1. By combining with the word which it is desired should be understood another, bearing a similar or supplementary meaning, to distinguish it by pointing to its meaning from other words bearing the same sound; thus, for “to hear,” it is usual to say in conversation 聽見 ting keen,—ting meaning “to hear,” and keen “to see or perceive.”
2. As regards noun substantives, by placing certain classifying words between them and the numerals which precede them. These classifiers bear some resemblance to our expressions herd, head, fleet, troop, &c., and have a certain reference to the nature of the substantives to which they are attached. For example, the word 把 pa, “to grasp with the hand,” is used as a classifier to precede anything which is held in the hand, such as a knife, a spoon, a hatchet, &c. Instead of expressing, therefore, a knife by yih taou, which might either mean a knife, a small boot, or a fringe, the classifier is introduced to show which taou is meant, and a speaker would say yih pa taou, literally “a grasped knife.” In like manner 間 keen “ a space,” is used as a classifier for houses and enclosures; 根 kăn “a root,” for trees, poles, clubs, &c., and so on.
And thirdly, by dividing the words of the language among eight tones. These tones partake of the nature of musical intonations, and are divided by the Chinese into two series, the upper and the lower, and are called by them the upper even, the upper rising, the upper departing, the upper entering, the lower even, the lower rising, the lower departing, and the lower entering. To each character is allotted its appropriate tone, which if wrongly rendered is liable to give an entirely different meaning to the word from that intended by the speaker. This possibility will be understood when it is remembered that the thirty and odd thousand characters find expression in about 500 sounds, thus giving an average of one sound to 60 characters, and these figures show that at best the system of tones is but an incomplete solution of the difficulty, since, were this average of 60 characters equally distributed among the full eight tones, there would remain nearly eight characters of each sound identical both in sound and tone.
But as a matter of fact, only the four tones of the upper series are in general use, to which sometimes the first or even tone of the lower series is added. The even tone is, as its name signifies, simply the ordinary tone of voice; the rising tone gives to the voice somewhat of the effect of an interrogation; the departing tone, of doubtful surprise; and the entering tone, of peremptory command. These may easily be illustrated by repeating our negative “No,” first in the ordinary tone of conversation, secondly as an interrogation, thirdly as expressing doubtful surprise, and fourthly as a peremptory refusal:—thus 1 No —, 2 No. ／, 3 No ＼, 4 No -. The difficulty of acquiring a knowledge of the tones proper even to the characters in common use is, as may be supposed, very great, and the only way to master them is to learn them, as the children learn them, from the lips of the natives themselves. No study of books will give the required knowledge. The Chinese learn them by ear alone, and if an educated man be asked to give the tone of an isolated character, he generally has to repeat a phrase in which the character occurs in order that his lips may tell his ear the intonation proper to it.
It will be easily understood that the mistakes and difficulties into which this intricate system drives Chinese-speaking foreigners are often inconvenient and sometimes dangerous. Some years ago a petition on behalf of a Chinese criminal was presented by a wealthy Chinese merchant in person to the governor and council of Hong Kong. A well-known Chinese scholar undertook to interpret on the occasion, and the Chinaman began his speech with a reference to our Kwai ＼ Kwok or “ Honourable kingdom,” as he designated England. Now the syllable kwai pronounced kwai ／ means “devil,” and used in combination with kwok is an abusive term not uncommonly applied to any foreign country. Unfortunately the interpreter confused the two tones, and turning indignantly to the governor, he reported that at the very outset the petitioner had begun by speaking of England as “the devil kingdom.” The just anger of the council knew no bounds, and it was only after some minutes of wild confusion that an explanation followed, which saved the Chinaman from sharing the cell of the man for whom he was pleading. To a Chinaman such a mistake would be well-nigh impossible, for the tones form integral parts of the words, and to the ear of a native the difference between kwai in the ascending tone, and kwai in the descending tone, would be as great as between kwai and kwan.
There is only one other point in connection with the sounds of the language to which reference need now be made, and that is the system which has been adopted for spelling, as it were, the various sounds. For this purpose 36 characters which begin with the initial consonants of the language have been chosen, and 38 which end with the final sounds. In order, then, to indicate a desired sound, the writer takes a character of the first series which begins with the required initial, and a character of the second series which ends with the required final. These are placed together, and the initial of the first and the final of the second give the required sound. For instance, supposing a Chinaman were desirous of expressing that the sound of a certain character was ting, he would write the two characters 當 tang and 經 king, the first of which would give the initial t, and the second the final ing. This syllabic spelling, the initials of which are identical with the initial Sanskrit consonants, was introduced by the Buddhist missionaries in the 5th and 6th centuries, and from the time of the appearance of the dictionary Yuh pien, which was published in the year 543, it has been employed in every native dictionary of the language which has since seen the light.
