ton or amongst the rest of the Höng Shán people, being a rising tone, lower than the Cantonese 上上 shöng shöng, an upper rising tone and higher in its inception and rise than the Cantonese 下上 há shöng, lower rising tone. Its duration of utterance is perhaps about the same as that of the Cantonese 下上.
The 上上 shöng shöng, upper rising tone, is not a descending tone, but a very slightly high, rising tone—much higher in its start than the Cantonese 上上 shöng shöng, which latter tone is not so high in musical pitch at its start, nor does its final stage reach the height that even the Káí꜄ ꜀Chung 上上 shöng shöng commences at. In short the whole tone from beginning to end is on a much higher scale than the Cantonese tone. Its duration is about the same as the Cantonese 上上 shöng shöng.
The 上去 shöng höü, upper retiring tone, is the same as in the Macao dialect and Cantonese.
The 上入 shöng yap, is the same as in the Macao and Cantonese.
The 下平 há p'íng, lower even tone, is different from both the Cantonese and Macao 下平 há p'íng. It is lower than the Cantonese 下平 há p'íng.
The 下上 há shöng, lower rising tone, is different from the same tone in Cantonese and Macao; but is the same as their own 上上 shöng shöng, upper rising tone. In fact there is no need to distinguish between the tones in Káí Chung, but they may be classed together as one tone, in this following the rest of the Höng Shán people whose two 上聲 shöng shing, rising tones, are the same.
The 下去 há höü lower retiring tone, is in common with the Macao 下去há höü, nearly the same as the Cantonese 上去 shöng höü, upper retiring tone.
The 下入 há yap, lower retiring tone, is the same as the Macao 下入 há yap.
The 中入 chung yap, medial retiring tone, is a trifle higher than the Káí Chung 下入 há yap, lower retiring tone, and there is quite a difference between it and the Macao 中入 chung yap, the latter being much higher in tone.
The third rising tone, the colloquial rising tone, is a very high one—much higher than either the Macao or Cantonese. It ends on the pitch of the Cantonese 上平 shöng p'íng, upper even tone. This is exemplified in the pronunciation of the word 來 ꜁lôi, to come; but for 吃 yak꜆, to eat, it is a much lower tone.
The colloquial highest even tone, as used in the word 孫 ⸰sün in Cantonese, is wanting in the Káí Chung series of tones.
The people of 前山 ꜁Ts'ín ꜀Shán, 沙尾 ꜀Shá ꜃Méí, 翠薇 Ts'öü꜄ ꜀méí, 古鶴 Kwú Hok꜇, 北山 Pak꜆ ꜀shán, 那洲 ꜁Nò ꜀Chaú 白石 Pák꜆ Sek꜇, containing it is said approximately about 400 or 500 families, and all situated within a short distance from Macao (a few hours by road), have in common with Káí Chung this same sub-dialect, but each place has its own local peculiarities, having some slight variations in the tones, the pronunciation of the words, as represented by an English spelling, being the same.
The following version of the Lord's Prayer in the Höng Shán dialect will give an idea of the pronunciation in vogue in that district. There is perhaps no use in marking the tones in, as it needs the living voice to illustrate perfectly what these are; but as they may give some little guide they are inserted. It must, however, be remembered that it is the tones that serve largely to give their peculiar distinctiveness to these dialects.
The Lord's Prayer.
꜂Ngo-tí꜄ ko꜄ Fú꜄ tsôí꜄ (bet. tsoí and tsúi) ꜀t'ín, Ngún꜄ ꜂ní ko꜄ ꜁meng haí꜄ sáng꜄. ꜂Ní ko꜄ kok꜆ k'ong꜄ (or kong꜄) ꜁lam. ꜂Ní ko꜄ ꜂chí-í꜄ tak꜆ ꜁sang tsau꜄, tsôí꜄ (bet. tsoí and tsuí) ti꜄, ꜂ho-꜂ts'í tsôí꜄ (bet. tsoí and tsuí) ꜀t'ín yat꜆ yông꜄. ꜂Ngo-tí꜆ ꜀aü-yung꜄ ko꜄ ꜁löng ꜀kyam yat꜇ ts꜀í꜄
