plunder what has been left to the unfortunate sufferers by the late inundation. He threatens that whoever may be caught doing so, shall, on his requesting "the king's order," be put to immediate death. The phrase wang ming is supposed to be derived from high antiquity, before the use of the word hwang, or emperor; and although the sovereigns of China have been called emperors for twenty centuries, they still retain the ancient term king's order, for a death warrant. These governors of provinces seem to have a discretionary power of life and death, wheu they think the emergency may require it. LITERARY NOTICES. THE COREAN SYLLABARY. In a former number we have inserted a communication from the peu of Mr. Gutzlaff, respecting the hitherto almost unknown language of the Corean peninsula. In that communication, there is given a Corean alphabet, consisting of fifteen general sounds or consonants, and eleven vowels. In addition to this alphabetic arrangement, in which the Coreaus differ somewhat from the Japanese (while closely resembling them in various other particulars), they have also a syllabic arrangement, consisting of 168 combined sounds or syllables, each of which possesses an inherent, but not inseparable vowel. Of this syllabary, in its complete forin, a copy was delivered to us, at the same time with the above-mentioned remarks on the language, of which, as well as of a specimen of Corean writing, it was our intention to have taken earlier notice. We do not regret, however, that we have been prevented from so doing, since we have lately received some sheets of a valuable publication, now printing at Batavia, viz. a Comparative Vocabulary of Chinese, Corean, and Japanese, with the pronunciation and meaning in English attached. This Vocabulary has served to verify many of our preconceived opinions as to the varying pronunciation of several letters, arising perhaps in some instances from a diversity of dialects, and in others from individual peculiarities of pronunciation. With the help of this Vocabulary, we proceed at once to remark on the powers of the several letters, in the syllabic order of arrangement. A copy of the syllabary is annexed. All the syllables, it will readily be seen, are simple and easy combinations of the fifteen consoHants and eleven vowels, which, as already stated, compose the alphabet of the Coreans. The following are the powers of the syllables, in the order. in which they are numbered on the annexed. page, commencing, like the Chinese, at the right. FIRST COLUMN. 1. ka: the k is as in the word kite; the vowel an Italian a, as in calm. 2. kya, or kea: -the liquid in this syllable is inherent, and inseparable from the vowel, the k and the a have the same power as in the first syllable. 3. kö: the vowel is long, but different from the broad English ; it resembles rather the German ö, in Königsberg. 4. kyö-the liquid, inherent in the vowel, is the only difference between this and the last syllable its sound is similar to that of the Chinese word keuě,* in the court dialect, but rather more lengthened. 5. ko, or koh:-the o is somewhat abbreviated as in the wards among, money, &c. 6. kyo, or kyoh :—as in the preceding, with the addition of a liquid before the vowel. 7. koo:-as 00 in cool, pool, &c. 8. kyoo (or kew):—like the preceding, the vowel differing only in the addition of a liquid, or as ew in the word pew. 9. kŭ the vowel nearly resembles an abrupt French u; or it is like oo in foot. 10. ke, or kee:-the vowel as e in me, or as ee in keel. 11. kǎ-the a is slightly abbreviated as the a in fang. This vowel is used in combination with the 10th vowel, e, to form the diphthong ae, which is pronounced as the Chinese word hae,t or nearly as the i in high. SECOND COLUMN. 12. na :-the consonant is the same as the English n, both at the beginning and ending of words; as an initial, however, it appears to be sometimes changed into d, and to be dropped or very slightly enunciated before the 2d, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th, or liquid vowels. The vowels, in this and all the succeeding columns, have the same pronunciation as in the first column. * Like the character keuë. Like the sound of the character hae. 34. la, na, ra, or nla. This consonant appears to be sometimes a combination, when at the beginning of a word, of the two letters n and I, but is more frequently or interchangeably; as a final, it is always either/or r. 35. lya, nya, rya, or ya. 39. lyoh, nyoh, ryoh, or yoh. 40. loo, noo, or roo. 41. lyoo, nyoo, ryoo, or yoo. 42. lũ, nũ, rũ, nhũ, (or loo, &c.) 43. lee, ree, nee, or yee. 44. lă, ră, or nă. FIFTH COLUMN. 