A Grammar of Colloquial Chinese, as Exhibited in the Shanghai Dialect

by Joseph Edkins

瓜 kwó, melon.	鍾 tsúng, bell.
風 fóng, wind.	多 tú, many.
輕 k’iung, light.	飛 fí, to fly.

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.

希喜戲歇 hí ’hí hí‘ hih

多覩妒篤 tú ’tú tú‘ tóh,

枯苦課哭 k’ú ’k’ú k’ú‘ k’óh,

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.

15. As examples of combination, take first those which have the upper first tone in the penultimate, (p, s, k, j, in roman type, represent the four upper tones in their order; in italic type, the lower).

Tones.	Place of the Accent.
p.p.	今朝	kiun tsau, to-day,	ult.
	相公	siáng kóng, sir, husband,	„
	工夫	kúng fú, work,	pen.
	當中	tong tsóng, in the middle,	ult.
p.s.	天頂	t’íen ting, the zenith,	„
	多少	tú sau, how many?	„
	恩主	un tsû, benefactor,	„
p.k.	眞正	tsun tsung, truly,	„
	相信	siang sing, believe, be fond of,	„
	聲氣	sáng kí, (c’h) sound of voice,	pen.
p.j.	中國	tsúng kóh, China,	„
	彎曲	wan k’ióh, (c’h) winding, crooked,	ult.
p.p.	中原	tsóng niön, China,	„
	天堂	t’íen dong, heaven,	„
	差人	ts’á niun, a messenger,	pen.
p.s.	天理	t’íen lí, heavenly reason,	ult.
	裝滿	tsong mén, to pack full,	„
	新米	sing mí, new rice,	pen.
p.k.	天地	t’íen dí, heaven and earth,	ult.
	天亮	t’íen liáng, daybreak,	„
	鄕下	h’iáng au, in the country,	pen.
p.j.	風俗	fóng zóh, custom,	ult.
	新閘	sing zah, village near Shanghai,	„

Obs. In this table, the tone preserves its natural character throughout, but when followed by the quick rising tones, as in p, k, and p, k, or by the short tones, or by a word hurried over without emphasis on account of its unimportance, it is heard with a more distinct accent than in other cases. When the accent is upon the other word, this tone needs to have the voice rest upon it for a time, to prevent its becoming the third tone.

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.

Tones.	Accent.
p.p.p.	蘇州人	Sú-tseu niun, a Sú-cheú man,	ult.
p.s.p.	天主堂	t’íen-tsû dong, Roman Catholic Chapel,	„
p.k.k.	挑過去	t’iau kú-k’í, carry it past,	ant.
p.j.k.	當得住	tong tuh-dzû, able to stand against,	„
p.p.p.	朝辰頭	tsau-zun deu, in the morning,	„
p.s.k.	千里鏡	ts’íen-lí kiung, telescope,	ult.
p.k.p.	三字經	san-zz’ kiung, the Three Character Classic,	„
p.j.k.	追勿上	tsûi veh-zong, cannot overtake him,	ant.
p.s.s.	多好狗	tú-hau keu, a number of dogs,	„