Page:Chinese spoken language.djvu/35

Rh

Può, night, or evening, affixed to either of the expressions denoting days, signifies the evening of that day; as, king può, (nih8 being omitted,) this evening; so3 mang5 può, last evening.

Connectives.
But few connecting particles are used in the dialect spoken at Fuh Chau, and the same is true of the Chinese language generally.

Conjunctions.
Këüng7, and; ling5, also; hëüh4, or hëüh4-ti, or, either; ka sü2, or ioh8 sü2, if; kò2 pe3, supposing that; ing oi7, because; ku chü, therefore.

Prepositions.
Meng3-seng5, before; a7-lau2, behind; kè-teng2, above; a7-tè3, below; tie2-tie3, within; ngie lau2, without, outside.

Interjections.
Hò2! Well! It is well! Ai-ia5! an expression of wonder, or surprise; this expression is also used in a drawling tone, denoting excessive grief. Ëü7! So-ho! Ho there! used to call the attention of persons standing near. O5! O5! expressive of sudden pain.

Versification.
The written language governs the style of poetry. The most ancient Chinese poetry was irregular, composed of an even number of lines, consisting of a nearly uniform number of monosyllabic words in a line, subject to rules of rhyme and alliteration; that is to say, to periodic return and cadence of certain articulations and terminations. Short pieces of this measured prose make up the Chu King, or Book of Records, and some other ancient books of the same class. The style of long poems, such as the Panegyric of Moukden, is very similar. Chinese poetry has advanced by degrees to the condition in which