William Ashmore

“ How can a blind man see? He is only supposed to; it is figurative. Suan—õi-kiè, kok—õi-ìn, the mountain can call, the valley can answer. Suan and kok are sí words, spoken of as if animate. Hái—õi-chhiè, the sea can laugh. Gue̍h—õi-khui-keng, the moon can draw a bow. San-hû chhiū—õi-khui-hue, coral can blossom. The words hái, gue̍h, and San-hû-chhiū, are all sí. What they do is done figuratively.
In the following examples, ua̍h-jī chò-sí-jī ēng, live words are used as dead ones. Koi—bõi-thî, a fowl cannot crow. Káu—bõi-pūi, a dog cannot bark. Bé—bôi-pháu, horse cannot run. “Why can they not?” ”

“ In the following examples, as the Chinese say, sí-jī chò-ua̍h-jī ēng, dead words are used as live ones. In each example following, the first Chinese word, or the first two or three words before the dash — are sí, as, sí-nâng—à-kàu-khiã, a dead man argues till he starts erect. The words, sí-nâng, are sí, for, says the scholar triumphantly, “How can a dead man argue at all? ”