Page:Pidgin-English sing-song; or, Songs and stories in the China-English dialect (IA pidginenglishsin00lelaiala).pdf/20

 different sounds to the same letters. The same difficulty exists as to words which are well known to many persons but not to others. A few will be found in this collection which are possibly not familiar to the oldest European proficients in Pidgin. They are all drawn from the Chinese vocabulary already referred to, and are probably known to most Chinese, who, however, soon drop them.

I have placed at the end of this work the well-known and popular version of "Norval," which first appeared at least forty years ago, and that of "Excelsior"—the names of the authors being unknown to me. I have been informed by an American gentleman who has paid attention to the subject, that a Pidgin-French is developing itself in the Chinese ports, but of this I have obtained no specimens.

It is not pretended that the language of the rhymes and stories in this volume will all be readily and immediately familiar to any person who may take it in hand, but it is certain that with a very little attention they can all be soon mastered. For those who expect to meet with Chinese, either in the East or California, this little book will perhaps be useful, as qualifying them to converse in Pidgin. There are in all not