'any'. As with other quanmkm, d6u is required when the , m m M p h m comes Wore the main verb: Yuhrnhbh flr w yhhn dou h q h sancnmg. any ore CL p e ~ o nall can apply 'Anyore may apply.'

Yahmh*

Yhh

'Ey

hare

nhng€i dtiu finghng. age all w l c m e age i s w e b e . '

y&h

mhaih

(CL.3 thing rwt

g&

t6h.

quite r i g 1

"Something's nnt qulte right.'

The adverbs sihdaahn 'at random' and ~ h b f '85 n y m please' are cdlquial alkrnatives to ~xpressthe choice 'any'. As adverbs, thqy m e &fore the verb: U i h sihdaahn 16 yfit go dUu minlh s6waih. you at-random take one CL all nor-have importance 'You can take any me, i t makes no difference.' Eih & i @an yat gihn. you as-you-please h a we CL ' C h o c ~any one you like-'

(m

(1.eferriq to clothing)

Simrlady, cMuiis111'at any h e ' : I i i h rhhlihdh PI Aiu dlk. you any-time leave all okay 'You can kave any time you like.' dlm & 'anyway' lypblly expresses resigmtiun or determination: Ng6hdeii dim d m yiu ylhdhn. wc how all reed migwte 'We have: m emigrate whatever happens.' KCuih dim t3%1 rRh hang k m g ng6h. dhe how all not willing help me 'She doesn't want to help me anywsy.' U i 1 1 Mi k&uiln kit jvdpk, EuJr dim d611 jni. you allow h i do leadstar she how an awgrt 'If yw give him the lead rde he'll agree to anything.'

ylrtfh mmhines with time and place wnrds te produoe indefinite adverb%

ylruh

m)A ' k m e s '

Y4uh (jahn) sih ng6hdeih l h h g giingpb dou d i h have (CL) time we rwo couple ailt will

aamau ge. PRT ?Eedmeamesw (as a mple~ mil argue: yduh dideilfdng or y6uh gP7 dmh (deih@igJ m

An alternative form of inMnite quantifimtion is a quewion wvrd faowing an expression d possibiliry s w h as h d d 3 r : '

Mi bindonh g i q w o Yih. seem at where see-EX?' you 'I seein to have sen p u mewhere before.' Hduchih

rAA~Wh&uh 'I rkm't knuw where' m y alw expres?an IndeRnheW i n !

Mhigwck Amrica

rlrh @ mdouh y h h nM know where have

@an gim C L such

ge

hohkhaauh. LP ~ h m l 'Sornewhsn in A&

there*^ 3 school like rhm:

Similady. rhh ji gPirlh 'I don't know when' might be wed to express 'mnerime':

Ni thrs

14.2 EXl$TENnAL QUANTIFICATION: 'SOME'

e places':

d e i h h g rlrh bti )9l\n sihk ym @. have some place not let people eat smoke PRT 'In some p l m they don? kt yw smoke.'

'IlM Bi

tluh tsihmuhk n@hc!eih CL t m we

h h ji nM know when

gh@. talk-EXP

'We've ~ w W thk tcqic Mynetime hie.'

1421 INDEFINITE 'SOME' Jndefmite or exiwentiat quanhfication ('some') is expresd by the exIwential word jiuh (we dr. IS):

Y h h (Bi) yhhn pk&k ni tou h& hbu dhi-tdi. have (CL) pwplc IGCI ~llaC L 5 1 ~w a~y ~ ~ertlk* 'Snme people feel tKis film is well urrrth seeing.' (i-e. yw get your money's wnTh)

1 4 2 2 NEGATIVE N"ONE.

NO ONE N W I N G "

Negative quantifiers are h e d with rhe reprive existential word dd~ (15.4): nduh ylllm 'm one' 8nd Muhy& 'nothing':

M6uh @hn mlhng(imnkk) ltih mat. nc4-have pmon understad you my what 'Nu cme udeelands what y w k talking abour.'

The~maybedified,forexample:h6udd'ald',gm&'somny/much', ~ "dddi 'quite a lm', kdu 5fu %my IMe', grrm 8iu "so little'. & and dm function as 'more' and 'less' respedhely in mmparatlve wnteKfs (14.4).

Ng4hdeih m h h @ I m h h - j y h Wh. we wt-haw thing hideCONT you 'We have &g to hide Tmm you.'

These d n s may be qualified by the addition d mar, W dB, gldng the: meaning 'hardly any':

h w @i

I d h z : h i h gnm & ?hot's nll' m m d in w i n g , dinmg and other xrvioe situations:

Gam-yaht mlluh M t yshn k n gihg. today not-have any pm-m return work 'Hardly myme is going to work today.'

A: Juhng s s i - d i

M6uh mty&hsyij g6ng Gwhgdiing-wt g~ y6hLat. not-have any bwk talk Cantonese L l ' grammar ghere are hardiy any hodca about Cantomme grammar.?

R: M d i la, haih gam do p lwk. nc-need PRT is LO much PRT PRT 'No thanks. thatll l x all.'

h46uh

gi

dU

sihpan jhng

not-have how much time "There isn't m h time I&.' m d d with

hl6uh

la.

remain PRT

the numeral 9 "one' represents a memphatjc denial: go

h h h i hi gam W n p. styrid PRT

no one. CL like you so 'There'sno me as stupid as yw.' Yat lap &I W h . one CL mrtd also not-have T h d s not even a sound.'

h u h @i fl dl yuhsg dtiu m6uh. this CL mmachine one bit use alm &-have 'This mafhine Is rm use at all.'

Ni

mduh is m d i l y llSBd in b b l e negarives (13.51, meaning 'wmy':

M6uh k h m n ihh &~ngy8uh gu leng hhpbh. not-have man not wish have CL pretty wife 'Evety man wants to have a beatltiful wife.'

14.3

giu h a? needw-need order thinp PRT 'Do yw need to mder anything else?'

still

daaih M 'plenty' is a collquial quantifier: h i h M @hn y6uh hingcheui big b u d people have-interest "nty of people are int-ed.'

(wnv.)

N@h yh*g daaih ba y€h puh. I already big bunch things do 'I a l m d y hme pknty of work to do.' msfu 'not rile' is often used U, mean 'quite a fewPY or 'quite a bit?

Jeui gahn mdu yhhn Mrsching yahp w6i. d m c n t nul-fnu popk lrpply enter miety "Quite a lot of m e have applied lo f i n lk saciery recently.' m h g n p i - n g CIng* d u g la. flat-price already rift-PFV nnt-lmle PRT PRT The price ofAats has gone up quite a bit.' I&m: md.3 mdu. l i i l l y hot a lot but not a l i k offen oonveys

m: A:

RELATIVEQUANTITIES: MUCfllMANY, LTmEIFEW

~m

yamngohK a-f knwngf-know musk PRT 'Do yw know about music?' six-rh~x

you

As there is no systematic didimction between munt and maps nwm in Cnntonese, do may mean either 'many' or 'much" and afu Lfew' or Tile':

di3 @hn 'many people' dBy&lr'a lor d S u f F siu yhhn Yew/nol many people' siu chin Sitlletiw+ much m m q '

p. PRT

B: Mdn k u d m sik ndmuch not-link! all I;=

'A r e - '

d

m n - h uhm a Gmilar meaning.

di

a.

some PRT

-

274 C

a

m a wrrprehwlsivegrammar

The quantifiers d6 and dulmsh may be used as predimtes, like adpctiws: Cdbihn

@hn

juhng

a.

that-way pmpk even more There are even more people over there.'

