Possessive Pronouns: 吾, 若 and 厥 — Sixian Hakka Grammar

Hakka does not build my and your out of the ordinary pronouns. It keeps three dedicated possessive words, one for each person, placed directly in front of the thing owned. Each is historically the pronoun and the possessive particle fused into one syllable, which is why they look so unlike the pronouns they belong to.

(ngaˊngâ) — my
(ngiaˊngiâ) — your
(giaˊkiâ) — his, her, its

𠊎愛吾爸。
ngaiˇ oi ngaˊ baˊngài oi ngâ pâ
I love my dad.
若屋仔當靚。
ngiaˊ vugˋ eˋ dongˊ jiangˊngiâ vuk é tông chiâng
Your house is very pretty.
該儕人牽等厥狗仔走。
ge saˇ nginˇ kienˊ denˋ giaˊ gieuˋ eˋ zeuˋke sà ngìn khiên tén kiâ kiéu é chéu
That man is walking his dog.

Straight Before the Noun

Nothing comes between the possessive and its noun — no classifier, no linking particle. This is the ordinary way of speaking about family, belongings and parts of the body.

吾公年紀大了，毋過當有活力。
ngaˊ gungˊ ngienˇ giˋ tai leˋ mˇ go dongˊ iuˊ fad lidngâ kûng ngièn kí thai lé m̀ ko tông yû fa̍t li̍t
My grandfather is old, but he's very energetic.
若阿姆安到麼个名？
ngiaˊ aˊ meˊ onˊ do maˋ ge miangˇngiâ â mê ôn to má ke miàng
What is your mother's name?
厥爸當後生。
giaˊ baˊ dongˊ heu sangˊkiâ pâ tông heu sâng
His father is very young.
若爺哀有在屋下無？
ngiaˊ iaˇ oiˊ iuˊ di vugˋ kaˊ moˇngiâ yà ôi yû ti vuk khâ mò
Are your parents at home?

The Longer Forms with 个

Each of the three has a longer form ending in (geke) — (ngaˊ gengâ ke), (ngiaˊ gengiâ ke), (giaˊ gekiâ ke) — carrying the same meaning. Both are entirely ordinary and either may be used, though the longer one gives the possessor a little more weight.

這係吾个朋友，Anna。
iaˋ he ngaˊ ge penˇ iuˊ Annayá he ngâ ke phèn yû Anna
This is my friend, Anna.
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.
厥个朋友也係先生。
giaˊ ge penˇ iuˊ ia he xinˊ sangˊkiâ ke phèn yû ya he sîn sâng
His friend is also a teacher.

Third Person, Any Owner

(giaˊkiâ) covers his, her and its alike, matching the pronoun (giˇkì), which likewise makes no distinction of gender. Who is meant comes from the context alone. It does not stretch to their, which is built the regular way from the plural pronoun.

吾朋友送厥姆一隻禮物。
ngaˊ penˇ iuˊ sung giaˊ meˊ idˋ zagˋ liˊ vudngâ phèn yû sung kiâ mê yit chak lî vu̍t
My friend gave her mother a present.

Only Three

The dedicated words cover the singular only. For our and their the regular pattern takes over — the plural pronoun followed by (geke) — so there is no fourth or fifth form waiting to be learned.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Sixian Hakka course

67 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 2. A few of them, with the words “Possessive Pronouns: 吾, 若 and 厥” 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
吾爸買了一隻禮物分吾姆。
ngaˊ baˊ maiˊ leˋ idˋ zagˋ liˊ vud bunˊ ngaˊ meˊ.ngâ pâ mâi lé yit chak lî vu̍t pûn ngâ mê.
My father bought a present for my mother.
Lesson 225
吾个第一印象係佢當聰明。
ngaˊ ge ti idˋ in xiong he giˇ dongˊ cungˊ minˇ.ngâ ke thi yit yin siong he kì tông chhûng mìn.
My first impression is that she is very smart.
Lesson 333

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