Readers 读者
The Etymologies of Some Grammatical Particles in Southern Min (in Chinese)
几个台湾闽南话常用虚词的来源
Tsu-Lin Mei 梅祖麟
Abstract 摘要
This paper discuss the etymologies of the following grammatical particles in Southern Min: (1) plural suffix –n, (2) first person plural pronoun lan 3 ‘inclusive we’, (3) second person singular pronoun li 3, (4) interrogative lua 6, dzua 6 for the ‘how’ in ‘how far, how tall’, (5) auxiliary verb e 6 ‘can, able to’, (6) diminutive suffix a 3, (7) distal deictic particle hit 7 ‘that’, hia 1 ‘there’, and (8) locative particle ti 6. The discussion follows and refines previous work by Jerry Norman (1983) and the present author. For (1), it is shown that the Tsu-t’ang chi of 952 A.D. contains the expression 汝儂, plural ‘you’. From (4), it is proposed that the lua 6 in lua 6 kuan 2 ‘how tall’ is a fusion of 若 *lio/ 8 ‘how’ and 夥ua 6 ‘many’.