45. ma or ba;-the consonant is m, occasionally interchangeable with 6, having the same powers as those consonants in English; but they are often very slightly enunciated before the liquid vowels. 46. mya, bya, or 'ya. 83. yoh. 47. mö, or bö. 48. myö or byo. 49. mo, moh, or byoh. 50. myoh, or byoh. 87. e, or ngee. 51. moo, or boo. 88. a, or ngă. NINTH COLUMN. 89. tsa, or cha: these two are From the Comparative Vocabulary to which we have before referred, it would appear, that this consonant is sometimes used to express the sound of z. It is then written in the form of a triangle, to distinguish it from the character in its ordinary form. R powers of the consonant TWELFTH COLUMN. 122, t'ha-the consonant as in the third column, with the addition of an aspirate. 167. hwa. 168. hwö. From this examination of the powers of the several letters which enter into the composition of the Corean syllabary, it appears that all the sounds in the English alphabet are more or less plainly enunciated, except the flat sound of a, the sounds of ƒ and v, the two sounds of j, the open sound of o, and the compound sound of At the same time we are informed, by those who have x. 123-132. t'hya, &c., as in been among the people, that preceding columns. THIRTEENTH COLUMN. 133—143—p’ha, p'hya, &c. the same as the 6th column, with the addition of an aspi rate. FOURTEENTH COLUMN. 144-154. ha, hya, &c.—the same as the 8th column, with an aspirate prefixed. FIFTEENTH COLUMN. 155. öa, or wa. This column exemplifies the manner in which the semi-vowel พ is formed before a, and o, viz, before the former by prefixing a short o, euphony is studied in a very great degree. Such a language is well worthy of more minute examination;- so simple is it in the form of its letters,—and yet so well capable of expressing almost any sounds. We look forward, with joy, to the period, now we hope near at hand, when Corea shall become better known to the nations of the west, by a friendly and commercial intercourse, but far more, by the same faith in one Lord Christ Jesus, who shall in due time rule" from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." terary men,- -a contracted circle perhaps, because deep erudition and study are requisite to form critics capable of appreciating the nature and bearing of his peculiar researches upon the history, languages, and religions of other nations, both ancient and modern. All may however feel sensible of the devotion, zeal, and perseverance, which are necessary to lead a man, alone and unpaid, into a distant and wild country, to learn its language, and study its people at the fountain head. The volumes of notes which Mr. Csoma has presented to the Asiatic Society, will, it is hoped, be published in their Researches at length." The first volume of this periodical-published in twelve monthly numbers, during the year 1832,—contains nearly 600 octavo pages, neatly printed, which are replete with original literary and scientific matter. The work is embellished with numerous plates, illustrative of the subjects of which it treats. Among the able contributors to the work, we observe the names of H. H. Wilson, author of the Analyses of the Puranas; Rev. R. Everest; Major H. Burney, resident at the Burmese court; and Alexander Csoma de Köros. Of this latter gentleman, the editor of the Journal remarks;~ "Mr. Alexander Csoma's indefatigable labors in opening to us a first acquaintance with the literature of Tibet, will be estimated as it deserves by li Three numbers of the Journal for the current year, have recently come to hand; they more than equal the previous numbers. The work is a model of what we should like to see published in China. RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. NEW ZEALAND A Narrative of nine months' residence in New Zealand, in 1827, "by Augustus Earle, draughtsman to his majesty's surveying ship, the Beagle," is noticed in the Edinburgh Review for January 1833. "The New Zealanders, according to the reviewer, decidedly the most interesting savages on the globe. They combine, in the highest degree all that is terrible, with all that are is engaging, in that form of buman society. Our interest respecting them is singularly heightened at the present moment by the new aspect which they exhibit, and the change which is in course of being ef fected upon them by British intercourse; -an intercourse between the extremes of civilized and savage life, by which the features of both are strangely and curiously blended." |