Of the INITIAL POWERS of the Chinese Language.

In the Imperial Dictionary, the Initial powers, termed Tse-moo, Mother sounds, are divided into Nine Series. The first five and the eighth, are said to contain each four sounds; the sixth and seventh, five each; and the ninth, only two. The manner of forming these series is defined with great accuracy. They are expressed by the following characters, which, like the words placed across the head of the page in our Pronouncing Dictionaries, appear to be selected merely for the sake of describing the sounds, hence only the initial of the syllable is used.

7.照 Teh-aò,靠tchh-uen, 狀tch-ung,審 sh-ún,

s-yca.

Min sh-yèn.

s-in,

邪

in some words give no sound to this initial, in some others they write it ng : they seem to confound this and the nasal of the first series with each other.

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Remarks on the Nine Series of the Chinese Initials.

The first sound, in the first five of these series, is a simple sound, the se

If

cond is an aspirate, and the fourth a nasal. But what is the third sound? and wherein does it differ from the first? These are questions to which I have never been able to obtain a satisfactory answer. It is true, that the Chinese esteem it nearly the same with the first; but still it is improbable that in a series of four sounds, given, not merely in the Imperial Dictionary, but in those which preceded it, two sounds should be precisely alike. we examine the Sungskrit alphabet, to which the Chinese system bears a surprizing likeness, we shall find, that while the first letter in each series is a simple sound, and the second an aspirate, precisely like those in the first eight series of the Chinese Initials, their third sound is the first letter of the series softened: thus in the first series, k-u is softened to g-u; in the second series, ch-u is softened to j-u; in the third, t-u is changed for d-u; and in the fifth, p-u is softened to b-u. Now g, j, d, and b, are the sounds in which the Chinese are deficient. Did the authors of the Chinese system insert these four initial powers in the system, though useless, out of compliment to the Sungskrit system? or had they some faint idea, that there once existed sounds, if now lost, which in some degree differed from k, ch, t, and p, and in the same degree approximated to g, j, d, and b? If they did it in compliment to the Sungskrit system, whom did they intend to compliment thereby? and why did they not go farther, and adopt the fourth sound But we of the Sungskrit series, gh, jh, dh, bh, &c. as well as the third. shall have farther occasion to resume this subject when we compare the

Chinese system with the alphabets of other nations. We must now proceed to examine the manner in which each series is directed to be formed, and endeavour to ascertain its various sound. In doing this it will be proper tø notice the sounds by which the Catholic Missionaries have expressed them, and to assign reasons for departing in any degree from their system.

The First Series are said to proceed from the lower teeth. They are not however the dentals of the European alphabets; for the Catholic Missionaries express the first sound of the series by the letter k, which has the same sound in English as it has in French or Italian, and is the true sound of that power. The second or aspirated sound of this they denote by an aspirate placed over the syllable; a course which they have taken with the aspirates in the other series. In all the Indian languages, however, the aspirates are as really distinct powers, as the other consonants, and are treated as such by all who have entered into their true nature. Sir William Jones expresses the second sound in the first series of the Sungskrit alphabet, (with the sound of which this exactly coincides,) by kh: this mode of expressing the aspirated power, by adding an h to the simple power, is adopted here, as it seems unnecessary to resort to accents for those sounds which the letters of the alphabet will express. The third sound the Catholic Missionaries write k like the first. The fourth sound they write variously; one word found underneath it they write yen, another they writengan; the pronoun I, they write ngo, and intelligent, they write ngu. Hence it appears, that in some instances, however, they consider it as nasal. Were the tongue placed on the lower teeth, and gradually raised till the nasal were formed, this series could be formed with ease.

The Second Series is to be pronounced with the tongue placed between the teeth; which mode instantly produces the first power, the common English t. The Catholic Missionaries write the series t, t, t, n. Their mode of spelling it is adopted, with the exception of the aspirated power, which is here written. th with a comma intervening between the t and the h, after the example of Sir William Jones, to shew that the h is intended to aspirate the t, and not to coalesce therewith as it does in the words thick and this.

The Third Series is directed to be formed by raising the tongue toward the palate. It is written by the Catholic Missionaries ch, ch', ch, n. The only alteration made in this series, is, that of writing the second, the aspirated power chh, as Sir Wm. Jones writes precisely the same sound, which occurs in the second series of the Sungskrit alphabet.

The Fourth Series is directed to be pronounced with the lips strongly closed. It is written by the Catholic Missionaries p, p, p, m. No alteration is made in this beside that of changing p, for p'h, on the principles already mentioned. The comma is inserted between p and h, to prevent these two letters coalescing and assuming the sound of f, as they do in phlegm. The sound intended to be conveyed by them here, is nearly that given to p and h in pump-house.

The Fifth series is directed to be pronounced with the lips gently closed. The Catholic Missionaries write it f, f, f, v. The aspirate is here changed for an h, as before; and the v, for w, the sound which the Catholic Missionaries probably meant to convey, but which the letter v does not convey in English. Were not this latter change made, the rule for pronouncing the series could

not be observed; as v is not pronounced in English by gently closing the lips, but by placing the under lip against the upper teeth.

The Sixth Series is directed to be formed by putting the tongue to the upper teeth. It is said to contain five sounds, the two latter of which are sibilants. This series the Catholic Missionaries write thus ç, ç', ç, s, s. It does not seem necessary however to transfer the French cédille to the English language, if we have any combination that will express the sound. It is therefore changed for ts, which, though it does not express precisely the sound of the cédille in French, seems more fully to meet the requisition of the Chinese orthoepists, that of placing the tongue against the upper teeth. The series, therefore, we write is, ts'h, ts, s, s, the comma being inserted between s and h to prevent their coalescing as they do in shall. The sound intended to be conveyed is nearly that of tsh in harts-horn.

The direction for pronouncing the Seventh Series is, that the tongue be placed against the side-teeth. This series differs much from the last, and a little from the third, ch, chh, &c. as placing the tongue against the side-teeth will produce a sound somewhat harder than ch, &c. The Catholic Missionaries write it ch, ch', ch, x, x. As it seems desirable, however, to retain, at least in writing, as many distinctive names for the Chinese characters as we can with propriety, when so many characters must necessarily be expressed by the same syllable, t is prefixed to the first four sounds of this series, which are then written tch, tchh, tch, tsh. This, if it suggests nothing different in pronunciation from ch, chh, &c. will at least furnish us with a distinctive mark in writing for this series, and prevent our confounding two series with each other.

The x of the Catholic Missionaries is difficult of pronunciation in