The Diminutive Suffix -仔 — Hailu Hakka Grammar

A great many Hakka nouns end in a syllable that is not part of the root: (erèr). It attaches to a noun and marks it as small, familiar or everyday. For a large number of words it has stopped being optional and is simply part of how the word is said, so it is best treated as a normal feature of vocabulary rather than as something added for effect.

佢兜个細人仔當吵。
gi deuˋ gaiˇ seˇ ngin er dongˋ caukì têu kai se ngìn èr tông tshàu
Their children are very noisy.
𠊎有一隻狗摎貓仔。
ngai rhiuˋ rhid zhag gieuˊ lauˋ ngiauˇ erngài yiû yit chak kiéu lâu ngiau èr
I have a dog and a cat.
𠊎駛等一台又遽又貴个車仔。
ngai siiˊ denˊ rhid toi rhiu+ giag rhiu+ guiˇ gaiˇ chaˋ erngài sṳ́ tén yit thòi yiů kiak yiů kui kai chhâ èr
I drive a car that is both fast and expensive.

Part of the Ordinary Word

For most of these nouns the suffix carries no sense of smallness at all. A car is not a little anything, a song is not a small song, and a (diamˇ ertiam èr) is an ordinary shop of any size — the ending is simply how the noun is built.

聽麼人个歌仔？
tangˇ maˋ ngin gaiˇ goˋ erthang mâ ngìn kai kô èr
Whose songs are you listening to?
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.
𠊎想入去這間店仔。
ngai siongˊ ngibˋ hiˇ liaˊ gienˋ diamˇ erngài sióng ngi̍p hi liá kiên tiam èr
I want to go into this shop.
𠊎兜个妹仔讀大學了。
ngai deuˋ gaiˇ moiˇ er tugˋ tai+ hogˋ leˋngài têu kai moi èr thu̍k thåi ho̍k lê
Our daughter is in college now.

Marking Something Small or Young

Where the root already names a category, the suffix picks out the small or young member of it. Combined with a word meaning small in front, it gives the ordinary words for children and young people.

𠊎三個細人仔都平大。
ngai samˋ gaiˇ seˇ ngin er du+ piang tai+ngài sâm kai se ngìn èr tů phiàng thåi
My three children are all the same age.
𠊎兜个細人仔摎佢兜个細人仔都係學生仔。
ngai deuˋ gaiˇ seˇ ngin er lauˋ gi deuˋ gaiˇ seˇ ngin er du+ heˇ hogˋ sangˋ erngài têu kai se ngìn èr lâu kì têu kai se ngìn èr tů he ho̍k sâng èr
Our children and their children are all students.

In Adverbs of Small Degree

The same syllable closes several adverbs meaning a little or for a moment, where the sense of smallness is doing real work — softening a request or reducing a quantity.

你做得降低兜仔無？
ngi zoˇ ded gongˇ daiˋ deuˋ er mongì tso tet kong tâi têu èr mò
Can you lower it a little?
你做得分𠊎看一下仔相片無？
ngi zoˇ ded bunˋ ngai konˇ rhid ha+ er siongˇ pienˊ mongì tso tet pûn ngài khon yit hå èr siong phién mò
Can you let me look at the photo for a moment?

Recognising It

When meeting a new noun that ends in this syllable, the safe assumption is that it belongs to the word. Stripping it off usually leaves something that is not a word at all, or that means something quite different.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Hailu Hakka course

79 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 2. A few of them, with the words “The Diminutive Suffix -仔” is about in bold:

這係𠊎个朋友，Anna。佢係一個學生仔。
liaˊ heˇ ngai gaiˇ pen rhiuˋ, Anna. gi heˇ rhid gaiˇ hogˋ sangˋ er.liá he ngài kai phèn yiû, Anna. kì he yit kai ho̍k sâng èr.
This is my friend, Anna. She is a student.
Lesson 2
𠊎有兩台車仔，兩輛自行車，三台機車。
ngai rhiuˋ liongˊ toi chaˋ er, liongˊ liong cii+ hang chaˋ, samˋ toi giˋ chaˋ.ngài yiû lióng thòi chhâ èr, lióng liòng tshṳ̊ hàng chhâ, sâm thòi kî chhâ.
I have two cars, two bicycles, and three motorbikes.
Lesson 33
佢有一台又慢又便宜个車仔。
gi rhiuˋ rhid toi rhiu+ man+ rhiu+ pien ngi gaiˇ chaˋ er.kì yiû yit thòi yiů mån yiů phièn ngì kai chhâ èr.
She has a slow, cheap car.
Lesson 110

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