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

by Joseph Edkins

Symbols.	Pronunciation and Examples.
á	as a in father; 揩 k’á, wipe; 拜 pá‘,worship.
a	as a in sand, or in hat; 鉛 k’an, lead; 蠟 lah, wax.
au	as in Paul, or as a in fall, or o in gone; 老 ’lau, old. Aú expresses the mandarin sound.
b or p	as in 病 ping‘, sickness; 生病 sáng bing‘, to be sick.
d or t	as in 道 tau‘, doctrine; 神道 zun dau‘, men canonized for their virtues.
dz	a compound of d and z; 盡 dzing‘, exhaust.
dzz	do. as dze in adze. The second z marks a peculiar vowel sound which is sometimes between i and e, 辭 dzz, to leave.
é	as ai in fail, or a in male; 來 lé, come.
e	as e in led or let; 十 seh, ten.
eu	nearly as ou in cousin lengthened; 手 ’seu, hand. Eú expresses the mandarin sound, as ow in cow.
f	as in 夫 fú, or 轎夫 kiau‘ fû, chair-bearer.
g or k	as in 其 kí, he, before i, ü often heard like ji; 共衆 kóng‘ tsóng‘, altogether.
h	a feeble aspirate, often lost; 合 heh, combine; 皇 hwong, emperor. When quite lost, as in the latter word, it will be omitted.
h and h’	a strong guttural aspirate, nearly equivalent to sh when occurring before í and ü; 海 ’hé, sea; 喜 ’h’í, glad. Before í and ü, the superior comma will be used.
í	as i in marine; 西 sí, west.
i	as i in sing or sit; 心 sing, heart.
dj	nearly as j in June; 序 djü‘, preface. This sound may also be read z. The natives use either.
k	古今 ’kú kiun, ancient and modern.
k’	a strongly aspirated sound 空 k’ung, empty. It is often mistaken by foreign ears when occurring before i and ü, for the aspirated c‘h but should be separated from that sound in careful pronunciation; 去 k’í‘, go; usually heard chi‘ aspirated.[1]
l	禮 ’li, propriety.
m or m	米 ’mí, rice; 唔沒 m méh, there is no more.
n	女, ’nü, woman.
ng or ng	a nasal consonant used at the beginning or close of a syllable. When no distinct vowel sound accompanies it, it is marked ng; 江 kong, river; 我 ’ngú I; 五 ’ng, five
au, en, ûn	a slight nasal, best heard before another word; 但 tan‘, but; 敢 ’kén, dare; 幹 kûn, dry; 算 sûn‘, count; 搬轉 pèn ’tsén, to whril round.
ó	as o in go; 怕 p’ô‘, fear.
o	as o in gong and got; 當 tong, ought, bear; 落 loh, fall.
ö	as ö in Göthe; 端 tön, correct; 看 k’ön‘, see; 奪 töh, rob.
p	比 pí, compare.
p’	as p with a strong aspirate; 譬 p’i‘, like.
rh	a peculiar Chinese sound, the same as in mandarin; 而 rh, and.
s	所 ’sú, which, therefore.
sz	a peculiar Chinese sibilant,[2] pronounced as in mandarin, and nearly as se in castle, whistle, t, l, being supposed omitted; 詩 sz, poetry.
t	多 tú, many.
t’	as t with a strong aspirate; 拖 t’ú to draw.
ts	做 tsú‘, do.
ts’	the last strongly aspirated; 秋 ts‘ieu, Autumn.
tsz	a peculiar Chinese sibilant, pronounced as in mandarin, as ts in hats; 子 ’tsz, a son; 知 tsz, know.
ts’z	the above with a strong aspirate 雌 ts’z, female.
ú	as u in rule; 素 sú‘, common, plain.
u	as u in run; 門 mun, door; 等 ’tung, wait.
ü	French u as in vertu; German ü as in Tübingen; 虛 hü empty.
û	處 ts’û‘ place. This vowel is between ó and ú.
v or f	佛 feh, Buddha; 房 fong, house. More of v than f.
w	光 kwong, light; 王 wong, king.
y	右 yeu‘, right-hand; 要 yau‘, to want.
z or s	象 siáng‘, elephant; 坐 zú‘, sit.
An apostrophe ’ preceding the word, denotes the second tone.
A comma ‘ following the word, denotes the third tone.
The fourth tone will be written with h, k or g final.
Words left unmarked are in the first tone.[3]

[ [1] When a native is asked whether k‘i‘ or c‘hi‘ is the more correct pronunciation of 去 he replies the former. Yet the orthography by c‘hi‘ seems to the foreigner more like the true sound. The fact is that the sound is in a state of transition from k‘i to c‘hi.

[ [2] This sound is better described as s and a peculiar vowel ï or t, s, and ï. The mark ï denotes a vowel peculiar to China but like e in castle.

[ [3] The further subdivision into upper and lower tones needs no mark, being indicated uniformly by the initial letter. Thus, b, g, d, z, l, m, n, r, and any letters italicized are in the lower tones; other initial letters denote upper tones. There are a few exceptions which will be noted afterwards. A final italic letter denotes a nasal.

2. Mandarin pronunciation wants several of these sounds. Among the vowels, the short a and e together with û are omitted, and au, eu, are lengthened into aú, eú. 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. The vowel ü, (French u), is often convertible with û. Thus 書 sû, book is pronounced sü at Súng-kiáng and to the east of the Hwáng-p’ú, while it becomes sz in Paú-shán district.

Of consonants, note well the sibilants sz, tsz, dzz, with rh, and the nasals m, n, ng, also the strong aspirate h’; also the three aspirated mutes p’, k’, t’, and ng at the beginning of a syllable.

5. The native arrangement of the alphabet, as found in the tables prefixed to K’áng-hí’s Dictionary, is borrowed from the Sanscrit.[1] The natural order of the letters as formed by the organs of speech, is as far as possible preserved, and the system adopted contrasts advantageously with the irregularity of the English and other alphabets. The pronunciation there registered is what Chinese authors call the 南音 Nán yin, Southern pronunciation, as it was early in the Christian era. It probably agrees in the main with the modern speech of Sú-cheú, Háng-chú and the surrounding cities. That the pronunciation of Sháng-hiá is one of its dialects, appears from the slightest examination of the tables in question. It is characterized by the same division into Yin and Yáng, i.e. hard and soft, or thin and broad consonants, which form the basis of arrangement, in those tables, and agrees in many of the details. Vide Appendix on K’áng-hí’s tables of Initials and Finals.