Page:A Manual of the Foochow Dialect in Twenty Lessons.pdf/58

Rh 2. The idea of great difference in quality is expressed by 的⿰亻西 dék-sâ̤, 野⿰亻西 iā-sâ̤, 的遠 dék-huông. Very much better, 好的⿰亻西 hō̤ dék-sâ̤. Very different, 差的遠 chă dék-huông. The Bible is much more important, 聖經要緊的⿰亻西 Séng-Gĭng iéu-gīng dék-sâ̤.

3. 熟 Sṳ̆k includes ideas of being accustomed to, familiar with, ripeness. 生 chăng (green, raw) has the opposite meaning. He knows his business, 伊者代熟了 ĭ ciā dái sṳ̆k-lāu. He is a raw hand. 伊是生手其𠆧 ĭ sê chăng-chīu gì nè̤ng. This wood is very damp, 者柴盡生 ciā chà cêng chăng.

4. “Again” is expressed by 再 cái sometimes pronounced gái. Come and talk about it again, 再梨 [sic]講 cái lì gōng. Cái also conveys the idea of additional intensity of degree. If it were a little heavier I could not carry it, 再重一滴仔儂家掏賣起 Cái dâe̤ng siŏh-dék-giāng nè̤ng-gă dò̤ mâ̤-kī.

5. It is quite the correct thing in China to ask a person his age, but the English question “how old are you”? is asked in various ways according to the age and position of the position addressed. In asking the age of a child we say 幾歲 gūi huói, but in asking the age of an adult we say 今年箬壞年紀 gĭng-nièng niŏh-uái nièng-gĭ? The most polite form is 今年高壽 gĭng-nièng gŏ̤-sêu, lit. meaning “exalted longevity”. I am 40 years old, 今年四十歲 gĭng-nièng sé-sĕk húoi. A youth in his teens likes to be asked, 今年十幾歲 gĭng--nièng sĕk-gūi húoi?

6. The length of time occupied in doing a thing is, according to English idiom, the time needed or taken out of other time. Chinese idiom speaks of the length of time used or wanted. God created heaven and earth in six days. 上帝駛用六日創造天地 Sióng-Dá̤ sāi-ê̤ṳng lĕ̤k-nĭk chaúng-cô̤ tiĕng-dê.