H. Lower quick rising tone. This intonation is nearly that of any common word, when spoken interrogatively, as I? Yes? Indeed? It is the lower third tone of Sháng-hái, and the lower first of Nán-king and Amoy.
I. Lower slow rising tone. This is the intonation of remonstrance as in “Et tù Brute,” if tù were spoken in a deep and rather lengthened tone. So in many antithetical sentences, as “We seek not yoùrs but yoú,” the former accented word is in a low slow rising tone, and the latter in a quick falling tone. Writers on Elocution mark them with the grave and acute, accents respectively.
J. Lower short tone. The remarks appended to the corresponding upper tone apply also to this. 學習 hoh dzih, to learn and practice.
K. Upper circumflex. This is an intonation high in key and having two deflections, apparently ascending and descending. It may be quick or slow in time. It is not used in Sháng-hái pronunciation. When slow it is the second tone of Nán-king.
L. Lower circumflex. This corresponds to the preceding in character and time, but differs from it in key. When, quick, it is the lower first tone of the district east of Sú-cheú.
[ [1] Shen yoh 沈約 was high in favour with the emperor Liang wu ti whose capital was Nanking. Nan shï 南史 c. 57.
[ [2] If different symbols were invented for the long and short vowels, so that syllables only should be considered long and short, this anomaly would disappear. All alphabets are deficient in vowel marks.
9. While selecting most of their tones from those thus described, some dialects would require a more minute subdivision, and perhaps two high and two low divisions of each series might be found necessary. The preceding arrangement however, will be sufficient to give some conception of the variety of tonic effects, whether harmonious or discordant the listener must judge, existing in the speech of China. If it be recollected that independently of these differences in tones, there are also numberless variations in the alphabetic form of the sounds, an accurate knowledge of so Protean a language might seem unattainable, were it not that the characters are everywhere the same. What one pronounces in a high shrill accent, and another in a prolonged whine, and another in a low musical intonation, they all write in the same form; and if asked what is its tone, they give the same reply.
The Chinese have themselves described the tones according to their natural character. We quote the following translation of some verses in K’áng-hí’s Dictionary, from Medhurst’s Hok-kien Dictionary.
“The even tone travels on a level road, neither elevated nor depressed.
“The high tone exclaims aloud, being fierce, violent, and strong.
“The departing tone is distinct and clear, gruffly travelling to a distance.
“The entering tone is short and contracted, being hastily gathered up.”[1]