Page:A Manual of the Foochow Dialect in Twenty Lessons.pdf/46

45 6. The question “what is the day of the month?” is asked in Chinese in three different ways. This arises from the fact that all the days of the month from the first to the tenth inclusive, have the word 初 chĕ̤ prefixed. What is the day of the month? (1st to 10th), 今旦初幾 Gĭng-dáng chĕ̤ gūi. What is the day of the month? (11th to 20th), 今旦十幾 Gĭng-dáng sĕk-gūi? (20th to 30th) 今旦二十幾 Gĭng-dáng nê-sĕk gūi? To-day is the six, 今旦初六 Gĭng-dáng chĕ̤ lĕ̤k. To-day is the twelfth, 今旦十二 Gĭng-dáng sĕk-nê. To-day is the twenty-sixth, 今旦二十六 Gĭng-dáng nê-sĕk-lĕ̤k.

7. English idiom in speaking of time begins with the lowest denomination, and ends with the highest; as days, months, years. Chinese idiom reverses this and says years, months, days. The third day of the fifth month of the twenty-sixth year of Tau Kuang, 道光二十六年五月初三 Dô̤-guōng né-sĕk-lĕ̤k nièng ngô nguŏk chĕ̤ săng.

8. The first month has its own special name, 正月ciăng-nguŏk, but the other months are spoken of by their numbers. No word corresponding to “on” or “in” is needed when the day of the month is definitely given.

9. 天 Tiĕng takes the place of the word “time” in such expressions as “winter-time, summer-time”. In the winter of last year, 去年暝冬天 kó̤-nièng-màng dĕ̤ng-tiĕng.

10. 仱 Dăng “now” is often used in introducing instructions and commands. This garment is not mine, take it to Mr. Diong over there, 只一件衣裳伓是我其仱掏去張先生許塊 cī siŏh-iòng ĭ-siòng ng-sê nguāi gì, dăng dò̤ kó̤ Diŏng Sĭng-săng hṳ̆-uâi. 