Английская Википедия:Cantonese grammar
Шаблон:Refimprove Шаблон:Cantonese language Cantonese is an analytic language in which the arrangement of words in a sentence is important to its meaning. A basic sentence is in the form of SVO, i.e. a subject is followed by a verb then by an object, though this order is often violated because Cantonese is a topic-prominent language. Unlike synthetic languages, seldom do words indicate time, gender and number by inflection. Instead, these concepts are expressed through adverbs, aspect markers, and particles, or are deduced from the context. Different particles are added to a sentence to further specify its status or intonation.
A verb itself indicates no tense. The time can be explicitly shown with time-indicating adverbs. Certain exceptions exist, however, according to the pragmatic interpretation of a verb's meaning. Additionally, an optional aspect particle can be appended to a verb to indicate the state of an event. Appending interrogative or exclamative particles to a sentence turns a sentence into a question or shows the attitudes of the speaker.
Verbal aspect
In contrast to many European languages, Cantonese verbs are marked for aspect rather than tense—that is, whether an event has begun, is ongoing, or has been completed. Tense—where an event occurs within time, i.e. past, present, future—is specified through the use of time adverbs. In addition, verbal complements may convey aspectual distinctions, indicating whether an event is just beginning, is continuing, or at completion, and also the effect of the verb on its object(s).
Aspect particles are treated as suffixes bound to the verb.
| Aspect | Marker | Usage | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perfective | Шаблон:Fs interlinear | To emphasise a completed activity the result of which still applies to the present situation | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
| Experiential | Шаблон:Fs interlinear | To emphasise an activity completed in the indeterminate past which no longer applies to the present situation | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
| Progressive | Шаблон:Fs interlinear | To emphasise a dynamic activity which may undergo a change of state | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
| Durative | Шаблон:Fs interlinear | To emphasise a continuous activity without a change of state | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
| Delimitative | Шаблон:Fs interlinear | To emphasise an activity of brief duration | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
| Habitual | Шаблон:Fs interlinear | To emphasise an activity protracted over a period of time to the point that it has become characteristic or habitual | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
| Inchoative | Шаблон:Fs interlinear | To emphasise the beginning of an activity | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
| Continuative | Шаблон:Fs interlinear | To emphasise the continuation of an activity | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
Final particles
Cantonese has many final particles to change the moods or sometimes even the meaning of an utterance. [1]
| Particle | Usage | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Used in neutral questions. Also used to soften the tone of affirmative statements so they don't sound as abrupt. | 你去邊處呀? Where are you going? 我返屋企呀 I'm going home. |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Used in assertions where something is emphasized (usually 係 hai6 is in front of what is being emphasized). Pronouncing it as ge2 adds a sense of puzzlement about the situation. This is equivalent to the Mandarin/written Chinese 的 dik1. | 我係今日返屋企嘅 I'm going home today. (the "today" is emphasized) |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Contraction of the combination 嘅呀 ge3 aa3. | 你係幾時返來㗎? When are you coming back? (the "when" is emphasized) |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Used in requests and imperatives. This is one particle where leaving it out could make the sentence sound rude. This is equivalent to the Mandarin/written Chinese sentence final 吧 baa6. | 俾我啦 Give it to me [please]. |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Indicates a change of situation or a past event that has occurred and adds a sense of current relevance to the statement. This is equivalent to the Mandarin/written Chinese sentence final 了 liu5. Also used for polite refusal. | 佢返咗屋企嘞 He went home [already].
唔使喇，唔該 No need, thank you. |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | (same as 喇 laa3) | |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Indicates a suggestion or conclusion that should be obvious (usually occurs with 咪 mai6). | 我冇車咪返唔到屋企囉 Without a car, [then of course] I am unable to go home. |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Indicates an agreement with the previous speaker. | 好,我跟你返屋企咯 Okay, I will follow you home. |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Can be used to mean "only" or "that's all," or used to play down the significance of the situation. | 佢返一日啫 He's only coming back for one day. |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Contraction of the combination 啫呀/嗻呀 ze1 aa3. | 佢返一日咋 He's only coming back for one day. (slightly harsher tone than 佢返一日啫) |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Contraction of the combination 啫吖/嗻吖 ze1 aa4. | 佢返一日咋? He's only coming back for one day? [Only one day? I wish it was more.] |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Can be used to mean "also," "too," or "as well" in a sentence (usually occurs with 重 zung6). | 我重要返屋企添 I still have to go home as well. |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Used in questions asking whether an action has been done yet. | 佢返來未? Has he come back yet? |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Used in questions expressing surprise or disbelief. | 佢今日返來咩? He's coming back today? [Really? I wasn't aware of this.] |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Used in follow up questions or when a question is repeated but for a different subject. Also used for rhetorical questions where an answer is not expected (especially when the speaker is wondering to themself). | 佢返咗來,你返唔返來呢? He came back, are you coming back?
