The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1870-01-20
Chinese Pronunciation Of English.

IT is one of the most curious things to
observe how foreigners pronounce and
syntactically treat our language. Though
it is very easy to discover that there are
differences in pronunciation, it requires at
least some learning and some observation
to find out the exact points of diversity
and their causes. The Chinese, for in
stance, say "Too DOL lah," instead of 6 two
dollars; >" fo-te," for forty;" "twa-te,"
for twenty" hun-tah," for hundred"
They speak in a manner as if they swal-
lowed something between every two syl-
tables, and even those amor < them who
speak English the best can My be under
stood when the ear of the nearer is some
what accustomed to the peculiar manner
of their pronunciation. The uneducated
classes Of Germans say " shime1ey" for
chimney" They have not the sound
ch," pronounced as "tsh," as in chimney
or chalk IN their own language, and the
two consonants "mn" las in damn,
chimney, omais son.nIs,) do not occur
in the German in words which are
often used by uneducated people. They,
therefore, pronounce the word "chim-
ney" as near as they can come to it
by their own German sounds, without
much troubling themselves whether they
do it correctly or not; whilst any elias
sically educated German very soon pro-
nounces the word correctly, because he
has found the two consonants "nsn" in
many Latin and French words. Just so
will every American, who does not under
stand German correctly, initiate the Ger
man Ma kommt 'raus, Correct high Ger
man, NIGHTS komnat heraus), by saying Nir
komm raus, leaving out the "t'' in
konanat," because in English the two con-
sonants "nt" seldom or never occur at
the end of word. In similar manner
the peculiarities of the Chinese language
appear in their pronunciation and self
! made syntax of the English. Before every
| other, the Chinese is q monosyllable
language, having no phonetic alphabet at
all. Every Chinese character is word
it has both sound and meaning It is un-
| fitted, therefore, for the adequate repre-
sentation of foreign words. In modern
times the Chinese have invented some
| new characters, by which they Indicate
| the names of Lord Paimerston, and
some of the foreign sovereigns
J with whom they have been in COM
munication. They. moreover, have inot
such common sounds as those of O, r, b, d.,
| in their language, and the short never
occurs in any of their words In pro-
| nouncing polysyllable, therefore, they
| first separate it into monosylables, and
leave hiatus, as it were, between every
| two syllables. 1t is precisely, as we have
| said, as if they swallowed something be-
| tween every two syllables. If an English
| word contains one of the letters which
| they do have, or if two consonants follow
each other in English words, such as sell
dom follow each other in Chinese, they
| try to translate these sounds by such
sounds of their own language s seem to
them to come nearest to the foreign
sound. This they also did in translating
inc Holy Scriptures of the Buddhists.
| They, for instance, translated the name
"Buddha" into "Fo-to," and afterwards,
abbreviated it in the monosyllable 70,
which now means "the Enlightened" or
| 'Buddha." This was the nearest they
could come in writing the name Buddha.
The "b" they had not, nor had
they any consonants to represent
The "ddh." In the same manner they
wrote the Sanscrit word "Anadana' -
(parables) "Po-to," and they write /" Ho-
| kia-lo" for the Sanscrit word "Vyakal-
anza," which means sermon" It re-
|, quired twenty years of uninterrupted
study for man of the learning of NJ.
Stanislaus Julien to find the method of
| deciphering the Chinese translation OF
| Sanscrit names. .-.-.-
During the few hours stay Of the Chi
nese who have just passed through this
4 citv, there was, of course, little time for
the study of the characteristics Of their
pronunciation of English in all its fea-
lures. But the remarks we have made
may serve as a key to those who take an
interest in the process of the unincation
of languages, and in the transformation
which our own must undergo in the minds
and on the tongues Of the Chinese. Those
who may recollect other English words
| spoken BY them, will in our remarks lind
| at least some of the causes for their pc.
culiar pronunciation.-&. Louis RepuNi
| can.
AT funeral in a Brooklyn church, the
other day, six ladies' had their pockets