Page:An alphabetic dictionary of the Chinese language in the Foochow dialect.djvu/20



The Rev. M. C. White, M. D., formerly a member of the Methodist Episcopal Mission, Foochow, now a Professor in Yale College, U. S. A. after careful study of the dialect, published the results of his investigations in the Methodist Quarterly Review. We quote his graphic delineation of the tones.—"The first, or primary smooth tone, called, is a uniform even sound, enunciated a little above the ordinary speaking key, but neither elevated nor depressed, from the commencement to the close of the word. It is, in this respect, like the enunciation of a note in music; it may, therefore, be called the singing tone, or the musical monotone.

The second, or primary high tone, called, is enunciated in the ordinary speaking key, and the voice usually falls a note at the close, as at the end of a sentence in unimpassioned discourse. In connected discourse, however, the second tone is sustained, and turns upward, like the vanishing stress of unaccented words in common conversation. In attempting to pronounce the letters a-e, we notice that e is pronounced either a note higher, or lower, than a. So, also, if we take the pains to listen attentively when a alone is pronounced, we shall notice that it has its ending, or vanishing movement, turned upward one note; or, if spoken like the close of a sentence, where the voice falls in the usual way, we shall perceive that the vanishing movement of a turns downward one note. This is exactly the variety of enunciation, distinguished by the second, or, tone in this dialect.

The third, or primary diminishing tone, called, is what elocutionists call the rising third, and is heard in English on the emphatic word in a direct question, as, "Does it rain?" where the voice turns upward, through the interval of two notes of the octave.

The fourth, or primary abrupt tone, called, turns the voice upward through the same interval as the third tone; but it terminates abruptly, as though the voice was suddenly interrupted in an effort to pronounce a final h. In words which, in other tones, end in ng, the abrupt close of the fourth tone sounds somewhat like a suppressed or half-uttered k, but the clicking sound of the k is not heard. If a person should attempt to ask the question, "Can you open the lock!" and he suddenly stopped before enunciating the final clicking sound of the k, he would give to the last word the primary abrupt tone.

The fifth, or secondary smooth tone, called, is a quick, forcible enunciation, commencing about two notes above the ordinary key, and suddenly dropping down, at the close, to the key note. It is what is called by elocutionists the falling third, and, when emphatic, the falling fifth. It is sometimes called the scolding tone. It is heard in a petulant enunciation of the emphatic words in the sentence, "No! I'll do no such thing."

The sixth tone is identical with the second, and no words are arranged under it: that is, no secondary high, or rising tone, has yet been invented in this dialect.