The native standard of pronunciation is a work called 戚林八音合訂 Ch‘ek Ling Paik Ing Hak Teng, or more simply the Paik Ing, or Eight Tone Book. As seen from the full title it is a compilation of the works of two authors, Ch‘ek and Ling. The page is divided by a horizontal line. The lower section is by Ling, and the characters are arranged by a system of 20 initials and 35 finals. As a dictionary, it is somewhat more comprehensive than the upper part, but it is not used as a standard of pronunciation. The upper section is ascribed originally to Ch‘ek (a military chieftain of the Ming dynasty, known familiarly as 戚參將 Ch‘ek ch‘ang chiong), and is the only standard of pronunciation for the Foochow dialect. It is a dictionary in which all the characters are systematically arranged according to their sounds. Each simple word has three elements, an initial sound, a final sound, and a tone. The initials are termed che t‘au, word-heads. The finals are termed che mó, word-mothers, or fundamental generic sounds. To represent the former, 15 characters, having the 15 different initial sounds, are used. To represent the latter, 33 characters are in like manner employed.
The original number of finals was 36, but three of these became obsolete on account of identity in sound with other three in the list. They are divided metrically into 3s, 7s, and 5s, by native teachers, and are regarded as yielding a good poetic sense in the order in which they stand. The sign † (placed after) marks the three obsolete finals.
- 春花香 Ch‘ung Hwa Hiong, The spring flowers (are) fragrant,
- 秋山開 Ch‘iu Sang K‘ai; The autumnal hills unfold;
- 嘉賓歡歌須金†杯 Ka Ping Hwang Kó Sü King Pwí, The worthy guests, joyous in song, must (take) the golden bowls,
- 孤燈光輝燒銀缸 Ku Teng Kwong Hwi Sieu Ngüng Kong. (While) the single lamp brilliantly burns in its silver cup.
- 之東郊 Chi Tëng Kau, Go forth to the eastern wild,
- 過西橋 Kwo Sá Kio; And cross the western bridge;
- 雞聲催初天 Kié Siăng Ch‘oi Ch‘ë T‘iéng, The voice of the cock hastens the opening dawn.
- 奇梅†歪遮†溝 K‘iă Mwí Wai Chiă Keu. The rare almond, drooping, veils the water-course.
