Page:A Manual of the Foochow Dialect in Twenty Lessons.pdf/49

48 dollar and five cents, 一塊零五分 siŏh-dó̤i lìng ngô-hŭng. One ounce of silver (tael) 一兩銀 siŏh-liōng ngṳ̀ng. Fifty tael cents, 五錢銀 ngô-cièng ngṳ̀ng. Seventy-five tael cents, 七錢五分銀 chék-cièng ngô-hŭng ngṳ̀ng. The denomination in which the amount is expressed comes last. All tenths are expressed by cièng and gáe̤k, the hŭng being reserved for hundredths.

2. One or two is expressed by 把 bā. About a dollar, 塊把錢 dó̤i-bā cièng.

3. The Future Tense is formed by the use of 剝 buóh, 就 cêu and ⿰亻鞋 â̤ before the verb. These are sometimes omitted, the context supply the sense. He will go tomorrow morning, 伊明旦早去 ĭ mìng-dáng cā kó̤. He is about to die, 伊剝死 ĭ buóh sī. He will be here soon, 伊就來 ĭ cêu lì.

5. “In order that”, “to that end”, are indicated by the use of 駛 sāi. Jesus died in order to save us, 耶穌死去駛奴各𠆧得救 Ià-Sŭ sī kó̤ sāi nù-gáuk-nè̤ng dáik-géu.

6. “For” and “instead of” are expressed in Foochow Colloquial by 替 tá̤, 共 gâe̤ng and 乞 ké̤ṳk. 乞 Ké̤ṳk also bears the meaning of “give to”. Write two characters for me, 替奴 tá̤ nù (or 共奴 gâe̤ng nù) 寫二字 siā lâng cê. Take this book and give it to him, 將者書乞伊 Ciŏng ciā cṳ̆ ké̤ṳk ĭ. 共 Gâe̤ng roughly answers to “with” understood, in such sentences as “tell him” 共伊講 gâe̤ng ĭ gōng.

7. Foreigners in Foochow should be careful to avoid the use of the phrase, ng dĭh, in declining anything offered. 伓駛 Ng sāi is the proper phrase to use, as ng dĭh carries with it the idea of throw it away!

8. The word 借 cióh carries the twofold meaning of “borrow” and “lend”, which meaning is determined by the context. He has come