Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1892-04-13
CHINESE ENGLISH.
Some Mistakes That Are Made by Writers
of DiaIect stories.

1t is weH known that the Chinese
cannot master the sound of the letter
''r," but this has proved the rock on
which many profesSed writers of the
Chinese dialect has come to grief.
They do recognize the fact that while
John Chinaman cannot make the ''r"
sound he is fertile in eXpedients to
avoid it. Two illustrations will show
how easy it is to blunder on this
point. In an early edition of one Of
Bret Harte's stories-altered we be-
lieye in later editions-he makes a
Chinese servant call himself "Ah Ri,
which is a manifest impossibility.
His name would certainly have been
''Ah Ii, for the initial '.R" would
not only come trippingly from his
tongue, but not at all. But in the
same or another story he makes a
Chindman call his employer Mr..
Fostel," his name being Foster. Now,
no "Chinese person." to quote the re-
striction act, would ever say ''Fostel."
He would soften the last syllable of
the name and call it "Fostah," " just
as the name Porter" IN his mouth
would become "POtah," very like the
negro pronunciation of the same
word.
The authOress of ga Summer in
Canon" has given a very good exam
pie of the difficulties of the Chinese
with the letter ST." She makes one
of heroines, a mischevious girl, select
a reading lesson for the Chinese cook,
who wants to learn English. The
lesson is made up of such sentences as
"The grass is green" ''The rose is
s1," and the like. OF course, they
GScame in Hop Sings mouth "The
glass is gleen, " ''The lose is led," and
so on. The whole scene is a excellent
study in broken China, saws the San
Francisco Chronicle, and is COM
mended to ambitious Eastern writers
who want to try their hands at En-
gliSh as she is spoken by the Chinese
in California.
The letter 81" is another which
presents difficulties to John, which,
however, he usually resolves by max
ing it into ''ch." 1t may be slightly
exaggerated to say that Chinese schol-
ars in Sunday-school know the author
and founder of the Christian faith as
"Chee Cly," but it is not very far out
of the way. An American of this
city, an interpreter Of the Chinese
language, whose given name is 'Jer-
Ome," is usually known among the
Chinese as ''Chee Loam," they, per-
haps, imagining that that is all the
name that belongs to him.
1t should be noted, too, that the
Chinese in California do not use the
lingua franca called pigeon En-
glish, " which is employed in China.
Such an expression as my b'long
tOpside," meaning II live higher up, 5"
is never heard here. The Chinese in
this State try to talk English, and
some of them succeed fairly well, al
though the ''r' and j" are too much
for them.
This is not an attempt at an eS-
haustive study of Chinese English,
but rather a note of warning to am
bilious dialect from books. If they
will but bear in mind that "r'' does
not become 81" unless it carries the
genuine 'r" sound, and that such a
word, for example, as "Berkley" is
not "Be. .kley' in the Chinese tongue,
but something more nearly resem-
bling "Bahkley," they will be saved
from blunders which make their
sketches and stories rather ludicrous
than humorous to those who are ac.
customed to the dialect.