Ernest Tipson

Ernest Tipson (1883 – 1958) fue un misionero y lingüista inglés de los Hermanos de Plymouth que compiló diccionarios de cantonés y hokkien ( dialecto de Amoy ).

Nacido en el seno de una numerosa familia de los Hermanos en Enfield (entonces parte del distrito de Edmonton de Middlesex), Inglaterra , Tipson comenzó su vida laboral a los 14 años como empleado de un arquitecto y mecanógrafo, pero fue llamado al servicio misionero a principios del siglo XX.

El primer destino de Tipson fue Penang , adonde zarpó desde Inglaterra en noviembre de 1908. ^{[ 1 ]} En octubre de 1909, viajó a Cantón (actualmente Guangzhou), en China, donde pasó un año perfeccionando el dialecto cantonés . Este sería una herramienta fundamental en su labor misionera, y posteriormente adquirió el dialecto hokkien .

A su regreso de Cantón (marzo de 1911), Tipson se casó con Agnes Millar en Penang ^{[ 2 ]} y se establecieron en Kuala Lumpur . Su labor misionera consistía en predicar el Evangelio, evangelizar y visitar a leprosos y prisioneros. Como ocurría con la mayoría de los misioneros en aquella época, existía el peligro constante de enfermar y morir debido al calor y la humedad de la Malasia británica . En agosto de 1914, su hijo menor, Teddie, de un año de edad, enfermó de gastroenteritis y falleció. Teddie llevaba el nombre del hermano de Tipson, de 15 años, que había muerto unos 20 años antes.

En 1917, Tipson enfermó gravemente y sufrió una crisis nerviosa , por lo que partió inmediatamente hacia Sídney, Australia, a pesar de que su esposa estaba embarazada de ocho meses. No pudo regresar a Inglaterra debido a la Primera Guerra Mundial y finalmente llegó en diciembre de 1918.

After a few years on furlough, Tipson returned to Kuala Lumpur in 1920 and resumed his missionary work. In 1928, he moved to Singapore to take up the post of Secretary to the British and Foreign Bible Society for Malaya.^[1][3]

Nearing retirement, at the age of 58, Tipson was incarcerated in Changi Prison during the occupation of Singapore by the Japanese during much of World War II.^[1] To begin with, he occupied Cell 24, along with Shenton Thomas, the then Governor of Singapore. His ministry in Changi was remarkable in terms of his strength of character and his support for fellow prisoners. Tipson's obituary in the British Association of Malaysia, 1958, read: "There were some gifted preachers in the internment camp (Changi), but no one appealed to the men more than Ernest Tipson."

Tipson's survival, said his son, also Ernest, was probably due to his tremendous sense of humour and the good company and support of son-in-law David. Liberated in 1945, Ernest Senior traveled to India to be reunited with his wife and son. "He was as thin as a stick!", remembered Ernest Junior. "We fell into each other's arms."

After the war, Tipson resumed his work in Singapore briefly. In March 1948, Tipson retired from his British and Foreign Bible Society post^[1] and returned to England.

Tipson died in Cornwall during a preaching visit to a local Gospel hall.

Tipson's linguistic prowess, and later his acknowledged status as a gifted Chinese scholar, was extraordinary in the light of his humble education at a Board School back in England.

His Pocket Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular is still referenced during the compilation of modern Hokkien/English dictionaries. True to his faith and calling, Tipson is said to have ensured that every word in the Bible found its way into his dictionary. Another of his publications, a Complete Chinese Character Course, was based on lectures he gave in Changi Prison during World War II.

• A Cantonese Syllabary-Index to Soothill’s Pocket Dictionary, incorporating all Cantonese colloquial characters and their meanings. (1917)
• Handbook and vocabulary of the Cantonese New Testament. (1921) (with Roy T. Cowles)
• A Pocket Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular, English-Chinese. (1934)
• A Pocket Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular, Chinese-English. (1935)
• Complete Chinese Character Course, etc. (1949)

• Our Beginnings | Bible Society of Singapore-1928 – Ernest Tipson: BFBS Representative in Pre & Post War Singapore