Page:Dictionary of the Foochow Dialect.pdf/10

x uses two finals. With fifteen initials, thirty-three finals and seven tones in use, there are theoretically a possible 3,467 vocables or word sounds. Probably less than half this number are actually used. In the Báik-ĭng the characters are arranged under the 33 finals, each final being used with the different initials in turn, and each initial-final combination being inflected through the seven tones.

Foochow Romanized is a system of orthography adopted by the early missionaries to represent sounds heard in Foochow. It has varied at different times, but is now standardized. The letters can of course only represent an approximation to the real sound, and the system is quite unlike the international phonetic alphabet or the Romanized systems used elsewhere in China. The Bible, a hymnbook and quite a number of booklets and tracts are printed in the Romanized. This system is, however, little known outside of Church circles and is by no means universally understood even by Christians. While it may be a useful help in language study it is not to be taken as a substitute for learning the Chinese character itself. When used independently the Romanized system uses capitals and other punctuation marks the same as in English. In this Dictionary capitals have been omitted altogether in the interest of uniformity, since type was not available for capitals with tone marks above them.

Foochow Phonetic Script (ṳ̀ng-kiŏng-ció-ĭng-cê-mō̤ 榕腔注音字母) is an adaptation of the National Phonetic to represent Foochow sounds. With a few exceptions a given symbol represents the same sound in Foochow that it does in Mandarin. Part of the New Testament, an abridged hymnal and some tracts are printed in this form. The beginning student may find it useful in the representation of Foochow sounds and it is a useful stepping stone in learning the National Phonetic.|2}}

{{indent|The Table gives first the name of the initial or final in Romanized and in the Character, then their approximate alphabetic value in Roman letters, and finally the Foochow Phonetic equivalent. The 11th initial (ĕng) denotes merely the absence of any initial consonant; hence the blank on the right in the column of alphabetic values.