XIV. Special idioms are very numerous. They must be learned, each one for itself. It will be found, however, after a time, that even in them there is something of method, and that they are susceptible of no little classification.
XV. Aside from special idioms and such inverted collocations as attend, say, the genitive sense (known by that ubiquitous man of all work in Chinese Syntax, — kâi) the construction of ordinary sentences is really simple. The nouns, verbs, and adjectives which enter into a sentence, follow each other in an order which is both logical and chronological. It is the distribution of auxiliaries and particles which give the shades of meaning, and which require the most attention.
This can be shown hest by taking an English sentence and stripping it of its auxiliaries until it bears some resemblence to a Chinese sentence.
Buy land custom—engage middle man—hunt man want sell—have consultation—agree price—write white deed—sign name—no can write?— press thumb mark—go yamen—sue out red deed— mandarin impress seal—give you back—put away strong box—take care dampness, white ants, moths.
This is a mere skeleton sentence. Yet its meaning is discoverable even as it is. The “substantive words” and the “live words” are all there. It is chiefly the auxiliaries or “empty words” that are wanting. When these are added and the sentence is padded out, there is no longer any lack of clearness.
The custom in buying land is this. You must engage the services of a middle man who will hunt up a man who wants to sell. You then have a consultation and agree upon a price. This being done, he writes for you a white deed and signs his name to it. It he cannot write his name he must impress his thumb mark. You then go to a yamen and sue out a red deed. The mandarin impresses his seal and gives it back to you. You then take it home, put it away in your strong box, and have to be careful against dampness, white ants, and moths.
