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Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols
Script type (letters for onsets and rimes; diacritics for tones)
CreatorChu Chao-hsiang, Taiwan NLC
Time period
1946 to the present, used as ruby characters in Taiwan
Related scripts
Parent systems
Sister systems
Simplified Chinese, Kanji, Hanja, Chữ Nôm, Khitan large script, Khitan small script
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Bopo (285), ​Bopomofo
Unicode
Unicode alias
Bopomofo
U+3100–U+312F,
U+31A0–U+31BF
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols
Traditional Chinese臺語方音符號
Simplified Chinese台语方音符号
Romanization of Chinese
Mandarin
Standard Mandarin
Sichuanese
Wu
General Wu
Wenzhounese
Yue
Cantonese
Min
Hokkien
Teochew
Fuzhounese
Northern Min
Pu-Xian Min
Hainanese
Gan
Nanchang-Duchang dialect
Hakka
Meixian dialect
Sixian dialect
Xiang
Chang–Yi dialects
Polylectal
General Chinese
See also
Other transliterations
By place
Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols

Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols (Chinese: 臺語方音符號; TPS: ㄉㄞˊ ㆣ丨ˋ ㄏㆲ 丨ㆬ ㄏㄨˊ ㄏㄜ˫) constitute a system of phonetic notation for the transcription of Taiwanese languages, especially Taiwanese Hokkien. The system was designed by Professor Chu Chao-hsiang, a member of the National Languages Committee in Taiwan, in 1946.[1] The system is derived from Mandarin Phonetic Symbols by creating additional symbols for the sounds that do not appear in Mandarin phonology. It is one of the phonetic notation systems officially promoted by Taiwan's Ministry of Education.[2]

Symbols

There are 49 symbols used in standard Taiwanese Hokkien. Of these 49 symbols, 26 are from the original Mandarin Phonetic Symbols, while 23 are additional, created for Taiwanese languages.

Initial symbols (21)
ㄅ ㆠ ㄆ ㄇ ㄉ ㄊ ㄋ ㄌ ㄍ ㆣ ㄎ ㄫ ㄏ ㄐ ㆢ ㄑ ㄒ ㄗ ㆡ ㄘ ㄙ
[p] [b] [pʰ] [m] [t] [tʰ] [n] [l] [k] [g] [kʰ] [ŋ] [h] [t͡ɕ] [d͡ʑ] [t͡ɕʰ] [ɕ] [t͡s] [d͡z] [t͡sʰ] [s]
Final symbols (24)
ㄚ ㆩ ㆦ ㆧ ㄜ ㆤ ㆥ ㄞ ㆮ ㄠ ㆯ ㆰ ㆱ ㆬ ㄢ ㄣ ㄤ ㆲ ㄥ ㆭ ㄧ ㆪ ㄨ ㆫ
[a] [ã] [ɔ] [ɔ̃] [ə] [e] [ẽ] [ai] [ãĩ] [ɑu] [ɑ̃ũ] [am] [ɔm] [m̩] [an] [ən] [aŋ] [ɔŋ] [əŋ] [ŋ̍] [i] [ĩ] [u] [ũ]

Images

Images below are a collection of Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols:

