Page:Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (IA journalofstrait121878roya).pdf/234

 ability exists to pronounce under certain circumstances, dependent on the initial sound following them, words ending in f, t, k, th, m, n, s, and v, which in like manner have ee or o added to them; tand k frequently take see, "want" becoming "wantsee." There is no apparent reason for this latter peculiarity, unless it may be referred to habit, arising from the constant recurrence of the ts sound in all Chinese dialects. Custom gives the final ee to many words ending in b and l, but they present no difficulty to the native speaker as pure finals. The letter is absolutely unpronounceable either as initial or medial to the Southern Chinaman, and is avoided as a final when possible—in striking contradistinction to the mandarin-speaking portion of the empire. In Peking, almost every word is capable of taking a final r sound by adding to or eliding its primitive terminal; thus, jen becomes jerh; aū, aūrh, etc. When pronounced in the south the r closely resembles the Hindoo letter r, which is between an r and a d.

The results of these rules–if they can be so called—are somewhat odd, the more so as, in addition to disguising the words, the native compilers of pidgin vocabularies often make up the quaintest combinations to express very simple words. As specimens of merely adulterated English I may mention allo for all, chilo for child, facey for face or character, Ink-e-lee for English, kumpat-o for Compradore, and so on. But one becomes puzzled at such renderings at pŭt-lŭt-ta for brother, ha-ssā-man for husband or sha-man for servant. Of compound words I may quote bull-chilo and cow-chilo for boy and girl: Allo plopa for quite right Joss pidgin man or Heaven pidgin man for missionary, and looksee pidgin for ostentation or hypocrisy; while anybody reputed to be cracked is described as one who kab got water top side!

It will be readily understood that, thus "transmogrified," English as spoken by natives at the China ports becomes a jargon, rescued only from contempt by the fixed rules under which it is constructed, and the illustration it affords of Chinese idioms. Many words in common use are of Portuguese or Malay origin, while a certain number of pure Chinese phrases add to its polyglot character. Some words, again, are neither English, Chinese, nor anything else but "pidgin," and their derivation cannot be ascertained. Such are maskee, which signifies "never mind," chin-chin, for "how do you do," or "good bye," "to compliment," etc. This latter phrase is not, as commonly supposed, Chinese. There is a phrase, Tsing Tsing, meaning "if you pleaesplease [sic];"