Paul Georg von Möllendorff

“ Our instructor is one of the elders of our clan and his pupils are all our own near cousins; any other that may attend are relations by marriage; there is not an outsider among them. But the fact is that our elder is too busy to give regular lessons; for, besides teaching us, he has to go to the yamên every day. It is only because we entreat him day and night
sefu teacher (師傅 shih fu) sembio to say, call, with interrogative o waka no kai final particle. mini my emu one mukūn clan i genitive affix ahūn elder tacibure Fut. ”

“ Placed after the noun: gemu all, e.g. bayan gemu the rich; tome all, e.g. niyalma tome men, all men; jergi rank (等) , e.g. gurgu jergi the animals; urse (者) follows chiefly adjectives or participles, e.g. bayan urse the rich; tacire urse the scholars, but does not always denote plurality. Combinations of nouns with other affixes: i, ni; de; be; ci. I, ni. I is placed after words terminating in a vowel or in n; ni follows words terminating in a consonant other than n. After words ending in i (words of Chinese origin excepted) the i may be left out. ”

“ Legge was perhaps more fortunate or more gifted than most people and had a thorough mastery of Chinese at the time when St. Julien wrote to him. Those who find Chinese more difficult will be inclined to consider the Manchu translations a great help. ”

“ Verbs.
There are in Manchu pure verbal stems of one and more syllables like o to be, ara to write, and verbs derived from nouns and adjectives.
The more common syllables used in case of such derivations are:
ta, to, te, da, do, de: gosin humanity—gositambi (also without any insertion: gosi—mbi) ; jali crafty—jalidambi to cheat. na, no, ne: abdaha a leaf —abdahanambi to leaf; acan union—acanambi to meet. la, le: hiyoošun (孝順) filial piety—hiyoosulambi to treat with filial piety ”

“ As to becoming a translator of Manchu, you are a Chinese scholar, and you can have no difficulty in learning to translate. All you need is an exclusive devotion of your mind to the one subject. Don’t let anything interfere with your studies, and let these be progressive; and in two or three years,
si thou nikan Chinese bithe book bahanara Fut. Part. (5) of bahanambi to comprehend niyalma man kai is, final particle ubaliyambure Fut. (5) of ubaliyambumbi to translate be accusative affix tacici Cond. (6) of tacimbi to learn umesi very ja easy dabala only gūnin thought girkūfi Past Ger. ”

“ In some cases it is doubtful whether the verb is derived from the noun or whether the latter is of verbal derivation: isan a meeting, isambi to meet; iren the track of fish, irenembi to ruffle the water (as fish do) .
There are further syllables which, when added to the stem of verbs form new verbs. These are:
ja, mostly reflexive: gūninambi to think, gūninjambi the same; isambi to meet, isamjambi to collect. nu, ndu, mostly cooperative: injembi to laugh, injendumbi to laugh together (injenumbi) ; arambi to do, arandumbi to do together. ”

“ Muse means (like the Pekingese 咱們 tsa men) we that are speaking together, we that belong to one family, one clan, one nation. The above are declined as follows:— nom. bi I be we muse we si thou suwe you i he, she, it ce they gen. mini meni musei sini suweni ini ceni dat. minde mende musede sinde suwende inde cende acc. mimbe membe musebe simbe suwembe imbe cembe abl. minci menci museci sinci suwenci inci cenci. For I, myself, etc., beye is added to the genitive: mini beye, sini beye, etc. ”

“ Read some Manchu every day, and talk incessantly, until the habit of speaking comes quite naturally to the mouth. If you follow this rule in a year or two at the farthest
jai secondly bithede book. with de in šungke well read sefu teacher (師傅 shih-fu) be accusative affix baifi Past Gerund (8) of baimbi to seek bithe book hūla Imp. (1) of hūlambi to read manju Manchu gisun word, speech de in mangga proficient gucuse plur. of gucu friend de in, with adanafi Past Gerund (8) of adanambi to go to, to be together gisure Fut. (5) , here Imp. of gisurembi to speak inenggidari daily hūlaci Cond. ”

“ Oh, come, you really have made very great progress; every sentence runs as it should; every word is clear; I have not a fault to find. If you go up for your examination, success is in your own hands.
V. Senior. Have you returned yourself as a candidate at these examinations that are coming off now?
Junior. I should be glad enough to stand,
sini thy tacihangge Verbal Noun (21) of tacimbi to learn labdu much nonggibuha Pret. (4) of nonggibumbi to make progress gisun word, speech tome all ijishūn proper hergen letter aname singly tomorhon clear majige little cilcin fault akū not simneci Cond. ”