Etymology

Initials
Group Symbol IPA POJ TL BP Notes Example
Bilabial ㄅ [p] p b Same value as in Mandarin 邊 (ㄅㄧㄢ pian)
ㆠ [b] b bb Derived from ㄅ as a voiced counterpart 文 (ㆠㄨㄣˊ bûn)
ㄆ [pʰ] ph p Same value as in Mandarin 波 (ㄆㄜ pho)
ㄇ [m] m bbn Same value as in Mandarin 毛 (ㄇㆦ mo͘ )
Alveolar ㄉ [t] t d Same value as in Mandarin 地 (ㄉㆤ˫ tē)
ㄊ [tʰ] th t Same value as in Mandarin 他 (ㄊㆩ thaⁿ)
ㄋ [n] n ln Same value as in Mandarin 耐 (ㄋㄞ˫ nāi)
ㄌ [l] l l Same value as in Mandarin 柳 (ㄌㄧㄨˋ liú)
Velar ㄍ [k] k g Same value as in Mandarin 求 (ㄍㄧㄨˊ kiû)
ㆣ [g] g gg Derived from ㄍ as a voiced counterpart 語 (ㆣㄧˋ gí)
ㄎ [kʰ] kh k Same value as in Mandarin 去 (ㄎㄧ˪ khì)
ㄫ [ŋ] ng ggn Once appeared in old Mandarin 雅 (ㄫㄚˋ ngá)
Glottal ㄏ [h] h h Different value to Mandarin, in Mandarin [x] 喜 (ㄏㄧˋ hí)
Alveolo-
palatal 		ㄐ [t͡ɕ] chi tsi zi Same value as in Mandarin 尖(ㄐㄧㆰ tsiam)
ㆢ [d͡ʑ] ji zzi Derived from ㄐ as a voiced counterpart 入 (ㆢㄧㆴ. ji̍p)
ㄑ [t͡ɕʰ] chhi tshi ci Same value as in Mandarin 手 (ㄑㄧㄨˋ tshiú)
ㄒ [ɕ] si si Same value as in Mandarin 寫 (ㄒㄧㄚˋ siá)
Alveolar ㄗ [t͡s] ch ts z Same value as in Mandarin 曾 (ㄗㄢ chan)
ㆡ [d͡z] j zz Derived from ㄗ as a voiced counterpart 熱 (ㆡㄨㄚㆷ. jua̍h)
ㄘ [t͡sʰ] chh tsh c Same value as in Mandarin 出 (ㄘㄨㆵ chhut)
ㄙ [s] s s Same value as in Mandarin 衫 (ㄙㆩ saⁿ)
Rhymes and medials
Group Symbol IPA POJ TL BP Notes Example
Vowels ㄚ [a] a a Same value as in Mandarin 查 (ㄘㄚ cha)
ㆩ [ã] aⁿ ann na Derived from ㄚ as a nasalized counterpart 衫 (ㄙㆩ saⁿ)
ㆦ [ɔ] o͘ oo oo New symbol solely used in Taiwanese, derived from ㄛ 烏 (ㆦ o͘ )
ㆧ [ɔ̃] oⁿ onn noo Derived from ㆦ as a nasalized counterpart 翁 (ㆧ oⁿ)
ㄜ [ə] o o Different value from Mandarin, in Mandarin [ɰɤ]. May written as ㄛ and pronounced [o] in some dialects 高 (ㄍㄜ ko)
ㆤ [e] e e New symbol solely used in Taiwanese 禮 (ㄌㆤˋ lé)
ㆥ [ẽ] eⁿ enn ne Derived from ㆤ as a nasalized counterpart 生 (ㄙㆥ seⁿ)
Diph-
thongs 		ㄞ [ai] ai ai Same value as in Mandarin
ㆮ [ãĩ] aiⁿ ainn nai Derived from ㄞ as a nasalized counterpart
ㄠ [ɑu] au ao Same value as in Mandarin 𠢕 (ㆣㄠˊ gâu)
ㆯ [ɑ̃ũ] auⁿ aunn nao Derived from ㄠ as a nasalized counterpart, rarely used
M
finals 		ㆰ [am] am am A combination of ㄚ and ㄇ 暗 (ㆰ˪ ām)
ㆱ [ɔm] om om A combination of ㆦ and ㄇ, rarely used 掩 (ㆱ om)
ㆬ [m̩] m m Derived from ㄇ. May be used as a final bilabial nasal or a syllabic consonant 姆 (ㆬˋ ḿ)
N
finals 		ㄢ [an] an an Same value as in Mandarin
ㄣ [n] -n -n Only used in the finals ㄧㄣ, ㄨㄣ. ㄧㄣ has same value as in Mandarin. ㄨㄣ is pronounced as [un] unlike [wən] in Mandarin 因 (ㄧㄣ in)
Ng
finals 		ㄤ [aŋ] ang ang Same value as in Mandarin 人 (ㄌㄤˊ lâng)
ㆲ [ɔŋ] ong ong New symbol solely used in Taiwanese 王 (ㆲˊ ông)
ㄥ [əŋ] -ng -ng Only used in the final ㄧㄥ. 英 (ㄧㄥ eng)
ㆭ [ŋ̍] ng ng Derived from ㄫ. May be used as a final velar nasal or a syllabic consonant 酸 (ㄙㆭ sng)
Medial
vowels 		ㄧ [i] i i Same value as in Mandarin 衣 (ㄧ i)
ㆪ [ĩ] iⁿ inn ni Derived from ㄧ as a nasalized counterpart 圓 (ㆪˊ îⁿ)
ㄨ [u] u/o[a] u u Same value as in Mandarin 污 (ㄨ u)
ㆫ [ũ] uⁿ unn nu Derived from ㄨ as a nasalized counterpart. Only used in the final ㄧㆫ [ĩũ] 張 (ㄉㄧㆫ tiuⁿ)
  1. ^ Written as ⟨o⟩ when followed by an ⟨a⟩ (ㄚ) or ⟨e⟩ (ㆤ), as in the finals ⟨oa⟩, ⟨oe⟩ and ⟨oai⟩ (ㄨㄞ). Written as ⟨u⟩ elsewhere.

