So that in the whole colloquial language o f China, an European
may make out 342 fimple monofyllabic founds, which by
the help o f afpirates, inflexions o f voice, or accentuations, are
capable o f being increafed by a'Chinefeto 1331 words. And
as the written language is faid to contain 80,000 characters, and
each character has a name, it will follow, that, on an average,
60 characters, o f fo many different fignifications, muff necefiarily
be called by the fame monofyllabic name. Hence, a compofi-
tion if read would be totally unintelligible to the ear, and muft
be feen to be underftood. The monofyllabic found afligned to
each character is applied to fo many different meanings, that
in its unconnected ftate it may be faid to have no meaning
at all,
In the bufinefs o f common life, the nice inflexions or modulations,
that are required to make out thefe thirteen hundred words,
may amply be exprefled in about fifteen thoufand characters, fo
that each monofyllabic found will, in this cafe, on an average,
admit o f about twelve diftinCt fignifications. This recurrence
o f the fame words muft neceflarily caufe great ambiguity in
converfation, and it frequently indeed leads to ridiculous mif-
takes, efpecially by foreigners. Thus, a fober miflionary, intending
to pafs the night at a peafant’s houfe, afked as he
thought for a mat, but was very much furprifed on feeing his
hoft prefenting him with a young g ir l; thefe two objeCts, fo
very different from one another, being fignified by two words
whofe pronunciations are not diftinguilhable, and confequently
one or the other requires»to be ufed with an adjunct.
It was a fource o f daily amufement to our conductors, to
hear the equivoques we made in attempting to fpeak tbeir
language. A Chinefe, when the fenfe is doubtful, will draw
the character, or the root o f it, in the air with his finger or
fan, by which he makes himfelf at once underftood.
But as fome o f thefe monofyllabic words, as I have obferved
o f ching, have not lefs1 than fifty diftinCt fignifications, which
the niceft tones and inflexions, even o f a Chinefe voice, are not
able to difcriminate, fuch words are generally converted into
compounds, by adding a fecond fyllable, bearing fome relative
fenfe to the firft, .by which the meaning is at once determined.
Among the fignifications, for inftance, o f the monofyllable foo
is that o f fa th er, to which, for the fake o f diftinCtion, as fo o
has many fignifications befide that o f father, they add the fyllable
chin, implying kindred; thus, a Chinefe in fpeaking o f his
parents invariably lays foo-chin for father, and moo-chin for
mother; but, in writing, the character o f chin would be confi-
dered as an unneceffary expletive, that o ffo o being te ry differently
made from any other called by the fasne name.
T h e grammar o f this language may .briefly lie . explained.
The noun, as obferved, is indeclinable; the particles te or tie,
mark the genitive, and always follow the noun ; eu the dative,
which it precedes, and tung or tfung the abla^X^ hffore.yriych
they are alfo placed^ As far.example, ,
Nom. gai love
Gen. gai-te o f love.
Dat. eu-gai , to love. . . . . j
erf I* m m 2 Acc.