Elementary Lessons In The Swatow Dialect/Preface
These very elementary lessons are reprinted for private use from Mr. Giles’ “Handbook of the Swatow Dialect,” with very little change other than the substitution of an exact system of spelling and marking the tones. In a few cases a word or a phrase has been changed where this seemed necessary, but no attempt has been made at an independent revision of the whole. In the Vocabulary numerals have been inserted referring to the pages of Dr. Carstairs Douglas’ ”Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular,” in the hope of inducing beginners to accustom themselves from the first to make use of its stores of information. It will be found that over six-tenths of the words of the Swatow dialect remain unaltered in spelling and tone-mark as written in the Amoy Dictionary; while many of the remainder are easily recognised under more or less altered forms. It is to be understood, therefore, that a reference to a certain page of Dr. Douglas’ Dictionary does not necessarily imply that the word will be found there unchanged. In two or three cases out of ten it will be found in a form more or less modified, and the beginner must at first trust to the meaning as a guide to the particular word required. After a time certain laws of change will show themselves, a knowledge of which will make it easy to find without assistance the Amoy analogue of almost any Swatow word.
Dr. Douglas’ Dictionary is so extraordinarily full and accurate,—far surpassing in these respects anything yet attempted in Chinese lexicography,—that it will amply repay the labour that may be spent in acquiring familiarity with it. Of course reference must always be made to reliable native scholars to ascertain differences in sound or usage between the two dialects.
The manner of using the Vocabulary will be seen from the following example:—“Doctor ui-seng, 161a416b”
Here the word “ui” will be found in the form “i” on p. 161, in the first column, as indicated by the letter a; while “seng” will be found unchanged in the second column, b, of p. 416.
Occasionally the mark, —, occurs, indicating that no analogue has been found in the Amoy dictionary for the syllable referred to.
S.S. “Rosetta.” Oct. 1881.