Page:The China Review, Or, Notes and Queries on the Far East, Volume 22 1RZBAQAAMAAJ.pdf/93

 Cantonese are to be found in Höng Shán under the initial letters ts; and all the words which in Cantonese begin with sh have the h dropped, as the Höng Shán speakers belong to the numerous tribe of Chinese Ephraimites who cannot sh right; other changes also tend to lessen the number of syllables in the Höng Shán dialect. There are therefore about 80 fewer syllables in the Höng Shán than in the Cantonese, but this statement must be qualified, for account should be taken of other syllables represented by the exceptions in pronunciation&mdash;some of the words which follow the exceptions are almost as numerous as those which conform to the rule: in other words certain pronunciations in Cantonese are represented by two or more pronunciations in Höng Shán which occasionally pretty nearly equally divide the words represented by the original pronunciation in Cantonese between them. Allowing then for these exceptions, about twenty must be subtracted from the amount given above, leaving, say in round numbers, some sixty less syllables in the Höng Shán than in the Cantonese. That is to say, speaking again in round numbers, there are about 625 syllables in the Höng Shán dialect. This number must not, however, be taken as a definitive statement, for doubtless, were it possible to devote sufficient time to acquire a thorough knowledge of this dialect, more syllables would be found than can be discovered in an attempt merely to acquire a cursory acquaintanceship with it.

To a casual observer the differences between Cantonese and Höng Shán are sufficiently marked to strike the ear at once; somewhat like the change of the Greek η into α in the ancient Doric, the Cantonese i before ng is changed to the dull, short a and being of the special peculiarities, the attention is at once arrested by it, added to which the dropping of the w after k and h after s, besides the continual substitution of the word ko for ke, the constant use of words not so commonly employed in Cantonese, as well as the introduction of other and new words, are all noticeable, while more especially the low tones give, combined with the pronunciation, a heavier, lower, and more gruff character to the speech&mdash;the language seems pitched on a lower key and even the usual soprano of the Cantonese female voice seems to sink to a low alto or approach almost to a bass. Such changes are sufficiently distinctive to give a character of its own to the dialect spoken by the inhabitants of the Höng Shán district; and deserve at least some attention from those living in their neighbourhood and taking an interest in the spoken language of the Chinese.

Now to compare the Höng Shán in its differences from and similarities to Cantonese with some of the other dialects in its neighbourhood as regards their likeness to and differences from Cantonese:&mdash;The Höng Shán has two-thirds of its syllables the same as in Cantonese, i.e. the mere pronunciation of them is the same as in Cantonese. The San Wúi dialect has also the same proportion like the Cantonese. The Tung Kwún agrees with the Cantonese as far as regards its syllables to the extent of nine-tenths. Now with regard to the syllables in each:&mdash;Cantonese 737; Höng Shán 672, or possibly more; San Ning 708; San Wúí 600, or possible more; Tung Kwún 600, or rather more.

The figures are almost all under than above the mark; for instance in Cantonese there are said to be 780 or 798 distinct syllables. The statements given above are however near enough for the purpose of a rough comparison, especially as our knowledge of most of these dialects is not extended enough to give exact figures.

Consonants.

After these general statements we shall now proceed to a more particular account of the Höng Shán dialect. And first as to the initials. Though there are not so many changes from the Cantonese initials in the Höng Shán dialect as there are in some of