New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1849-11-07

jolns 70 The cd picture 81 the man WIth ne broad
ar which has Low become proper representa-
iion OF the s0gad Of the word which he il wishing
70 denote, % serve IN that capacity ard that NY
- again, when 4 character q needed f3r the so-
s.rsct idea of RIGHT. that rh,ch - straight and
Gcctr0tr picture smsle Of q compass and rue.
q plsmmet and hse as symbols suggestive Of the
tleq, but that there may be no mistake. ne nan
-uh NE Jroad-q- Is Jed 70 give the sound Of the
word by which i Is denoted. For WRITE .INGj
tAe making q ietleTs on paper, the picture Of a
man and a pen Is adopted, and ne nan r.h n
JyDad-c1 is again added for s0und-and ~ CT Of
IS many different Specifications as this vocal s. a
ts may chance to have.
Now this process ia precisely what hiss taken
place TO some extent in the Chinese language, and
the proper point Of Investigation is the limit which
divides the symbolic from the phonetic develop.
men, Of the system a point which can only be
determined Satisfactorily by rediscoverng the ORR
ginsl embems Of which the whole written Ian
guage vas posed, and tracing each through all
its combinations with all the rest, and a point
which can only be aDDror,mated il proportion as
tins is done The intrinsic difficulty o. this under
taking the prevalent opinion that j. IS absolutely
hopeless, IN consequence Of the degree Of corrup
ton in form which il "a supposed those embems
have undergone, and the aedstve influence Of the
phonetic heory, which, as it accounts for some
ihilgs has been iadolently opted as solution
OF the whole difficulty, has turned aside the atten
tiou of the learned fror, all radical investg alton Of
the s0o ect such as began in on OF it's branches
by the learned DR.. Narshmsn, and which has been
brought into positive disrepu.e. Mr.. Gallery rdi-
cues every undertaking of the sort as visionary,
and Rev. NJ Williams, the author of several valu-
able works on China and the Chinese Language.
after referring to Mr.. Marshmsn and M. Lay, dis
misses the whole subject by saying that these
writers have probably said nearly all that Is
worth saying on the subject.
ltscems to have escaped attention that what
ever the phonetic principle may have done FOR tae
Chinese system Of writing, it has only operstsd
upon the mater al already in existence, that il &C
counts FOR the origin and primary sgnifcstion Of
nothing. and affects The whole OF the elementary
structure Of the system in no manner whstsver-
To borrow an Illustration from western languages,
1t relates to the composition OF words, and not to
the root words themselves, which torn the staple
and basis Of the language.
Fully aware OF the temerity OF the undertaking
and charseable perhaps, with contumacy, IN dis
sentng from such distinguished authorities, have
ven.ured to institute some original estgatons
into the primary symbolic structure of the Chinese
system of writing, the results of which could
wish 10 present in a more charged form than the
present occasion permits, Dot the nature OF which
hope to render Ineligible by sufficiently copi
GUS illustration for that purpose.
The compound characters Of the Chinese .aa.
cunge consist OF two parts. one OF which cal Cd
He r1}ical, which is cohiessedly Geographic both
in its origin and use The other vas formerly
called The primuire but more recently me ph0Hs'ic.
from the belief that It's uniform or general use IN
the combination - t. denote the sosnd Of the
word as IN ;hs case supposed above OF 'he II, m
nth the broad ar OF The so-called radicals H. ere
are bu, pa. The radicals and primitives lor pho
neticsD together make up the elementary chsrac-
tiers of the language out OF which all the com
pound characters are formed. They amount
Jointly according to the estimate of Msrshmsn. t.
.6sg. The numbers reduced, however, by Gallery,
by excluding such IS are Of unfrequent use, land
| he few radicals which do not occur rs prlmltivesl
|
| t. 1000.
Now the tendency of The phonetic theory is to az
seit that the symbolic developmentoithe lsngu &c
is confined to the pa radicals, or al most to the oc-
mertsry characters amounting TO a little more than
| 200 while the SYMBOLISM even here IS not x
% sined, and thatih remaining characters amount
ing 70 say 29. COg, have ell been formed upon she
phonetic principle and further to assume that hsv-
ing rendered an account Of so large 4 numerical
majority az the characters, the remainder may De
dismissed r. unimportant while the fac: is nat
little valuable aid can be drawn from the phouclic
principle itself in acquiring the language, init, is
real limits are understood, by discovering rsi the
extent and meaning OF the symboiical develop
ment. This last is the principal point OF inter
est in my view, whether regarded as matter {
chronological science or OF immediate practical ap-
plioation.
Let Us admit the phonetic theory Tor what X Is
worth, bu, avoid assigning to It solution Of that
which wa. prior to it, historically. and to Vhich #
does not apply, while We avoid on the other hand
the easy creduity OF the early students OF the Ian
gusge, some Of whom discovered in the campo.i-
ton OF tbs Characters symholicsl account Of me
Creation sGd the God, and indeed, compendium
OF al the Scripture history and theology. Let as
adopt in science. as elsewhere, the classical mo-
nticn " IL msit0 fufissImEs tbs. Let US slb-
uit the primary embems OF the language 70 scll-
,ious and comparative study, endeavoring 20 edlce
from their forms-especislly in the most ancient
style Of writing them and their several uses whore
they reappear in primitive characters in diifere1,
CON binstions-their original outlines and design,
and the principle general current Of habit which
presided over such combinstions-the cast Of mind
and the set of circumstances In connection with
which this curious growth ofthe human intellect had
its development. claim TO have discovered that an
uves,ig alton conducted in this manner is not fruit
less of results, but that, on the other hand it u
competent to conduct 10 an Amos: entire res,ora
ton Of the ost history Of the Chinese graphic AZ.
and, as believe to reduce immensely the labor
OF acquiring tha, mos. difficult and hitherto reps.
sive language.
~ the same time every invest alton OF this.,ft
from the very nature Of the case Of Ii sut &c,