佢點解返屋企呢? I wonder why he's going home. |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Used to change a statement into a neutral question. This is used more often in Mandarin/written Chinese, but can still be heard in Cantonese. | 你返屋企嗎? Are you coming home? |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Can be used to mean "first" in a sentence. In questions, it may convey a sense of impatience. | 我哋等佢返來先 We'll wait for him to come back first.
你返唔返來先? Are you coming back or not? [Answer me quickly.] |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Used to soften an instruction, similar to adding "okay?" in English. | 記得買奶吓 Remember to buy milk, okay? |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Used to check whether a statement is correct, similar to adding "right?" in English. | 你買咗奶呵? You bought the milk, right? |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Can indicate enthusiastic consent or a sarcastic retort. Can also be used like 喇 laa1. | 好吖! 我跟你返屋企吖! Okay! I'll follow you home!
我點返屋企吖? How am I supposed to be able to go home? (sarcastically) 返來吖 Come back [please]. |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Used in questions expecting agreement, sometimes with a sense of disapproval. | 你返屋企吖? You're going home? [But really I don't want you to.] |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Contraction of the combination 嘅吖 ge3 aa4. | 你係今日返屋企㗎? You're going home today? [But really I don't want you to. Can't you wait until tomorrow?] (the "today" is emphasized) |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Indicates uncertainty in a statement. | 佢返咗屋企啩 He went home [but I'm not completely sure of this]. |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Indicates information is being reported. Pronouncing it as wo5 adds the indication that the information is second-hand and the speaker may not agree with it. | 爸爸叫你返屋企喎 Father is telling you to come home. |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Indicates that the sentence is a reminder. Also used as a realization. | 揸車返屋企好快噃 It is quick to go home by car. (used in the context where the person being addressed may not have thought about driving home)
揸車返屋企都好快噃 It is pretty quick to go home by car. [I didn't know that] |
Final particles may sometimes combine to convey multiple moods. There are unwritten rules about which particles can be combined and in what order they occur which are probably too complicated to explain here. However, one good rule of thumb is that 嘅 ge3 always comes before the other particles. In addition, the particles used in questions (呀 aa3, 咩 me1, 呢 ne1, 嗎 maa3, etc.) always come last.[2] [3]
| Particle | Usage | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Used in response to a question where the answer is obvious. | 佢返屋企呀嘛! He's going home! [So of course he can't go to the movies with us.] |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Contraction of the combination 喇呀嘛 laa3 aa1 maa3. | 佢返咗屋企啦嘛! He went home! [So of course he can't be here right now.] |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Contraction of 嘅 and 呀嘛; used at the end of a sentence to express that it is something that the listener/reader should be aware of, or something that they are expected to agree with | 佢傻咖嘛，使乜理佢唧? He's crazy. [You know already] Why bother with him?
你大條道理咖嘛，唔使怕 You definitely have reason on your side. You needn't be afraid. |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Contraction of the combination 啫呀嘛 ze1 aa1 maa3. | 佢返一日咋嘛! He's only coming back for a day! [So of course he won't have time to visit all of us.] |
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Can be used to mean "only". Convey a sense of defensiveness. | 我返屋企之嘛 I'm only going home. [...and nothing else. What else are you expecting from me?] |
Pronouns
Шаблон:See also Cantonese uses the following pronouns, which like in many other Sinitic languages, function as both nominative (English: I, he, we) and accusative (me, him, us):
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
| 2nd person | Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
| 3rd person | Шаблон:Fs interlinear | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
Copula ("to be")
States and qualities are generally expressed using stative verbs that do not require the verb "to be". For example, to say "I am hungry", one would say 我肚餓 ngo5 tou5 ngo6 (literally: I stomach hungry).
With noun complements, the verb 係 hai6 serves as the verb "to be".
Another use of 係 is in cleft constructions for emphasis, much like the English construction "It's ... that ...". The sentence particle 嘅 ge3 is often found along with it.
To indicate location, the words 喺 hai2 (a "lazy" variation is 响 hoeng2) which are collectively known as the locatives or sometimes coverbs in Chinese linguistics, are used to express "to be at":
- (Here 而家 ji4 gaa1 means "now".)