H6ucMh k h i h like him

gain

simahn p

so

gentle

lhih

yuM

yhhn

LF people more and

yuht du. more link 'People as genteel as him are getting fewer and fewer. Waih buy

%.

ge @hn d6u tnsh~ w. insurance LP people alm mt-few PRT are quite a few ppeople buying imrance.'

Muhim

When u d pedipredicatively m this way, & and sfu may take the perfeEtive e j 6 :

BGn G h g y 3 h n h dPj6 yat @a. bcal HK population m&PW m e part The poplatinn of Hongkmg has grown by IWI per cent.' Dim @ai du-j6 gain d o @? how come less-PW LO mvch FRT 'Why is there so mu& lm?'

Ldih fkii siu-siu jauh l e p f i l ch. you fst l i & l i i then pretty very much 'You're mwh prettier w k n you're a bit fatter.' The excessive mnstn~ctions with m!.g~Whrh and diikjah (see9.3.4) may tsnui with &ar.d du: Ng5h him Yih taai di5 la1 (film) I owe you too much PRT 'I owe toe much to yw.' Leih y h jAu y m d$k yw drink winr dri~~kADV 'You drink a hit m much.'

gwthh. ~ l l n ~ lm t

d1

rlhmbsn tbhng fi dF+kj;lm CL dessert supar much a-bit I)i

'The supar in the dffswI is a bit much.' little. too few" k &en e q u h l e n r RI 'nu# m w c :

roor stit

Leih silk taai

sit1 e h la. eat too litlie stuff PRT You're m t eating emrugh.'

;you

Taai sfu

y3hn

g w l m m Nuih.

tew people care nmum 'Not enough pwple care for her.'

too

d&jd and sIwjd h a w the idiomatk meaninp 'exha' and 'missing'

respcctidy:

14.4 COMPARING QUANTITIES

G3m chi (yat) go $hn. this time more-PFv ( wlCL vaxm 'Ikre'5one extra person this time.' GSm chi

The words db 'muchimany- and s* little(rew' also mean 'more' and 4es' respectively when mmhined urth m p r a t i v e mnshuctionssuch as those with gwo and M (9.3):

(flt) go y3hn. thk time 1-PFV (one) CL p e ~ n There7s one person missing this time.' W6ri

d

sWj6

nr the rpchiplimted fnrm sh-firr m adjzdives:

little'

%i

mu d

N@ mdverbialIy with

I

sihk &k

&

ear ADV -1 em more than you do.'

grso Yih. than y w

K h i h Gwbn+ylih~g-d jeunbouh-j6 siusiu. dhe Gntonese improw-PFV little-lime 'His Cantonese has i m p w e d a little.'

Ngdh jaahn &k dh grso nng6h I cam ADV less than my 'I eam lem than my wife do^ '

M&i g3m fl11gj6 US g d d &W

N@h h n d a M ylchihn I sleep ADV than before 4 deep more than I wed to.'

s*u. little: She US ddlar has gone up a little.'

Ib-.

wire

a. more

Where the *ect of mprison is omilted, & i s wed (9.3). As wth adjedives (9.3.I), such m p a r i m s may he modified by luh & much, a lot', &'a lirtle. and its r e d u p l i t e d form di&or dir-du 'a wee bit':

Muihdeih funp, yiu dm3 di sihgaan. want d mwc a - l i tirllc They'd like a little more hme:

Chi. g m mmr than

thcy

YlhgA 116;

Htull&m~g

8.z

Hongkong

that minland

in

dnnihluhk yAhn w l e

sahp g%n Jiingpmk pingsi tcn CL L n c s c mmpany

19ih

wmc

Heungghg !kuhng-sh. Hongkong p u p m a r k e t 'Over ten Chinese companies are to be l i d on fhe Hongkong stod;

Ngdh l i h m i n jaahn du di chin. 1 mther earn less a-bit m m y T d rather make less money .' now

M;laih Srt che yiu rhiu p o sahp m a s h rnm. buy new mr need more than ten ten-thousand dollar 'To buy a new cm ow& wer $10n.W.'

exchange.'

yuht &!I yuhf *mom a d morc' m y hc usod with da a d du, ac with adjectives (9.3.1):

bel than

yihchihn di5 W ql$, More more very much The mainland ppople in Hongkong are many mow than they used to

G G n e jaahn g chin yuht lsjh yuht slu. company earn that money mwxome-more: lesg 'The m p n y IS making less and less money.'

be.'

YuM lhih yuhr d6 hohksaonp duhk dnmhhnhk. morr-rome-more mamy shident study u n r d y 'Mwe and more shidents are going to univffsiy.'

K h i h ni p a i h si @,h & dd8 BU hb d6. sfhe these days write thirg write ADV less bery mwh 'He writes a lot less n n w a d a ~ . '

do and siu also take on their wmprative meanings hnre' and 'less' when fomclwed by a quantity expmxiion: Um-jyuh jni jyuh W siam pM. we think-CONT s p i n I17e w e three day L W ~ 'thinking 4 of staying three more days.' N@&h

K h i h yih@ fahn gong jaahn dij darn ~ i dhe now CL. inb earn m three time 'Her job p w three times as much now.'

s* sahp Tan g6 give IH ten fib.& Ihnt 7 gme ten marks 1- to that student.' Ng6h Ei

go

1

CL. student

h

hohksang.

& $wo and sfu pmay m p a r e two c l a w s B h jOngyr chin & p o jungyi ng6h. (fflm) I Lnnw yw like money more than like me 'I know yori lovc money mwe than p u l w e me.' N@h jT

chiu gwo 'more than' is used with figuws. being more: formal than d8 pv: Jek @u aqung chiu gwo @om p h t . CL dog missing more than three d a ~ 'The dog was missinp, for more than three days.'

h i m h h k fdi~,, brp part' mn&n r7ra.w af [noun) K&ih s6

$i

$h

daaih bwhfahn haih j8n

write CL sruff l a v C L pan is

true

ge.

PRT

'Mm of what he w i i l e s is true.' Daaih b w h fahn yhhn dCa wCih lsuh hSi HEunmng. large CL part ~ l all c w i h y ot Hongkong 'Mnst people are staying m Hongkong.' N d e a h the related phrase sfu h u h fahn 'a small portion' and p7t bouh f f l h Wrt of. swne of'.

6-most' nr -mostif is wed as an adjenive crr adverb. lo quantify people. thing or events: Dosw yhhn

sy+ga heui l€uikhfihnp,. people s u m m e r - h d i v go travel 'Most people p travelling in the summer hdidnys.'

most

YBhndeih

yuhng ni jek phih-ji. mostly use this CL brand g e p e o p l e ube this brand.' dMm

siimu is the o p p i t e of d m u . m n i n g ' f e w

278 Cantonese: a m-wmhwrsive grammar

Jwuh

&mu $hn j a a d h n g g6m y&ng jmh. only-have few peopk a p p e this way d o Qnly a few peopk apprme of this way of doing things.'

15 EXISTENTIAL SENTENCES

Yiuh sitmu hohksaang hew sihwai. hove fcw mdcnt go dcmonstmtc There are a few srvdenn who dernomrmte.'

Nore the i d i ~ l l l t i cex+n: Silaou

few

fuhkchhhng d m . obq. -nY

'Minority obep rnajo+.'

Unlike d h u , however, s i w u is nM uged as an adverb.

