One interesting feature about the Minnan dialects that I never figured out is its infrequent use of the two most basic locative particles 上 siong and 下 ha/e. For up and down locations, the words 頂 teng and 脚 k'a are used, e.g. 楼頂 lau teng, 楼脚 lau k'a. For the action of moving up and down, the words 起 k'i and 落 luk are used.
Actually, 下 appears to be much more commonly used than 上. For instance, 下晡 e po (下午), 下到 e tau (下次), 以下 (i ha - note the literal pronunciation here), etc. But their opposites do not use 上. For instance, 朝起 cai k'i (早上), 頂到 teng tau (上次). Even 以上 is often simply substituted as 起 - well, from what I hear in the Penang Hokkien sub-dialect anyway (even among the "pure" speakers).
The only instance I have actually heard 上 being used is in 馬上 (ma siong).
"Up" and "down" in Minnan
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niuc
Hi Mark
上 siong7 is also used in words like 上帝 Siong7-te3 (God), 上等 siong7-ting2 (first class, best quality), 上元 siong7-guan5 = cap8-go`7-mi*5 (15th day of Chinese New Year), etc. Siong7 also can be used to form superlative adjective: siong7-ho2 上好 = 第一好 te7-it4-ho2(->te4-ho) = the best, siong7-tua7 上大 = te7-it4-tua7, etc.
上 also read as ciu*7 (mostly for verb). ciu*7-chia1 上車 = to board a vehicle, ciu*7-to2 上桌 = to serve food on table, etc. If read as chiu*7 as in 上水 chiu*7-cui2, it means to draw water from a well.
上 siong7 is also used in words like 上帝 Siong7-te3 (God), 上等 siong7-ting2 (first class, best quality), 上元 siong7-guan5 = cap8-go`7-mi*5 (15th day of Chinese New Year), etc. Siong7 also can be used to form superlative adjective: siong7-ho2 上好 = 第一好 te7-it4-ho2(->te4-ho) = the best, siong7-tua7 上大 = te7-it4-tua7, etc.
上 also read as ciu*7 (mostly for verb). ciu*7-chia1 上車 = to board a vehicle, ciu*7-to2 上桌 = to serve food on table, etc. If read as chiu*7 as in 上水 chiu*7-cui2, it means to draw water from a well.