Location and Position: 在, 裡肚, 項 and 外背 — Hailu Hakka Grammar

(diˇti) is the general preposition of place — at, in, on. It stands before the place word, and the whole phrase comes BEFORE the verb, which is the reverse of the English order.

𠊎个爺哀在銀行工作。
ngai gaiˇ rha oiˋ diˇ ngiun hong gungˋ zogngài kai yà ôi ti ngiùn hòng kûng tsok
My parents work at a bank.
𠊎後生時節戴在中國。
ngai heu+ sangˋ shi zied daiˇ diˇ zungˋ guedngài he̊u sâng shì tsiet tai ti tsûng koet
I lived in China when I was young.
𠊎在表格頂高簽名。
ngai diˇ biauˊ gag dangˊ goˋ ciamˋ miangngài ti piáu kak táng kô tshiâm miàng
I sign my name on the form.

Stating Where Something Is

With no other verb in the sentence, (diˇti) does the work of to be itself, and no linking verb is needed alongside it.

若个電腦在該片。
ngia gaiˇ tien+ noˊ diˇ gai pienˊngià kai thie̊n nó ti kài phién
Your computer is over there.
佢在學校。
gi diˇ hogˋ gauˊkì ti ho̍k káu
She is at school.
食物在哪位？
shidˋ vudˋ diˇ nai+ vui+shi̍t vu̍t ti nåi vůi
Where is the food?

Position Words Come After the Noun

Hakka marks a position with a word placed AFTER the noun, not before it. Where English says inside the fridge, Hakka says the equivalent of fridge inside, and the two halves are often used together: (diˇti) opens the phrase and the position word closes it.

在冰箱裡肚。
diˇ benˋ siongˋ diˋ duˊti pên siông tî tú
In the fridge.
塑膠袋仔裡肚有麼个？
sog gauˋ toi+ er diˋ duˊ rhiuˋ maˋ gaiˇsok kâu tho̊i èr tî tú yiû mâ kai
What's inside the plastic bag?
鳥仔在花園裡肚唱歌仔。
diauˋ er diˇ faˋ rhan diˋ duˊ chongˇ goˋ ertiâu èr ti fâ yàn tî tú chhong kô èr
The birds are singing songs in the garden.

項 — On, Within

(hong+ho̊ng) follows a noun of place to mark something as on it or within it. Its range is wider than English on, reaching to membership of a group and to position within a whole.

該張好看个相片掛在壁項。
gai zhongˋ hoˊ kon+ gaiˇ siongˇ pienˊ guaˇ diˇ biag hong+kài chông hó kho̊n kai siong phién koa ti piak ho̊ng
The beautiful photo hangs on the wall.
𠊎係若班項个學生仔。
ngai heˇ ngia banˋ hong+ gaiˇ hogˋ sangˋ erngài he ngià pân ho̊ng kai ho̍k sâng èr
I'm a student in your class.
這係世界項最好个餐廳。
liaˊ heˇ sheˇ gieˇ hong+ zuiˇ hoˊ gaiˇ conˋ tangˋliá he she kie ho̊ng tsui hó kai tshôn thâng
This is the best restaurant in the world.

外背 — Outside

(ngoi+ boiˇngo̊i poi) names the area beyond the edge of something, and behaves like the other position words in following the noun it applies to.

𠊎在門外背。
ngai diˇ mun ngoi+ boiˇngài ti mùn ngo̊i poi
I am outside the door.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Hailu Hakka course

49 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 22. A few of them, with the words “Location and Position: 在, 裡肚, 項 and 外背” is about in bold:

妹仔在哪位？ - 佢在學校。
moiˇ er diˇ nai+ vui+? - gi diˇ hogˋ gauˊ.moi èr ti nåi vůi? - kì ti ho̍k káu.
Where is our daughter? - She's at school.
Lesson 242
𠊎在市場。該位當多人。
ngai diˇ shi+ chong. gai vui+ dongˋ doˋ ngin.ngài ti shi̊ chhòng. kài vůi tông tô ngìn.
I am at the market. It is very busy.
Lesson 249
在𠊎得著一台新車仔之前，𠊎愛騎自行車。
diˇ ngai ded doˊ rhid toi sinˋ chaˋ er ziiˋ cien, ngai oiˇ ki cii+ hang chaˋ.ti ngài tet tó yit thòi sîn chhâ èr tsṳ̂ tshièn, ngài oi khì tshṳ̊ hàng chhâ.
I have to ride my bike until I get a new car.
Lesson 301

Comments

Loading comments…