There are a lot of degree adverbs in the northern dialect, such as
"Zei, Jing, Xi, Lao, Liu, Que, Wu, Kang, Ke, Si, and so on. Except for
Kang, all these dialect are still commonly used. In this study, we
select four of them and discuss, Zei, Beir, Lao, and Er, which are most
commonly used. In the northern dialect, Zei, Beir, Lao, and Er are
equal to Hen in Putonghua. We make a discussion of Zei, Beir, Lao,
and Er, about the usage, the syntax function, and the sameness and
difference between Zei, Beir, Lao, and Er in dialect and Hen in
Putonghua.
As degree adverbs, Zei, Beir, Lao, and Er are usually used together
with adjectives, no matter they are single or double syllable, that is to
say, Zei, Beir, Lao, and Er have no strict requirement on the number
of syllable of adjectives. Zei, Beir, Lao, and Er can also be used
together with verb-object structures and verbs describing one's mood.
Zei, Beir, Lao, and Er are not strict with the selection of central words.
Except for Er, they can be overlap, normally together with the central
word. When overlap, they should be used in pairs with some auxiliary
word of mood, like De and Le.
Zei, Beir, Lao, and Er are also different from Hen in Putonghua on
the usage. Hen can be used as a modifier of some phrase. But with Zei,
Beir, Lao, and Er, they can not. Moreover, Zei, Beir, Lao, and Er can
be used as complements of degree, but Hen can not be use as that. For
example, “他实在可恶的很。”can not be said like "他实在可恶
的贼。” Additionally, Hen can be used to modify some nouns and
some status adjectives, but Zei, Beir, Lao, and Er can not. Therefore,
degree adverbs in Putonghua are used more widely on the grammar
function and on the usage range.