| Teochew Romanization | |
| Also Known As: | Chinese: 潮州白話字 |
| Type: | Latin alphabet |
| Typedesc: | (modified) |
| Time: | c. 1875 — ? |
| Creator: | John Campbell Gibson William Duffus |
| Fam1: | Latin script |
| Fam2: | Church Romanization |
| Alt: | A sample of PUJ text |
| Caption: | Bible in Teochew Romanised (1 Samuel), published by the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1915 |
Teochew Romanization, also known as Swatow Church Romanization, or locally as Pe̍h-ūe-jī, is an orthography similar to Pe̍h-ōe-jī used to write the Chaoshan dialect (including the Teochew dialect and Swatow dialect). It was introduced by John Campbell Gibson and William Duffus, two British missionaries, to Swatow in 1875.
Romanization of Teochew can be traced back to the 1840s. The earliest attempt to write the language in the Latin script was undertaken by Baptist missionary William Dean in his 1841 publication First Lessons in the Tie-chiw Dialect published in Bangkok, Thailand; however, his tonal system was said to be incomplete.
The first complete orthographic system was devised by John Campbell Gibson and William Duffus, two Presbyterianism missionaries, in 1875. The orthography was generally based on the Pe̍h-ōe-jī system, another work of presbyterian origin devised for the Amoy dialect. The first translation of the Gospel of Luke in Swatow romanization was published in 1876. It has been said that the vernacular orthographic system is more easier for illiterate persons to learn in their own mother tongue.
Besides Gibson and Duffus's original romanization system, several variations of the system were later devised, such as those by William Ashmore (1884) and Lim Hiong Seng (1886).
Other systems developed by Baptist missionaries such as Adele Marion Fielde (1883) and Josiah Goddard (1888) were generally used as a means of phonetic notation instead of a full orthographic system.
Through the church's use of the romanization system, the number of users of the system grew and came to its high point in the 1910s. However, starting in the 1920s, the Chinese government promoted education in Mandarin and more people learned to read and write in Chinese characters. Thus, the promotion of romanized vernacular writing become less necessary. By the 1950s, there were an estimated one thousand users of the system remaining in the Chaoshan area.
The orthography uses 18 letters of the basic Latin alphabet.
| Capital letters | A | B | CH | CHH | E | G | H | I | J | K | KH | L | M | N | NG | O | P | PH | S | T | TH | TS | TSH | U | Ṳ | Z | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase letters | a | b | ch | chh | e | g | h | i | j | k | kh | l | m | n | ⁿ | ng | o | p | ph | s | t | th | ts | tsh | u | ṳ | z |
The initial consonants in Teochew are listed below:
The letters in the table represent the initial with its pronunciation in IPA, followed by the example of Chinese word and its translation in Teochew romanization.
| Lateral | Nasal | Stop | Affricate | Fricative | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Voiceless | p pronounced as /[p]/ Chinese: 邊 | ph pronounced as /[pʰ]/ Chinese: 頗 | ||||||
| Voiced | m pronounced as /[m]/ Chinese: 門 | b pronounced as /[b]/ Chinese: 文 | |||||||
| Alveolar | Voiceless | t pronounced as /[t]/ Chinese: 地 | th pronounced as /[tʰ]/ Chinese: 他 | ts pronounced as /[ts]/ Chinese: 之 | tsh pronounced as /[tsʰ]/ Chinese: 出 | s pronounced as /[s]/ Chinese: 思 | |||
| Voiced | l pronounced as /[l]/ Chinese: 柳 | n pronounced as /[n]/ Chinese: 挪 | z pronounced as /[dz]/ Chinese: 而 | ||||||
| Alveolo-palatal | Voiceless | ch pronounced as /[tɕ]/ Chinese: 貞 | chh pronounced as /[tɕʰ]/ Chinese: 刺 | s pronounced as /[ɕ]/ Chinese: 時 | |||||
| Voiced | j pronounced as /[dʑ]/ Chinese: 入 | ||||||||
| Velar | Voiceless | k pronounced as /[k]/ Chinese: 球 | kh pronounced as /[kʰ]/ Chinese: 去 | ||||||
| Voiced | ng pronounced as /[ŋ]/ Chinese: 俄 | g pronounced as /[ɡ]/ Chinese: 語 | |||||||
| Glottal | Voiceless | h pronounced as /[h]/ Chinese: 喜 | |||||||
The affricate consonants ts/ch, tsh/chh, and z/j are three allophone pairs where those voiced and voiceless alveolar affricate will shift to voiced and voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate when they meet with close or close-mid front vowels (i, e).
