Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1892-08-04
THE DIFFICULT CHINESE LANGUAGE.
Facts That Inspire One with Respect for
tho Man Who Can Read It.

Biographies in Washington have
been making studies in the languages
of various peoples with whom we come
in contact, with a view to formulating
rules for the uniform spelling Of place
names.
The report says that of all existing
languages Chinese is spoken by the
greatest number of people, and in con-
sequence of the political domination
and influence of China over neighbor-
ing States, it has become the medium
of intercourse among the educated
eastern Asiatic nations generally. OF
the many dialects prevailing in China,
the most important one is the Kwanh-
wa, or Mandarin dialect, which is the
official and literary language of the
whole empire, and Of the educated
Chinese in any part of it. Of the other
dialects, obtaining mainly in the south
eastern provinces, the more promi-
nent ones are the Canton, Swatau,
Annoy, and Fuchau, and some minor
varieties, all so different from one an
other that the use of any one of the
them will render the speaker quite I'M
ineligible to jewellers in other parts
of the empire. The language is mono
syllable, each syllable being a root and
every root a word; it is without in
Election, and the words are employed
indiferently as to one and another
part of speech; that is to say, the same
word may form substantive, adjective.
verb and adverb; and the relation of
gender. case, number, and person is
determined by the position OF the word
in the sentence and by the use of GER
tain auxiliary words.
As the language possesses no alpha
bet, the Chinese require a different
symbol for each meaning. All Chinese
symbols can be divided into two main
classes-namely; radicals and combi-
nations, the latter beIng formed by
the addition of strokes to the radical.
Native ~philogists, however, divide the
symbols into six classes, of which the
first represents the forms of objects,
numbering 600 or more, and includes
the PA radicals which form the basis
of every symbol in the language.
The second class indicates things
that represent IDEAS by their relative
positions.
The third class of symbols, of which
tutlt are siiu W NC tDOut tVp, Icplp-
sents the combination of ideas, and
they are formed by uniting two or
more significant characters to give the
idea of the third.
The fourth class numbers about S7S,
and comprises symbols which, being
inverted either in form or sound, as
sumo different meanings.
The fifth class consists of about 600
symbols which represent borrowed
meanings; that is to say, they are APP
piled in a double sense, and hence
have been called metaphorical.
The sixth class embraces over 20, 900
characters, each being composed of
two parts-namely; the primitive or
phonetic element, which represents
a certain sound and which also gives
the sound to the whole character, and
one of the PA radicals from the first
class. According to some writers the
whole number of symbols is yer 40
600 of which, after deducting the OBJ
solete ones, about %, are said to be
in modern use.
This vast number of symbols is ex-
pressed by only 400 or 500 syllable
sounds, which, by way of different in
donation, are increased to about 1,500,
or, according to some authorities, to
only about 1,200. This peculiar state
of affairs makes the language the rich.
est in the number of written symbols,
but the poorest in the number of diff,
erent sounds by which these symbols
are expressed in the living speech;
and since the same sound may repre-.
sent sixty or more different words, the
Chinese, to overcome this difficulty,
fix the proper meaning by combining
the word which it is desirable to make
understood with another bearing q
similar Or supplementary meaning,
and by placing, in the case of nouns,
classifying words between them and
the mineral which precede them. N