III.
“The Aspirated Consonants are a very remarkable feature in all the languages of China, and require very special attention. They are kh, ph, th, chh, and tsh. The sounds are the same as those indicated by the same notation in the languages of India, being formed by a real distinct aspiration pronounced after the respective consonants………………The sounds are almost the same as those often used by Irishmen when pronouncing with a strong brogue such words as come, pig, &c.; they are also often heard in the mouths of the Scottish Highlanders.
“ph—might be illustrated in a similar manner;—e. g. say loophole very rapidly and sharply, cut off loo- and -le from the two ends, and there remains the Chinese “pho.”
“th—must not be confounded with the English th, which is really a simple sound. The Chinese th is a clear distinct t followed by the aspirate. Thus the Chinese “thau” may be carved out of out-house or hot-house.
“chh—is formed in a similar way from the ch of church. Take such a word as watch-house or coach-house, remove the wa- or coa- from the beginning and the -se from the end, and something very near the Chinese “chhau” remains.[1]
tsh—is almost the same as chh, the slight difference it has is that there is not so much sound of h as in chh.
ch—is not an aspirated consonant as explained above, it is always pronounced as in cheese.- ↑ From Dr. Carstairs Douglas's Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular, which dialect is closely allied to that of Swatow. This admirable work has been an invaluable assistance to students of the Swatow Vernacular.
