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THE CONSONANTS.
The consonants are: b. ts, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, ng, p, s, and t. With the following exceptions they are pronounced as in English.
h—is always strongly aspirated, excepting when it is the final letter in the upper and lower fourth tones, where it is simply the sign of an abrupt tone of a word ending in a vowel sound. After ch, k, p and t it is used to denote that these initial sounds are are to be strongly aspirated.
j—has two sounds, (1) as j in judge, (2) as dz in adze.
ng—whether as an initial or a final as ng in long.
s—invariably as s in seen.
All the nasal sounds, with which this dialect abounds, are indicated by the small n attached to the vowel.
THE TONES.
The Chinese tones are divided into four classes; each of which with the exception of the second has an upper and a lower tone. For the convenience of learners I shall speak of them not according to the Chinese method of classification, but according to their numbers. The theory is that there are eight tones in the dialect, but the second and the sixth being identical, there are practically but seven. The following are the signs used to distinguish them:—
First, no accent.
Second, acute accent (´)
Third, grave accent, (`)
Fourth, no accent, but invariably ending in h, k, p, or t,
Fifth, circumflex accent (ˆ)
Seventh, horizontal line (¯)
Eighth, perpendicular line ( ̍)
Whilst the above tones are well marked and decided, when alone, they all undergo a certain change when placed in combination. For example: the word lō͘ a road, is in the seventh, and to be understood must be pronounced in that tone. When, however, it is combined with the word thâu a head, viz. lō͘-thâu, it no longer retains its original tone, but is treated as though it were in the third.