Exrstpnhal sentences, mtroduoed by t k w v d @I&, are imp(lrtant to idiomatic Cantonese. yduh essentially means 'have' nr There i d k t r are" tut often does mfcorrespond to anything in English. Fnr example, rn many cases ylrsrh is q u i d to introduce an i d f i n i t e noun phrase as the I;ubjen d a sentence, due to the m l r a i n t fiat subshould k clefinire (we 4.2.5. 15.5). The negahve counterpart JWI 'there isn'thhere aren't' behaves in a parallel fashwon: essential8y all thase stnmres which omrr wirh yiuh also occur wilh mciuh (15.4). The mrresporading A-m4-A q t e tim f m , yhubnadu4. is used to form existential questions (17.1.5).

15.1

YAUH + NOUN

yduh transla& either as *haw' or m "there Mm'. There is rm clear d i s t i h o n benveen the ' m e ' and 'existential' fuimiomof yinrk, and senterms such as the mowing hme a similar slructure: KPuihdeih yiuh saarn go jC. ( m s i v e ) they have three CI. son 'They have three sons.'

NT

go

this

CL place

deihfrmg $uh rnahn~ih. (oristentian have proMem There's sanething wrong with this place.' As a verb. y6uh can take the a s m markers gwo and jd. (but nm g h or nwh)and verbal particles such as f#n ( 113.1):

Ng6kdeih hohkhaauh chhhngJbih meih $ohgm rhod never not-yet have-EXP so

our

1Ek ge hhohksHan& m n LP studen1 Y)ur schml has never had such a bnghr student.'

KCoih +hj6

h&l

dhe

ni p k h n g have-PFV this CL dim= 'She's had this disease for a longtime.'

vegv long

loih.

kuh mduh mllhnthih gc la yw hawe back confidence then not-have problem PRT PRT 'Wbm you get p u r d e w back there1 tre n o problem." Lt3h y4uh lsan xundrn

Y

1!dims: ydvk-j6 (bihhi, with the pxfective marker$. mllcquially meam 70be pregnant':

MMv fing

Wi fihn(deih) Cng ng6h yiuh-j6 wo. don'l s p a k to people hear I 11aw-PFV PRT 'Don't tell a q m e I'm pregnam, okayqv?'

ybcth fdaA gum s e u h g hd i d i o m h l l y b b e s a recument or typical quality (me:the charqe tone in huh to Id)'

Lh d h

ki dbu haih y4uh

di

gunp

V-PRT award thmc CL film all are have

get

ffin

gam xuhng hfi

V-PRT

So

p.

dam PRT

T h e films that get rrwardF are all of a certain standard.'

~

U

~+ VERB I H

y h h and rnduh are used before a verb primatlly in questions and negative statements referringto the past (l3.3,17.1.5):

fi rlirl A-h a? have-not-haw see PRT AhChan PRT 'Did you ~ e Chan?' e

A: YBuhmfn~h

Wg6h gam-yaht mduh heui I today not-have go 7 haven't b x n out today.'

B:

Yhh. have

'Yes.'

ai. street

These cnnmxctbm mrrepd to [verb] - jd in aPmmatk s c n w n ~ ~ ~ (11.2.4. U.3). Tn addition, me wmbinatim ydddm&B katmws in hvo ways:

+ verb can wcvr in declarative:

(a) M m g to the pa&; this usage is Ewnterpart of the negative and intrrmgAiw comhuction d i s ~ ~ g ssbme. d but k highlycmphatic:

Ed&:

ytiuh am. litemlb To have a heart'. meam 'lo have the intention' or 'to do somethingon purpose': Ktuih yAuh s9m jing-@ ng6h die ham heart trick me 'He tricked me intmtmnally.'

ge. PRT

Deui-mjyuh. ng6h mhaih $uh a m p. aarrY 1 not-be haw hearl PRT 'Sony. Id ~ d ndo t it on plrpose.' The negative form m h h Wm has a simiIar meaning:

Ng6h M u h e m &nghoih H h p. I not-have hearl hurl yw PUT 'Ididn't mean to hun )ou '

yhdi Mm m q also refer to a well-wisher's concern: A:

Mi

hehne

go

jii

CL

m sick

4H"m your Eon r B: D w h .

Mh

Ban

well back

d w?.

mpih a? nd-yel PRT

jZnhili yduh Gm lo! Oh yw really have heart PRT Wou're so nice to ask!'

A: G6

chi ng6hdeih heui-j6 C h e k s m t h d time we go-WV Stanley That time we went to Stanley.'

Haan. viut

B: Haih a, ngbh d h y h h is PRT I slw hq% gv

mat's right, I went tmr R: lRih flu-h sihk saai yeuhk a? you hwe-not-Rave t a t all CL ~ l d n l n e PKT

'Haw you taken all the medicine?' B: EBnghaih y h h sihk mi have eat 'Of c a m e I Rave.' surely

W h

mW*

a. PRT

all

@ jc-po

l€l

Wn qm

I nd-remember have borrow-EXP your CL h 'I don't remonber borrowingyour bmk.' @) M e u ;mlg

lu I l ~ p c m i , wtth a

wo.

k FRT

hablrual meaning.

huji Wt-yaht &I ySuh g h g g~~slh. yewqmper day-day all have talk Mmk-market The p p e r talks about the a m k market wery dq: The habitual inte-pretarion @) also -1s

LRih junng F - n u k h you

still

haw-not-&

'DOyou still go sw~mming?'

heui

go

in ybuh-mdzdr q y3uMui a? swimming PRT

w

~

:

7 Existential sent-

283

Note the rhetorical vse of fin(11olJI): see 17.3.4. yAuh

+ verb idioms: this m b i n a h alw oocurs in some diomafic

eKpressionsand proverb:

M@,

gaal

Mu

@ ~ h lohk. (wal UII I I ~ I I ~ ~ U J CsIL.) S

c d k s in exdndves: p m [adj] tifit# yfwh is an exprrssion of exclamation or surprise:

Lohk gam daaih yi5h d h flub @I fall so big rain alsa w s t PRT T h h , 1 ntv& k n m it ~ v u l drain like this!'

please street corner Rave &scencl

War

'Please let me ofC d the corner.'

wow

lhhng y h h w k ysuh sin. rho* two CL have talk have laugh Tkw twn ( ~ I P wt ) nn well rqtther.' K&ihdeih

D 6 u d f n ganghaih J.Buh FImg yaah r y l ge II. betlnoney o f m m have w n Rave lose PRT PRT 'In gamblmg, of m r s e there are times to win and there are times to lose.'

1 5 3 YAUH

y€h

h15ucmh Pnl~ a

[adfl is used to qwry the value of sornettnng:

JC~kksuh jduh mHwh h h t6i a? football haw what good warch PRT 'Wliat's m, gnrrd ahnut fnmbdl?'

M

flub

mH#h gam dahkbih have what so spscial 'What3 so special about shark fin (soup)'?

shark-fin

yduh with a quamity expressim such m biordu-siu may be used to n u d f y an a$j&=: ge

yciuh -tyA

Y

+ ADJECTIVE

Wuih g h g s k say

Gam yuhksyBn &U flub @! udy also exist pRT 'What wuld be so I@) 7'

m - w .

