A quick reminder of the various meanings of “Chop” – a seal, a stamp, a trademark, a permit, an order, or an official document. The word could also combine with other words to form new meanings. In the article “Chop,” we saw the expression chop dollar, where chop referred to a mark. Other compounds were chop-boat ‘a boat for carrying goods,’ chop-house ‘custom house,’ and first chop ‘best quality.’ In the last example, chop referred to the quality of goods. Thus, a certain number of goods labelled as first chop meant they were of the highest quality. The expression was also used in the postcard above. The short verse written in the Pidgin English of China read like this.
First-chop Soldierman
no want war,
Likee Nursemaid,
Vellee much more.
Initially, first chop was only applied to valuable goods like silks and teas. Later, it was used to describe anything that could be graded, including people, as in first-chop man and first-chop soldierman. In today’s language, first chop is equivalent to “first-rate, first-class.” Let’s have a quick look at the other grammatical features of the sentences. Forming negative sentences was quite straight-forward. As you can see, the negative marker no was simply put in front of the verb (no want war). Adding an auxiliary verb like BE, DO, HAVE, or a modal verb before no as in standard English grammar was unnecessary. Communication between Chinese and foreigners was usually economical and practical. Therefore, when no ambiguity arose, subject and/or object could also be omitted, as in the third line where the subject was missing. The adverb very was spelt vellee;the use of “l” indicated how Chinese speakers usually pronounced words with “r” sound.
Foreign traders travelled to China to purchase different commodities, notably tea, silk, and porcelain. In order to sell them at a good price in Europe, it was important to know the quality of the goods they bought. William C. Hunter, the expert in China trade, told us how cargoes were categorized according to the qualities of goods. A cargo labelled as “first chop” meant the goods were of ‘first quality.’ As the numerals increased like “No. 6, 8, or 10 ‘chop,’” the quality decreased accordingly.1 Besides using numerals, brand names could also indicate categorization. Ernest O. Hauer mentioned different brands of silk.2
“The compradores (to return to the silk racket) would see to it that the noble commodity would reach Shanghai in due time, would be stored in the company’s godowns, and would be graded according to its quality, to leave Shanghai for Europe or America as “Factory chop,” “Double Eagle chop,” “Three Dancers chop,” “Triton chop,” or “Inferior chop.”
Godowns were warehouses. A chop, apart from standing fora brand, also implied a certain quality. The postcard on the right showed some Japanese women picking tea leaves for a brand of tea called “Royal Chop.”
If you remember the brand/shop names mentioned in the article “Chop,” you should notice a difference in the placement of the word chop. In Cap Tabik, Chop Rimau, or Chop Ban Hin Lee, these names followed Malay grammar in which the head of a noun phrase, namely cap/chop precedes the modifier, i.e., Batik/Rimau. On the other hand, Royal Chop adopted the phrase structures of Chinese and English; that is the head (chop) occurs at the end of a noun phrase. When a language adopts a foreign word, the word may undergo different types of changes in pronunciation, spelling, and grammar.
Another pidgin expression number one or no. 1 was similar to first chop in some ways. Both phrases could refer to ‘the best’ or ‘top quality’ as shown in the following conversation between a Chinese tailor and a European.3
Yes, sir; you have got make some pigeon with me? Me glad see you—me make all true pigeon.
What thing you suppose you wantshey?
The European said he wanted some grass-cloth jackets and pongee pantaloons. The tailor then displayed the goods he had and said:
Have got—have got—suppose you wantshey lookey, muster.
This grass-cloth good thing—number one, first chop—wantshey?
Unlike English and Chinese, Chinese Pidgin English was not a standardized language. What this means is that there were considerable speaker variations in how it was spoken and written. Spelling was one of the most evident areas. Pigeon did not refer to the bird but was an alternative spelling of pidgin ‘business.’ Although many authors used the spelling -ee in their works, other spellings such as -ey (wantshey, lookey) was also found. Audio recording was either unavailable or unportable in the 19th and early 20th century, so the only way for authors to record Pidgin was to modify spelling so that it could reflect what they had heard. Another form of variation was shown in grammar. Though my was the predominant form for first-person pronoun, I and me were attested occasionally. The word muster ‘a pattern, a sample’ was derived from the Portuguese word mostra, meaning ‘an exhibition, a display.’ To achieve economy of language, some words might take up multiple functions or meanings, for example that and one functioning as definite and indefinite articles respectively (see “Chop”). Words that conveyed little content, called function words, were often omitted. One type of function words is conjunction. Instead of saying ‘I’m glad to see you’ or ‘if you want to examine the sample,’ the conjunction to was often left out in Pidgin English, resulting in Me glad see you and suppose you wantshey lookey, muster.
The various uses of chop discussed so far – a seal (chop), a stamp/mark (chop dollar), a brand (Royal Chop, Chop Rimau), and quality (first-chop) – all revolved around the core function of chop, namely as a seal of approval.
1 Hunter, William C. 1882. The ‘Fan Kwae’ at Canton Before Treaty Days 1825–1844. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co.
2 Hauser, Ernest O. 1940. Shanghai: City for Sale. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company.
3 Ruschenberger, W. S. W. 1838. Narrative of a voyage round the world, during the years 1835, 36, and 37. London: Richard Bentley.