The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-08-26
JARGON OF LANGUAGES IN CHINA
AS BAD AS THE TOWER OF BABEL
Several Hundred Separate Dialects with Eight as
a Sort OF Basis-"Pidgin' English Serves
as Kind Of Rescue for
the Foreigners.
written for The Times.)

lion IN Ihina has been put, and it comes
pretty near expressing the status in true
nutshell fashion. There is not, as a
matter OF course. actually 365 languages
existent an the empire; dialects would be
The more plausible manner Of filrasnG;
SUM- ohaiect, as we usually understand the
Term, IS indicative OF the manner of
speech of the inferior class and
not OF the peorlc Of any given locality
as whole. In other words the mode
of oral communication in vogue between
Hhose of the lowest grade of mentality,
Fhe upper or better c,ass speaking rec
oSnized language. Especially would this
be supposed to prevail In an empire the
n'uch-v;uinte3 civilization Of which ante
GATES the Christian era, and has so often
been declared by enthusiasts OF the
antique superior to ou; own.
LIKE THE TOWER OF BABEL.
Tbs division between the superior ana
the inferior classes. the former speaking
Language and the latter dialect is not
known in China The main body ana
Stap.e of the spoken language of the most
rehned and learned classes is the same as
that of the coolies, laborers, and Doatmen
"A section of q province, often LOCALITY
not much. If in fact any. greater in area
than an ordinary township with us. has
ats Own vernacLlar whici. everybody
speaks. and to use any other mans OF
oral communication would simply be as
attempting it with a mere seif-invented
gibberish. Practically. every man, woman.
and child in the place knows nothing else
than the one lingo to which they are horn
Drop one of them down in another village
twenty miles distant, and. nine times in
ten. he could more comprehend. be
comprehended, through speech than if sud
denly transported to Berlin. Paris. or New
York Some words in one place. and pos
Eibly parts of sentences, might, perchance.
have a familiar sound N the other, but,
whils the Cfiinaman Is, of all human crea-
lures. the most indirect. he Is at the same
time the hardest individual imaginable to
attempt TO make understand anything by
Inference He has TO be approached with
every regard for directness of expression
and Will Inisconceive meaning upon the
slightest pretencc. This, true of him Iii
his Intercourse with foreigners, is equally
so as to his own kind. A ChinaInan, no
matter what his standing and accomplish
ments, who could travel a hundred miles
in his own country and be able to hold
converse with the people in the various
villages through which he passed would
be a rara avis surely
HIRING A SERVANT.
Upon .cy arrival in Hong Kong from
Australia Gesirous of securing a good
Chinese se,v4 ant, the wish was made known
NO European official to whom letters had
been E,rese nted. ard who had been aware
of my coming through cabe advices some
request. inquiry had been made, with the
result that a hoy had been engaged,
conditionslly. upon his proving acceptable
He turned out to b.. the 2o-year-old son of
one Of the richest Chinese merchants in
dhe colony. Doubtful that boy of such
parertage would fill he bill, there was
reluctance TO taking him. Al this the
father presented himself. a large and fine
looking person, in imposing attire. he was
the last sort of a man. judging from
appearances. one would suppose actuated
by the desire 10 place his son and heir
IN a position of personal servitude, sspe-
ciallv to a foreigner But he was, and
very earnest about it. TIL assurances
were profuse that Whan would prove all
that any master coud possibly expect
Should there, however, be any d reelection
authority was freely accorded to club
him, or in any othr way suggesting bring
him 10 a proper sense cf his duty. The
father spoke English tluently. was so per-
suasive ard persistent that the bargain
was struck: the term, 81 q month and
Whan find himself-tnat is sleeping quar-
ters and food. None of the ships plying
the eastern seas charge for the transport
ing of native servants. and as they have
native crews there is always a plenltude
of native food to be had. The European
master. as a rule. tips the cooks galley
for such as his boy may need on Voy-
age, and the sleeping place is on deck or
below with the Storage passengers
ashore the boy in attending upon his
masters wants makss himself SOLD WIN
the culinary department and sleeps evsry-
where on mat in front of his masters
bed chamber as likely as anywhere.
PROVED A SUCCESS.
It was the opportunity for assimiiatlng
fhe English language through months OF
contact with EuropeanS-all are europeans
xho ar not natives-that was the father S
in,
ambibIng not only the speech. but the man
nners OF those with whom he would nave
hnuch TO do in coming years. for Nhan
hHaS to succeed his father in business
no uncommon items of which were the
purchase of American flour and American
oil by the ship-load
Whan speedily demonstrated an aptitude
and capabiity rendering him perfectly
fitted for the place he filed with me, ana
during the long time he served in 1t there
never was an occasion to reproNe MINI
But, aside from his being invaluable as
an attendant in anticipating and providing
Ior my personal comfort, he was OF no
use whatever. We left Hong Kong by
steamer one day and arrived at Annoy me
next. and Wflan could no more commune
cate with the natives in their own tongue
than could we. this holding good as TO the
higher class Of which he was by birth, as
well as the coolie Cor lower class OF
patton. become.
..Pidgin'' English, which was our soie
eneans of intercourse with the Amoyans.
was Whan's only recourse in holding com
,nunication with his fellow counuymen.
hNhen he did not find them up in 'Pidsin
ale would as we'll have used Choctaw as
Hong Kong Chinese in attempting 10
secure information or convey any want
he wished to make known. So IL W'ts
all the time with MIN: once away from ms
own locality he was wholly at sea as
regarding comprehension of Chinese as
She is spoke in China as 4 whoie
OF what may be said to be languages
proper. in that they are not mere collo-
quail dialects or patois but spoken by
those in the highest ranks just as by the
common people. there are no less than
eight. not counting Monaghan or Man
ehuran. There are Mandarin. Nlnspo.
Shanghai. Hainanese. Swallow, Annoy,
Hallka and Cantonese The eight, to
a large eXtene, constitute the bases upon
(which the three hundred and fifty. or
more. other modes of speech are builded.
Dialects. as has been previously remark
ed, do not convey exactly TIE adequate
conception Of the latter in composition