LP things seem have bit nN-right 'There seema to be mmetbhg not quite right in d a t he ~ p . '

N g h gokdak j4uR d u 4 u mtiihng. I feel have littlelittle different 'I h l t h m ' 9 a $tight d ~ f h c e . ' N@h di guih, d u n g i%an u k M sln. (film) I have m e bred want mrn home first 4 m a bit tire$. I'd like m go home.' yduh is also used in m p n m of @ e m (9.3.3) and adverbs (10.2). in the form ~ ~ 4 for 1lnrermgartve h cornpirims ur duw in 111duri-1 qdms;

Mi )duh-&h

kkuih gam fm@n a? h-t-haw her so energetic PRT 'Are you as energetic as her?"

p

Ng6h bin($wh) @uh Wuih gam Mmih a? I where have her so capable PRT T m nothing like zrs capable as ahe h"

a'

PRT

15.4 M&JH Mciirh is the negative counteq?arl of fid. meaning "there idtfihere aren'P (there irn combination *MI~ ~ 5 1int hHongkong Camom). It m a parallel Fashion t6 yviuh: those shuCtur~swhich occur will1 @uIr p-terally ako oocur with &, with a similar pattern of d v e or

flIStenrial usap: Pomssiw Ng6h m6uh saai chln la wo. I mt-have all morrey PRT PRT 'I'm out of money.' Erisrenrial

Nidouh mduh y€h dah. lrm mt-have rlrings buy "There'snothing to buy here.'

The meaning may k emphmeaning 'none at all':

in the expression Fr di.

. . dm dub

Existentials e n t e m 285

284 Ganfonese:a c o m p r s gammar ~ Ngolhgwok-#hn Toreignmle

hh in

nl

@n

this CL

y8t dl deihwaih wnw company one bit shtus

~~n dub pel do yhhn heui this-par not-have horv many pwple go N m many people are going abroad rhk year.'

&u m h h . also not-haw "FomgnersRave no stam at all in this cmpny." A s a d , &h can take the perfective-p; il then dendeadchange fmm Ravingwwneth~ngb nat having it:

TEllg g h g Wuihdeii ngssmng3rn m6oh-3 p hear say they just-just notRasePFV CL giingy&hn. k mdhm w6h. ma~d wry mot-manage PRT 6App-lly they've just Iwl nui, maid. and t h q mn't rope.' YhhgM mW-Jb n&h if not-Rave-PFV my

fahn @n@ng CL salary

jauh

K€uihdeii nmkh

h may take theverbal patidessQaia d &h

without EkiIm, the phnse rtsduhgdihllr w u l d follow tho vcrbwith o dight difference in meaning: Keuihdeih git-j&fin m6uh g& loih. manyPFV not-have how long h m T sari m a n i d

Idioms: &h

msii

Ng6hdeih mduh h15lhhng @m we not-have chance rhii W e can't w i b l y go on like this.'

jouh do

lohk-heui. wntinue

K h i h nduh Whyhuh rRh tEng ng6h d i h d . slhe no reasan not K i n my phone 'How~ome:Ws nor answwing my dls?' M h W h EihyAuh h i ng6hdeih sihk leih force w ream yw no inhale your & ylMu ym gel (film) CL second-had smoke PRT 'Tl~ere'sno need to force us to breathe y m r b h m d smoke.'

Ng6h pokddsk d 7 8 a u tn6nl1 nE&ys31 mbbn. I feel deal-flm cat-have any not-good don't really sae anything wmng with speculating cm Rars.'

+

rndrah is also wed m negative mmparisom (9.3.3,lO.Z):

nun mehng mouh le~h s a n g dak p h6u. CL fste not-have you born ADV so good 'My fate is not as pdas yours.' N&

I

t have much confidwrce in Westem docbr~.'

way

incomprehension or incredulity:

m&lh together with a pestion word qxesws a qualified "anf (14.22). Thus mduh rnayth or d u k mM means 'not much':

swnrrTuo ge. amfidence PUT

$ung

m&lh IPihyduh, I'neraUy 'no mwm', i s used to show the ~ k e r ' s

18nhwh m i really pith& 'She's lbst men thb chance, it's really a shama"

m6uh ma K6wi&ui yi ai towards Wedem $oQor nothave my

g *nochance' are

Ngirhrlerh m h h baahnfaat ni g i n sih. we not-have way explain this CL matter 'There's no way we can enplmn tha'

(113.3):

& anhuh di, a h nm-have V-PRT

she

b m h q f m 'no way' and h u h m

used aclverlnally

maih m6uh N mh! we then not-have 811 fm 'We'll lose faoe canplezely, that way!'

-

clihn @-jC-h. manyPFV

Note that the time p h w with &hi (see 10.4) must wme before the verb;

SO

'She M

ldh

rot-11% Row l o n ~ a p 'They got marnxl not long ago.'

they

GQrn ngohdeih

K h i h ilhn ni go @wuih she even this CL chance,

g6i

npihgwok abmad

then

lo. PRT Ed"E$nV hhave my salary, I'd be in trouble.'

cham

Similarly, h

Similarly, mi?% @ do i means 'not manymuch' and m6uk &i b i h (drlhn) 'not long ago':

286

Cmbwse: a canprehenslve grammar

ldiom: m h h (ngrshflf~l friA ~) 'Uyau have rm pan to play' (note the tone change: fahn 'part, portion' -a fln)n): %&hn

yauh dub @h f k la. (TV ad.) tonight apin rot-have nly part PRT 'There3 no place far me here agaln toni@r.'

(hbhngchihn y h h go M u daaih ge Grnlihm.. fmm-before have CL very big LP foren tllllt.. lllt-,~ Wd3 ~ lrum[. l ~ ..

.

a?

m

y PRT 'Doesher stepmother have a share m the family

mrub

Hh loih i h l h n . $uh

castle

Waih. mduh not-ham mind 7 Bon't mind whether we go to Arnmca or Britain.'

ear what

all

haih

nothaw mind

ge.

PUT

.

.'

ge

gangivd

LP pnncess

~110 1i.d

;,J

a

Ng6h em-yaht gin CEU tou Gam @- %g ge. I today see V-PRT CL clothes qurte nlce PRT "Isw a suit which was quite nice today.'

Ncde that thii t.cpe of sentence corresponds funchmally to a nowrestrictive

156 PRESENTATWE SENTENCES

relatave d a m In Engl~sh.

Because sub@rsM+cs are normally deRnlre (4.23. Indef[nlte noun phmust be introduced by WuI1 in mder ro appear as WMEUS: YBuh a yhhn h h stung j8u. have some people not want leave 'Some pwple clun't warn to leave.'

m

h mh @g dak ge. some thing not can say PItr 'Some things cannot be mentioned.'

hme

A locative p h n w (7.1) may precede ylrtIh: Wihmihn Jauh h6u dG yLhn ding@ inside have very many people wmt-I'kVb 'lns~dethere are a lot of pwple walling for yw.'

lmg

Other p x n t a t i v e sentenws resernble exiwential WntencR in shwdure and fumfion. but I&the distinnive exiwenrial verb ydrrhlm6rah. Insread. another verb is used fn i W u c e an indefinite noun phrase about which m is said in the following clause.

