Negatives
Teochew, like other Min languages, has a rich set of negative words, in comparison to modern Mandarin, which has only three (bù 不, bié 別, méi 沒).
Contents
- Negatives with m6 唔 and bho5 無
- Fused negatives
- Negatives of modal verbs
- References and further reading
Negatives with m6 唔 and bho5 無
m6 • 唔
m6 唔 cannot stand by itself but must always be attached to another word to negate it. It is always used as a prefix.
The character 唔 is used in many modern Teochew texts, and is also used to write the negative m4 in Cantonese. The Taiwan Ministry of Education recommends the character 毋 for the cognate word in Taiwanese Hokkien. Historical texts such as Teochew songbooks use the character 不, which is then pronounced either m6 or bug4 depending on context. To avoid this ambiguity, this guide prefers to use 唔 for m6 and 不 only for bug4.
m6 is used to negate the following classes of words:
Negating si6 是 “to be”
The copula si6 唔 is negated by m6: m6(7)si6 唔是. (See “Auxiliary verbs”.)
ua⁵³ m¹¹si¹¹ zik²puŋ³⁵ naŋ⁵⁵
Ua2 m6(7)si6(7) rig8(4)bung2(6)-nang5.
我 唔是 日本人。
I NEG-COP Japan-person.
I am not Japanese.
Negating stative verbs
Stative verbs describe states of being, in contrast to dynamic verbs, which describe actions and events. The majority of verbs are dynamic verbs. Stative verbs are relatively few and have to do mostly with thinking, beliefs, and opinion.
m¹¹pak⁵ • m6(7)-bag8 • 唔識 • “not-recognize/know”
m¹¹ki³³tek² • m6(7)-gi1dêg4 • 唔記得 • “not-remember”
Negating ungradeable adjectives
Ungradeable adjectives describe properties that cannot be placed on a sliding scale. For example, one is either ignorant of danger (zai1si2 知死) or not (m6(7)zai1si2 唔知死); it is impossible to be half-zai1si2.
i³³ ou³³ bo¹¹ mueʔ²kĩã³⁵ / m¹¹kam³³ŋuaŋ³⁵
I1 ou1 bho5(7) muêh8(4)gian6, m6(7)-gam1nguang6!
伊 污 無 物仔， 唔-甘願！
He dig no thing, NEG satisfied!
He was not satisfied because he could not dig up anything [to use against us]!
***
lɯ⁵³ kʰaʔ²kue⁵³ m¹¹tsɯ¹¹liaŋ³⁵ lo⁵³
“Le2 kah8(4)-guê3(2) m6(7)-ze6(7)liang6 lo2!”
“汝 𥑐-過 唔-自量 囉！”
You too-much NEG-self-aware PERF!
You don’t know your own strength!
Gradeable adjectives, on the other hand, are negated with bhoi6 袂 (see below).
bho5 • 無
bho5 is the negative form of the auxiliary verb u6 有 (see “Auxiliary verbs”).
Negative of u6 有
Sentences with u6 有 can be negated simply by substituting bho5 無. Here are examples for the different functions of u6.
[Possession]
ua⁵³ bo¹¹ tsĩ⁵⁵
Ua2 bho5(7) zin5.
我 無 錢。
I NEG money.
I have no money.
***
[Existence]
ua⁵³ tsĩ¹¹to¹¹ tõĩ⁵³ tsek²kai¹¹ tuŋ³⁵kĩã⁵³ ia¹¹ bo⁵⁵
Ua2 zin5(7)do7-doin2 zêg8(4)-gai5(7) dung2(6)gian2 ia7-bho5.
我 錢袋底 一個 盾仔 也 無。
I wallet-inside one-CL coin also-NEG.
I don’t have a single coin in my wallet.
***
[Affirmative and habitual]
ua⁵³ bo¹¹ puaʔ²tsĩ⁵⁵ / ua⁵³ tsek² seŋ³³ ia¹¹ bo¹¹ puaʔ⁵ kue²¹³
Ua2 bho5(7) buah8(4)zin5! Ua2 zêg8(4)-sêng1 ia5(7) bho5(7) buah8-guê3.
我 無 ～錢！ 我 一生 也 無 ～過。
I NEG gamble! I entire-life also NEG gamble-EXP.
I don’t gamble! I have never gambled my entire life.
Negating do6 在 • location or progressive aspect
bho5 is used as a prefix to negate do6 在 “at”, even though the positive form does not require u6 有.
i³³ to¹¹ tsʰu⁵³lai³⁵ / ua⁵³ bo¹¹ to¹¹ tsʰu⁵³lai³⁵
I1 do6(7) cu3(2)lai6. Ua2 bho5(7)-do6(7) cu3(2)lai6.
伊 在 厝內。 我 無在 厝內。
He/she at home. I NEG-at home.
He/she is at home. I am not at home.
do6 is also used as a progressive aspect marker, to indicate an action that is ongoing.
ua⁵³ bo¹¹ to¹¹ tʰak⁵kiu⁵⁵
Ua2 bho5(7)-do6(7) tag4(8)giu5.
我 無在 踢球。
I NEG-PROG kick-ball.
I am not playing ball.
