173 LANG 
The mandarin dial eft, and indeed mod of the dialefts 
of the Chinefe language, have no founds to exprefs b, d, 
r, x, z\ but p, t, l, s, are ufed inltead of them. Nor can 
the Chinefe exprefs twp confecutive confonants: thofe ar¬ 
ticulations which we render compound by writing them ps 
or tfch, are limple in their mouths. The following is a re¬ 
markable confequence of this raft. If, in a foreign idiom, 
they meet with many confonants in fucceflion, they alter 
the word, feparating each confonant from ,the following 
by inferring a vowel. Crux written by a Chinefe, makes 
cou-lou ’fou ; Chriltus is Chi-lifi-tou-fou ; gratia is gue-la-tfi- 
ia\ fpiritus ,/ou-pi-li-tou-fou, Sec. 
The Chinefe at prefent have 328 radicals, or, according 
to others, 350. Bayer and Fourmont, Father le Compte 
and Thomas Hyde, have publilhed litis of them in Euro¬ 
pean characters; the two former according to the Portu- 
guefe pronunciation, Le Comte according to the French, 
and Hyde after theEnglifh. To multiply thefe roots, the 
only method of the Chinefe is to vary the tone and ac¬ 
cent ; a method worthy the infancy of the human mind. 
There are, for each root, five principal founds : the firft, 
fimple or natural; the fecond, hollow, deep, low; the 
third begins high, and falls at the conclufion, like no pro¬ 
nounced in anger; the fourth riles like a cry of admira¬ 
tion ; the fifth and laft, fhort and broken, like an expref- 
fion of fear. Befides thefe tones, there are others, re- 
ferved apparently for particular cafes ; fome count eight 
in all, others twelve, and even thirteen ; the greater part 
of which efcape the ear as well as the vocal organ, of a 
flranger, and which however varies the fenfe of the word. 
Thus, c/iou, according to the different tones in which it is 
pronounced may fignify a hook, a tree, great heat, to re¬ 
late, aurora, to move, to rain, foftnefs, to be accuftomed, 
to lofe a wager, &c. Likewife tchoun anfwers to mailer, 
hog, kitchen, a column, liberal, to prepare, old woman, 
to break or cut, favourable, little, to moiften, Have, or 
pril’oner, making up thirteen different meanings to one 
word. But each of thefe fignifications has, befides the 
proper fenfe, a figurative one alfo. Nay, there are words 
fufceptible of even fifty different fignifications, which the 
niceit modulation, that even of a Chinefe himfelf, cannot 
diltinguilh by a fufficient variation of tone. Iu fuch cafes, 
they are obliged to employ an additional word. For in- 
llance, when they would tile the word fouh in the fenfe of 
father, they place after it the word tfchin or djin, pronounced 
fo as to fignify man or parent; fouh-tfchin ; and in like 
manner for mother, they fay mou-tfchin. And it is, per¬ 
haps, in this mode that other languages firft formed words 
of two fyllables, as pater and mater, for example. 
By means of the principal tones only, the 318 roots 
produce 1625 different words; and the ufe of afpiration 
inc'reafes them to 3250, or at molt to 7700, which the ear 
of the Chinefe, Angularly delicate, and exercifed from in¬ 
fancy to the niceft difcriminations, lucceeds in diftinguilh- 
ing without any confufion. We mull not fuppofe that thefe 
tones make a chant; the Chinefe, in ufing them, chant no 
more than the Englilh, for example, when, by an exact 
pronunciation, they exprefs to the ear certain equivocal 
words, as, born, borne, Sc c. 
The 328 roots, thus diverfified by tone and afpiration, 
are the whole foundation of the Chinefe language; and 
hence it mull be extremely difficult to render theabftraft 
fenfe, the concrete fenfe, and all the figurative fenfes, of 
words. v 
This language is not diftinguilhed by what we call the 
parts of fpeech; each word ferves for fubllantive, adjec¬ 
tive, verb, See. Derivation and inflexion are wanting, 
and confequently declenfion and conjugation. In great 
difficulties they have recourfe to periphrafes. Ti or tie, 
added to a noun, expreffes the genitive; you the dative, 
lingular or plural; and toung or tjhoung the ablative ; for 
example, guch, love, guch-te, of love, you-guck, to love ; 
toung or found guch, from love. The plural is expreffed, 
ill. By colleftive words; as tou tfchin, (or djin,) many 
men 5 tjehoung tfchin , all men. 2d, By fuch words as ton , 
U AGE. 
other; pot or men, much, many*, example, ngolem, (me 
other,) or ngo poi, or ngo men, (me much;) that is to lay, 
we. 3d. By the reduplication of a name; as, djin djin , 
(man man,) men; tou tou tfchin, a multitude of men. 
