A Grammar of the Chinese Colloquial Language Commonly Called the Mandarin Dialect |
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Common terms and phrases
adjectives adverbs auxiliary C'heng-tu c'hu c'huh chang characters cheng chï chih Chinese choh chung chwen circumflex clause colloquial compound consonants copula dialect dictionary Echeng examples expressed fang finals Hakka dialect heard hien hwei hwoh intonation juh-sheng k'eu kiai Kiang-nan kiau kien kwan kwei liang liau mandarin ming na li Nanking native nien nouns numeral particles p'ing Peking phonetic pien ping preceding pronounced pronunciation provinces sentence shah Shan-tung shang shen sheng sheu shï shih short tone short-tone shui shwoh siang siau soft initials sound substantive t'eu t'iau t'sï t'sien t'sing tien tone-class tsai tseu tsï tsieu tsin tsoh tung verb vowel wang words yuèh yuen yung
Popular passages
Page 87 - ... Lautverschiebung in the Aryan languages. At Fu-cheu-fu, in the eastern part of the province of Kiang-si, the soft initials have likewise been replaced by aspirates. In many parts of the province of Hunan the soft initials still linger on ; but in the city of Chang-sha the spoken dialect has the five tones of Mandarin, and the aspirated and other initials distributed in the same manner. In the island of Hai-nan there is a distinct approach to the form which Chinese words assume in the language...
Page 85 - ... been exchanged for others, and three finals lost. Along the southern bank of the Yang-ts'i-kiang, and a little to the north of it, the old initials are all preserved, as also through Chekiang to Fuh-kien. But among the finals, m is exchanged for n, t and p are lost, and also k, except in some country districts. Some words have two forms, one used colloquially, and one appropriated to reading. The former is the older pronunciation, and the latter more near to Mandarin.
Page 105 - If a common sentence be examined it is usually found to contain words of two kinds, viz. some that have a sense of their own independent of their use in any particular sentence, and others that are employed only for grammatical purposes, to express relations between words, to connect sentences and clauses, and to complete the sentence, so that it may be clear in meaning and elegant in form.
Page 12 - Cry aloud, for he is a god: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.
Page 104 - In the term xiangshui -§7K (perfume), the two characters, while they maintain their relationship to each other as adjective and substantive, constitute in the general syntax of the sentence a single noun. Their individual sense and mutual relation are not destroyed, but in common use are entirely forgotton. When classifying the nouns, the following guidelines are observed consistently within this study: 1. In the VO (verb-object) construction, the "O...
Page 105 - The importance of considering Chinese words in this simple manner is apparent, when the character of many of them is kept in view. They may be used as noun, adjective, or verb.
Page 100 - So vainly t' advaunce thy headlesse hood.' 1 ' Time changes the meaning of words as it does their sound. Thus, many old words are retained in compounds, but have lost their original signification. Eg 'k' eu, mouth, has been replaced in ix1lloquial usage by 'tsui, but it is still employed extensively in compound terms and in derived senses. Thus, k'wai' 'k'eu, a rapid talker, .men 'k'eu, door, ,kwan 'k'eu, custom house.
Page 45 - Edkins 532, the difference being chiefly occasioned by Morrison not counting aspirated words as distinct from the non-aspirated. The number would be much greater if the final m and the soft initials g, d, b, v, &c., were still in existence, as under the Mongolian dynasty. There would then be at least 700 radicals. The sounds attached to Chinese characters in the thirteenth century are expressed alphabetically in old Mongolian writings.
Page 29 - ... current. Want of continuity, yes — but not of a sort of rhythm, a sense of movement, of wave-like progress. This rhythm is not metrical like that of verse, .but is constituted by repetition, by recurrence of themes, by a kind of lyrical agitation of the stream of consciousness. The word 'rhythm' is here used in the sense in which it is applied to the similar quality of well-constructed pictures, especially the abstract paintings which are called post-impressionistic. Instead of dramatic effect,...
Page 10 - Chinas verstanden als jener von Peking, obwohl letzterer als mehr fashionable gilt. Wenn er dann weiter sagt: The Peking Dialect must be studied by those who would speak the language of the Imperial court and what is...