分 (bunˊ): Give, For and Let

01

Giving

At its plainest 分 (bunˊpûn) is the verb to give. The order is 分 (bunˊpûn) + RECIPIENT + THING, which is the order of English give me the book rather than give the book to me.

• 𠊎分你一粒阿司匹林治頭那痛。

  ngaiˇ bunˊ nˇ idˋ liab aˊ siiˊ pidˋ limˇ cii teuˇ naˇ tungngài pûn ǹ yit lia̍p â sṳ̂ phit lìm chhṳ thèu nà thung

  I'll give you an aspirin for the headache.

• 請分𠊎一杯咖啡同一隻三明治。

  qiangˋ bunˊ ngaiˇ idˋ biˊ gaˊ biˊ tungˇ idˋ zagˋ samˊ minˇ ciichhiáng pûn ngài yit pî kâ pî thùng yit chak sâm mìn chhṳ

  Please give me a coffee and a sandwich.

02

Marking the Recipient After Another Verb

When some other verb does the handing over — lending, buying, passing — 分 (bunˊpûn) follows it and introduces the person who ends up with the thing. The pattern is VERB + 分 (bunˊpûn) + PERSON, and it is how lend it to me and pass me the salt are built.

• 𠊎既經摎手機仔借分你了。

  ngaiˇ gi ginˊ lauˊ suˋ giˊ eˋ jia bunˊ nˇ leˋngài ki kîn lâu sú kî é chia pûn ǹ lé

  I've already lent you my cell phone.

• 吾爸買了一隻禮物分吾姆。

  ngaˊ baˊ maiˊ leˋ idˋ zagˋ liˊ vud bunˊ ngaˊ meˊngâ pâ mâi lé yit chak lî vu̍t pûn ngâ mê

  My dad bought a present for my mum.

• 請摎帳單分𠊎好無？

  qiangˋ lauˊ zong danˊ bunˊ ngaiˇ hoˋ moˇchhiáng lâu chong tân pûn ngài hó mò

  Could you give me the bill, please?

03

Letting and Allowing

With a person followed by a verb, 分 (bunˊpûn) means let or allow. What is handed over here is permission, and the person permitted stands between 分 (bunˊpûn) and the action they are permitted to do.

• 佢分倈仔讀這本書。

  giˇ bunˊ lai eˋ tug iaˋ bunˋ suˊkì pûn lai é thu̍k yá pún sû

  She let her son read this book.

• 你做得分𠊎看一下仔相片無？

  nˇ zo dedˋ bunˊ ngaiˇ kon idˋ ha eˋ xiong pienˋ moˇǹ cho tet pûn ngài khon yit ha é siong phién mò

  Can you let me look at the photo for a moment?

• 佢在該開門，好分𠊎落去。

  giˇ di ge koiˊ munˇ hoˋ bunˊ ngaiˇ log hikì ti ke khôi mùn hó pûn ngài lo̍k hi

  She's opening the door to let me go down.

04

Recognising Which Is Which

What follows 分 (bunˊpûn) settles the reading. A person and then a noun gives give somebody something; a person and then a verb gives let somebody do something. The word itself never changes, so the sentence around it carries the whole distinction. Beyond the uses above, 分 (bunˊpûn) also serves as the ordinary verb to divide, splitting a whole into parts.

05

The Passive

The last job follows from let: allow something to be done to you and you have a passive. The order is the thing affected, then 分 (bunˊpûn), then whoever did it, then the verb. The one thing to remember is that the doer cannot be left out — where English says the door was shut and names nobody, Hakka has to say who shut it. Recognising the shape is enough at this stage.

• 門分佢關起來了。

  munˇ bunˊ giˇ guanˊ hiˋ loiˇ leˋmùn pûn kì kôan hí lòi lé

  The door was shut by her.