'He b n ' t mind what he eats.'

ysuh

hdu

jyuh h$i g6Mu douh . . live in castle there 'Long, long ogo. thcR w a a~ beautiful pi-

Heui M6ihgwok waahkp heui Yin.ggwok &u go Bnra~n all or ~o Arne&

fie

-

go

very l o n ~before have CL very prerty

'm don" rind' express indifference:

!JSW&JI

K h i h tihk m q e h c h miuh

uk m h h yhhn jyuh. h o w no person live "In H u n w g tlrme are p p l e wirtwur a h o w to live in, and hwith anyone llvlng in tliem.' This mrls?ructimi$natmlly vsed lo begin a stvry or faii-tale:

K h i h hauh-m6uh ybh-mhh Tin MI her mpmother have-not-have parl divide Sng3

HFungghg &i yAuh $hn jyuh. y6uh mduh Ok l a d have pmple no house live have

Hcngkong

16%. you

M i a l l o n and stlbwlimte dm1se928!4 G a u daaihhohk p ybhn Wg@i ysuh gaausyi teach univmity LB pople should h t h teach-lmok

16 COORDINATION AND SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

pd~ @+ye. arid writebook

.clniverslq~reachers h u k l born reach a d l l k . '

Cantonex uses a variety of devices for cooidination, mmrding to the i t e m to be cmjoined. l n many csm where English would md, ooordlnarlon is e q x e s e d by jumqxdtlon wilhwul any u m l w n j u w tim: I1Su &u flhn leih nidouh y8mdrah. silk-faaha. very many people m e here drink-rea eat-food 'Lots of people come here for dim sum and meak'

The serial wrb m m u d i o n (8.3) is a caw of juxtapmition without any oven indication of coordination or subordination. Where m r t j u d o n i s explicit, a variety of conredingwmds me u d aomding m the items m IK joined.

Ng6h fihng W h heui-jb Wohngkok hhahnmnp-.

both soft and havehunoe 'Your hair will be soft and hey.'

raun p m n g yauh lens (idiom) both cheap and nice vt's)cheap and cheerful.'

w, Mm8h yiu b.3 y m f 3 seui. levhtsi PRT a-leas need pay stamp dury lawyer

hi. g T n 6 )*ng fee agenl commRsion T o buy a house, you have to pay =amp duty, legal fees and mmmission. to start with.'

yfing ar*lyiu cornmidm all need

p"y FRT

walk-store

'YUI have to pay m m p duty, Lepl fees and mmmMion '

There is no M i o n on the order of the pnonal pronouns here: Rt'uih n l h g ngdA and n&/r hihw khik nre eq~~ally p i l e , Its difference involving which person the sentence is felt to be a b u t (the sentence topiE is placed first). yn~ilr . . . ynuh 'hoth .. . a d ix an emphatic mnjunctim used to coordinate adjectives and verbs:

CL hair

MSaih Ok lmy horse

Yanfa xui. leuhm hi. gin@ stamp duty lawygr fee agent

t3mg 'with' C used to d n a t e noun ph-:

Di thhfaat yauh y6hn yauh yAuh-daahnsing. (sh-

Lists rypicallydo mt q u i w a coordinating oonjunction, but lire e x m d A a seqvence of words or phrases =prated by a slight p a w :

The adverb &u 'all' (14.1.1) i s d to sum up a list of lwa or more tqsiallecd itcrns:

16.1.1 COORDINATW OF WORDS AND PHRASES

I with him p P F V Mongkok 'He s r d I wcnt shopping in Mongkok.'

Ng6h yauh oi k h i h yauh tmhn kBuiR. I h t l i love him and b t e him *Ilmtb love and hate him.'

ad.)

t&hng or n>hngm?a#a 'and a W may be d. like English and. to fin the last item to a list' N@h yiu m6aih d3uhfuh. choi thhngmiaih Ifiaih. I need buy mfu vegtable and milk 'Ineed to hy tofu vegetahl~mrl rn~lk.'

It a h allows an item to be added by way ofaMhought: Wdouh Bi vth there CL auff

.

kng d i . nice m e .

..

ti~hngmaih h w wliat's-more a n

yahm Wh gian gPiloih ge. upro you chocse how-long PRT They have nicer thing4, there . . . and you can c h w rn lung as you like.'

A sentemx paniclewch a or IIr7 may h11many item in a list. typicaIly to fill a p u x while theqmler m w up warh the next Item !see 18-2.1):

A: E h dim gSai gam mchng ga? ymu Row came so busy PRT 'How mme you're so my?'

B: Ng6h yiu @i &n Ian. sC seun 18. 1 neerl correct p a p PUT write letter PUT

(b) consequence: jnslh i n r d u n n g the -d of hw d a m indicates that the content of the m n d dauw fdlows fmm thar of the fimt: Ng6h jauh

kyutdihng

h h thhng k€uih hlipjok. him c u l l a ~

I therefore decide not with !'XI Idecided norm collaborate 4 t h hlnl.' L t i h wah dfm, jmh dim B. ~ W P sw haw then how PRT 'Whatewr you 9.'

(see 6.4.3)

juhng yiu jy&mfimh-faahn rlm. qill need conk-9ko-food too 'Well, Ihaw m grwe ppffs, w t e lerte~.,ana ewn ao the mKlng

(c) conditional, as in the consequent dause of m d i i o n a l senten-

as well.'

s6yifr also introducmconsequence dauxs, meamng 50'or 'therefom':

For oormecting whole p R m s or clauses. a number of adverbial9 or mjurctiuns are used:

or jukngvr~' a h ' adds an item which is felt to be important w to R a e k e n m W out:

juh*

A: Yiu ch%g Mu# 1H. f & h h 15. . need invite cwsin PRT fany PRT 'We should invite your k n , fatty . . .' B: JuhngyAuh Wuih Wuikp4hngy6uh wo. & l l - l ~ m his @-hcnd !JUT +Andhis girlfriend, too.'

Ng6h yiu jy6-faahn, juhngyiu di m h i h w6n. I rreed cook-food also-ikxd wash a h dish '1 have to do tlm rooking, and the washing-up too.' gfin#yulr 'rat' and yil~r~i~nlllr bftcrwa@ mrdinute s sqwnm of wen*: Ng6h&ih sin sihk-faahn. p j y h h w i ?6i hei. we first a t - f w d f o l h n g ~a see ftlm 'Well have dinnerkt, then go and rn the ftlm.' "then, therefore' i s a genera-plrpose mnjurdon which foilow me: sub&i 01 tht WWII~ d a m . I1 p r t h n s e variely *Iluntliuns:

j&

Ngdhdelh h h u j+hn slh huh heul dan. we take Rnsh exam then p play 'When we* hnishedexams we-re going to hme rnfun.'

(16.3).

Di chE Mi a k hhu hfno,i S @ I ~ yiu s-i di. CL car drive ADV very f~ t h e e m d careful bil 'The cars are p i n g vmy Fast. sa you need to be: mrdul.' A: Kfdhdeih lkuhng-giingp6 xhnhngyaht inh h8i they two-couple alway not a

likhtl grr. home PUT 'Those hvo (that couple) are never at home.' B: soyh

~ilou@i h u h

yhhn

ltih

lo.

CL children not-have person a r e PRT That'swhy no one cares lor tbrchildren.'

so

Mr i s a

h u x d as a double canjunction with yu?nworh -bemlse' (162.2).

claahnhaih and & r g w &rr,dtur

i d u c e but' c l a m . usually together with

'altl~uugl~' ( 16.2.4).

Ng6h mhaih m k n g w s h , Mtpvo. &u haih also i s not-be not-want helphand but I Ylh p u h jeui hh. you do mcst good 'It's not that I don't wont to help. but Ys rwlly & f o r y to do it.'

fImny1h 'houwer, on the other h a d a h conwp a wmrasr benveen two c l a m . but occurs, likepulr, in the seoond position of the second clause, followingthe sub-: soumuhk-jih deui gwiil& lhih to foreigner come

=@am

ni

thirteen

this I T number

@g say

gu

haih Mt &&uhng. Jilnggwok-yhhn ffinglh R not lucky Chinese-phwmr

ZBZ Caimese: a comprehensive grammar $ok& liaih hbu yiliuh. feel is gmcl luck "Thirteen is an unlucky number for roreignos. fo the Chi-. it's a lucky one.' (see 21.1.4)

C o o r d i and ~ subordinate clauses 293

16.2 SUBORDINATE CLAUSES however,

% a a l t ' or 'mit turned out' IS a conrrchve wed t o w n clauses:

hcui Yinggwok. grtgwb N@h Ininlbih Emjyuh I originally thinkK0NT go reult England

m6uh heui dou. not-& go mive -1w z plannlngto go m England. but as i t turned out IdidnY get there.'

