Joseph Edkins

“ Upwards of twenty natural tones, from which each dialect chooses its own set, varying from four to eight, are here described. The early Roman Catholic Missionaries wrote much on this singular characteristic of spoken Chinese, but Bayer in his abstract of their system, in the Museum Sinicum, has not given a very intelligible account of it.
Attention has been paid throughout to the mode of grouping words, as a subject second to none in interest and importance. ”

“ When first adopted in the reign of Liang wu ti, A.D. 402 to 450, they must have represented the tones of the dialect, spoken by Shen yoh [1] the writer who selected them a native of Hu cheu only 100 miles from Sháng-hái. But when applied according to universal practice, to the sounds given to the same characters in other parts of the empire, these four names convey no idea of the actual pronunciation. The descriptions given of the tones by native authors, are consequently often incomprehensible. ”

“ English pronunciation, to any monosyllable when standing alone, and spoken with emphasis.
That it may be readily compared with the other tones, by such as have a native assistant at hand, some examples are here given of the same alphabetical sound, varied according to the four upper tones.
In the fourth word of each series, the vowels change, í into i, and ú into ó. The Chinese regard them as different only in tone; to a foreign ear, the difference is one both of time, as the syllables are long and short, and of vowels sound, as the long i becomes short i, and long u becomes long o. ”

“ The tone which is the same as this in the Amoy dialect, undergoes a regular change, in combinations such as those in this table. When standing first of two words, it becomes an upper quick rising tone. Thus though a tone be identical when pronounced alone in two dialects, it does not follow that its laws of combination are also the same. For much important information on the Hok-kien tones, and the laws of combination in that dialect, the writer is indebted to Rev. J. Stronach of Amoy.
16. Examples of the upper first tone in the antepenultimate or when first in a group of three. ”

“ The tones are four in number, each subdivided into kaú and tí, upper and lower, or as they are also denominated yin and yáng, feminine and masculine. These upper and lower series of tones are also distinguished, by different initial consonants, the one taking g, d, b, v, z, etc., and the other k, t, p, f, s, etc. The variations that exist even between contiguous districts, are very numerous, a circumstance which furnishes a mark of distinction between this part of China and the mandarin provinces, where orthographical differences are few. ”

“ We have hitherto regarded tones as they are heard, when the sound is enunciated emphatically and single. But there are certain changes which occur in combinations of two or more words in rapid conversation, which can be only explained by examples of such groups arranged in separate columns. In the observations appended to each table, the more prominent 14 of these variations will be pointed out, and the place of the accent determined. ”

“ Among the consonants, b, d, g, dj, m ng, n, dz, dzz, v and z are wanting.
3. The Shánghái dialect is deficient in the sh, ch and soft j of mandarin and of Sú-cheú pronunciation.
4. Of the above sounds, those foreign to the English, language, and therefore needing particular attention, are the following:—
Of vowels, eu as in 口 ’k’eu, mouth; ö as in 安 ön, rest. û as in 鑽 tsûn, to bore. A final r should be carefully avoided in these three sounds. Oe is not so common in this dialect as in that of Sú-cheú, where it occurs in 船 jön, boat, 滿 ’mön, full, etc., etc. ”

“ So in many antithetical sentences, as “We seek not yoùrs but yoú,” the former accented word is in a low slow rising tone, and the latter in a quick falling tone. Writers on Elocution mark them with the grave and acute, accents respectively. ”

“ Nán-king is here placed among those that belong to the 北音 or Northern Mandarin division. A native author [1] says, that this city and two others 淮陽 Hwái yáng and 徐海 Sü hái use the northern pronunciation.
The large Dictionaries are uniform in the adoption of the pronunciation in our (ii.) division, as their basis of spelling. They usually speak of only four tones, distinguishing the upper from the lower by the initial letter. This is also the universal practice among the educated class vivâ voce. ”

“ The division into eight tones is preferable for a foreign reader, because (1) there is a difference in elevation of voice, 帝 tí‘ being at an interval of a fourth in the musical scale more or less, higher than 地 dí‘. (2) Although the third and fourth tones, upper and lower, are deflected at Sháng-hái in a similar way, so that they may be regarded as the same tones, this is not the case with the first and second, which differ decidedly in character. ”

“ It is not used in Sháng-hái pronunciation. When slow it is the second tone of Nán-king.
L. Lower circumflex. This corresponds to the preceding in character and time, but differs from it in key. When, quick, it is the lower first tone of the district east of Sú-cheú.
[1] Shen yoh 沈約 was high in favour with the emperor Liang wu ti whose capital was Nanking. Nan shï 南史 c. 57.
[2] If different symbols were invented for the long and short vowels, so that syllables only should be considered long and short, this anomaly would disappear. All alphabets are deficient in vowel marks. 9. ”