Cantonese pronouns

Pronouns in Cantonese are less numerous than their Indo-European languages counterparts. Cantonese uses pronouns that apply the same meaning to function as both subjective (English: I, he, we) and objective (me, him, us) just like many other Sinitic languages.^[1]

Personal pronouns

Cantonese personal pronouns ^[2]

Person	Singular			Plural*
	General	Classic	Meaning	General	Classic	Meaning
First person	我 - ngo5	我 - ngo5 (acc.) 吾 - ng4 (nom.)	'I/me'	我哋 - ngo5 dei6	我等 - ngo5 dang2 吾等 - ng4 dang2	'we/us'
Second person	你 - nei5	爾 - ji5 汝 - jyu5	'you'	你哋 - nei5 dei6	爾等 - ji5 dang2　 汝等 - jyu5 dang2	'you (all)'
Third person	佢 - keoi5	𠍲/渠 - keoi4 (gen.)[3]	'he/she/it'	佢哋 - keoi5 dei6	𠍲/渠等 - keoi4 dang2	'they/them'

* Personal pronouns are the only items in Cantonese with distinct plural forms. The character to indicate plurality is formed by adding the suffix 哋 (dei6), and classic 等 (dang2).

There exist many more pronouns in Classical Chinese and in literary works, including 汝 (jyu5) or 爾 (ji5) for "you", and 吾 (ng4) for "I" (see Chinese honorifics). However, they are not used in colloquial speech.

Third person singular (keoi5) ^[4] Although (keoi5) is primarily used to refer to animate nouns (people or animals)in higher registers, it can also refer to inanimate objects and abstract entities in some restricted contexts. When (keoi5) is being referred to an inanimate item it is primarily found in the object position, rather than the subject position. In colloquial speech, its use is frequently extended to refer to nothing at all.^[5]

我

ngo⁵

I

想

soeng²

want

睇

tai²

read

晒

saai³

all

佢

keoi⁵

it

先

sin¹

first

還

waan⁴

return

 

(keoi5 = the book)^[6]

 

我 想 睇 晒 佢 先 還

ngo5 soeng2 tai2 saai3 keoi5 sin1 waan4

I want read all it first return

'I want to finish reading it before I return it.'

^[7] Plural suffix (-dei6) One of the few grammatical suffixes in the language, the suffix (-dei6) cannot be used to form plural forms of nouns.

   Example: (sin1saang1-dei6) can't be used to mean teachers

Other than the personal pronouns as shown above, its two other uses are:

1. In the form (jan4-dei6) which is used for indefinite pronouns (people, one, etc.)

人哋

jan⁴dei⁶

睇住

tai²-zyu⁶

你

lei⁵

人哋 睇住 你

jan4dei6 tai2-zyu6 lei5

People are watching you

In this usage, the word (jan4) 'person' can also take (dei6) to mean 'people'. Despite the suffix (-dei6), (jan4-dei6) may have a singular or plural reference depending on the content.

This form can also be used to refer indirectly to oneself:

   Example: A: Nei5 dim2 gaai2 m4 ceot1 seng1 gaa3?   Why don't you say anything?
            B: Jan4 dei6 m4 hou2 ji3 si1 aa1 maa3     It's because I'm embarrassed.

2. In contracted forms with names

   Example: Paul keoi5 dei6 → Paul-dei6         Paul and his family/friends
            A-Chan keoi5 dei6→ A-Chan-dei6      Chan and his family/company, etc.

Possessive pronoun

To indicate possession 嘅 (ge3) is appended to the pronoun.

For serious use, 令 (ling6) to replace 你, as in 令尊 (ling6 zyun1) "Your father" as 你老竇 (nei5 lou5 dau4). In literary style, 其 (kei4) is sometimes used for "his" or "her"; e.g., 其父 (kei4 fu6) means "his father" or "her father".

Omitted pronoun

In literature, daily phrases (especially ones about family or concepts very close to the owner, or when the subject or object of the sentence is already known, then it may be omitted, e.g. 我老母 (ngo5 lou5 mou5) or replace possession indicator with classifier, e.g. 我架車 (ngo5 gaa3 ce1).

Subject and object pronouns may be omitted in Cantonese under either of these two conditions:

1. The omitted subject or object has been the topic of a previous sentence, question or dialogue.
2. The reference is clear from the context. This applies especially to the first and second person subjects, and to third person entities which are present at the time of speaking.^[8]

Reflexive pronoun

The singular personal pronouns (for humans) may be made reflexive by appending 自己 (zi6 gei2), "self". The reflexive form (zi6 gei2) is used for all persons: myself, yourself, herself, ourselves, etc.^[9] It may be distinguished into two different functions:

1. The true reflexive pronoun
2. An emphatic function, where it reinforces a pronoun or noun phrase.^[10]

我

Ngo⁵

I

自己

zi⁶gei²

myself

唔

m⁴

not

會

wui⁵

would

咁

gam²

so

做

zou⁶

behave

我 自己 唔 會 咁 做

Ngo5 zi6gei2 m4 wui5 gam2 zou6

I myself not would so behave

I myself would not behave like that

^[11] As a reflexive, (zi gei) is subject-oriented. Another common function is to indicate 'by oneself' or 'alone'.