16.1.4 DISJUNCTION: 'ETTHER' . . . 'OR' Ihslunction (coordination with or) is exprrssed by wmhkp or runkai11. which are repeated to express the meaning ' e m . . .or':

Subordinate clauses behave very differently in h h n w e hnm the way they do in European languaw. In general, the differences i m l v e the use of paratax6(jwtapmition of two daurxs) rather than hjptaxis or subordind~on. ha1 is. the two clauses are more qmrnetriC$I than main and s M i n a t e clauses in English. The following characrerish are notable:

(a) Many shrdinate dause d m & of two d a m each lxginnrng wrth a conjunctran. The followiw pairs or W l e ~ 0 n j - h ~ norrnally go together:

. .jauh 'as WII m . . . L l k r t ' (1G.Z.1) yanwaih . . W F i h "-use . . . Illerefore' (16.2.2) swiylhn . . . daahnhaih -although. . . neverthelas' (16.2.41 ykhhgwb. . . jaulr 'if . .tlwn' (163) yBl.

.

@)I Certain subordinate clauses haw a canjunction at both the beginning and the end of the dause:

N&hdeih waahkji yihmhhn waahkjt huh h86yu. we perhap emigmte perhaps stay here 'We may emtgrale w stay here.'

CYhthJ6 ni yeuhng

Ngbhdei ysfiaih ylhmhhn yahaih lhuh hsisyu. we either ernignte or stay here

W q ng6hdeih jouh

'We will ather emigrate or stay here.' The hw sentcwes differ in that w h k @ is less certain and eswfFmihmore decisive. Cmwquently. ~ W W Y I. . . y ~ c ? Z l ~ks arppropnazc in an ultimatum: U i h yHthaih jXh9rrk Ei jOu y3thaih biin jau. you eitlier at-once prr~. rent or move h v e "Either p y the rent right mw or move out.' Note that the words wuuFrk? and yorha!lr are mt used in alwrnmiue ('A or 87)questions. w h i i are e x p r d by drttng and y i k d t k (17.2). Toexp.essthediijunction'neither. . .noi.yauh. . .y i r h (Ih.1.l) may k u d will1 alrgaltzl w r l n ur ndjnliwa.

K h i h yauh rhh sAi tluh yauh h h changlhhng. S/k bat11 not wmh hair and n d shower 'He war't wash his hair or take a shower.'

Di sailouhjdi yauh h h duhk-syfi

yauh h h jouh-y+h CL children both no1 srudy-book and nor do-rhing Thm k~dsneither mdy nor work.'

ji-mgoi, juhngyhh m w h mahntah a? apan from this CL outside a b h m e wliat problem PRT 'Othcr than this, whst pcblems are fhere7'

while we

do

dihnd hohbfiang &lulsl. du-aih students that-time hand-carry phone

jung mih lhuhhhhng. sill not popllar ' W l e we were students, mobile p h e s were not popula~yet.

(c) SubMdimte chum. like sentence adverbs (10.3). yubjedlopic:

may follow the

ZRih Tiai yanwaih taai guih &yii mbuh Ihih. Lee Mrs kcause roo tired rn did-not come *MELee didn't mherausr she win too tired.' Subordinate clauses of prrpose, reand time all m m r before the main verb they modify. Tai (1%) has *rued that this ordei~ngof c l a m mnically reflectsme rempoml sequence of events and the loglcal sequence of c a m and effect. I n English, by comparison. this tendency n mvch weaker rrs the revorder ot d a m readily occurs. (d) Several of the conjunctions mn follow the claux as well as -in$ it. especially an 'aft~hought': ahk-taahn la. ~ m SAhgaaII h a. pnwaih. 1 nor m-fmd PRT m time PRT becauw 'I'm not eating. There's no time. thws why.' ~ g d hmh

Maimand W l n a t e da~sss295

294 Cantonese: a wrrprehershre gramnar Taw' gwai la. Hbu leng wo, daahnhaih. too dear PRT very nice FRT bwewr 'It's too expemive. Very nice, though.' Ng6h siung heui 1 want go

npihgwok duhk*. abwad study-

W h chin no money

,

bagw. PRT thw@ '1 want to go abmd to study. But T don't have any money.'

(e) I t is IK~p r ~ ~ ~ ito b fhaw e a fomrd-referring promun within sw31 a c l a w . Instead. the name or n w n p h m m e $ iim as the sentenrs topic:

Lhh T6ai yxmvaih h h dung tmai guih. &yii Lee Mrs bust mt want too tired m jet-j6u fan*. way-early s l q ~ P l T 'Becamshe didn't want to be too tired. Mrs Lee went to bed early.'

Ilbng 'untir may be used together with g 6 j ~ I 1 d oge r slRhauh. meaning'by the time': Ding K h &an

dou liih g6jnhnsl d i sung until you h c k V-PRT come that-lime: CL W

yl@ng dung smi la. already odd all PRT "RYthe time ~I-MI $er M the food will

an k odd:

ddng'when, while' is alm matchedby gc5fihsior ge sihhuh at the end of the clam: pong) ng6h duhk daaiR-hohk g6jahrrsi. juhng mdh while 1 study univemty tliaMime still rot-yet

ySuA dihnlduh

ge.

lirrve comp~er PRT 'When I w~ at uni-.

w didn't hare mmputefi.'

ge gehhauh. Wh mMu ( m g ) @hndeih king* you don't chit-chat LP ume while people tau-eng

1 6 Z 1 TIME CLAUSES Time dalses are subordinate d a m which specify the time IO which the f01b-w mairl dwse rpfmThe temwml wnjvnctipns gbfiht'when', Jlchihn 'befme' and j w h 'sfter' m e at Hie erld of the time dause: Ng6h jyuh Ggubhng g6juh'. Giulhhng Slhng Jaaih 1 live Kowlom that-time K o w h City village juhng meih chaak ge. mt-yet h d i PRT still -When1lived in Kowloon. Walled City hadn't yet been demolished.'

me

g6juhn or & j h (with change of tone) is a short form of &QIIwI:

d h Mu Ng6h rthng ldih jetchiih g6jahn. I with you together that-time also very M S m ge. (him) happy PRT 'I was happy while Iwas with you.'

An altwnative is ge s ? M . b a d on tRe Mandarin wnwmtion de smu:

Ng6h mi go ge sihhauh. &hngyaht g h @ung wian ge. I little: U tlial rime always ths v q play PRT 'When Iwlls a little @ II used , to play like this.'

wo. s t e a l - l m PRT 'While people are chatting don't e m d m p . ' dong is opljonal here, k n g wwd largely in writing and formal speech. fldrthhn 'beforemand 1ih~uJc'after' mme at the end of the subordinate clause:

he* Lejh $ei-jyuh you member go

I6 Mkihgwok [ a n j i u America before m x d take

dihng &mjing. ready visa 'Remember m get a nsi in advme before going to America.' H i a n JWjauh tii bouji. @-up afler then read n y p p e r 'He reads the newspapr a h w i n g up

Emh fie

W h ~ ~ i i 'before'. hn the negative 4 may be wed explehdy in the subordinate dause: heui Mtihgwok jichlhn juhng Ng6h meih Am&m b e f m *ill I not-yet go

Bmjyuh intend

jouh ji-ng ge. work doaor PRT "BI w e n t 20 Amenca I wrs intendingto be a doctor.'

