The description of the romanised system used is reproduced, by kind permission, from the material supplied by Rev. J. A. Silsby to accompany the romanised translation of the Police Regulations published by the Shanghai Municipal Council. This system of romanisation was adopted by the Shanghai Vernacular Society in 1899, and has many merits, not the least being the absence of diacritical marks.
Grateful thanks are accorded to friends who have helped with advice, particularly to Rev. G. F. Fitch, D.D., Rev. J. A. Silsby, and Mr. Kau Voong-dz (高鳳池). Such help was very necessary from the manner in which various native teachers differed as to pronunciation and idiom.
In spite of all the pains taken in the preparation of these sentences and in the revision for this second edition it is possible that errors still remain; the compiler, therefore, will be grateful for corrections, which will be duly noted in prospect of a possible future edition.
G. M.
Shanghai, 23rd March, 1908.
Description of the Shanghai Romanised System.
Nearly all the syllables are represented by the combination of an initial and a final, a system which has been found to be well adapted to the Chinese language.