Personal Pronouns and the Plural 兜 — Sixian Hakka Grammar

There are three basic pronouns: (ngaiˇngài) I, (nˇǹ) you, and (giˇkì), which serves for he, she and it alike. The third person carries no gender, so one word does duty for all three and the context supplies the rest.

𠊎在該啉水。
ngaiˇ di ge limˊ suiˋngài ti ke lîm súi
I am drinking water.
佢係一個學生仔。
giˇ he idˋ ge hog sangˊ eˋkì he yit ke ho̍k sâng é
She is a student.
佢在該食東西。
giˇ di ge siid dungˊ xiˊkì ti ke sṳ̍t tûng sî
He is eating something.

A pronoun does not change form according to its job in the sentence. There is no separate object form, so the word for I is also the word for me, and the word for he is also the word for him.

𠊎愛佢兜，佢兜也愛𠊎。
ngaiˇ oi giˇ deuˊ giˇ deuˊ ia oi ngaiˇngài oi kì têu kì têu ya oi ngài
I love them, and they love me too.

The Plural Suffix 兜

A plural is formed by adding (deuˊtêu) to the singular pronoun. The suffix never changes shape, so all three plurals are perfectly regular — there is nothing answering to the irregular I / we of English.

(ngaiˇngài) → (ngaiˇ deuˊngài têu) — I → we
(nˇǹ) → (nˇ deuˊǹ têu) — you → you (more than one)
(giˇkì) → (giˇ deuˊkì têu) — he, she, it → they

𠊎兜在該食晝。
ngaiˇ deuˊ di ge siid zungài têu ti ke sṳ̍t chu
We are eating lunch.
𠊎兜戴在十六樓。
ngaiˇ deuˊ dai di siib liugˋ leuˇngài têu tai ti sṳ̍p liuk lèu
We live on the sixteenth floor.
朋友，你兜有看著無？
penˇ iuˊ nˇ deuˊ iuˊ kon doˋ moˇphèn yû ǹ têu yû khon tó mò
Friends, did you see it?

A demonstrative can be folded in between the two, giving (nˇ iaˋ deuˊǹ yá têu) — you said to a group that is present, literally you-this-lot. It is no more emphatic than the plain plural; it simply points at the people being addressed.

你這兜這下在該做麼个？
nˇ iaˋ deuˊ iaˋ ha di ge zo maˋ geǹ yá têu yá ha ti ke cho má ke
What are you all doing now?

Possessives of the Plurals

A plural pronoun takes (geke) to become a possessive, giving our and their. This is the regular pattern, and it applies to every plural pronoun without exception.

𠊎兜个細人仔同佢兜个細人仔都係學生仔。
ngaiˇ deuˊ ge se nginˇ eˋ tungˇ giˇ deuˊ ge se nginˇ eˋ du he hog sangˊ eˋngài têu ke se ngìn é thùng kì têu ke se ngìn é tu he ho̍k sâng é
Our children and their children are all students.
𠊎兜个倈仔無頭路。
ngaiˇ deuˊ ge lai eˋ moˇ teuˇ lungài têu ke lai é mò thèu lu
Our son doesn't have a job.
佢兜个細人仔當吵。
giˇ deuˊ ge se nginˇ eˋ dongˊ cauˇkì têu ke se ngìn é tông chhàu
Their children are very noisy.

兜 Outside the Pronouns

The same (deuˊtêu) works with nouns, where it marks an unspecified small quantity — some, a few. Attached to a demonstrative it yields these and those, and no classifier is needed once it is in place.

𠊎做得為你做兜麼个？
ngaiˇ zo dedˋ viˇ nˇ zo deuˊ maˋ gengài cho tet vì ǹ cho têu má ke
What can I do for you?
有兜人毋相信。
iuˊ deuˊ nginˇ mˇ xiongˊ xinyû têu ngìn m̀ siông sin
Some people do not believe.
這兜又愛幾多錢？
iaˋ deuˊ iu oi giˋ doˊ qienˇyá têu yu oi kí tô chhièn
How much do these cost?

Leaving the Pronoun Out

When the context already makes the subject plain, the pronoun is simply dropped. A sentence with no subject at all is entirely ordinary and carries no sense of abruptness; the listener supplies it from what came before. This happens far more readily than in English, where a subject is nearly always obligatory.

食飽吂？
siid bauˋ mangˇsṳ̍t páu màng
Have you eaten yet?
噢，做毋得！
oˊ zo mˇ dedˋô cho m̀ tet
Oh, that's not possible!

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Sixian Hakka course

337 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 1. A few of them, with the words “Personal Pronouns and the Plural 兜” is about in bold:

這係吾个朋友，Anna。佢係一個學生仔。
iaˋ he ngaˊ ge penˇ iuˊ, Anna. giˇ he idˋ ge hog sangˊ eˋ.yá he ngâ ke phèn yû, Anna. kì he yit ke ho̍k sâng é.
This is my friend, Anna. She is a student.
Lesson 2
佢也在該睡目。佢無睡。
giˇ ia di ge soi mugˋ. giˇ moˇ soi.kì ya ti ke soi muk. kì mò soi.
He is also sleeping. She isn't.
Lesson 16
𠊎愛佢兜，佢兜也愛𠊎。
ngaiˇ oi giˇ deuˊ, giˇ deuˊ ia oi ngaiˇ.ngài oi kì têu, kì têu ya oi ngài.
I love them and they love me.
Lesson 32

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