我

Ngo⁵

I

自己

zi⁶gei²

myself

買

maai⁵

buy

餸

sung³

groceries

煮

zyu²

cook

飯

faan⁶

rice

我 自己 買 餸 煮 飯

Ngo5 zi6gei2 maai5 sung3 zyu2 faan6

I myself buy groceries cook rice

I’ll buy the groceries and cook by myself

Pronouns in imperial times and self-deprecatory

In imperial times, the pronoun for "I" was commonly omitted when speaking politely or to someone with higher social status.^{[citation needed]} "I" was usually replaced with special pronouns to address specific situations.^{[citation needed]} Examples include 寡人 gwaa jan during early Chinese history and 朕 zam after the Qin dynasty when the Emperor is speaking to his subjects. When the subjects speak to the Emperor, they address themselves as 臣 (shen), or "your official". It is extremely impolite and taboo to address the Emperor as "you" or to address oneself as "I".

In modern times, the practice of self-deprecatory terms is still used. In formal letters, the term 貴 (gwai; lit. important) is used for "you" and "your"; e.g., 貴公司 refers to "your company". 本人 (bun jan; lit. this person) is used to refer to oneself.

Demonstrative pronouns

Cantonese demonstrative pronouns

	Singular				Plural
	General		Classic		General		Classic
Proximal	呢個 - ni1 go3		爾個 - ji5*1 go3		呢啲 - ni1 di1		爾之 - ji5*1 zi1
Distal	嗰個 - go3*2 go3		箇個 - go3*2 go3		嗰啲 - go3*2 di1		箇之 - go3*2 zi1

Single proximal demonstrative refers to as "this," single distal as "that," plural proximal as "these," and plural distal as "those."

呢 (ni1) and 嗰 (go3*2) indicates if the demonstratives are proximal or distal, respectively; whereas 個 (go3) and 啲 (di1) indicates if the demonstratives are single or plural, respectively.

爾 (ji5) and 箇 (go3) are the classical forms of 呢 and 嗰, respectively. 之 (zi) is the classical forms of 啲.

Interrogative pronouns

Cantonese interrogative pronouns

	What		Which		Who		Where		When		How		Why
General	乜嘢 - mat7 je5 咩呀 - me1 aa3		邊個 - bin1 go3		邊個 - bin1 go3 邊位 - bin1 wai6*2 乜誰 - mat7 seoi4*2 乜人 - mat7 jan4*2		邊度 - bin1 dou3 邊處- bin1 syu3		幾時 - gei2 si4*2 幾點- gei2 dim2		點樣 - dim2 joeng6*2		點解 - dim2 gaai2 為乜 - wai6 mat7
Classical	物也 - mat9 jaa5		焉個 - jin1 go3		焉個 - jin1 go3 焉位 - jin1 wai6 物誰 - mat7 seoi4 物人 - mat7 jan4		焉道 - jin1 dou3 焉處 - jin1 cyu3		幾時 - gei2 si4		怎樣 - zam2 joeng6		怎解 - zam2 gaai2 為物 - wai6 mat7

See also

• Cantonese grammar
• Chinese pronouns

References

1. Li, Shek Kam Tse, Hui (2011). Early child Cantonese : facts and implications. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. p. 24. ISBN 9783110240047.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
2. Li, Shek Kam Tse, Hui (2011). Early child Cantonese : facts and implications. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. p. 175. ISBN 9783110240047.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
3. 《集韻．魚韻》:「𠍲，吳人呼彼稱。通作渠。」 漢語大字典
4. Matthews, Stephen; Yip, Virginia (2011). Cantonese a comprehensive grammar (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. p. 95. ISBN 9780415471312.
5. Yip, Virginia; Matthews, Stephen (2001). Intermediate cantonese: a grammar and workbook (1. publ. ed.). London [u.a.]: Routledge. p. 165. ISBN 0415193877.
6. Matthews, Stephen; Yip, Virginia (2011). Cantonese a comprehensive grammar (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. p. 95. ISBN 9780415471312.
7. Yip, Virginia; Matthews, Stephen (1999). Basic Cantonese a Grammar and Workbook. London: Routledge. pp. 17–18. ISBN 0-203-01020-5.
8. Matthews, Stephen; Yip, Virginia (2011). Cantonese a comprehensive grammar (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. p. 97. ISBN 9780415471312.
9. Yip, Virginia; Matthews, Stephen (1999). Basic Cantonese a Grammar and Workbook. London: Routledge. p. 20. ISBN 0-203-01020-5.
10. Yip, Virginia; Matthews, Stephen (1999). Basic Cantonese a Grammar and Workbook. London: Routledge. p. 21. ISBN 0-203-01020-5.
11. Yip, Virginia; Matthews, Stephen (1999). Basic Cantonese a Grammar and Workbook. London: Routledge. p. 21. ISBN 0-203-01020-5.