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

(diti) 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.

吾个爺哀在銀行工作。
ngaˊ ge iaˇ oiˊ di ngiunˇ hongˇ gungˊ zogˋngâ ke yà ôi ti ngiùn hòng kûng chok
My parents work at a bank.
𠊎後生時節歇在中國。
ngaiˇ heu sangˊ siiˇ jiedˋ hed di zungˊ guedˋngài heu sâng sṳ̀ chiet he̍t ti chûng koet
I lived in China when I was young.
𠊎在表格頂高簽名。
ngaiˇ di beuˋ giedˋ dangˋ goˊ qiamˊ miangˇngài ti péu kiet táng kô chhiâm miàng
I sign my name on the form.

Stating Where Something Is

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

若个電腦在該片。
ngiaˊ ge tien noˋ di ge pienˋngiâ ke thien nó ti ke phién
Your computer is over there.
佢在學校。
giˇ di hog gauˋkì ti ho̍k káu
She is at school.
食物在哪位？
siid vud di nai visṳ̍t vu̍t ti nai vi
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: (diti) opens the phrase and the position word closes it.

在冰箱裡肚。
di benˊ xiongˊ diˊ duˋti pên siông tî tú
In the fridge.
塑膠袋仔裡肚有麼个？
zogˋ gauˊ toi eˋ diˊ duˋ iuˊ maˋ gechok kâu thoi é tî tú yû má ke
What's inside the plastic bag?
鳥仔在花園裡肚唱歌仔。
diauˊ eˋ di faˊ ienˇ diˊ duˋ cong goˊ eˋtiâu é ti fâ yèn tî tú chhong kô é
The birds are singing songs in the garden.

項 — On, Within

(hong) 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。
ge zongˊ hoˋ kon ge xiong pienˋ gua di biagˋ hongke chông hó khon ke siong phién koa ti piak hong
The beautiful photo hangs on the wall.
𠊎係若班項个學生仔。
ngaiˇ he ngiaˊ banˊ hong ge hog sangˊ eˋngài he ngiâ pân hong ke ho̍k sâng é
I'm a student in your class.
這係世界項盡好个餐廳。
iaˋ he sii gie hong qin hoˋ ge conˊ tangˊyá he sṳ kie hong chhin hó ke chhôn thâng
This is the best restaurant in the world.

外背 — Outside

(ngoi boingoi 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。
ngaiˇ di munˇ ngoi boingài ti mùn ngoi poi
I am outside the door.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Sixian Hakka course

50 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。
moi eˋ di nai vi? - giˇ di hog gauˋ.moi é ti nai vi? - kì ti ho̍k káu.
Where is our daughter? - She's at school.
Lesson 242
𠊎在市場。該位當多人。
ngaiˇ di sii congˇ. ge vi dongˊ doˊ nginˇ.ngài ti sṳ chhòng. ke vi 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。
di ngaiˇ dedˋ doˋ idˋ toiˇ xinˊ caˊ eˋ ziiˊ qienˇ, ngaiˇ oi kiˇ cii hangˇ caˊ.ti ngài tet tó yit thòi sîn chhâ é chṳ̂ chhièn, ngài oi khì chhṳ hàng chhâ.
I have to ride my bike until I get a new car.
Lesson 301

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