Page:Chinese spoken language.djvu/28

22 “The position of an adjective determines its comparison.” When two things are compared, 長一尺 tong5 süò8 ch’üò4, signifies, longer by a foot; but when one thing only is spoken of, the same expression means, length one foot; so also 一尺長 süò8 ch’üò4 tong5, means, (when one thing only is referred to,) one foot long; but if two objects are mentioned, the same expression signifies one foot longer, and the greater length is understood of the thing first mentioned. 子女 chü2 nü2, signifies sons and daughters; while 女子 nü2 chü2, signifies a female child; and in the written language, when these two are combined into one character, thus, 好 it is read hò2, and signifies good, beautiful. 平正 pang5 chiang3, literally level and perpendicular, signifies in common conversation, bad, of inferior quality.

Numeral adjectives are best understood in connexion with the written characters. Both the common and the business forms are given in the following table.