Books written in this style can be read with the same facility as alphabetic writing of other languages, and are a great aid in learning the colloquial, though no books have been printed in this style, and the initials and finals have never been used in this manner in native books.
To foreigners learning the Fuh Chau dialect, a thorough knowledge of this system of initials and finals, and the eight tones, is of great importance.
The student should constantly refer the pronunciation of every word to its place in this system, till he can analyze each spoken word, giving its proper initial and final, and point out its proper tone as readily as he can spell any word in his mother tongue.
Slight variations in the pronunciation of Chinese words are noticed among different Chinese teachers. When, therefore, Chinese words are represented by the letters of the English alphabet, (which are written more readily than the Chinese initials and finals,) the student refers at once to the sounds of the corresponding initials and finals, as he has learned them from his teacher.
The letters of the English alphabet, when used in the following pages to represent Chinese sounds, are to be pronounced as follows:
I.—Consonant Sounds.
- Ch, having the same sound as in church.
- Ch’, ch with the same sound as above, followed by an additional h, which is represented, in such cases, by the Greek spiritus asper, (’.)
- H, having its own proper sound, as in hand, at the beginning of words, while at the end of words (where it occurs only in the fourth and eighth tones) it denotes simply an abrupt closing of the vocal organs, without the formation of any distinct sound. When the sound of h follows ch, p, or t, it is, for convenience, represented by the spiritus asper, (’.)
- K has its own proper sound, as in king.
- K’, k followed by a distinct sound of h.
- L, as in English words.
- M, as in English words.
- N, as in English words.
- Ng, as in sing, both at the beginning and end of words. It often requires great care to enunciate this sound correctly at the beginning of words.
- P, as in park, parade.
- P’, p followed by the distinct sound of h.
- S, as in same.