296 Ganwnese: a rompmhensivegrammar The p

h y&hn

(j6)JM' a i t m r d s '

Ngahaelh n5-g jdhu yinghg 1w listen fin~sh talk 'After k talk we'll go and eat '

Cmrrfiatiw and wbmhate dauees 297

sew= as an adverbial pRrase:

go

after

eat-food

gam loilt %nlong' is da a conjunct~onindicariq a len* wresponding w sinc~:

gam Ng6h @a11-j6 I teackPFV so

of t h e .

di311 meih qin-gwo loih sfl. long book all1 nor-yet wEXP

gam

lanhn ge holikaang. ZU lwy LP sl&mrt 'I've nwer wen such a Imy student since rve k e n teaching.' Nme that gnm doih dnot refer to a prticularty long pmid of time as the g k 'so long' implies. For example. afrer a few w e k s in Hongkong a m arrival might l x asked:

M h IM-j6

HEungg6ng gam loih. g w a a n - m a n you come-PIT Hongkong ro long wed-not-used douhdouh dGu gam dG jihn a? toplacpplxe all so many people PRT 'Have you used to so many m e evoylvhm since you came to Hongkong?' ~ m h n g ' s t n o e .i s a tormal mjunmon, matchedby pat& at the end ot the clavse: Jihchbhng n@h biiwjh

I

since

lsh

n i c h h jihauh,

mmwPFV come here

after

dak. able

rr (1 1.3.2) i s often used in prefmSimilarly. the verbal panicle ~ G i ~'finish' ence m the conjunnionj r k d r 'aher': rbhngsni

gaau-ybhn-sy0

jauh

heul @m@h drink-tliinp

s'or

Ng6h yBt yAuh si&k jauh tiln@ 1Cih. I once have news then h f a m you .As soon as 1 have any news, I'llinform you.'

m h W m jauh mh thchevtkg. once unhappy then not outvoice

K b i h y2t

slhe

'Whenever she" unhappy. she W n X speak.'

K h i h fit

flm-jh jauh &hng faai mihn hhng pad. once drmk-me then whole LL face red all 'Whenever he drinks, hk whole f a pe red.' 51he

The mmbinarion n*h. - @ih, literally 'this end. j u x t a p m two near-simuft~news events:

. . that W, alw

K€uih nithuh wah jiu gigit-fsn @huh yauh wah dne nwe say want many Inme agan say

-

yiu Eih-fin. want d i m

'No has h e said that she wants to get manid than he sap she wants a divorce.'

h hah gotauh yauh yiu there again need open next

Ngoh nnauh bo-phnlsai,

1

here

open-finishmeet

C L meeting 'No sooner have 1 finished n d n g than Ineed to

by before and @r in English are often e+ bysenal verbmmtrucrions (8.3). wthout any wbordinating conjunchon. I n such serial oomtrvchom. the sequence of events may be made expl~citby an adverb such as s r i G)'firsr' (103.3):

CL colleague teach-finish-hwk then go 'My colleague go for a drink after teaching.'

means %as soon

p fii.

Now: the time relationships

M

. . . then'

not-yet

heui

Np5h yiu jouh m&ih di y& sin j4u 1 need do V-PRT CL w r k First lea'I need to do m work beFore 1can leave.'

. . ':

meih

gnuh iik. return J3XP go oM home " E wsince Imoved hem, l+wnever been back to my old home.' Qan-gwo

The mbination p%. . . jauh 'once 'whenever.

j h n h h w ~ahk-faahn.

to mother

meding.'

fl Iouh . . . ycit h

h or ytH hihn

.

..

bihn mallis two sirnultanew

activirk YSuh di film yiit h u h jli& yHt louh g6ng d i i n d . Rave CL p @ e onetime drione time talk phone 'Sampeople drive while talking m the phm.'

Fbte that neither clause is subordinate ?o the dm,unlike the English. where w h L begins a subordinate d m : the parallelism of the d a m

matches the simullanews actions. 1W.2 R F A m O AI ISFS In sentences expremmg rereason, the 'kcause' clause normalb oomes first, followed by the main clause containingfuuh or s6ya 'so'.

flnwaih 'because' is matched by S ~ J @ I'so,therefwe' in the following dsuse: g6n *an, rush time

=mih kauw

sans

sbyrh ng6h wG'h jeuhn fagi will most fast so I

ybhn.

spmk finish Sinm rime is short, Ill finish w k i n g m soon as e b l e . '

More rumly, the 'bccaus' c h u w may follow the main c l a m , especially with an emphatic Imih linking the twu ciauw: N@ gam faai g h g ybhn halh g m i h g6n dhgaw. I so fast speak Finish is because rush rime 'I hishcd speaking w quickly bccmw time is short.' Note thatyrSRwih is often wed togztiwr with a noun denotimg reason Bvch as yirhfln: Ng6h kyutdihng $hmS.hn ge y a h m haih decide emigrate LF r e m is because I

jS~l€ui duhk-sylS duhk $Hk Ms8m di. wish n d a u g h t e r ~ t ~ d ~ b o gudy o k ADV hw tit The remm I decided to emigrate is that I writ my children to be happier at school.' &ng

di

-

H y l I ~ n'$ince' is a formal canjunction:

smoe

Whdeih @fig kyutdiingj6, ng6h m4uRwaih you-PL already decide-PFV 1 n e n t

-re say Sim you've already d e d e d . there3 rn point in my srrying mwe-' jauk may be clsed in a c l a w -ng a wrrsequence or m t , whether or nof the W clause is explicitly causal. It comessecond in the consequent clauw:

Gu @uh t&hhng, ng6h jauh yiu tomorrow morning have dass I thus need

Xng

heih-fo.

prepam-

'1 haw. R d m tmmmnming, EU X have t~

B: Ggm ICih maih h a m I61 ao )ou then happy mT 'WelI. gmd for jw!maih has a speFial aI3nity will1 the prr& Id (18.3.3), as in the above example. 1 6 2 3 PURPOGE CLAUSES

AJIPk Yiuh have h%ng

to intmduce a purpose ciause:

yAhn

wmhp

pwple i n a d e r

jsshn chln

dm

earn

all

mR+h money what

puh.

willing do 'Some people will do anything to earn money.