Other features

Combined rhymes

Vowel(s) Open syllables Nasal Plosive
[m] [n] [ŋ] [p̚] [t̚] [k̚] [ʔ]
[a] ㄚ ㆩ ㆰ ㄢ ㄤ ㄚㆴ ㄚㆵ ㄚㆻ ㄚㆷ ㆩㆷ
[ai] ㄞ ㆮ ㄞㆷ ㆮㆷ
[au] ㄠ ㄠㆷ
[e] ㆤ ㆥ ㆤㆷ ㆥㆷ
[i] ㄧ ㆪ ㄧㆬ ㄧㄣ ㄧㄥ ㄧㆴ ㄧㆵ ㄧㆻ ㄧㆷ ㆪㆷ
[ia] ㄧㄚ ㄧㆩ ㄧㆰ ㄧㄢ ㄧㄤ ㄧㄚㆴ ㄧㄚㆵ ㄧㄚㆻ ㄧㄚㆷ ㄧㆩㆷ
[iau] ㄧㄠ ㄧㆯ ㄧㄠㆷ
[iə] ㄧㄜ ㄧㄜㆷ
[iɔ] ㄧㆲ ㄧㆦㆻ
[iu] ㄧㄨ ㄧㆫ ㄧㄨㆷ ㄧㆫㆷ
Vowel(s) Open syllables Nasal Plosive
[m] [n] [ŋ] [p̚] [t̚] [k̚] [ʔ]
[ə] ㄛ ㄛㆷ
[ɔ] ㆦ ㆧ ㆱ ㆲ ㆦㆴ ㆦㆻ ㆦㆷ ㆧㆷ
[u] ㄨ ㄨㄣ ㄨㆵ ㄨㆷ
[ua] ㄨㄚ ㄨㆩ ㄨㄢ ㄨㄚㆵ ㄨㄚㆷ
[uai] ㄨㄞ ㄨㆮ
[ue] ㄨㆤ ㄨㆤㆷ
[ui] ㄨㄧ
[m̩] ㆬ － ㆬㆷ
[ŋ̍] ㆭ － ㆭㆷ

Tones

Tone No. 1 2(6) 3 4 5 7 8
Name 陰平 上聲 陰去 陰入 陽平 陽去 陽入
im-pîng siōng-siann im-khì im-ji̍p iông-pîng iông-khì iông-ji̍p
Symbol none ˋ ˪ ㄅ, ㄉ, ㄍ, ㄏ ˊ ˫ ㄅ̇, ㄉ̇, ㄍ̇, ㄏ̇
Pitch ˥ ˥˩ ˧˩ ˧ʔ ˨˦ ˧ ˥ʔ
55 51 31 3ʔ 24 33 5ʔ
Example ㄉㆲ (東) ㄉㆲˋ (黨) ㄉㆲ˪ (棟) ㄉㆦㆻ (督) ㄉㆲˊ (同) ㄉㆲ˫ (洞) ㄉㆦㆻ̇ (毒)

