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

by Joseph Edkins

Tones.	Accent.
s.p.	小干	siau kûn, a boy,	ult.
	喜歡	h’í hwén, glad,	„
j.s.s.	白滾水	páh kwun-sz, simply boiling water (weak tea),	„
	打窵	táng tiau, shoot birds,	„
	水手	sz seu, sailors,	„
s.k.	寶貝	pau pé, precious,	„
	請教	ts’ing kiau, will you inform me?	„
	小菜	siau ts’é, vegetables,	„
s.j.	可惜	k’ó sih, alas!	pen.
	曉得	h’iau tuh, understand,	„
	打鐵	táng t’ih, work in iron,	ult.
s.p.	水牛	sz nieu, water buffalo,	„
	保全	pau dzíen, preserve,	„
	水桐	sz dóng, water bucket,	„
s.s.	苦惱	k’ú nau, unfortunate,	„
	倒滿	tau mén, pour full,	„
s.k.	胆大	tan dú, courageous,	„
	體面	t’í míen, respectable,	„
	請坐	ts’ing zú, please sit down,	„
s.j.	搶奪	ts’iáng döh, rob and plunder,	„
	寶石	pau záh, precious stone,	„

Obs. The accent is usually on the last word, and it is especially marked when that word is in the first or third tone. When the penultimate assumes the accent, it frequently changes to the upper rising tone, but this is apparently nothing more than an occasional irregularity, produced by rapid pronunciation. Native assistants generally deny the existence of these and all such changes; but on having their attention drawn more closely to the subject, they admit that there are exceptional cases.

23. Examples of the same tone standing second in a group of three.

Tones.	Accent.
p.s.p.	齊祖宗	tsá tsú-tsóng, sacrifice to ancestors,	ult.
s.s.k.	比比看	pí-pí k’ön, compare them,	„
k.s.j.	做好日	tsú hau-nyih, keep a wedding,	pen.
j.s.p.	一本頭	ih-pun deu, just one volume,	ult.
p.s.p.	秦如皇	dzing sz wong, the emperor who burnt the books,	„
k.s.j.	字紙簏	zz-tsz lóh, written-paper basket,	„
j.s.p.	踛起來	lók k’í-lé, stand up,	„

Obs. i. The penultimate is heard higher in key than the others. The last falls, but retains the principal accent more or less distinctly.

Obs. ii. The secondary accent is usually on the first word, except in the example 做好日, where the penultimate word changes into an upper rising tone, and receives the accent.

24. The upper third tone. This tone being both high in key and deflected upwards, is difficult to imitate correctly.

Ex.	葬 tsong, bury.	變 píen, change.	四 sz, four.
	寸 ts’un, inch.	姓 sing, family name.	店 tíen, shop.

Examples of this tone in the penultimate of a combination of two.

Tones.	Accent.
k. p.	意思	í sz, object, idea,	pen.
	看書	k’ön sû, to read,	ult.
	種花	tsóng hwó, plant cotton or flowers,	„
k.s.	放火	fong hú, set on fire,	pen.
	禁止	kiung tsz, forbid,	„
k.k.	富貴	fú kwé, rich and honourable,	ult.
	教訓	kiau h’iün, instruct,	„
k.j.	愛惜	é sih, love and pity,	„
	過歇	kú h’ih, at present,	„
k.p.	算盤	sûn bén, Chinese abacus,	„
	教門	kiau mun, form of instruction,	„
k.s.	怕冷	p’ó láng, afraid of cold,	„
	快馬	k’wá mó, a swift horse,	„
k.k.	對面	dé míen, the opposite,	ult.
	算命	sûn ming, to calculate destiny,	„
k.j.	氣力	k’í lih, strength,	pen.
	做賊	tsú zuh, be a thief,	ult.