A manual of the Amoy Colloquial

THE present work is designed to assist beginners in their first efforts to acquire a knowledge of the Amoy dialect. It has been so constructed that the introduction to the language may be rendered as simple and as easy as possible. The first few sections are of an introductory character, and the words selected are sueh as are of frequent and every day use, whilst the sentences constructed from them, though intentionally brief are sufficiently idiomatic to give one an insight into the peculiarities of Chinese phraseology. As the student advances, more dfficult combinations are given, so that if the book is persevering! y- studied through, an insight will be gained into the peculiar idiom of Lhe dialect, without which it will be impossible to approximate to that purity of speech essential to one who desires to be widely understood. The sentences selected, whilst they by 110 means exhaust the many forms in which this dialect loves to exhibit itself, will still serve as guides by which the early footsteps of the student may be directed into the wider fields of Chinese literature that lie still before him.