Example

Audio File: Sound fileⓘ
Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols: ㄒㄧㄢ ㄒㆪ ㄍㆲˋ, ㄏㄚㆻ̇ ㄒㄧㄥ ㄉㄧㆰ˫ ㄉㄧㆰ˫ ㄊㄧㆩ
IPA: [ ɕɪɛn˧ ɕĩ˥ kɔŋ˥˩ hak̚˧ ɕiəŋ˥ tɪam˧ tɪam˧ tʰĩã˥ ]
Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sian-siⁿ kóng, ha̍k-seng tiām-tiām thiaⁿ.
Tâi-lô: Sian-sinn kóng, ha̍k-sing tiām-tiām thiann.
Traditional Chinese: 先生講、學生恬恬聽。
Hanyu Pinyin: Xiān shēng jiǎng, xué shēng tián tián tīng.
Translation: A teacher is speaking. Students are quietly listening.

Note: 恬恬 is Taiwanese Hokkien (台灣話). Synonyms would be 安靜 or 靜靜. 先生, in this context, means "teacher".

Unicode support

Main articles: Bopomofo (Unicode block) and Bopomofo Extended

The Mandarin Phonetic Symbols were added to the Unicode Standard in October 1991 with the release of version 1.0. The Unicode block for Mandarin Phonetic Symbols is U+3100 ... U+312F.

Bopomofo[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+310x ㄅ ㄆ ㄇ ㄈ ㄉ ㄊ ㄋ ㄌ ㄍ ㄎ ㄏ
U+311x ㄐ ㄑ ㄒ ㄓ ㄔ ㄕ ㄖ ㄗ ㄘ ㄙ ㄚ ㄛ ㄜ ㄝ ㄞ ㄟ
U+312x ㄠ ㄡ ㄢ ㄣ ㄤ ㄥ ㄦ ㄧ ㄨ ㄩ ㄪ ㄫ ㄬ ㄭ ㄮ ㄯ
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 15.1
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

The extended phonetic symbols were added to the Unicode Standard in September 1999 with the release of version 3.0. The Unicode block for the extended symbols is U+31A0 ... U+31BF. Four symbols for Cantonese and one for Minnan and Hakka coda were released in 2020 with the publication of version 13.0.[3] One can learn more information from the proposals.[6][7]

Bopomofo Extended[1]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+31Ax ㆠ ㆡ ㆢ ㆣ ㆤ ㆥ ㆦ ㆧ ㆨ ㆩ ㆪ ㆫ ㆬ ㆭ ㆮ ㆯ
U+31Bx ㆰ ㆱ ㆲ ㆳ ㆴ ㆵ ㆶ ㆷ ㆸ ㆹ ㆺ ㆻ ㆼ ㆽ ㆾ ㆿ
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 15.1

Font support

The Academia Sinica of Taiwan has released three sets of fonts for Taiwanese Hokkien: "吳守禮標楷台語注音字型", "吳守禮細明台語注音字型", and "吳守禮台語注音字型".[8] When the above fonts are used (to Chinese characters), the Bopomofo Phonetic Symbols will automatically appear. For words with more than one pronunciation, user can choose "破音" fonts to find the desired pronunciation. The user manual can be downloaded here.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ 吳守禮, 吳昭新. 華、台語注音符號溯源.
  2. ^ 方音符號系統(Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols) 臺語方音符號拼音方案使用手冊(閩南語音標系統) [Practical Manual for the Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols] (in Chinese). ROC Ministry of Education. 2001.
  3. ^ a b Bopomofo Extended (Version 13.0). Unicode Version-Specific Code Charts. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Taiwanese Hakka Romanization System" (臺灣客家語拼音方案). 2009. Ministry of Education, Taiwan.
  5. ^ a b "Hakka Romanization System" (客家語拼音方案使用手冊). 2012. Ministry of Education, Taiwan.
  6. ^ Yang, B., & Chan, E. (2019). L2/19-177R Proposal to encode Cantonese Bopomofo Characters.
  7. ^ Tung, B., Ko, B., Wei, S. (2018). L2/18-255 Proposal to fix glyphs in Bopomofo Extended block and encode one Bopomofo letter.
  8. ^ 吳守禮台語注音字型。中央研究院。
  9. ^ 中研院資訊所。(2013)。吳守禮台語注音字型說明。

External links

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