The rhymes used in the orthography are listed below:
The latin alphabet sets in the table represent the spelling of syllable final in the system with its pronunciation in IPA, followed by the example of Chinese word and its translation in Teochew romanization.
| Vowels | Coda-ending | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Articulation | Simple | Nasal | Glottal Stop | Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | |||||||||
| Backness | Height | Simple | Nasal | Nasal | Stop | Nasal | Stop | Nasal | Stop | ||||||
| Front | Open | a pronounced as /[a]/ Chinese: 膠 | aⁿ pronounced as /[ã]/ Chinese: 柑 | ah pronounced as /[aʔ]/ Chinese: 甲 | ahⁿ pronounced as /[ãʔ]/ Chinese: 垃 | am pronounced as /[am]/ Chinese: 甘 | ap pronounced as /[ap̚]/ Chinese: 鴿 | an pronounced as /[an]/ Chinese: 干 | at pronounced as /[at̚]/ Chinese: 結 | ang pronounced as /[aŋ]/ Chinese: 江 | ak pronounced as /[ak̚]/ Chinese: 覺 | ||||
| Mid | e pronounced as /[e]/ Chinese: 家 | eⁿ pronounced as /[ẽ]/ Chinese: 更 | eh pronounced as /[eʔ]/ Chinese: 格 | ehⁿ pronounced as /[ẽʔ]/ Chinese: 脈 | eng pronounced as /[eŋ]/ Chinese: 經 | ek pronounced as /[ek̚]/ Chinese: 革 | |||||||||
| Close | i pronounced as /[i]/ Chinese: 枝 | iⁿ pronounced as /[ĩ]/ Chinese: 天 | ih pronounced as /[iʔ]/ Chinese: 砌 | ihⁿ pronounced as /[ĩʔ]/ Chinese: 碟 | im pronounced as /[im]/ Chinese: 金 | ip pronounced as /[ip̚]/ Chinese: 急 | in pronounced as /[in]/ Chinese: 斤 | it pronounced as /[it̚]/ Chinese: 吉 | |||||||
| Back | Mid | o pronounced as /[o]/ Chinese: 高 | oⁿ pronounced as /[õ]/ Chinese: 望 | oh pronounced as /[oʔ]/ Chinese: 閣 | ohⁿ pronounced as /[õʔ]/ Chinese: 瘼 | ong pronounced as /[oŋ]/ Chinese: 公 | ok pronounced as /[ok̚]/ Chinese: 國 | ||||||||
| Close | u pronounced as /[u]/ Chinese: 龜 | uh pronounced as /[uʔ]/ Chinese: 嗝 | un pronounced as /[un]/ Chinese: 君 | ut pronounced as /[ut̚]/ Chinese: 骨 | |||||||||||
| ṳ pronounced as /[ɯ]/ Chinese: 車 | ṳh pronounced as /[ɯʔ]/ Chinese: 嗻 | ṳn pronounced as /[ɯn]/ Chinese: 巾 | ṳt pronounced as /[ɯt̚]/ Chinese: 乞 | ṳng pronounced as /[ɯŋ]/ Chinese: 扛 | |||||||||||
| Front | Closing | ai pronounced as /[ai]/ Chinese: 皆 | aiⁿ pronounced as /[ãĩ]/ Chinese: 愛 | aih pronounced as /[aiʔ]/ Chinese: | aihⁿ pronounced as /[ãiʔ]/ Chinese: 捱 | ||||||||||
| Backward | au pronounced as /[au]/ Chinese: 交 | auⁿ pronounced as /[ãũ]/ Chinese: 好 | auh pronounced as /[auʔ]/ Chinese: 樂 | auhⁿ pronounced as /[ãuʔ]/ Chinese: 鬧 | |||||||||||
| Front | Opening | ia pronounced as /[ia]/ Chinese: 佳 | iaⁿ pronounced as /[ĩã]/ Chinese: 京 | iah pronounced as /[iaʔ]/ Chinese: 揭 | iam pronounced as /[iam]/ Chinese: 兼 | iap pronounced as /[iap̚]/ Chinese: 劫 | bgcolor=pink | ian pronounced as /[ian]/ Chinese: 堅 | bgcolor=pink | iat pronounced as /[iat̚]/ Chinese: 潔 | iang pronounced as /[iaŋ]/ Chinese: 姜 | iak pronounced as /[iak̚]/ Chinese: 龠 | |||
| bgcolor=skyblue | ie pronounced as /[ie]/ Chinese: 蕉 | bgcolor=skyblue | ieⁿ pronounced as /[ĩẽ]/ Chinese: 薑 | bgcolor=skyblue | ieh pronounced as /[ieʔ]/ Chinese: 借 | bgcolor=skyblue | ien pronounced as /[ien]/ Chinese: 堅 | bgcolor=skyblue | iet pronounced as /[iet̚]/ Chinese: 潔 | ||||||
