The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-01-17

/ ing in his own land were able to write
4 he might be able to carry on his COM
/ munications more successfully.
The mandarin dialect is the language
of the court at Picking. 1t is the rec
] ogniZed tongue in official circles, and
is spoken by the nobility and higher
classes in northern China. The Chinese
consul in this city, Mr.. Chung Pao Hsi
/ pronounced Choong Pc See, but usu-
ally abbreviated in conversation to Mr..
Chung), speaks the mandarin dialect,
as does the vice consul. Mr.. Wing. The
latter gave the writer the correct man
DARN pronunciation of several of the
names which have occurred prominent
ly in the late dispatches from China. 1t
win be remembered that this can by
no means be regarded as the universal
Chinese pronunciation of the names,
but as most of the places referred to
are in northern China the spelling of
their names in according to the man.
DARN dialect. 1t is rather difficult to
reproduce the sounds in English, but
fairly good equivalents can be given,
allowance being made for the peculiar
cultural sounds which the Chinese give
to many combinations of letters.
Picking, the capital is Peel Chin to the
mandarin, the accent strong on the first
syllable. The River Yang tse-Kiang is
Yong-tse Kiong. following what seems
to be a general rule to pronounce "a
before ''ng," like a short 20" in Eng
lish. There is a slight emphasis upon
the second syllable of the name Use"
Hoang-Ho is pronounced Hwong-Ho,
the last syllable being accented. Kin
Chau and Kiao-Chau are respectively
Kin-Chow and Kow-Chow, the stress
in each instance falling on the last
syllable. Wei-Hai-Wei is Way-Hi-
Way, Chee-Foo is Chay-Foo, Nankin
is Nonkeen. and Shanghai Shonghi. The
name of the Gulf of Pe-Chi-Li is called
Peh-Chee-Lee by the mandarin, and
that of the Gulf of Leao-Tong, north
of it, is Laow Tong. All these names
are accented on their last syllables, as
is also Talien-Wan. the pronunciation
of which is sufficiently indicated by its
proper spelling. Tien-Tsin is sounded
like one word, Tienshin, with the ac-
cent on the middle syllable, ''en."
Among the other important cities of
the empire, Canton is Kong-Tong in the
mandarin dialect. pronounced in the
same Way as Hong-Kong, the stress
on the last syllable.
The origin of the diversity of dia-
lects in China dates back so far into
antiquity that full and accurate knowl-
edge regarding it is impossible. But
the subject has been carefully investi-
gated as far as such search could be
extended. and many interesting articles
have been written thereon. According
to the suggestions of the best authori-
ties. the founders of the Chinese en-
pire entered the country through Tur-
lIestan about 5000 years ago. Their
first colonies were founded on the plain
east of the Hoang-Ho, whittier they
were followed and pushed onward by
the Turkish hordes from the country
they had left. Gradually they advanc-
ID eastward and southwark until they
had gained all the land as far as the
Desert of Cobb. and the modern coast
province of Chilli, in which Picking is
situated. In their onward course they
drove before them the aboriginal pop
ulation, which consisted of scattered
tribes. These moved southwark and !
mingled with the Indo-Chinese in the !
southern part of the empire. Nothing
is known of the pre-Chinese history of (,
the provinces of Fuh- Kien and Quang-
Tung, on the southeast coast, but il is |
known that they, with the provinces |
of Quang-L and Yun-Nan, were partly I
conquered by the invading Chinese in 1
the third century b. c. Canton was !
conquered in the same century and /
Hai-Nan about a hundred years later
It is probable that the aborigines of |
these provinces We're absorbed by and /
adopted the language of their invaders, (.
with a certain mixture of their own |
tongue. In Quang-Li and Yun-Nat I
there had been Siamese and Burmese |
empires, and this would account for |