Note h t the purpose daw comes between the st@xt and the verb, rather than after the main verb as in English. This is cmsistent with the general pttem of cause before effect, the Chinex order r M n g this k r ~ ~mlatinnxhip r~l As with ymwirrlr (lh 2 2). the d e r may be reversed w ~ t hhnih linking the two dauses:

b5 lCih hsR waihjd jyuh Kguih ga she marry to you u mwder live syafuhk

dwk ADV

Bi.

wrnfvi-tabk a 4 t 'She married you in order to live more oomfortably.' &+ iI s used as the m p l e r n e n t to an object, rypdeally f o l k n g the verb yuhng in a seriat construction (3.3): M h yuhng M leih di ge ~G!J blh chit you sharp a-bit CP knife wme cut daahn* 1% egg-cake PRT 'Use a draper k n P Lw cut the a k e . ' yiu I6ih M b e s the plrpoge of something:

mm.'

maih is an umtrmd partide (often reduced to function meaning 'as a result' or 'then':

torn,

A: N@h hah p p h t jauh fang* la. 1 next C L month then take-leave PRT '171 be on l a v e next month.'

d l )

NT with a ~lmilar

di hsih ,in lanh .&It this CL i s warn m e do 'Whar are these for7'

.,A p? what PRT

and te

d a m 301

-

16Ld CONCESSlWE CLAUSES 'ALTHOUGH

Concessive clalmes are subordinate clauses wth a meaning of 'although . . .' where the first dame admi& w concedes a fact which t k f d h n g m i n clause cainteractsor oomradcts. I n CHntcms?,the subsequent main d a m musr.mneln a hlanci~ig ~xFTT~JJ~CIII III~II~ Vill' II~ UI ' ~ ~ t v e i l b t M . Thm &Yih 'althoufl in the subordinare dause is matched in the main clawse by ci ther dnnhnhaih 'wr-ertheless-or d.9~'still':

Ng6h m m l Ihh thhngyi Wuih g h g ge @h. I although mt agree dhe sp~ak LP things ~~L~IIo ju1111~ ~ U I I& mnjllllng ktuih. howerrr still much wspea hm -Althou@ 1 disagree with what h e m , Istill re-

him.

16h & rhh mhaih h&i daaih gihn sih. I CL mner you st111 m althnigh mt-be very bif

Wlylhn

y i n e mthwjyih Whshould hi&CONT me 'Allhcqh it's mly a small matter, you still oupht mt to mnceal it from

me.' clause. &hIrrrhn. . . '(no matter) whether. . .' forms a d v e mlence t o g e k r wlth a qtlestim shucnve,which m y he an A m - A queshon (17.12). an alternat~vequestion (17.21 or a whuestim (17.3):

Nofe that M~iylhn,like yan~wih,may come after the subpa of

Mbuhleuhn am dhng puh ge. ng&&ih old PRT we no-matter new or

mawh what

sam &u yiu. clcdhing all want 'We m m a l l kinds dclnthes. (whether) new or old.' Mhuhleuhn brngo & lYh, ng6h c h i mh teng. wmarter who call onme I still not liSten 'No matter who calls. 1 w m r amwer.'

~ n aovertr e doer is a m required re march mLwhIeuhn. h h IPih 'm matter' is an ae tlrnavite

to mdul!kdrn.

~h H h 18h jllng-hkjilngyi. &%I $11 @au wi. not care p u like-not-l~ke still need pay Fax 'Whcther you like i t or mot. you dll have to pay tax.' I n addhlm. a whquediu~iwud Irt illt:h a ( d n w W 1 4 by Jdu in the second pmduoes a concessive sew.T k t 'wbater.ermmnstndom can be Tormed will1 any question d(17.3) and the quantifier ddu:

K h i h @ng rnh i mginyiu ge. h e say what all n o t - i m m m PRT 'Whatever he says it ddoesn't matter.'

(film)

Mi d f m w n g jouh & &k. Ybll W-) do a h OK 'Howewer pido it is OK.' Idioms: an implicitly mw&ve m 9 t m d i m i s gmtr [adjective] d m [verb]: Cram gwal h h NIU m&ih w dear pi still buy

ith?

FRT

'You're still buying it m that price?' (men though it's so e x p s i v e )

Rihngjiis a concessive phrase implying that someone who o q h t to know benw nevathelem persists in an ill-advised aaivity. This persistence may be emphasized byjiu in the, mnin rlal~w,: K b i h mihng ii m6uh yuhng &ti jiu phg. she dear h o w no me still carry-on speak Wr:gwa on Inlking tvm thmgh he knows it'3 no use.'

I 3 $hn

C L

mihnf ji yhh people clear know have

juhng hark

stiU

go ennim

dlam kui $uh*i. dare go swimming

People still dare go swimming when thcy kmnv t h e are sharks.'

Like many mnerm types,conditional mtementsmay be expmsed either q l i i t l y (rning a w n j d o n such as Nhgwd 'if: 16.3.1) or implidtly, by juxtqtwiticm of d a t e (163.2): Y h h N y h h sihgan jauh h6yh h w i Egi-Mh. ii have time than mi looli-UEL 'If there's time we can go a d take a look.

Wn@g y6uh d i n rnaty€h dm mhih &hi. Hongkong h a w money whst all buy V-PRT 'In Honpkonf you can buy anyfhmg if you have money.' It has a&n bcen W t h Clil-, ~ Ia~himn~ Jislirdiula uI imw. makes no formal distimion berween ml. hypmhetical and ~ n t - 1 mdirionak. H m m w . roo much has been made d the alleged pucity of

Cwdlnation and s m n a t e ciauses 303 Chinese in this re@rd.' Much as Chinesecompensates for the I& of t e r n wth aqxpea and adberbs (10.3.3. 11.1). rhve are ways of eqmekng all k i d s of wnditimnls.

This phrase may he compared to English .wy . . meaning h p p e alrhovgh gh rhee x p r e s h is m m formal. The topic pa(18.2.1) may follow the 'if-dause: Y h h p 6 Yih &mg tsuhji ge v.4 E. if p u wish I r n LP say VKl

Like the wnjunctiors dimssed in d o n 16.2, yrlhgwd 'if is generally mched by a seoond mnjuncrion, in this case @MI! 'then'. in the m w quent clause: YiIhgwb ltih i h k b h n , n w e i h [latih)

;I

youfie

we

yeuk m h i h togcthcr

(1hen)fnr

jeui

h&i

jauh

haih mdaih Ibah&uh @. is buy Mw-chip stock 'Ifyou want to invest. the k a way is to buy M u d i p stocks:

&t>h hqqx@e. . f o m l speech:

'

is an q l i a t l y hypothetid @ d o n

used in

Ggybh hi haih n@. ~rpposp you we m

YiIhgwh ltih y h h hingcheui. ngdh huh Wr@ Kih Hdi~p!. if you hnw interest 1 then help w u npply 'I'llapply for you ~fyou're interested.'

flhaak G w h y$uh @m p hchlhngylhng. Kih yiu you need at-once suppose nave s l ~ h LP =Nation

(a) The if-clatse mmes fim. the reverse order beinga wmmon alternatirre in hglish but not usual in Cantonese, unless the $ad bv modal wrbs such as musl in Ymt h t t w tw Mr 8&wn. where mrit in'dicates lhar l h t identity of t k addis belng lnfermd (w12 1 3. 12.2.2) E m l v e & are a class d intramilive vcrbs dcnuting a change of wale or k r i m . whifh the s u m uncle-. m t k than an adinn whlch Ihc m+ct perfonm. Exampln i n Englisl~are The w~nldotr,hmke (compare I h k e the ~ * ~ N U I O t t ~ w h edae r e trmindow15 the objtct) and The stp fell Idown. w k r e Ihe fall n mr inltlRed by rhc ngm. M w s are forlrs or mmmrtions with the menring -1w' rs i n too fmr (sec 9 3 5). m i s l m r u t t ~ denote s the ex~sMnceof somtthine I n m n y lamma-. exisentiah e x v m m are closely relared l o m e - u r n . lhc'm& d ' ( v o t r l l In Cantoncx) IKDmn -nave and 'tntre i s (see m. 131 Ex~smwM w a d i h R s me expressla m a h u g and s m r ~ r w r . Exporrentml aspect (11.2 5) expressrs an actlm whlch has b a n e-iptnenwd at ka