A CHINESE DICTIONARY. 405 



of dog and mouth, and is pronounced as no other character is in 

 which dog is really the phonetic element. It is clear that both 

 elements are logical, we might say quite intelligibly to dogs- 

 mouth, instead of to baric. 



It is no practical objection to Gallery's arrangement, though 

 it shows the difficulty of adhering, if we were required to do so, 

 to a definite plan, that in some cases both elements of the cha- 

 racters are phonetic, though in different ways, one indicating the 

 sound, and the other showing that the former does so*. 



It is in this case a sort of signftim diacriticum, and the cha- 

 racter which is thus employed the most frequently is that for 

 mouth. For instance, Jive, and one of the words for /, are both 

 pronounced eu, and the character for the latter is the same as 

 that for the former, with the addition of that for mouth. 



A similar instance has given rise to one of the innumerable 

 foolish things which are said and repeated about the Chinese. 



Ho happens to mean corn, and concord or comfort, and the 

 character for it, in the latter sense, is the same as in the former, 

 with the same addition as in the preceding instance. 



The mouth is here used diacritically, yet people have been 

 found to say, that the grossness of the Chinese is shown by their 

 having a character for happiness which indicates that they have 

 no higher idea of it than mere eating. 



It so happens that the same sound ho also means a child's 

 crying, and in this sense also is represented by corn and a mouth 

 differently placed in relation to one another. What authority 

 can there be for an interpretation in the former case which is 

 obviously inapplicable in the latter? This, however, is a less 

 offensive error than those into which the early missionaries fell, 

 in seeking for the doctrines of Christianity in China. I can only 

 allude to their interpretation of the word yang. 



If a Chinese were to say that the English are a particularly 

 selfish people, because the same symbol denotes unity and per- 



* Cases might be pointed out in which both elements are representatively pho- 

 netic, so as to form a sort of reduplication. In some cases it may be said that 

 both elements are at once phonetic and logical. Thus assuming that the two ele- 

 ments of pi, to compare, are both pi spoons, the idea of comparison results from 

 their similarity. In other cases the same element is phonetic and logical. Thus 

 tsien, a small coin, consists of tsicn, small, and kin, metal or coin. Compare our 

 word 'groat.' 



