Page:Manual of the Foochow dialect.pdf/18

4 The system of initials, finals, and tones constitutes the alphabet of the language. All the characters of the Paik Ing are arranged under the 33 finals, as the leading element or symbol, with the sub-division into 15 classes under each final according to the initial sounds of the characters, and the farther subdivision into 7 classes under each initial according to their tones. In practice, however, it will be found that for a considerable number of possible combinations of the initials and finals with their tonic inflections, there are neither written characters nor colloquial words in this dialect. The above arrangement of characters with their definitions constitutes a Chinese Alphabetic Dictionary.

By referring to the Tables below, the student will observe that an initial sound is a single consonant or two consonants combined, and that no vowel is ever used as an initial. (Words under the eng initial, however, may be regarded as beginning with the vowel of the final sound or with w or y). It is also seen that a final sound consists of a vowel or vowels, sometimes preceded by w or y, and sometimes followed by h, k, or ng.

The tonic marks belong properly to the Romanized orthography of the language, as the tone is always an essential part of the word. In theory and as commonly spoken of, there are eight tones in this dialect, but practically only seven, as the second and sixth are identical, and the characters and spoken words having this peculiarity of sound are invariably referred to the second tone. The tonic marks are the same as those used in Williams' Tonic Dictionary. They consist of semicircles and semicircles combined with horizontal strokes. Their position at the corners of characters and words indicates the tone, as seen in the following diagram :-

The poetical division of the tones is into 平聲 ꜁ping ꜀siăng, the even tones, and 仄聲 chah꜆ ꜀siăng, the deflected or oblique tones. The first and fifth tones belong to the former, and all the others to the latter class, [sic]