The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-12

gether different to the Chinaman, for in
stance in FoOchow; yet the meaning of the
characters and construction of sentences
IS the same all over China. The spoken
language differs according to the locality,
and yet Chinese scholar viii sit down
ana write poetry and prose compositions in
a classical style that are Ineligible to ev-
cry educated man in China, COrea, and Ja-
pan; have often seen two Cinnamon who
could not understand a word of each
others speech sitting down and holding a
conversation in writing much as the monks
of different European countries used to
correspond with each other in Latin In
England we write very much as we speak
The Chinese spoken and written language,
on the other hand, differs as much as mod
ern Greek from the Greek Of Homer. Few
foreigners are able to write Chinese with
the elegance Of the native scholar. Some
cannot read even a single character, and
yet are able TO speak a local dialect with
as much tuency and as perfect idiom as
Chinaman. f't.
The great difficulty in acquiring the spo-
ken language is in the tones the inter-
syllable asprates and the utter lawless-
ness of its idiOm. There are only about 700
distinct sounds in the language. and
few months practice will easily master
their pronunciation, but it must be remem-
bered that to each of these sounds there
is attached sort of metrical scale ranging
from an octave to an octave and half,
giving variety of tones which only mu-
steal ear can detect. In Cantonese there
are from eight to twelve of these tones,
and some microphonic ears have even de-
tone may denote anger, surprise, or in
quiry but does not alter the meaning of
the word. In Chinese the tone is all i'm
portant. Take the sound tseung. This may
mean grasshopper, oar, elephant, mechan-
ic, or pickles, according to the tone. Put
an asDrate into the middle of the word
and 1t may mean examine, good luck, wall,
spear, or gun and variety of other mean
ings, depending on the tone given. A man
Is man only when the correct tone Is
given. Change the tone and man becomes
a nightingale, a carrot, and many other
ridiculous things. No written signs ever
invented can enable the student to acquire
by himself these peculiar jerks and twists
so essential to correct speech. They can
only be acquired by ear from a good teach
er. 1t requires constant drill for many
months before the vocal organs get accus-
toned to these uncouth sounds. The be-
ginner often makes the most ludicrous
mistakes. l had been studying a few weeks
with my teacher and was advised to go
among the Chinese and try my linguistic
powers. 1 met a Chinese ploughman, evil
IDENTIFY returning home, and ventured to
remark, Nee fan hue kwai" / intended to
say, Il suppose you are going home" My
pronunciation and idiom were all right,
but ! had given a wrong tone to the last
word. The effect was disappointing. The
man did not receive my salutation kindly.
He simply glared at me. Seeing my col
league, who accompanied me, convulsed
with laughter, 1t was evident had made a
bad blunder. 1t appeared that / had plac-
ed q. rising tone on the last word, and con-
sequently had told the man to go to the
devil!
Another day the cook came up to inquire
what / would have for dinner on Sunday.
l Intended to tell him to roast a chicken.
Unfortunately / made a mistake In one
word I had given a long instead Of a short
vowel sound and graVely told the man
to go and set fire to the street. The stu
dent is not only bothered with tones and
long and short vowels; he is also perplexed
with little aspirates breathed into the
middle of a sound, the addition or omis-
sion of which entirely alters the sense.
The writer once heard a missionary
preaching on the heavenly father. The
Chinese word for heavenly is teen, with
an aspirate on the voWels. The preacher
left out the aspirate, with disastrous re-
suits. Teen without an aspirate means
crazy.
After learning Cantonese a few months
I tried to preach sermon Alas! l was
the only person in the congregation who
understoo a word of what / was saying.
1t was disheartening to hear that some of
the Chinese who had listened to me re-
resembled the Chinese. They supposed l
had been preaching in English. Wrong
tones, confusion of long and short Vowels,
and plumbers in aspirates had done ali
the mischief My heart sank. / wished
myself back home. Oh, for the apostolic
gift of tonguesi But tried again, next
time with better success. Little by little
the difficulties vanished, the tones and ter
rible idioms were mastered. and now the
greatest Joy / have in this world is in
standing up before a Chinese audience and
telling them in their own tongue the won
darf11 xuOrkG of Cod