William Ashmore

“ Now it is true that in certain words the Chinese themselves do make two sounds coalesce, as hiēn or hīn, chiang or chang, kièn or kìn, chiũ or chũ. If the foreigner could limit himself to the Chinese usage it would be all well enough, but he makes sounds to coalesce which Chinese do not, and the peculiarity is instantly noticed.
The prevention of this defect is easy and simple. The learner should at the outset, among other things, take short lessons daily in the pronunciation of syllables. ”

“ One class, however, prevails so extensively as to demand attention. The dialect as spoken at the Hu city and Thêng-hái is considered the more correct, and teachers from those regions are to be sought for and preferred. But in the large District across the Bay from Swatow known as Tiê-iên, or Tiô-iôn as spoken by the people themselves, the divergencies of pronunciation are so marked that sometimes the first half dozen words used by a speaker will indicate to which side of the Bay he belongs. ”

“ It will be noticed further how the sound of the middle vowel more especially, is prolonged in quantity. In giving a lesson the teacher may exaggerate this a little, and the pupil will need to follow him. But when he comes to speak in ordinary conversation he will not be at all likely to drawl too much, while he will escape the huddling objected to. Some examples are given in illustration. The vowel is repeated to indicate the prolongation,
Variations in Pronunciation. ”