Fused negatives
Many negative words begin with either the m or bh sound. Given that the basic negative prefix is m6 唔, it is likely that they have evolved from fusion of m6 + the positive form, especially in the case of auxiliary verbs:
m6 唔 + oi6 會 = bhoi6 𠁞 (also written 𣍐 or 袂)
m6 唔 + ai3 愛 = mai3 勿 (also written 莫)
m6 唔 + ho2 好 = mo2 孬
A few are not modal verbs:
m6 唔 + ui3 畏 = mui ～ • “do not worry”
m6 唔 + êg4 憶 = mêk4 ～ • mêg8têg4 ～得 “forget”
Negatives of modal verbs
Modal verbs have special negative forms. Most of these appear to be derived from fusion of m6 and the original modal verb, e.g. m6 唔 + oi6 會 (bhoi6 𠁞/𣍐/袂), m6 + ho2 好 (mo2 孬). Usage is straightforward, being just like the respective positive modal verbs, which are further explained in the section “Modality”.
bhoi6 • 𠁞 or 袂 - ability, “unable to”
Negative of oi6 會
bhoi6 is written with a number of a different characters. Many modern Teochew books use the character 𠁞 (⿱不會) and sometimes also 𣍐 (⿰勿會), but historical Teochew songbooks often use 袂 (otherwise pronounced mi6). The Taiwan Education Ministry also recommends 袂 for the cognate word in Taiwanese Hokkien. Because many computer fonts do not have 𠁞, this guide prefers 袂. See the discussion on orthography at “Pronunciation”
ua⁵³ boi¹¹ pʰaʔ² mua¹¹tsiaoʔ²
Ua2 bhoi6(7) pah8(4) mua5(7)ziaoh4.
我 袂 拍 麻雀。
I cannot play mahjong.
I’m unable to play mahjong.
It is also used to negate compounds that are derived from oi6:
boi¹¹hiau⁵³ • bhoi6(7)hiao2 • 袂曉 • unable (knowledge, skills)
boi¹¹tek⁵ • bhoi6(7)dêg8 • 袂得 • unable (capacity, physical ability)
boi¹¹sai⁵³ • bhoi6(7)sai2 • 袂使 • unable (permission, capacity)
The usage bhoi6(7)sai2 袂使 comes from Hokkien, and is common in overseas Teochew (see “Loan words”). The Teochew equivalent to bhoi6(7)sai2 is mo2 孬.
Negating gradeable adjectives
In addition to being a negative modal verb, bhoi6 is also used to negate gradeable adjectives (in contrast to m6 唔 for ungradeable adjectives). These adjectives describe attributes that can be compared on a scale, e.g. “more beautiful”, “less intelligent”.
ua⁵³ boi¹¹ tsʰoŋ³³meŋ⁵⁵
Ua2 bhoi6(7) cong1mêng5.
我 袂 聰明。
I not intelligent.
I’m not intelligent.
mo2 • 孬
Negative of ho2 好 and ko2(6)i2 可以 – permission
lɯ⁵³ mo³⁵ zip⁵lai¹¹
Le2 mo2(6) rib4(8)lai7.
汝 孬 入來。
You NEG enter.
Do not come in.
Negative of ai3 愛 – intention, obligation
kʰaŋ³³kʰue²¹³ mo³⁵ si⁵³sua³⁵ tso²¹³
Kang1kuê3 mo2(6) si3(2)sua2(6) zo3.
工課 孬 四散 做。
Work NEG slipshod do.
Work should not be done carelessly.
As an adjective or adverb meaning “bad” (negative of ho2 好), in words like m6(7)mo2 無孬 or bhoi6(7)mo2 袂孬 (“not bad”), or siang1mo2 相孬 (“break off a friendship”, negative of siang1ho2 相好).
i³³ tso¹¹kai¹¹ ou¹¹ni⁵⁵ bi¹¹sou²¹³ boi¹¹mo⁵³
I1 zo6(7)-gai5(7) ou7ni5 bhi5(7)sou3 boi6(7)mo2.
伊 做個 芋泥 味素 袂孬。
He cook-REL yam-paste flavor not-bad.
The yam paste that he made is not bad.
m6(7)haon3 • 唔好 • willingness
Negative of haon3 好 - willingness
mai3 • 勿
Negative of ai3 愛 – intention, obligation.
mai3 is conventionally written with the character 勿, also in historical Teochew texts. However Li (1959) used 莫 (usually pronounced mo6) for this word.
i³³ mai⁵³ tʰĩã³³ue¹¹
I1 mai3(2) tian1uê7.
伊 勿 聽話。
He NEG listen.
He does not want to listen [to advice].
mêng2 or miêng2 • 免 • necessity, “don’t need to”
Negative of diêh8 着 - obligation
mêng2 or ming2 (depending on regional accent) is the vernacular pronunciation, whereas miêng2 or miang2 is the literary pronunciation.
meŋ³⁵kʰeʔ⁵kʰi²¹³ • mêng2(6)kêh4(8)ki3 • 免客氣 • “don’t stand on ceremony”
Compared to mo2 孬, mêng2 is a gentler way of declining an offer.
bho5(7)biang3 • 無變 • circumstances, “unable to”
Negative of u6(7)biang3 有變
ua⁵³ pʰua⁵³pẽ²¹³ / bo¹¹piaŋ⁵³ tsʰuk⁵muŋ⁵⁵
Ua2 pua3(2)ben3, bho5(7)biang3(2) cug4(8)mung5.
我 破病， 無變 出門。
I ill, NEG-able go-out.
I’m sick and unable to leave the house.
bhuê7 • 未 • expectation, “not yet”
Negative of ai3 愛 - “will”
naŋ⁵³ taŋ⁵³ pũã³⁵zik⁵ lou¹¹ / hue³³tsʰia³³ hũã³³ bue¹¹ lai⁵⁵
Nang2 dang2(6) buan3(2)rig8 lou7, huê1cia1 huan1 bhuê7 lai5.
俺 等 半日 囉， 火車 還 未 來。
We wait half-day PERF, train still NEG come.
We’ve been waiting half the day, but the train has still not arrived.
References and further reading
- Xu Hui Ling 許惠玲 (2007), Aspect of Chaozhou grammar, Chapter 9 (this section draws extensively from the discussion here)
- Yue, Anne O. (2003), Chinese dialects: Grammar, Section 4.3