ROMAN LETTERS.
The sounds of Chinese words cannot all be exactly represented by Roman letters, used as in English. In this book the Roman letter whose sound in English approximates the Chinese sound, is taken as the symbol of that sound, and the exact pronunciation must be learned from a Chinese teacher.
The vowels when followed by consonants are much shortened, especially when followed by h, k, p, and t.
The aspirate does not coalesce with a consonant preceding it, but is always sounded independently.
The sounds of p, k, and t when not followed by the aspirate are so repressed as to resemble those of b, g, and d.
Of the consonants, all occur as initials but only h, k, m, n, ng, p and t as finals. ⁿ at the end of word indicates that the vowels of the word are sounded nasally.
In all cases the pronunciation of Chinese words should be learned through the ear and from a native teacher, and the Romanized words should be relied on only as a help to the memory in learning.
The pronunciation of the same word varies greatly in the different districts of Tie-Ciu, the Department whose chief port is Swatow. Each village and hamlet has modes of speech peculiar to itself, and many words that are in common use among the people of one locality, are unknown to those in another. The pronunciation given in this Dictionary is that of Chau-chau-fu, the Departmental City.
The figures under the syllable refer to the page on which the same Chinese character may be found in Williams' Syllabic Dictionary, which has been largely used in the preparation of this one, and from which the definitions here given are mainly derived. The upper figure on the right hand is the number of the radical under which the character stands in Khang Hi's dictionary, and the lower figure indicates the number of strokes beside the radical.
Probably not more than half of the words used by Swatow people are contained in this Dictionary, but it is believed that all that are here given are in common use.
THE CHINESE CHARACTERS.
It is thought that the Chinese character given, is the one oftenest used in writing the word defined, but it is not always the only character which might be used in the same meaning, and in some sentences another character would be preferable where a similar idea is to be conveyed. As the Swatow vernacular is an unwritten tongue, and as the written language is different from any tongue spoken in China, the student of the language must not make the mistake of supposing that the Chinese characters representing the separate words would make a correctly written sentence if set down in the order of the Romanized words.
Where words of two syllables are given, these syllables are always found in the same combination, and the characters used in writing this dissyllable are placed beside it. In many cases one of the two syllables of a word is found in other combinations, and in such case only the character which is not elsewhere repeated is given.
