1st Person & Possession - 捱, 個, 吾

date

Sep 30, 2024

slug

first-person-and-possession

status

Published

The first-person pronoun in Hakka is

👉

捱

ᅌᅢ

ngai

[ŋäj]

I, Me

For possession, you have to add the word 個 ge, which indicates the subject's possession.

👉

捱個

ᅌᅢ거

ngai ge

[ŋäj.ke̞]

My, Mine

There's a possessive adjective in Hakka.

👉

吾

ᅌᅡ

nga

[ŋä]

My, Mine

Why use 吾 nga instead of 捱個 ngai ge?

It depends on personal choices, but to repetitively use the latter might be a little awkward in conversations. Especially when 個 ge is already repetitively used.

When should I use 吾 nga or 捱個 ngai ge?

吾 is casual or colloquial and can be seen used in casual Hakka conversations. While 捱個 is formal or literary, it's rarely used in real life. It can sound weird or awkward in Hakka conversations. While the proper pronunciation of 捱個 is rarely seen in real life, the colloquial form is

👉

捱個

ᅌᅢ어

ngai'e

[ŋäj.ʔe̞]

While 吾 are used here and there in conversations, colloquial 捱個 are by far the most used in real-life conversations.

Notes

The real honsu for 捱 is 𠊎, but it's unable to be seen on many devices.