“ That is all very well, sir; still, his father’s infinite virtues must have enabled him to beget a son of such promise; a young man so kind and good, so fond of his studies; in foot and horse archery, in every manly exercise beyond his years accomplished; spending any spare time
akū not ni final particle age elder brother, sir i genitive affix gisun word inu true tuttu thus secibe Advers. (13) of sembi to say inu certainly terei his sakdasa pl. of sakda old man, father de postpos. in wajirakū infinite sain good ba place bifi Past Ger. ”

“ By comparing the Chinese of these dialogues the interesting fact will be noticed that certain peculiarities of Pekingese are Manchuisms foreign to ordinary “Mandarin.”
1 2 3 4 ᡩᠣᠨᠵᡳᠴᡳ ᠰᡳ ᡨᡝ ᠮᠠᠨᠵᡠ ᠪᡳᡨᡥᡝ ᡨᠠᠴᡳᠮᠪᡳ ᠰᡝᠮᠪᡳ᠈ ᡠᠮᡝᠰᡳ ᠰᠠᡳᠨ᠈ ᠮᠠᠨᠵᡠ ᡤᡳᠰᡠᠨ ᠰᡝᡵᡝᠩᡤᡝ᠈ ᠮᡠᠰᡝᡳ ᡠᠵᡠᡳ ᡠᠵᡠ ᠣᠶᠣᠩᡤᠣ ᠪᠠᡳᡨᠠ᠈ ᡠᡨᡥᠠᡳ ᠨᡳᡴᠠᠰᠠᡳ ᠮᡝᠨᡳ ᠮᡝᠨᡳ ᠪᠠ ‍ᡳ ᡤᡳᠰᡠᠨ ‍ᡳ ᠠᡩᠠᠯᡳ᠈ ᠪᠠᡥᠠᠨᠠᡵᠠᡴᡡᠴᡳ ᠣᠮᠪᡳᠣ᠈ Senior. So I hear you are studying Manchu, eh? that’s right. Manchu is with us Manchus the first and foremost of essentials; it is to us, in short, what the language spoken in his own part of the country is to a Chinese ”

“ Oh, sir, you are too complimentary. My Manchu does not amount to anything. There’s a friend of mine who really does talk well;
age elder brother, sir sini thy manju Manchu gisun word, speech ai what? šolo leisure de in taciha Pret. (4) of tacimbi to learn mudan pronunciation gairengge Verbal Noun (21) of gaimbi to take, to obtain sain good bime Ger. (3) of bimbi to be tomorhon clear mini my manju Manchu gisun word, speech be accusative affix ai what? ”

“ If it is too hot, let it be taken away for a while, that it may get cooler. I am very sorry. Boy, go and see what there is in the kitchen,
sain good teme Inf. (3) of tembi to sit jabduha Pre. (4) of jabdumbi to reach one’s aim ubade here emu one nikere Fut. Partic. (5) of nikembi to lean against babi place (ba) is (bi) booi house, with genitive affix i urse those who aba how? yaha coal gaju Imp. (1) of gajimbi to fetch age elder brother, sir bi I dambagu tobacco omirakū Fut. (5) of omimbi to eat, to smoke, with akū not angga mouth furugahabi to have ulcers in the mouth tuttu thus oci Cond. ”

“ Won’t you step in and sit down on your way, sir?
aniya year i genitive affix sidende interval, with de in inu yes, certainly; inu cisui naturally gūnin thought i sign of genitive cihai will, with adverbial affix i, gūnin i cihai as you like anggai mouth, with genitive affix ici in accordance tang sembi to speak without interruption kai final particle muterakū Fut. (5) of mutembi to be able, with akū not jalin as regards geli again aiseme how could it? jobombi to apprehend, to fear ni interrogative particle. absi why? yoha Pret. (4) of yombi to go, to walk bihe Pret. ”

“ Distributive Numerals are formed by adding ta, te, to, to the cardinals, final n being dropped as with the ordinal numerals (except in juwan 10 and tumen 10000) . one by one emte (for emute) by twos juwete by„ threes itata by„ fours duite by„ fives sunjata by„ sixes ninggute by„ sevens nadata by„ 8 jakūta by„ 9 uyute by„ 10 juwanta by„ 15 tofohoto by„ 20 orita by„ 30 gūsita by„ 40 dehite by„ 50 susaita. by„ 60 ninjute. by„ 70 nadanjuta (te) . by„ 80 jakūnjute. by„ 90 uyunjute. by„ 100 tanggūta. by„ 1000 minggata. by„ 10000 tumente. ”

