Page:A Manual of the Amoy Colloquial (1898).pdf/13
PREFACE.
THE present work is designed to assist beginners in their first efforts to acquire a knowledge of the Amoy dialect. It has been so constructed that the introduction to the language may be rendered as simple and as easy as possible. The first few sections are of an introductory character, and the words selected are such as are of frequent and every day use, whilst the sentences constructed from them, though intentionally brief are sufficiently idiomatic to give one an insight into the peculiarities of Chinese phraseology. As the student advances, more difficult combinations are given, so that if the book is perseveringly studied through, an insight will be gained into the peculiar idiom of the dialect, without which it will be impossible to approximate to that purity of speech essential to one who desires to be widely understood. The sentences selected, whilst they by no means exhaust the many forms in which this dialect loves to exhibit itself, will still serve as guides by which the early footsteps of the student may be directed into the wider fields of Chinese literature that lie still before him.
The following is the system of orthography employed.
THE VOWELS.
The vowels are: a, e, i, o͘, u, ai, and au. The last two though dipthongs are treated as single vowels.
a—is pronounced like a in father.
e—as ey in prey. When followed by a consonant as e, in let.
i—as the i in fatigue. When followed by a consonant as i in him.
o—as o in no. When followed by m, ng, p, or k, as, o, in lock,
o͘—as o in long.
u—as u in glue. When followed by a consonant it undergoes a modification, which any attempt to explain would only mislead.
ai—as i in high.
au—as ow in cow.