Chinese Language

The superficial observer often refera to the Chinese spoken speech as an "ear fiplitting jargon" and to the written speech as "hieroglyphics." Frequent visItors to any "Chinese quarter," notably a large "Chinatown" like that of Los Angeles, will soon become so familiar with this so called jargon asto note that it is far more musical than the English speech. Musicians are authority for the statement that the Chinese language has more afflnity (when spoken) with the notes of birds than with the tones of any other language. This is perhaps because the Chinese, having no alphabet, must have many tone combinations to give the various expressions and meanings to the thousands of characters. Having no alphabet, the Chinese language has more symbols than all of the alphabets in the universe combined, and thfcre are more tone combinations for the expression of those symbols than in all other tongues. Each tone is attached to a character, and one character is made to mean several different things, according to the tone used. In Chinese the tone gives the meaning. A word spoken with a falling inflection means one thing, and quite another when spoken with a rising inflection. We often hear a Chinaman, as he walks along the street talking with his companion, utter a word in a falling inflection which sounds like n-go. This means "I." He is talking of himself- perhaps saying how great he thinks himself to be. But if he drawls i out the sound long and even he is calling some hoodluni a "goose." He gives the falling inflection to the first syllable, and the rising inflection to the last, and in a rather musical voice. This would I be a difficult feat for an American. No matter in what mood he may be, he may not and perhaps cannot change the accent. The voice may be louder or in a minor key, but the tones are as inflexible as written words and must be so used, or the exact meaning is lost. All the expressions of human passions - laughter or sorrow- must be expressed by the same inflexible words and precise accents. There are only five tones in the Chinese voice, but as every word has all of its sy Hables accented there are 25 permutations, and these are almost always in constant use, even in ordinary conversation. A question may be asked with or without a rising inflection, according to the word used. Chinese adjectives are nouns. For "many thanks" it is "thank thank." A "great man" is "greatness man." Sometimes a noun is f ormed of a noun and a verb, as ' 'barber," whom they cali "shavehead teacher." The verbs have neither moods nor tenses, and when your laundryrnan wishes to tell yon that "I have washed" he says, "I pass over wash." Their adverbs are mostly formed by joining together nouns and verbs, as "finish day" for "yesterday." To cook is to "eat rice." Every noun is plural and includes all there is of that article, unless it is limited by the expression "one piece," as "one piece house." Instead of "wife and children" they expresa "family and wife." The word woman means "father man." If repeaíed, it signifies "scolding." The noun always remains in the same shape, and the verb has but one fonn instead of the many known to the English language. The Chinese language has no declensions, subjugations, moods, tenses, prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs, first becond and third persons, no singula and plural, and no gender except by the addition of a few participles in rare in stances. It is evidently simple and easy to learn, one of the simplest and mos curious thiugs about it being, as above stated, that every noun, unless qualified otherwise, is plural. There are about 60,000 characters used in the Chinese language proper, but the average Chinaman no more learns all of those characters than the everyday American learns the 100,000 words in the English language. The Chinaman, however, learns on the average more than does an American in a similar position in Ufe. A Chinaman who can neither read nor write is a rarity. Chinese is not a monosyllabic language, as many suppose, and it is impossible to utter in Chinese any but the shortest sentences in monosyllables. In writing the Chinaman makes one complicated but integral character for each word, but that word may be properly spoken in two, three or four syllabi es. His sy Hables are divided by n longer intervals than are his words, anc that ia what makes his language sounc to a foreigner like a singsong jargon We do not know whether he is telling story or attemjiting a song. The Chines perhaps think the same thing of an Amer ican, who bites off his words and swa lows them or telescopes one into another Business men in this city thrown i contact wif.h Chinese merchants wh speuk pure Chinese gay that it is not din cult to learn. Instead of 26 letters, no Inuludiug the useless &, the Chines have 500 oi 600 syllables, and these ar combined into various forius to inaketh 60,000 worda in their '-dictionary." These Byllables vary in meaning according t the t'me in which they are spoken or th