Location and direction
See also:
- Location suffixes, under “Demonstrative pronouns”.
- Directional verbal complements, under “Verbal complements”.
Contents
- Verbs for location and movement
- Terminology for position and directions
- References and further reading
Verbs for location and movement
The verbs do6 在 “at”, ke3 去 “go”, and lai5 來 “come” are used as main verbs in simple declarative sentences.
NOUN [do6/ke3/lai5] [PLACE]
ua⁵² to¹¹ tsi⁵² ko²¹³
ua2 do6(7) zi2go3
我 在 只塊
I at here
I am here.
i³³ kʰɯ⁵² gua¹¹ kʰau⁵²
i1 ke3(2) ghua7kao2
伊 去 外口
He go outside
He is going outside.
They can also be used as co-verbs with a main verb describes an action related to movement or location.
NOUN V1-[do6/ke3/lai5] [PLACE]
i³³ kʰia¹¹ to¹¹ mɯng¹¹ kʰau⁵²
i1 kia6(7)do6(7) meng5(7)kao2
伊 企 在 門口
he stand at door-opening
He stands by the door
ua⁵² kĩã¹¹ kʰɯ⁵² hai²⁵ bĩ³³
ua2 gian5(7)ke3(2) hai2(6)bin1
我 行去 海邊
I walk-go beach
I walk to the beach.
Purpose of a motion/action
The reason for or purpose of an action comes after the location, in a sentence.
NOUN V1-[do6/ke3/lai5] PLACE PURPOSE
ua⁵² sai²⁵ tsʰia³³ kʰɯ⁵² sĩã¹¹ tsʰi²⁵ boi²⁵ mueʔ² gĩã²⁵
ua2 sai2(6)cia1 ke3(2) sian5(7)ci6 bhoi2(6) muêh8(4)gian6
我 駛車 去 城市 買 物件
I drive go city buy thing
I am driving into town to buy something.
ke3 and lai5 can also be used in the abstract sense of “going to do something” or “coming to do something”.
i³³ mua²⁵ dzik⁵ kʰɯ⁵² tʰik⁵ tʰo⁵⁵
i1 mua2(6)rig8 ke3(2) tig4(8)to5
伊 ～日 去 𨑨迌
he tomorrow go play
He is off on a jaunt tomorrow
Directional verbal complements
Other action verbs can be combined with a directional verbal complement (DVC) and the co-verbs ke3 or lai5 to indicate the direction of motion.
siu⁵²tsʰai⁵⁵ tsiu¹¹ kui¹¹ loh² kʰɯ²¹³
siu3(2)cai5 ziu6(7) gui6(7)-loh8(4)-ke3
秀才 就 跪落去
Graduate then kneel-DVC-go
The graduate then kneeled down
(A graduate kneels before a magistrate, from Lim 1886)
See “Directional” under “Verbal complements” for more examples.
do6 • 在 meaning “from”
do6 在 is used as a co-verb with lai5 or ke3 to mark where something comes from.
i³³ tsio³⁵ mueʔ⁵ to³³ puʔ² tsek² tĩã¹¹ to¹¹ huŋ¹¹ nam⁵⁵ lai⁵⁵ kai¹¹ ma¹¹
i1 zio2(6)mueh8 do1 buh8(4)zêg8(4)dian7 do6(7) Hung5(7)nam5 lai5-gai7 ma7
伊 照物 多 不一定 在 雲南 來個 嘛
it this-thing [particle] not-certainly from Yunnan come-GAI SFP
This thing doesn’t necessarily come from Yunnan
(Xu, 2007, pg. 76)
The Mandarin equivalent is cóng 從, which can also be used (Teochew pronunciation cong5).
do6 • 在 as an aspect marker
do6 can also function as a marker of progressive aspect, to indicate that an action is ongoing.
See “Aspect and time expressions”
Terminology for position and directions
Locations can be described with demonstrative pronouns (“here”, “there”), with nouns or noun phrases, or by adding location suffixes to nouns (see “Demonstrative pronouns”).
Left, right, and middle
The directions left and right can be expressed as zo2 左 and iu6 右 respectively, which are cognate to the expressions in literary Chinese and Mandarin. These usually take the location suffix -boin5 爿 (also written 畔):
tso²⁵põĩ⁵⁵ • zo2(6)boin5 • 左爿 • left side
iu¹¹põĩ⁵⁵ • iu6(7)boin5 • 右爿 • right side
The following terms are also used, which are derived from the names for “right hand” and “left hand”.
to⁵²tsʰiu²⁵põĩ⁵⁵ • do3(2)ciu2(6)boin5 • 倒手爿 • left side
tsĩã⁵²tsʰiu²⁵põĩ⁵⁵ • zian3(2)ciu2(6)boin5 • 正手爿 • right side
The word for “in the middle” appears to be unique to Teochew (in Hokkien it is tiong-ng). It is also pronounced ling3(2)dang1 or ding3(2)dang1.
leŋ⁵²taŋ³³ • lêng3(2)dang1 • 鎮中 • in the middle
Front and back
tao5(7)zoin5 and ao6(7)boin5 are added after nouns to mean “in front” and “behind” respectively.
tʰau¹¹ tsõĩ⁵⁵ • tao5(7)zoin5 • 頭前 • in front
au¹¹ põĩ⁵⁵ • ao6(7)boin5 • 後爿 • behind
Southeast Asian Teochew also uses ao6(7)bhuê2 後尾 (see Wiktionary), possibly influenced by Hokkien.
Above and below
teŋ35 põĩ55 • dêng2(6)boin5 • 頂畔 • above
e21 põĩ55 • ê6(7)boin5 • 下畔 • below
Near and far
kɯŋ²⁵ • geng6 • 近 • “near” (also pronounced ging6, gêng6)
*hɯŋ²⁵ • heng6 • 遠 • “far” (also pronounced hng6)
iaŋ²⁵ kɯŋ²⁵ • iang2(6)geng6 • 遠近 • “near and far”, i.e. “everywhere” (iang2 is lit. pronunciation)
kɯŋ¹¹ pĩ³³ • geng6(7)bin1 • 近邊 • “nearby̦”
pĩ³³ tʰau⁵⁵ • bin1tao5 • 邊頭 • “beside”
Compass directions
The Teochew pronunciations for the four cardinal directions are:
toŋ³³ • dong1 • 東 • “East”
lam⁵⁵ • lam5 • 南 • “South”
sai³³ • sai1 • 西 • “West”
pak² • bag4 • 北 • “North”
As part of place names or proper nouns:
pak⁵kĩã³³ • Bag4(8)gian1 • 北京 • Beijing/Peking
sai³³iu¹¹ki²¹³ • Sai1iu5(7)gi3 • 西遊記 • Journey to the West
lam⁷⁷ĩẽ³³ • Lam5(7)iên1 • 南洋 • Nanyang (Southeast Asia)
References and further reading
- Lǐ Yǒngmíng 李永明 (1959), 《潮州方言》, Chapter 4 part 21