Page:A Manual of the Foochow Dialect in Twenty Lessons.pdf/10

Rh 2. The Possessive Case is formed by adding gì 其 to the noun or pronoun, as ĭ gì cāi 伊其紙, his paper; bĭng-dĭng gì giăng 兵丁其仔, the soldier's child. This particle is however frequently omitted when a pronoun is used in the Possessive Case, and especially so in the case of a double possessive. My elder brother's child, nè̤ng-gă gŏ̤ gì giāng 儂家哥其仔. Here gì 其 is only used once for the two possessives.

The words "my, mine, our, ours, your, yours, his, her, hers, its" etc. are commonly called pronouns in the Possessive Case, but as they also have a descriptive power, they partake of the character of adjectives, and have consequently been called possessive pronominal adjectives.

3. Chinese has no distinct word for "them" as applied to inanimate objects; it is either included in the verb, or the name of the article in question must be given.

4. Gaúk-nè̤ng 各𠆧, literally meaning "all men", indicates the personal plural. It is not used when a definite number of persons is to be expressed. We, nú-gáuk-nè̤ng 奴各𠆧 or nguāi-gáuk-nè̤ng 我各𠆧. You, nṳ̄-gáuk-nè̤ng 汝各𠆧. They, ĭ-gáuk-nè̤ng 伊各𠆧. Three men, săng ciáh nè̤ng 三隻𠆧, see Lesson III.

Nguāi 我, is the form of the First Personal Pronoun used in the Foochow colloquial New Testament, and in certain counties of the Prefecture of Foochow it is commonly used in the language of the people. It is very important however that the student should remember that in Foochow City and vicinity, the use of nguāi is considered very impolite indeed, and nè̤ng-gă or nù should be used instead. The best term for a missionary to use is nè̤ng-gă. Nù can be used when one wishes to be extra polite.

5. The word cê-gă 自家 or buōng sĭng 本身 may be added to Chinese pronouns in the same way in which "self" is added to English pronouns, and with the same force; either to impart emphasis, as "I myself", or