| Puang ka² nguoh⁸, half a month. | Süò⁸ ka² nguoh⁸, one month. |
| Siong³ nguoh⁸, last month. | A⁷ nguoh⁸, next month. |
| Seng kui² ka² nguoh⁸, several months ago. | Ti⁵ kui² ka² nguoh⁸, several months hence. |
| Chiang² nguoh⁸, first month of the year. | Sang³ seh⁸ mang⁵ può, new year’s eve. |
| Nih⁸ nih⁸, daily. | King tang³, to-day. |
| Ming⁵ tang³, or, ming⁵ nih⁸, to-morrow. | So³ mang⁵, yesterday |
| Sò⁸ nih⁸, day before yesterday. | Au⁷ nih⁸, day after to-morrow. |
| Nò⁷ au⁷ nih⁸, three days hence. | Nò⁷ sò⁸ nih⁸, three days ago. |
Può, night, or evening, affixed to either of the expressions denoting days, signifies the evening of that day; as, king può, (nih8 being omitted,) this evening; so3 mang5 può, last evening.
Connectives.
But few connecting particles are used in the dialect spoken at Fuh Chau, and the same is true of the Chinese language generally.
Conjunctions.
Këüng7, and; ling5, also; hëüh4, or hëüh4-ti, or, either; ka sü2, or ioh8 sü2, if; kò2 pe3, supposing that; ing oi7, because; ku chü, therefore.
Prepositions.
Meng3-seng5, before; a7-lau2, behind; kè-teng2, above; a7-tè3, below; tie2-tie3, within; ngie lau2, without, outside.
Interjections.
Hò2! Well! It is well! Ai-ia5! an expression of wonder, or surprise; this expression is also used in a drawling tone, denoting excessive grief. Ëü7! So-ho! Ho there! used to call the attention of persons standing near. O5! O5! expressive of sudden pain.
Versification.[1]
The written language governs the style of poetry. The most ancient Chinese poetry was irregular, composed of an even number of lines, consisting of a nearly uniform number of monosyllabic words in a line, subject to rules of rhyme and alliteration; that is to say, to periodic return and cadence of certain articulations and terminations. Short pieces of this measured prose make up the Chu King, or Book of Records, and some other ancient books of the same class. The style of long poems, such as the Panegyric of Moukden, is very similar. Chinese poetry has advanced by degrees to the condition in which
- ↑ The rules of Chinese versification have been translated from the Chinese Grammar of Abel Remusat. Paris: A. D. 1822.
