Chinese Without a Teacher, Being a Collection of Easy and Useful Sentences in the Mandarin Dialect

by Herbert Allen Giles

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

76 pages, Hardcover

First published August 8, 2015

About the author

Educated at Charterhouse, Herbert Allen Giles was a British diplomat and author of books on China and the Far East. He served as British Vice-consul at Pagoda Island from 1880 to 1883 and at Shanghai from 1883 to 1885. He then became Consul at Tamsui in 1885 and in 1891 at Ningpo. He taught Chinese at Cambridge and, in 1902, became a senior lecturer at Columbia University. His works include Chinese Sketches (1876), Historic China (1882), The Remains of Lao Tzu (1886), China and the Chinese (1902), The Civilization of China (1911), Confucianism and Its Rivals (1915) and The Second Hundred Best Characters (1922).

Reviews

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author:
Herbert A. Giles
Publisher: Kelly & Walsh, Limited; Shanghai

First edition: 1872
Current edition: Ninth edition, 1931

This book has been dedicated to the ladies and members of the mercantile, sea-faring and sporting communities of China, many of whom I have heard expressing regret at not knowing a few words of Chinese. Herbert A. Giles is famous for his work on the Wade-Giles system for romanizing Mandarin.

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page 16 and 17

The Housewife

Light the lamp - Te-enn tung

Call the cook - Chew ch'oodza li

I want to take the accounts now - Shendzi yow soon John

Your bill is right - Neety jahngmoo poo ts'aw

I'll pay you tomorrow - Waw mingt'e-enn kay nee ch'e-enn

I shall have a dinner party to-morrow night - Mingt'e-enn wa-hu-shahng you ch'ing k'aw

Roast a leg of mutton - K'ow yee ka yahng-t'ooey

Boil a piece of salt beef - Koo yee k'wi se-enn newro

Is there any fish to be got? - Yo yu-ro mayo?

I want four kinds of sweets - Yow sr yahnger te-en-sheen

Roast two pheasants - K'ow layanga yay-chee

I don't want any ducks - Poo yow yahdza

These eggs are bad - Chayka cheedzer poo how

Buy a bottle of milk - Mi yee p'ing ni-dza

Fry several pieces of bread - Jah chee k'wi meen-pow

Don't use pork-fat for frying them; use beef fat - Paw yow nah joo-yo jah' nah new yo jah

To-day I want hare soup - Chint'e-enn yow yay-mowt'ahng

Tell the cook to make chicken broth - Cheeow ch'oodza-dzo chee t'ahng

Is it ready? - Tawla mayo?

This cook is not a good one - Chayka ch'oodza poohow

The coolie is also very lazy - K'oolee yay hun lahntaw

Where's the amah? - Low-mar dzinar!

[In China. In Chinese, amah ("grandmother") is often used as an equivalent of the English word "nanny"—the term does not refer to a wet nurse or a servant, but rather a "friend" who helps a family to raise a child. This is a common occupation in China.]

I want my hair done now - Shendzi yow shoo t'o

These clothes must be washed - Chaykaeeshahug yow shee-e-shee

Don't put any soda in the water - Shooey-lee poo yow kaw je-enn

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page 36 and page 37

How you had chow-chow? - Ch'irpla - fahn mayo?

This telescope is mine - Chayka ch'e-en-leeyenn shirt wawty

This is a thermometer - chayka shirt ha-hushoo-peeow

I want to get this line out - Chayka shung dza yow p'pw-k'i

Don't let go the anchor - Poo yow seeah mow

Make fast! - Row choo!

Let go! - Soong or soong sho!

These bends are not easy to go round - Chayka kaw-wahn poo kow chooahn

There's a junk in the middle of the river - Tahng-haw yo yeeka chaoong-kow-ch'wahn


General

Do you know this man? - Chayka ren nee renta-poo-renta?

Where does he live? - T'ah dzi nar choo?

He's a southerner - T'ah shirt nahn-pe-enn ren

I don't like him - Waw poo sheeh-wahn t'ah

He can't be depended upon - Kow poo choo

You mind your own business - Nee kahn neety

Where's my ring - Wawty layo-dza dzi nar?

It's lost - Te-ola

It can't be lost - Poo nung te-ola

It's probably in the bed-room - Tah-kizi shooey-cheeowty woolee

Every morning I want to bathe - T'e-enn t'e-enn dzowch'ee yow shee-dzow

Bring well-water; I don't want river-water - Nah ching-shooey poo yow haw-shooey