of a shower; p'ang-t'ê-'p'ang-tê expressing a heavy downfall;
and ping-pang or pin-pak for the rattling of rain on the tiles,
but according to Edkins ping-pang is also the noise made by
hail. The term ch'ên-ch'ên which, as we have seen, is used of
wind, is applied also to rain. In each case it is not so much the
sound that is indicated as the fact that there is a series, as it
were, of little breezes and soft showers. The drizzle is mêng-mêng; the drip drip of the hesitating shower is tien-tien; and
siao-siao expresses heavy driving rain. This same sound siao-siao
is used also to express the neighing of horses heard afar, and the
susurrus of wind among trees.
The thunder makes hung-hung, and sometimes it is said to make a great hung. This sound hung is also used for any rumbling, rolling noise, such as that made by a number of carriages or waggons, and hence the character now used to represent it (轟) is made up of that for carriage with two repetitions. This term hung is also used to denote the thunder of a company of horsemen galloping. Another term for the rattling, rumbling noise made by a carriage on a road is lu-lu. Thus "the noise of his carriage continued to be heard when he had gone far past the palace," is expressed by kung-ch'ê-kuo-ye-lu-lu-yuan-t'ing (宮車過也轆轆遠聽).
Other sounds made by inert matter when acted on from without are also fruitful subjects for imitation. Thus the sound made by the falling of a large stone or other heavy object on the ground is expressed in the Foochow dialect by pong-pong. Hence any dull, heavy sound is often spoken of by the Foochow people simply as a pong-pong. In like manner p'êng-p'ong, in the same dialect, imitates the noise made by timber and other materials cracking and splitting. So we find that a Foochow man will often speak of a p'êng-p'ong instead of saying crack or split. The sound pêng, like our bang, is used generally to represent the noise made by a gun or cannon. Hence a pêng-pêng-ping (or soldier) is an artillery-man, and a pêng-pêng mandarin is pidgin English for an artillery officer. Têng-têng and other expressions are also used to imitate the noise made by the firing of cannon. A drum
