o is pronounced as in old in No. 3, 19, 28, and in the oblique tones of No. 1, 13, 16. It is scarcely audible in 12. It is more like u in up in No. 15, 23, and 25.
u is nearly like oo in moon in No. 1, 2, 4, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 32, 33, and in the oblique tones of No. 4 and 19.
a̤ is much like a in care (No. 24) but varies considerably in the oblique tones, approaching ae̤ where a is as in father and e̤ as in her.
e̤ is similar to e in her in No. 21 and 29. When followed by ṳ as in the oblique tones of No. 11 and 18, it requires special attention.
o̤ is like aw in law in No. 10 and in the oblique tone of No. 28.
ṳ is the French u in lune or German ü as in für, in No. 11 and 18. The organs of speech are in the same position as for e in he, except for the lips which are rounded as for o in go.|2}} Tones. {{indent|The tone is an essential part of every word in Chinese, and tones are even more important in the Foochow Dialect than in Mandarin. The most important elements in the tone are pitch, time, and inflection. The classification of characters into tone groups is practically uniform all over China, five such groups being universally recognized and utilized in poetic composition. The names given these are as follows:
- siông bìng 上平 or ĭng bìng 陰平 (Foochow 1st).
- hâ bìng 下平 or iòng bìng 陽平 (Foochow 5th).
- siōng 上 or 賞 (Foochow 2nd).
- ké̤ṳ 去 (Foochow 3rd and 7th).
- ĭk 入 (Foochow 4th and 8th).
It is noted that the first two of these are given as the upper and lower or masculine and feminine varieties of the bìng 平 tone. In similar fashion Foochow has two varieties each of the ké̤ṳ 去 and ĭk 入, and in theory recognizes two varieties of the siōng 上tone, the unused Foochow 6th tone being the one added.
The tones of Chinese characters are indicated in the Phonetic Script and sometimes on the character itself by a dot placed at the proper corner of the word. A dot at the lower left indicates the平 at upper left the 上 at upper right the 去 and at lower right the 入. In Mandarin the 1st tone omits the dot. In Foochow phonetic a dot is used for the first four tones and a dash for the last four.
In Foochow the eight tones are divided into what may be called a first series 上聲 and second series 下聲. The names may have been descriptive of the sounds once, but are no longer so. In order the names are (1) siông bìng 上平. (2) siông siông
