Preface to the First Edition.
When the author prepared 'The Cantonese Made Easy' some years since, it was his intention to attach a Vocabulary to it; but, not considering it advisable to delay the publication of that Guide Book to the correct use of Cantonese, he put it off till a more convenient season. Though this Vocabulary purports to be one for the Lessons in 'Cantonese Made Easy,' it has not been confined to the words contained in those lessons alone; more especially has this been the case when any ambiguity would arise to those who would make use of it if only one rendering had been given to a word in the lessons. It has been thought advisable in such a case to make an exhaustive list of different shades of the English meaning in order to prevent the beginner from making mistakes which he otherwise might do.
The terms given under the heading of vulgar should never be used. They are simply given in this book so that when heard the learner may know their meaning and not with the object of his acquiring them to add to his using vocabulary.
Several finals it will be found are given under different words. This has only been the case when the final has such a strength of meaning as to require in good interpretation to be represented in English by a word, under which word it will then be found to appear.
All the nouns to which Classifiers are, and can be, used have these useful little words appended to them; and the student should never use any other classifier than the one, or those, as the case may be, which are given with the words. When no classifier is given under a word, none should to used.
Where under the same English words different Chinese words are given, and different classifiers are used with these different Chinese words, the proper classifiers are given under each heading; but where the same classifier, or classifiers, can be used for all the different words, it or they are given at the end. It is hoped that the indiscriminate use of these necessary adjuncts to Chinese nouns may thus be avoided, and that the student by seeing, when looking for a word, its proper classifier at the same time as the word itself, may have it impressed upon his memory at the time he first learns the word, and may thus be prevented from falling into error instead of having to, as in many cases, rectify mistakes already made.