Negations
Many negation words start with the sound m- in Cantonese; for example, 唔 m4 "not", 冇 mou5 "to not have (done sth)", 未 mei6 "not yet". Verbs are negated by adding the character 唔 m4 in front of it. For example:
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | <math>\longrightarrow</math> | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
The exception is the word 有 jau5 'to have', which turns into 冇 mou5 'to not have' without the use of 唔 m4.
The negative imperative is formed by prefixing 唔好 m4 hou2 (also pronounced mou2) or 咪 mai5 in front of the verb:
In contrast to the examples of sentential negation above where the entire sentence is negated, 唔 m4 can be used lexically to negate a single word. The negated word often differs slightly in meaning from the original word; that is, this lexical negation is a kind of derivation. Evidence for this is that they can be used with the perfective aspect particle 咗 zo2, which is not possible with sententially negated verbs.
is perfectly acceptable, but
is ungrammatical. (The correct expression should be 我冇食嘢 ngo5 mou5 sik6 je5: 我(I)冇(did not)食(eat)嘢(something/anything), but actually with an emphasis on not doing an action, as it is the negation of 我有食嘢 ngo5 yau5 sik6 je5: 我(I)有(did)食(eat)嘢(something/anything).)
Questions
Questions are not formed by changing the word order as in English. Sentence final particles and certain interrogative constructions are used instead.
Yes–no questions
There are two ways to form a yes–no questions. One way is by the use of final particle and/or intonation alone. The question particle 呀 aa4 indicates surprise or disapproval. It tends to presuppose a positive answer.
The particle 咩 me1 is exclusively interrogative, indicating surprise and used to check the truth of an unexpected state of affairs.
A question may be indicated by a high rising intonation alone at the end of a question. (This intonation can be considered a nonsyllabic final particle indicating a question.) This intonation pattern usually modifies or exaggerates the basic tone of the last syllable. This type of question is used especially for echo, where the questioner repeats a statement out of surprise.
The other way to form yes–no questions uses a special construction in which the head of the predicate, say X, is replaced by X-not-X. Final particles may be used in addition.
- For example
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | <math>\longrightarrow</math> | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
- As the negative form of 有 is 冇, the corresponding yes–no question uses the form 有冇:
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | <math>\longrightarrow</math> | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
- As for 係 hai6 ("to be"), the yes–no question often uses the contraction 係咪 hai6 mai6 (note that 咪 mai6 is not the prohibitive 咪 mai2) instead of 係唔係 hai6 m4 hai6.
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | <math>\longrightarrow</math> | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
- With multisyllable verbs, only the first syllable is repeated:
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | <math>\longrightarrow</math> | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
- A special case is when a question asking whether something has occurred is formed. In a negative sentence, the adverb 未 mei6 should precede the verb to indicate that the event has not yet occurred. In yes–no questions, however, 未 appears at the end of the question (but before the final particle, if exists):
| Шаблон:Fs interlinear | <math>\longrightarrow</math> | Шаблон:Fs interlinear |
This form of yes–no questions looks less similar to the "X-not-X" type, but it is still considered in this type, because the "X" after "not" is omitted. For example, the example question above can be expanded as 你去過德國未去過? nei5 heoi3 gwo3 Dak1 gwok3 mei6 heoi3 gwo3.
A syntax of yes–no question in the form "X-not-X" is actually a contraction of a combination of syntax of an affirmative sentence and the syntax of a negative sentence.
Interrogative words
- The interrogative words are as follows:
| Interrogative | Pronunciation | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| 邊個 | bin1 go3 | who |
| 乜(嘢) / 咩 | mat1 (je5) / me1e5 | what |
| 邊度 / 邊處 | bin1 dou6 / bin1 syu3 | where |
| 幾時 | gei2 si4 | when |
| 點解 | dim2 gaai2 | why |
| 點 | dim2 | how about |
| 點(樣) | dim2 (joeng6*2) | how (in what manner) |
| 幾 | gei2 | how (adjective) |
| 幾多 | gei2 do1 | how many/much |
Questions use exactly the same word order as in statements. For example: 你係邊個? nei5 hai6 bin1 go3 "who are you?" (literally "you are who"), 你幾時去邊度見邊個呀? nei5 gei2 si4 heoi3 bin1 dou6 gin3 bin1 go aa3 "When will you go? Where will you go and who will you meet?" (literally "you when go where meet who"). Note that more than one interrogative words can be put in a single sentence at a same time.
