Travels in China Part 12

_Keu go_ NE-TE _shoo_.

Dear _to_ men,

_Quei_ EU _jin_.

Come you _with_ him,

_Ne-lai_ TUNG _ta_.

The adjective is also formed from the genitive of the noun as _pai_, whiteness; _pai-tie_ white; _je_ heat; _je-tie_ hot; _lee_, reason; _lee-tie_, rational; _hau_ goodness; _hau tie_, good. But when the adjective precedes the noun, as it generally does, the particle _tie_ is omitted as,

_hau jin_, a good man.

_pai-ma_, a white horse.

_je-swee_, hot water.

The plural of nouns is expressed by prefixing some word signifying plurality, as _to-jin_, many men; _to-to jin_, a mult.i.tude of men; _chung jin_, all men; and sometimes by a repet.i.tion of the word as _jin-jin_, men.

Adjectives are compared by placing the particle _keng_ before the comparative, as

_yeou_, soft; _keng yeou_, softer.

_hau_, good; _keng hau_, better.

My book is _newer_ than yours,

_Go-te shoo_ KENG _sin ne-te_.

The superlative is marked by various particles, sometimes preceding, and sometimes following, the adjective, and it is also formed by repeating the positive, as

_hau, hau tie_, very good.

_whang-whang-tie_, very yellow.

The personal p.r.o.nouns are,

_ngo_ (nasal) or _go, ne, ta, go-men, ne-men, ta-men._ I, thou, he, we, ye, they.

And they become possessives, in the same manner as nouns are changed into adjectives, by the addition of _te_ or _tie_, as

_go-te, ne-te, ta-te, go-men-te, ne-men-te, ta-men-te_.

mine, thine, his, ours, yours, theirs.

The verb has likewise neither conjugation nor inflection; and the tenses, or times of action or pa.s.sion, are limited to three; the present, the past, and the future. The present is signified simply by the verb, as _go lai_, I come; the past, is expressed by the particle _leo_, as _go lai leo_, I did come, or I have come; and the future is formed by placing the particle _yau_ before the verb, as _go yau lai_, I will come; or, when something very determined is meant to be expressed, the compound _yuen-y_ precedes the verb, as _go yuen-y-lai_, I am determined to come. It may be observed, however, that although these, and other particles signifying the time and mode of action, are necessary in common speech, yet, in fine writing, they are entirely omitted, which is another cause of the obscurity and difficulty that occur to strangers in the study of the Chinese character.

The two negatives _mo_ and _poo_, are of great use in the spoken language. The first is generally used with the verb _yeu_ to have, and always implies a want or deficiency, as, _mo yeu nai_, there is no milk; _mo yeu tcha_, you can have no tea, I have no tea, there is no tea, &c.

_Poo_ is generally used to express qualities of an opposite nature, as, _hau_, good, _poo hau_, bad; _je_, hot; _poo je_, cold; _ta_, great; _poo ta_, little. The usual salutation between friends is _hau-poo-hau_, well, or not well?

The limits I have prescribed for the present work will not allow me to enter into a more detailed account of this singular language. What has been said may serve to convey a general idea of the written character, and the simple construction of the spoken language. I shall now endeavour, in a few words, to explain the nature and construction of the Mantchoo Tartar character, which, if the present family continue on the throne for a century longer, will, in all probability, supplant the Chinese, or will at least become the court language. In the enunciation it is full, sonorous, and far from being disagreeable, more like the Greek than any of the oriental languages; and it abounds with all those letters which the Chinese have rejected, particularly with the letters B and R. It is alphabetic, or, more properly speaking, syllabic, and the different parts of speech are susceptible of expressing number, case, gender, time, modes of action, pa.s.sion, and other accidents, similar to those of European languages. This is effected either by change of termination, preposition, or interposition. The character is extremely beautiful, and it is written, like the Chinese, in perpendicular columns, but beginning on the left side of the paper instead of the right, as is the case in writing the former language.

The elements of the language are comprized in twelve cla.s.ses of simple sounds or monosyllables, from the different combinations of which all the words of the Mantchoo language are formed.

These cla.s.ses are distinguished by the terminations.

The first cla.s.s ends in a, e, i, o, u, p.r.o.nounced exactly as the Italian.

The second, in ai, ei, iei, oi, ui.

The third, in ar, er, ir, or, ur, air, &c.

The fourth, in an, en, in, &c.

The fifth, in ang, eng, ing, &c.

The sixth, in ak, ek, ik, &c.

The seventh, in as, es, is, &c.

The eighth, in at, et, it, &c.

The ninth, in ap, ep, ip, &c.

The tenth, in au, eu, iu, ou.

The eleventh, in al, el, il, &c.

The twelfth, in am, em, im, &c.

The initials are, A. E. F. H. I. K. L. M. N. O. P. R. S. T. U. Y.

To give some idea of the character, I subjoin the written elements.

1st Cla.s.s. a e i o u