Part 1. section 3. for remarks on the accent of three-word groups.

429. From this analysis it may be concluded, that much of Chinese prose falls spontaneously into groups of two, three and four words, with an accent of position to mark them; enclitics do not usually take the accent and are very often not to be counted as independent members of the groups to which they are attached.

Obs. i. It has been already shown that the tones of a dialect are affected by the rhythmus. This happens for example, in the Amoy dialect particularly in the penultimate, where the second and seventh tones change into the high quick rising, and high quick falling respectively. In Chinese prose compositions, it is usual to end sentences with a word in the first tone, and one of the three other tones alternately. In their versification, words that rhyme have their alphabetical sound, and their tones in harmony. For an account of the use of tones in poetry, see Remusat’s grammar.

Obs. ii. The tendency of words as thus illustrated, to agglutinate into groups numerically conditioned, is made the basis of all new sentences, and insensibly regulates the composition of the native speaker. He would be quite as likely to transgress the laws of intergovernment among the parts of speech, as to overlook the rhythmus of his words.

APPENDIX I.

ON THE HIGHER COLLOQUIAL, CALLED VUN ’LI ’T’U BAH, 文理土白.

Occasionally in the preceding pages, examples have been introduced, from the style of conversation prevailing among literary men. A common knowledge of the books, and the existence of a universal mandarin colloquial, have given rise to an enlarged vocabulary of phrases bearing this name. The consideration of their etymological and syntactical peculiarities belong to the grammar of the books and of mandarin, the two sources from whence they are derived.

An example or two will be given. Among the verbs, the auxiliary of destruction 脱 t’eh, is replaced by 掉 {t}iau‘. 殺掉 sah diau‘, {to kill}; 滅掉 mih diau‘ {destroy}. Many new groups are also employed, whose meaning would not be understood by the common people. 燈燭煇煌 tung tsóh hwé {w}ong, {the brightness of the candle in its lanthorn}; 衣冠楚楚 í kwé ’t’sú ’t’sú, {his dress and hat look neat}.

In carrying on conversation with the educated, it is necessary to know these phrases when they occur, and it is a great advantage to be able to use them, but in an elementary work like the present, it is enough to say that the path to that knowledge lies in the study of the books, and of the general language. This part of the colloquial medium is common ground to all dialects, where no distinction remains, but that of pronunciation. In many cases, however, phrases not used in the every-day dialect of this district, and which therefore, are considered 文理 vun ’lí, are found in the colloquial of other parts of China, much farther removed from mandarin.

APPENDIX II.

ON THE NATIVE TABLES OF INITIALS AND FINALS.

Marshman long ago made a study of these tables, for which he was peculiarly fitted from his knowledge of Sanscrit. On comparing the alphabetic system of that language with the Chinese tables, now to be considered, he at once pronounced them identical in principle. This conclusion is fully confirmed by what Chinese authors say. The explanation in K’áng-hí’s Dictionary of “the method of separating a word into its component sounds,” (切字樣法） says, “now tabulated rhymes are in the Sanscrit called 夫等韻者梵語悉曇. “Here we speak of mother characters, the sounds from which all words originate,” 此云字母 乃是一切文字之母. “That which in Sanscrit is called p’í-k’á-lah is here called the division of sounds, which constitutes the foundation of the science of words,” 梵語毘佉囉此云切韻一切文字之根本 Remusat long since pointed out that the language meant by the word 梵 Fan, is Sanscrit. He says in his Life of the Grand Lama, Pa-sz-pa, translated from the Chinese History of the Mongols in Remusat’s Melanges Asiatiques, Vol. II. 145, “Ce sont les religieux Indiens qui l’ont (the 36 initials) fait connaítre á notre empire.” “Nos prêtres chinais ont retenu cet usage qu’ils avaient pris des Indiens.”[1]

The accompanying table is taken from Bopp’s Sanscrit grammar, the characters of the Chinese tables being placed instead of the Sanscrit characters.

Gutturals, 見 ká, 溪 khá, 郡 gá, ghá, 疑 ngá. Palatals, 知 chá, 徹 ch’á, 澄 djá, d’zá, 娘 niá. Linguals, 端 ta, 透 t’á, 定 dá, dh’á, 泥 ná. Dental, tá, thá, dá, dhá, ná. Labials, 幫 pá, 滂 phá, 並 bá, bhá, 明 má. Semivocals, 影 já (y) 日 rá, 來 lá, wá (v.) Sibilants, sá(s’), 審 shá(s’), 心 sá(s), 曉 há.

Marshman possessed a genuine philological spirit, which often appears in the midst of the somewhat extravagant theories in which he frequently indulged. He saw in the present instance, that in the Chinese spoken language, the consonants g, d, b, etc. should each commence a series of words, and this led him to the remark “that a further investigation of the Chinese pronunciation, would probably discover some vestige of this existing at the present day.” Diss, p. 37.

The passage cited in page 43, also ascribes the arrangement of these tables to a Buddhist priest; he improved upon the system of finals invented By Shin-yoh, who wrote one of the {twenty one histories}, viz. that of the northern Sóng dynasty.

It will now be shown that in a great part of central China such a system prevails. Before attempting to sketch the boundaries of that tract of country, a brief statement will be given of what conditions must be fulfilled, in order to identify an existing pronunciation with these relics of the Buddhist industry of former days.

By referring to the table in page 44, it will be seen that there are in all 36 initials including, beside those whose Sanscrit equivalents are now given, f, f’, v, w, z, zh, a lower h and y, and the compounds of t and d, with s, z, sh and zh.

The required dialect should have therefore an extensive system of initials, and as the modern tonic Dictionaries of Canton and Cháng-cheú, very accurately represent the dialects of those places, it may be assumed of the Dictionary tables, that they are no less careful in exhibiting the pronunciation of their time.

Among the finals, ng, n and m, terminate words in the three long tones, and the corresponding mutes k, t, p, are recognized as the terminations of words in the short tone, few of them having a vowel ending.

This is very clearly perceptible in the tables of the 字彙 a Dictionary, which was published many years before that of K’áng-hí, and in those of the Dictionary called 洪武正韻 {h}óng ’wú chung‘ {y}ün‘. In the latter for example words in the short tone ending in k, are classed under 屋, 藥, 陌. Those in t are found under 質, 曷, 轄, 屑. Those in p are under 緝 合 葉 pron. tsip, etc.

The same careful separation of the finals ng, n and m is also found in these Dictionaries. The modern mandarin sound kíen, is found subdivided into the four words kíen, kiem, kan, kam; e.g. the 字彙 classes words in íen under the headings, 堅, 廉, 艱, 監. Mandarin words in óng are found under two heads, 公 kóng and 弓 kióng respectively. While the first medial i is thus affected, the other medial u is found as it is in modern mandarin spelling, except that 戈 is spelt kwo, and heads a class distinct from another which is ranged under 歌.[2]

The number of classes into which the finals are divided varies in different Dictionaries. That of the 字彙, perhaps the must convenient arrangement, consists of 44, This includes the 入聲 finals k, t, p, as the same in sound with ng, n, m. The difference between these two sets of letters, is supposed to be due only to rapid pronunciation occasioned by the tone. In that work, the finals are as follow:—