Page:English-Chinese Vocabulary of the Vernacular Or Spoken Language of Swatow.djvu/12

 when he hears familiar words pronounced in quite another tone. It would be difficult, and is quite unnecessary, to describe here the characters of the various tones and the changes which they undergo in combination, as they can be most easily and correctly learnt by listening to the speech of a native.

NASALS.

A small ⁿ written above the line at the end of a syllable indicates that the whole syllable becomes nasal. In words beginning with m, n, and ng this symbol has been in some cases omitted where it ought to have been written.

HYPHENS.

The general idea involved in the use of hyphens is to link together those syllables which are so closely connected that the tones of certain of them are affected by the connexion. This principle, however, is not carried out to the full extent, because in many cases the words thus influencing one another would be too numerous to link together in this manner.

A implies that the word preceding it retains its own proper tone in full force, and that the word or words following it are either enclitic or unaccented, and as far as possible deprived of distinctive tonal character.

The use of hyphens, though most essential, is yet difficult to regulate by any stringent law, and much must be left to discretion.

On the next page are a few errors, chiefly misprints, which have been observed. It would be too much to hope that many more will not appear afterwards.