“If several substantives follow each other, either they are in construction with each other, or they form an enumeration, or they are synonyms which explain and determine each other.

“If several verbs succeed each other, which are not synonyms and are not employed as auxiliaries, the first ones should be taken as adverbs or verbal nouns, the subjects of those which follow; or these latter as verbal nouns, the complements of those which precede.”

PARTS OF SPEECH.

Chinese grammarians divide all words into shih tsz’ and hü tsz’, i.e., essential words and particles. The former are subdivided into sz’ tsz’ and hwoh tsz’, i.e., nouns and verbs; the latter into initials or introductory words, conjunctions, exclamations, finals, transitive particles, etc. They furnish examples under each, and assist the student, with model books, in which the principles of the language and all rhetorical terms are explained. The number and variety of grammatical and philological works prove that they have not neglected the elucidation and arrangement of their mother tongue. The rules above cited are applicable to the written language, and these treatises refer entirely to that; the changes in the phraseology of the colloquial do not affect its grammar, however, which is formed upon the same rules.

Although the characters are, when isolated, somewhat indefinite, there are many ways of limiting their meaning in sentences. Nouns are often made by suffixing formative particles, as nu kí, ‘angry spirit,’ merely means anger; í kí, ‘righteous spirit,’ is rectitude; chin ’rh, ‘needle child,’ is a needle, etc.; the suffix, in these cases, simply materializing the word. Gender is formed by distinctive particles, prefixed or suffixed by appropriate words for each gender, or by denoting one gender always by a dissyllabic compound; as male-being, for the masculine; horse-sire, or horse-mother, for stallion or dam; hero, heroine, emperor, empress, etc.; and lastly as wang-hau, i.e., king-queen, for queen, while wang alone means king. Number is formed by prefixing a numeral, as Yung, Tsin, two men; by suffixing a formative, mun, tăng, and others, as jin-tăng, man-sort, or men; ta-mun, he-s or they; by repeating the word, as jin-jin, man-man or men; chu-chu, place-place, or places, i.e., everywhere; and lastly, by the scope of the passage. The nominative, accusative, and vocative cases are commonly known by their position; the genitive, dative, and ablative are formed by appropriate prepositions, expressed or understood. The vocative is common in light reading and historical studies.

Adjectives precede nouns, by which position they are usually determined. Comparisons are made in many ways. Hau is good, kăng hau is better, and chí hau is best; shih făn hau hau is very good; hau hau tih is pretty good, etc. The position of an adjective determines its comparison, as chang yih chih means longer by one cubit; yih chih chang is a cubit long. The comparison of ideas is made by placing the two sentences parallel to each other; for instance, “Entering the hills and seizing a tiger is easy, opening the mouth and getting men to lean to is difficult,” is the way of expressing the comparison, “It is easier to seize a tiger in the hills, than to obtain the good offices of men.” The proper use of antithesis and parallelism is considered one of the highest attainments in composition. The numerals are thirteen in number, with the addition of the character 零 ling to denote a cipher. All amounts are written just as they are to be read, as yih peh sz’ shih san, 一百四十三 i.e., ‘one hundred four tens three.’ They are here introduced, with their pronunciation in three dialects.

123456789101001,00010,000
一二三四五六七八九十百千萬
Court Dialect.yih’rhsansz’wuluhtsihpahkiushihpehtsienwan.
Canton Dialect.yatísamsz’’ngluktsatpatkaushappaktsínman.
Fuhkien Dialect.itjísamsungouliokchitpatkiusippekchienban.

The Chinese, like the ancient Greeks, enumerate only up to a myriad, expressing sums higher than that by stating how many myriads there are; the notation of 362,447,180 is three myriads, six thousand, two hundred and forty-four myriads, seven thousand, one hundred, and eighty. Pronouns are few in number, and their use is avoided whenever the sense is clear without them. The personal pronouns are three, wo, ní, and ta, but other pronouns can all be readily expressed by adjectives, by collocation, and by participial phrases. The classifiers sometimes partake of the nature of adjective pronouns, but usually are mere distributive or numerical adjectives.

Verbs, or “living characters,” constitute the most important part of speech in the estimation of Chinese grammarians, and the shun tuh, or easy flow of expression, in their use, is carefully studied. The dissyllabic compounds, called clam-shell words, are usually verbs, and are made in many ways; by uniting two similar words, as kwei-kien (lit. peep-look), ‘to spy;’ by doubling the verb, as kien-kien, meaning to look earnestly; by prefixing a formative denoting action, as ta shwui (lit. strike sleep), ‘to sleep;’ by suffixing a modifying word, as grasp-halt, to grasp firmly; think-arise, to cogitate, etc. No part of the study requires more attention than the right selection of these formatives in both nouns and verbs; perfection in the shun tuh and use of antitheses is the result only of years of study.

The various accidents of voice, mood, tense, number, and person, can all be expressed by corresponding particles, but the genius of the language disfavors their frequent use. The passive voice is formed by prefixing particles indicative of agency before the active verb, as “The villain received my sword’s cutting,” for “The villain was wounded by my sword.” The imperative, potential, and subjunctive moods are formed by particles or adjuncts, but the indicative and infinitive are not designated, nor are the number and person of verbs usually distinguished. The number of auxiliaries, particles, adjuncts, and suffixes of various kinds, employed to express what in other languages is denoted by inflections, is really very moderate; and a nice discrimination exhibited in their use indicates the finished scholar.[300]