The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-03-29
LEinNISG TO srr.ik CHINESE.
some OF the BImcuitics SET Forth by n Nis.
sionnry student.

some or the DImcuitics SET Forth by n Nts.
sionnry student.
From The Norihre'fsrn CHRISTIAN AdrOrdts.
John Wesley Is credited with the saying that
the Chinese language was nm invention OF tho
devil to keep tho missionaries ont NJ China.
The words may he npocryphal. but they exactly
express the feelings Of every student OF Chinese.
at least for the first six months OF study. Chi.
nese Is the oldest spoken langunge; it contains
more symbols Of expression than any other. and
is unquestionnbly the most difficult for n for
eigner to acquire. Their standard dictionary,
the work Of the Emperor kang III. contains
~, 100 different characters, and II Is sad TINT
among tho Old debris Of the language there arc
at least 10000 more. Its consoling to the mis-
siOnary to De informed that the great mass OF
them are archaic ana obsolete forms. and II lie
Is able to master only 1000 of these characters
he will have n fair working kno Wedge OF the
Chinese language.
Everybody knows that a Chinese book begins
where our books end, and that 1t is read IN
perpendicular columns from top to bottom and
from right TO left of the page. ON opening his
book the student sees n mass of hicroglvphics.
with no clue whatever 70 their pronunciation,
sound, or tone. In their simple primitive
form they were rude pictures of objects. Man is
represented by n straight, upright stroke
and W. legs, "a mountain by three peaks, II tree
hy strokes representing branches; trunk. aud
roots. u forest by two trees, n field by "A square
divided into four parts. the sun by II circle and
dot in the centre, II door by II picture of II double
gate. and So on. Little by little the ideographs
become more complex. An arrow piercing II
target becomes the symbol for the middle. Two
cash with string through the centre aptly signify
union. A mouth in a door means 10 ask. An
ear TT IL door means to listen. \ woman with a
broom expresses the Chinese iuea Of a wife.
one woman under one roof means peace, two
women under one roof means u quarrel, while
one woman between two men, rs can easily be
guessed, is u symbol for anger.
These are Il few illustrations OF the more SIM
pie characters. The great mass are vastly more
complex ana their parts 80 abbteyiated and en-
tangled that IL is almost impossible ut this day
To trace their dcrivptiOn. Thus il will lie seen
that III Chinese we have no alphabet. no in
Elections. no cuniugations, ard no distinctions of
mood, gender. tense, or person. ,Stand,ng alone
and divorced from its context, the student can
not tell whelller "a single character is a noun or
u verb He turns to his dictionary and is often
bewildered by u score of diverse meanings that
have gathered around the word during 5000
years of service in Chinese literature. II is
worthy OF remark that II thinanau living in
Canton will pronounce these characters alto
gether different To the Chinainan. for instance.
In Foochow; yet the meaning Of the characters
and construction of sentences is the same all
cVrding to the locality, and yet u Chinese
scholar will sit down ana write poetry and prose
gible to every educated man In China, rorca,
aud Japan. | have often seen two thInarnen
whocould not understand aword of each others
speech sitting down and holding II convrrsa-
ton in writing much AS the monks of different
European countries used TO correspond with
much as We speak. The Chinese spoken and
written language, On the other hand. differs as
uluCu hS WoutTu 'iTtth from lne tITttN or no
mtr. Few foreigners are able to write Chinese
with the elegance OF the native scholar. Some
able to speak a local dialect with as much tiu-
ency and a perfect dion as a Chlnaman.
The erea. difficulty In acquiring the spoken
language Is in the tones. the inter-syl able
asplrates. and the utter iawlcssncss OF it, idiom.
There are only about zoo distinct sounds in
the language, and a few months practice will
easily master their pronunciation. but it
must, be remembered that to each OF these
sounds there is attached a sort Of metrical scale
ranging from an octave TO an octave ana n half, |
giving a variety OF tones which only II musical
eight to twelve of these tones. and some micro
phonic ears have even detected as many rs SIX
teen In English a tone may denote an.
alter the meaning q the word. II Chinese
the tone is al important: FAKE the
per. oar. elephant. mechanic, or pickles.
TO the tone. Put an aspirate into
anime. good luck. wall. spear. or gun and n
variety OF other meanings. depending on the
correct tone is given. Change tho tone and
man becomes a ntghtingals, a carrot. and many
invented can enable the student to acquire hy
himself these peculiar jerks and twists SO es-
sential to- correct speech. They can only be nc
drill for many months before the vocal !
organs get accustomed to these uncouth sounds.
The beginner often makes the most. lud.crons
had been studying a few weeks
with my teacher and was advised to 60 among
met n Chinese ploughman. evidently returning
home, and vcntured To remark. Nee fan hue
| intended to say, - 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.
lie simply glared AT me. Seeing my colleague,
who accompanied me-; CONFUSED with laughter,
1t was evident | had made IA bad blunder. IL
appeared that | had placed II rising tone on the
word, and consequently had told the MAJ
to go to the devil.
Another day the cook came up to inquire what
] would have for dinner on SUNDAY; intended
to tell him to roast II chicken Unfortunately |
made II mistake in one word. ] had given "a long
OF n short vowel sound, and gravtly told
the man to go and set fire to the street. The
student Is not only bothered with tones and
long and short novels: he Is also perpleXed with
little aspirates breathed into the middle uf n
sound, the addition or omission Of which entire
ly alters the sense. The writer once heard a
missionary preaching m the heavenly Father.
The chinese word for heavenly is teen, with an
aspirant on the vowels. The preacher left ont
the aspirate, with disastrous results. Teen
without an aspirnte means crazy.
After learning Cantonese II few months | tried
10 preach II sermon. Alas, was the only per-
son In tho congregation who understood a word
of what ! was saving. IL was diSheartcning TO
hear that some OF the Chinese who had listened
To me remarked how much the English language
resembled the Chinese. They supposed | had
been preaching in English, Wrong tones. CON
fusion of LONG and short vowels, and blunders
In aspirates had done all the mischief. IL was
very hpmilintinG. My heart sank. wished
myself back home. oh, for the apostolic gilt Of
Rut ! tried again. next time with
better success. Little BY little the, ANTIQUITIES
vanished. the tones and terrible idioms were
mastered, and now tho greatest JOY | have in
This world Is In. standing M before a Chinese
and telling them in their own tongue
The wonderful works Of tod.
WO MEETINGS UI7H GEN. MILES.