Page:A Chinese and English vocabulary, in the Tie-chiu dialect.djvu/15

Rh Ch at the beginning of words is sometimes pronounced ts; and still more frequently intermediate between ch and ts.

The i in such words as sin, tit, is by some pronounced like e as sen, tet.

The termination ie is pronounced by many io, the o being somewhat short: as bie, bio; ie io; chie chio.

The termination io is often pronounced iau: as lio, liau; mio, miau.

The oi in such words as chⁿoi, noi, tⁿoi, oⁿi is pronounced by many nearly like ai; as chⁿai, nai, tⁿai, aⁿi.

The initial l and n in such words as lam, lan; nam, nan are often interchanged; i.e some persons will usually say lam lan, other usually nam, nan, without seeming to perceive any difference.

The terminations n, and ng, in such words as kwan, kwang; tien, tiang, are confounded by some who do not seem to notice any difference between them. Such persons will also usually confound the terminations et and ak, as siet, siak.

The ù in such words as 汝, 去, lù, kù is sometimes pronounced u; as lu, ku. Also ù in such words as 代, 塊 tù kù is often pronounced ò; as tò, kò; and it may be remarked that when the ù sound is given in this class of words it is a more open sound than when it occurs in the class just before mentioned; the difference is easily perceptible, but does not seem capable of being represented by Roman letters. The ù in such words as ùn, ngùn is sometimes pronounced i, as in, ngin; by others it is pronounced e, and the n changed to ng; as eng, ngeng.

The nasal sounds are used much more by some persons than by others. The words in which is is universally used are mostly those which in the Court dialect and also in the Tie Chiu reading sound end in n or ng; these terminations, in common usage, are often dropped, and the nasal sound inserted before the preceding vowel, which is also often changed to suit the new form of the word; as Cheng, Chⁿe; Chiang, Chⁿie; Chien, Chⁿua; Hiong, Hⁿia.

5. The Tie Chiu, like most other dialects, has what is called a reading and also a common sound to the words. The common sound, however, to a considerable extend accords with the reading. There are also a large number of words whose reading and common sounds are used interchangeably both in reading and in conversation.