The adjective precedes the fubltantive; as, chaou djin, good 
man ; pai mah, white horfe. The word which is ufed to 
exprefs the genitive forms an adjeftive when it is pre¬ 
ceded by an abftraft no;in ; as, pai tie, white ; tfihe tie, 
hot. Keng, before the pofitive adjeftive, fignifies more f ex¬ 
ample, keng yiou, more foft. The fuperlative is expreffed 
by repeating the politive, or by fome word either before 
or after it. 
The perfonal pronouns are: ngo or go, me; nik, thee; 
ta, he; nik tem, (thee other,) you; ta poi or ta men, (him 
many,) them; Sec. The pronouns pofleffive are formed 
by joining the lig.n of the genitive cafe to the perfonal 
pronouns. Example, ngo te, (of me,) my, mine; ngo'men 
tie, (of me many,) of us, our. 
Verbs have only three tenfes; the prefent, expreffed by 
the radical word; the preterite, by adding lot-, and the 
future by prefixing yah. Example : ngo leh lio, I am come; 
ngo yah lek, I lhall come. In the familiar ftyle, they fay 
with more precilion, ngo youen y leh, I am refolved to come. 
But fo much perfpicuity would not l'uit the more elevated 
ftyle. 
In (hort, much obfeurity always prevails in the Chinefe 
language; and it can hardly be otherwife from the want 
of articles, of many conjunctions, and other diferiminat- 
ing marks. A Cliinele text is but an enigmatical collec¬ 
tion of harlh founds, of words without conneftion, 
without modification, without definite meaning. The 
following is a literal tranflation : “Englilh good, Cliinele 
better, fea no bounds.” The conneftion of ideas, the 
order in which the words are arranged, the gelture, the 
periphralis, explain fome things, but Hill leave much to 
guefs at; how much more then in written language! It 
is above all in poetry that this obfeurity is perceptible. 
The following is the literal fenfe of an ode of the Chi- 
King, inferted in Barrow's Voyage to China: “Peach-tree 
fine, agreeable, its foliage flourilh, charming: thus fpoufe 
who enters, care of her family.” This laft phrafe means, 
that thus the wife lliines when Ihe enters the houfe of her 
hulband, and is occupied with domeltic cares. This pau¬ 
city would render the language extremely eafy to learn, 
if the minute variety of found and accent did not make 
it the moll difficult of any to a foreigner. 
In the Memoires concernant Its Chinois, by the miftionaries 
of Pekin, Paris, 1776, b. viii. p. 133. there is an Efiay 
on the Chinefe Language, which contains fuch exagge¬ 
rated praife as might be millaken for irony. The well- 
informed reader mull have great faith if he does not fmile 
when they would perluade him, that, of all languages iu 
the world, the Chinefe is the riclieft, the moll harmoni¬ 
ous, and the mod perfeft. As to its richnefs, it is true 
that the language is verbofe; it expreffes laborioufly in 
three, four, or more, words what others tell in one. Inllead 
of/ bore it, a Chinefe will fay, Ngo na chi kien taota. This 
falfe abundance proves its penury; and, when laconic, 
which it very frequently is, it degenerates into profound 
obfeurity. The Chinefe ftudy much their Kings, or an¬ 
cient clalfical books; but they fcarcely comprehend them ; 
each explains them according to his fancy. The author 
of the Eflay already quoted acknowledges, indeed, that 
the Chinefe tongue is not calculated to exprefs abftraft: 
ideas, and is therefore ufelefs in metaphyfics; but this 
defeft, the author confiders as a perfeftion: “This lan¬ 
guage, fays he, was not made for ufelefs knowledge.” 
The writing of the Chinefe, Hill more lingular than 
their language, is unique in its kind. It is neither lite¬ 
ral nor fyllabical, and does not confift (now) of hiero¬ 
glyphics, either natural or fymbolical. It expreffes each 
idea by a peculiar character, and thefe charafters are not 
connected with the vocal language. It fpeaks to the eye; 
and the charafters are fomewhat fimilar to our numerical 
figures, which every body knows, but which each ex¬ 
preffes 
