- 1. 上平聲 siong2 ping5 siang; primary smooth tone.
- 2. 上上聲 siong2 siong2 siang; primary high tone.
- 3. 上去聲 siong2 k’ëü3 siang; primary diminishing tone.
- 4. 上入聲 siong2 ih8 siang; primary abrupt tone.
- 5. 下平聲 ha2 ping5 siang; secondary smooth tone.
- 6. 下上聲 ha2 siong2 siang; secondary high tone.
- 7. 下去聲 ha2 k’ëü3 siang; secondary diminishing tone.
- 8. 下入聲 ha2 ih8 siang; secondary abrupt tone.
This translation of the Chinese names of the tones, though not the one usually given, is admitted by the original, and gives a better idea of their nature than a more literal translation. The names of the tones, as given above, are common to various dialects, but they do not represent the same qualities of voice, or sound, in the different dialects; that is, tones bearing the same names are often essentially different in different dialects.
The number of tones in actual use, varies also in different districts. In several dialects, there are reckoned eight tones, as given above, while in the Fuh Chau dialect, only seven are in actual use, and in the Tiechu dialect there are said to be nine tones. In the spoken language of Canton there are ten tones, but in reading, only eight. The names applied to the tones give but an imperfect idea of their nature, and in general, it would be as well to designate them as first, second, &c., tones, as to employ the names they bear in Chinese books.
Description of Tones in the Fuh Chau Dialect. – The first, or primary smooth tone, called siong7 ping5, is a uniform even sound, enunciated a little above the ordinary speaking key, but neither elevated nor depressed, from the commencement to the close of the word. It is, in this respect, like the enunciation of a note in music; it may, therefore, be called the singing tone, or the musical monotone.
The second, or primary high tone, called siong7 siong2, is enunciated in the ordinary speaking key, and the voice usually falls a note at the close, as at the end of a sentence in unimpassioned discourse. In connected discourse, however, the second tone is sustained, and turns upward, like the vanishing stress of unaccented words in common conversation. In attempting to pronounce the letters a-e, we notice that e is pronounce either a note higher, or lower, than a. So, also, if we take the pains to listen attentively when a alone is pronounced, we shall notice that it has its ending, or vanishing move-
