A Grammar of Colloquial Chinese, as Exhibited in the Shanghai Dialect — Story, Setting & Ideas

Tone Nomenclature and Sound

Edkins devotes considerable attention to the sound system, adopting Sir W. Jones’s alphabetic system as modified by J. R. Morrison. He argues that existing tone names, though precise for their author’s dialect, are not transferable. His own nomenclature aims to describe tones by their actual phonetic character. The grammar thus treats sound as the primary locus of dialectal variation, while claiming that idioms differ little from Mandarin. This focus on phonetics reflects Edkins’s broader philological method: he collects facts overlooked by wider-scope writers.

Compound Verbs and Enclitics

Edkins catalogues verbs formed by apposition of a transitive verb and an adjective, such as ká dzáng (add long, to lengthen) and tsú’ ’hau (do good, complete making). He observes that Chinese compensates for the lack of derivational endings by prefixing separate words, analogous to English phrases like “rub smooth.” He also lists enclitics—words like sah (to kill) and dzû‘ (resist)—that attach to verbs to modify meaning. For example, ’tsú dzû‘ means “resist,” and ’ngau dzû‘ means “hold with the teeth.” These examples illustrate how the grammar dissects colloquial usage into systematic patterns.

Rhythm and Redundant Substantives

Edkins notes that in many cases a substantive follows a verb where it would be unnecessary in English, as in ’tseu lú‘ (walk road) and tsuh pú‘ (weave cloth). He attributes this to the “rhythmical construction of sentences, peculiar and essential to the Chinese language.” The grammar also points out that when a substantive is governed by another verb, its usual companion may be appended redundantly, as in dzing van‘ k’iuh (seek food eat), where “eat” is superfluous. These observations reveal Edkins’s attention to the spoken language’s structural demands.

Transitive Verbs with Substantive Components

Edkins identifies dissyllabic transitive verbs where one constituent is a substantive, such as wé deu (turn head, to answer) and lóng‘ zun (trick spirits, to deceive). He provides example sentences: “veh ’hau lóng‘ zun báng ’yeu” (you should not deceive friends) and “dzieu lé wé deu ’ngú” (come at once and tell me). These examples demonstrate how the grammar moves from classification to usage, grounding its analysis in colloquial speech. Edkins’s method is taxonomic, but his examples keep the reader anchored in actual spoken phrases.

Edkins’s grammar is best read as a specimen of nineteenth-century missionary philology, where linguistic description served practical ends. Readers interested in the history of Chinese dialect studies will find his tone nomenclature and verb classifications valuable, even if his framework now appears dated. The work rewards attention to its examples, which preserve the sound and structure of mid-nineteenth-century Shanghai colloquial.

I sometimes find myself turning pages of Edkins’s old Shanghai grammar, noting how tones and verbs settle into their own quiet rhythms. It reminds me of another patient companion, the one that maps our own English sentences with equal care. Both ask, gently, that we listen before we speak. English grammar — Key Ideas to Explore holds that same unhurried hand.