“ Pres. (7) of genembi to go sehengge Verbal Noun (21) of sembi to say sain good baita thing dabala only sini gen. of si thou funde postpos. for majige little gisureci Cond. (6) of gisurembi to speak minde dat. of bi I geli then ai what wajiha Pret. (4) of wajimbi to end, finish ni interrogative particle. tere that age elder brother serengge Verbal Noun (21) of sembi to say musei our, with genitive affix i fe old adaki neighbour kai is kemneme Inf. (3) of kemnembi to measure to regard carefully tuwame Inf. (3) of tuwambi to see mutuha Pret. (4) of mutumbi to grow ”

“ Present (7) of tembi to sit down.
1 2 3 4 ᠠᡤᡝ ᠰᡳ ᡠᠪᠠᡩᡝ ᡨᡝᡥᡝᠪᡳᠣ ᡳᠨᡠ ᠵᠠᡴᠠᠨ ᡤᡠᡵᡳᠨᠵᡳᡥᡝ ᡠᡨᡨᡠ ᠣᠴᡳ ᠮᡠᠰᡝᡳ ᡨᡝᡥᡝᠩᡤᡝ ᡤᡳᠶᠠᠨᠠᡴᡡ ᡠᡩᡠ ᡤᠣᡵᡠ ᠰᠠᡥᠠ ᠪᡳᠴᡳ ᠠᡳᡶᡳᠨᡳ ᠰᡳᠮᠪᡝ ᡨᡠᠸᠠᠨᠵᡳᡵᠠᡴᡡ ᠪᡳᡥᡝᠣ ᠠᡤᡝ ᠶᠠᠪᡠ ᠠᡳ ᡤᡝᠯᡳ ᠮᡳᠨᡳ ᠪᠣᠣᡩᡝ ᡴᠠᡳ ᠠᡤᡝ ᠸᡝᠰᡳᡶᡳ ᡨᡝᡴᡳ ᡠᠪᠠᡩᡝ ᡳᠴᠠᠩᡤᠠ ᠰᡳ ᡨᡠᡨᡨᡠ ᡨᡝᡥᡝᡩᡝ ᠪᡳ ᠠᠪᠰᡳ ᡨᡝᠮᠪᡳ Junior. Do you reside in this neighbourhood, sir?
Senior. Yes, I moved into this house not long ago.
Junior. Oh! indeed, sir; then we are not so very far from each other. If I had been aware that you lived here, I should have called before. Go on, sir, pray (I’ll follow you, if you please) . ”

“ Part. (5) of ubaliyambumbi to translate be accusative affix simnere Fut. Part. (5) of simnembi to be examined de in gebu name alibuhao Pret. (4) of alibumbi to offer, with interrogative o akūn or not? simneci Cond. (6) of simnembi to be examined oci Cond. (6) of ombi to be esi certainly sain good oci Cond. (6) of ombi to be
1 2 3 4 ᡩᠠᠮᡠ ᠪᡳᡨᡥᡝᡳ ᡧᡠᠰᠠᡳ ᠠᡳᠨᠠᡥᠠᡳ ᠣᠮᠪᡳᠨᡳ ᠸᡝᡳ ᡴᠣᠣᠯᡳ ᠰᡳᠨᡳ ᡤᡝᠰᡝᠩᡤᡝ ᠵᠠᡴᡡᠨ ᡤᡡᠰᠠ ᡤᡝᠮᡠ ᠰᡳᠮᠨᡝᠴᡳ ᠣᠮᠪᡳᠮᡝ ᠰᡳᠨᡳ ᠪᡝᠶᡝ ᡨᡝᡳᠯᡝ ᠰᡳᠮᠨᡝᠪᡠᡵᠠᡴᡡ ᡩᠣᡵᠣ ᠪᡳᠣ ᡨᡝᡵᡝ ᠠᠩᡤᠠᠯᠠ ᠵᡠᡵᡤᠠᠩᡤᠠ ᡨᠠᠴᡳᡴᡡᡳ ᠵᡠᠰᡝ ᡤᡝᠮᡠ ᠣᠵᠣᡵᠣ ᠪᠠᡩᡝ but I am afraid that, being a B. A., I am not qualified. ”