Page:Manual of the Foochow dialect.pdf/40

26 The personal pronoun of the third person, 伊 ꜀i, He, She, It, may be tabulated like those of the first and second.

Instead of 伊 ꜀i, the terms 啫𠆧 ꜂chiă ꜁nëng, this or that person, and 啫乇 ꜂chiă nóh꜆, this or that thing, &c., are often used.

Compound Personal Pronouns. The terms for self, selves, are 自家 che꜅ ꜀ka, or chëü꜅ ꜀ka, and 本身 ꜂pwong ꜀sing, the latter meaning lit., own body. The single words che꜅ and chëü꜅ are also used, as 自做 che꜅ chó꜄ to do one's self, 自稱 che꜅ ꜀ch’ing or chëü꜅ ꜀ch‘ing, to style or praise one's self, 自瞞自 che꜅ ꜁mwang che꜄ self-deceive-self—to deceive one's self.

The terms che꜅ ꜀ka and ꜂pwong ꜀sing are both used for either of the three persons, the connection showing which one is intended. But for definiteness, the simple pronouns are prefixed, as 我自家 ngwai che꜅ ꜀ka, I, myself, 汝自家 ꜂nü che꜅ ꜀ka, You, yourself, 伊自家 ꜀i che꜅ ꜀ka, He, himself, 我本身 ꜂ngwai ꜂pwong ꜀sing, I, myself, &c.

The term 伊自家 ꜀i che꜄ ꜀ka and 伊本身 ꜀i ꜂pwong ꜀sing are used for itself, as applied to lower animals. The former is also applied to inanimate objects.

The Interrogative Pronouns are formed by prefixing the words 世 sié꜄ 乜 miéh꜆, and 俤 tié꜅ to other words.

(1) 世 sié꜄ is always followed by nóh꜆, (thing), making a compound interrogative, as 世乇 sié꜄ nóh꜆, what? 世乇乇 sié꜄ nóh꜆ nóh꜆, what thing? 世乇𠆧 sié꜄ nóh꜆ ꜁nëng, what person? 世乇名 sié꜄ nóh꜆ ꜁miăng, what name? what's the matter?

(2) 乜 miéh꜆, is sometimes used independently for the interrogative what? And sometimes, like sié꜄, is followed by 乇 nóh꜆, (thing), as 乜時候 miéh꜆ ꜁si haiu꜅ what time? 乜乇 miéh꜆ nóh꜆, what? 乜乇乇 miéh꜆ nóh꜆ nóh꜆, what thing?

(3) 俤 tié꜅ is always followed by a noun, or by a classifier, with or without a numeral prefixed, as 俤𠆧 tié꜅ ꜁nëng, what person? who? 俤𠆧裡 tié꜅ ꜁nëng ꜂lié, at whose house? 俤隻 tié꜅ chiäh꜆, or 俤一隻 tié꜅ sioh꜇ chiäh꜆, which one? The term 苛俤代 ꜀k’ó tié꜅ tai꜅