In common conversation, mò5, signifying mother, and këüh4, to denote the male, are employed after nouns, to distinguish the gender of all the lower animals, including birds and insects; as iong5 mò5, the female goat; iong5 këüh4, the male goat. For human beings, nü2 ing5 is used for woman, in the most genteel society; but the common terms for man and woman are derived from a singular circumstance in the history of the ancient kingdom of U5-chü, of which Fuh Chau was the capital.
The kingdom of U5-chü was subjugated by the Tong5dynasty, and tradition says, that all the men were destroyed, and that the women were compelled to become the wives of their captors, (called Tong5 men,) who immediately occupied the kingdom of U5-chü, which, thereafter, became a part of the great Chinese empire. In memory of this circumstance, to the present day, the women of Fuh Chau are usually called Chü niong5, or Chü niong5 nëng5; that is, Chü ladies, retaining a part of their ancient name. Girls are called Chü nie-kiang2; that is, Chü children. On the other hand, the men are called Tong5può kiang2, or Tong5 men,and boys are called Tong5può nie-kiang2, or Tong5può kaing2; that is, Tong5 children. The shorter term, Tong5può, is often used to signify husband. A teacher, or any literary man, is called sieng sang, while a literary lady is called sieng sang niong5. There are also other terms descriptive of the various human relations, some of which are essentially masculine, and others essentially feminine; as,
| Huang5kiang2, foreigner. | Huang pò5, foreign lady. |
| Ho7, father. | Mu5, mother. |
| Nong5pa7, papa. | Nong5nè2, mamma. |
| Tong5può kiang2, son. | Chü niekiang2, daughter. |
| Hiang tie7, brother. | Chia2moe3, sister. |
| Neng5nè2, nurse. | |
| Hiang, elder brother. | Chia2, elder sister. |
| Tie7, younger brother. | Moe3, younger sister. |
Number.—In the Chinese language, both written and spoken, there is often much vagueness in regard to the number of nouns.
The singular can only be indicated definitely by being preceded or followed by the numeral for one. The plural is denoted by the connexion of words in the sentence, or by the addition of teng3, denoting a class, or collection of individuals. Sometimes the plural is formed by repeating the noun, as nëng5 nëng5, man by man, or men generally.
Classifying Nouns.
These are analogous to what are called, in English, collective nouns; as flock, drove, herd, pair. These and many others of the
