The Object Markers 摎 and 同

01

When It Is Used

The construction wants a definite object — something already known to both speakers — which is then acted upon and changed, moved, shut, lent or handed over. Because the object is old news it is moved out of the way, and the interesting part comes last. The verb at the end almost always carries a complement saying where the object ended up.

02

同 Doing the Same Work

同 (tungˇthùng) marks an object in exactly the same way and in the same position. The two are interchangeable in this use.

• 𠊎毋知𠊎同佢放在哪了。

  ngaiˇ mˇ diˊ ngaiˇ tungˇ giˇ biong di nai leˋngài m̀ tî ngài thùng kì piong ti nai lé

  I don't know where I put them.

• 你做得同這隻句仔翻譯到越南語無？

  nˇ zo dedˋ tungˇ iaˋ zagˋ gi eˋ fanˊ id do ied namˇ ngiˊ moˇǹ cho tet thùng yá chak ki é fân yi̍t to ye̍t nàm ngî mò

  Could you translate this sentence into Vietnamese?

• 你做得同筆記型電腦借分𠊎無？

  nˇ zo dedˋ tungˇ bidˋ gi hinˇ tien noˋ jia bunˊ ngaiˇ moˇǹ cho tet thùng pit ki hìn thien nó chia pûn ngài mò

  Could you lend me the laptop?

03

同 for Somebody

同 (tungˇthùng) has a second and quite different job: it marks the person on whose behalf something is done. Here it corresponds to English for me or to me rather than marking an object at all, and it stands before the verb just as the object marker does.

• 去店仔同𠊎買一打雞卵。

  hi diam eˋ tungˇ ngaiˇ maiˊ idˋ daˋ gieˊ lonˋhi tiam é thùng ngài mâi yit tá kiê lón

  Go to the shop and buy a dozen eggs for me.

• 佢在該同𠊎剪頭那毛。

  giˇ di ge tungˇ ngaiˇ jienˋ teuˇ naˇ moˊkì ti ke thùng ngài chién thèu nà mô

  He is cutting my hair for me.

• 同𠊎講仰仔了。

  tungˇ ngaiˇ gongˋ ngiongˋ eˇ leˋthùng ngài kóng ngióng è lé

  Tell me how it went.

04

同 as 'And'

Outside both of these, 同 (tungˇthùng) is the everyday word joining two nouns — and, with. It links nouns only and is not used to join two clauses together.

• 𠊎有一隻狗仔同貓仔。

  ngaiˇ iuˊ idˋ zagˋ gieuˋ eˋ tungˇ meu eˋngài yû yit chak kiéu é thùng meu é

  I have a dog and a cat.

• 𠊎有六個兄弟同七個姐妹。

  ngaiˇ iuˊ liugˋ ge hiungˊ ti tungˇ qidˋ ge jiaˋ moingài yû liuk ke hiûng thi thùng chhit ke chiá moi

  I have six brothers and seven sisters.

05

Telling Them Apart

Position alone will not separate the three, since all sit before the verb. What follows decides: a thing being acted on is an object; a person who benefits is a beneficiary; and two nouns side by side with no verb between them is simply and.