Demonstratives
The proximal demonstrative ("this"), is 呢 ni1 / nei1, or more frequently in fast speech, 依 ji1 (+ measure word). For example:
- 呢本書 ni1/nei1 bun2 syu1 "this book"
- 依本書 ji1 bun2 syu1 "this book"
The distal demonstrative ("that") is 嗰 go2. For example:
- 嗰本書 go2 bun2 syu1 "that book"
Between the demonstrative and its noun, a certain word to link them must be used, whether a corresponding classifier for the noun for singular count nouns or 啲 di1 for plural count nouns and mass nouns:
- 呢架車 ni1/nei1 gaa3 ce1 "this car"
- 呢啲車 ni1/nei1 di1 ce1 "these cars"
- 嗰啲水 go2 di1 seoi2 "that water"
Possessives
- For singular nouns, the word 嘅 ge3 is roughly equivalent to English " 's":
- Plural nouns take 啲 di1:
N.B.: 啲 di1 is a very versatile word in Cantonese, besides pluralizing certain phrases, it can also mean "a little/few", e.g. 一啲 jat1 di1 "a little", or 早啲 zou2 di1 "earlier" (literally: early + (intensifier)).
- Possessive pronouns (i.e. "mine", "his", "hers") are formed by adding 嘅 ge3 after the pronoun.
However, in the case where there's an implied plural noun, one does not say: Шаблон:Fs interlinear
For example: Шаблон:Fs interlinear
嘅呀 ge3 aa3 is usually shortened in speech into one syllable, 㗎/嘎 gaa3.
- One could also say:
Both of these are generic possessives.
Differences from Mandarin grammar
The following Cantonese grammatical points are not found in Mandarin Chinese.
Word order
The direct object precedes the indirect object when using the verb 畀 bei2 "to give". In Mandarin verbs of giving, an indirect object precedes a direct object.
compared to Mandarin
Morphology
The suffix used for the plural of pronouns, 哋 dei6, cannot associate with human nouns, unlike its similar Mandarin counterpart 們 -men. Mandarin 學生們 xuéshengmen "the students" would be rendered in Cantonese as:
While the vocative use of 學生們 xuéshengmen "students" would be rendered in Cantonese as:
There are words in Mandarin which often require the suffixes 子 -zi or 頭 -tou, but they are normally optional in Cantonese, e.g. Mandarin 鞋子 xiézi "shoe" and 石頭 shítou "rock" can be 鞋 haai4 and 石 sek6 in Cantonese.
Classifiers
Classifiers can be used instead of the possessive 嘅 ge3 to indicate possession of a single object. Classifiers cannot be used this way in Mandarin.
Classifiers in both Cantonese and Mandarin can serve to individualize a noun, giving it a singular meaning (or plural in the case 啲 di1). However, such a construction in Mandarin will be of indefinite reference, unless a demonstrative (e.g. 這 zhè "this") or the universal quantifier (每 měi "every") is present. Furthermore, there are great limitations on using this construction in subject position in Mandarin. In Cantonese, these restrictions do not exist.
Comparison
Adjective comparison in Cantonese is formed by adding the marker 過 gwo3 after an adjective. The adjective-marker construction serves as a transitive verb which takes the standard of comparison as an object.
In Standard Mandarin, comparison is marked by adding 比 bǐ, which serves in an adverbial phrase, leaving the adjective itself unchanged. The sentence above is translated into Mandarin as:
Alternatively the plural marker 啲 di1 alone (without the numeral 一 yat1) can be used use as the sole complement of the verbal adjective.
Aspect markers
Cantonese has a dedicated habitual aspect marker, 開 hoi1, with no similar counterpart in Mandarin.
Passives
In Cantonese, there must always be an agent in a passive, while in Mandarin this isn't the case. If there's no known or specific agent, Cantonese must at least use 人 jan4 "someone" as a dummy agent.
Sentence particles
It is possible to stack various of such particles one after the other, while Mandarin is restricted to sentence-final 了 and one particle.
Pronouns
There is no gender distinction between the third person singulars of he, she and it in spoken or written Cantonese (佢); however in written Cantonese of formal register, which is similar to Mandarin, male and female may be distinguished with two different characters, 他 for male and 她 for female,[4] as well as 它 for inanimate objects (including plants), 牠 for (non-human) animals, and 祂 for god(s), which all have the same pronunciation.
See also
References
Шаблон:- Шаблон:Language grammars