| Backward | bgcolor=pink | io pronounced as /[io]/ Chinese: 蕉 | bgcolor=pink | ioⁿ pronounced as /[ĩõ]/ Chinese: 薑 | bgcolor=pink | ioh pronounced as /[ioʔ]/ Chinese: 借 | iong pronounced as /[ioŋ]/ Chinese: 恭 | iok pronounced as /[iok̚]/ Chinese: 鞠 | |||||||
| Close | iu pronounced as /[iu]/ Chinese: 鳩 | iuⁿ pronounced as /[ĩũ]/ Chinese: 幼 | |||||||||||||
| Forward | Closing | oi pronounced as /[oi]/ Chinese: 雞 | oiⁿ pronounced as /[õĩ]/ Chinese: 間 | oih pronounced as /[oiʔ]/ Chinese: 夾 | |||||||||||
| Back | ou pronounced as /[ou]/ Chinese: 孤 | ouⁿ pronounced as /[õũ]/ Chinese: 虎 | |||||||||||||
| Forward | Opening | ua pronounced as /[ua]/ Chinese: 柯 | uaⁿ pronounced as /[ũã]/ Chinese: 官 | uah pronounced as /[uaʔ]/ Chinese: 割 | uam pronounced as /[uam]/ Chinese: 凡 | uap pronounced as /[uap̚]/ Chinese: 法 | bgcolor=pink | uan pronounced as /[uan]/ Chinese: 關 | bgcolor=pink | uat pronounced as /[uat̚]/ Chinese: 決 | uang pronounced as /[uaŋ]/ Chinese: 光 | uak pronounced as /[uak̚]/ Chinese: 廓 | |||
| ue pronounced as /[ue]/ Chinese: 瓜 | ueⁿ pronounced as /[ũẽ]/ Chinese: 果 | ueh pronounced as /[ueʔ]/ Chinese: 郭 | uehⁿ pronounced as /[uẽʔ]/ Chinese: 襪 | bgcolor=skyblue | uen pronounced as /[uen]/ Chinese: 關 | bgcolor=skyblue | uet pronounced as /[uet̚]/ Chinese: 決 | bgcolor=palegreen | ueng pronounced as /[ueŋ]/ Chinese: 榮 | bgcolor=palegreen | uek pronounced as /[uek̚]/ Chinese: 獲 | ||||
| Close | ui pronounced as /[ui]/ Chinese: 規 | uiⁿ pronounced as /[ũĩ]/ Chinese: 跪 | |||||||||||||
| Backward | Close-up | bgcolor=pink | iau pronounced as /[iau]/ Chinese: 驕 | bgcolor=pink | iauⁿ pronounced as /[ĩãũ]/ Chinese: 掀 | bgcolor=pink | iauh pronounced as /[iauʔ]/ Chinese: 躍 | bgcolor=pink | iauhⁿ pronounced as /[iãuʔ]/ Chinese: 躍 | ||||||
| bgcolor=skyblue | iou pronounced as /[iou]/ Chinese: 驕 | bgcolor=skyblue | iouⁿ pronounced as /[ĩõũ]/ Chinese: 掀 | bgcolor=skyblue | iouh pronounced as /[iouʔ]/ Chinese: 躍 | bgcolor=skyblue | iouhⁿ pronounced as /[iõuʔ]/ Chinese: 躍 | ||||||||
| Forward | uai pronounced as /[uai]/ Chinese: 乖 | uaiⁿ pronounced as /[ũãĩ]/ Chinese: 檨 | uaihⁿ pronounced as /[uãiʔ]/ Chinese: 轉 | ||||||||||||
| Syllabic consonant | ngh pronounced as /[ŋʔ]/ Chinese: 夗 | m pronounced as /[m]/ Chinese: 唔 | ng pronounced as /[ŋ]/ Chinese: 黃 | ||||||||||||
| hng pronounced as /[ŋ̊ŋ̍]/ Chinese: 園 | |||||||||||||||
Nowadays, in most cities in Chaoshan, alveolar codas (-n/-t) have largely shifted to velar codas (-ng/-k); therefore, they are not found in the Peng'im system which was developed later in the 1960s. However, these codas are still present among native speakers particularly in few border townships like Fenghuang (Chinese: 鳳凰), Sanrao (Chinese: 三饒), and Nan'ao.
There are eight tones in Teochew and are indicated as below,
| Number | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese Tone names (modern) | Dark-level Chinese: [[wikt:陰平|陰平]] | Dark-rising Chinese: [[wikt:陰上|陰上]] | Dark-departing Chinese: [[wikt:陰去|陰去]] | Dark-entering Chinese: [[wikt:陰入|陰入]] | Light-level Chinese: [[wikt:陽平|陽平]] | Light-rising Chinese: [[wikt:陽上|陽上]] | Light-departing Chinese: [[wikt:陽去|陽去]] | Light-entering Chinese: [[wikt:陽入|陽入]] | |
| Chinese Tone names (alternative) | Upper-even Chinese: 上平 | Upper-high Chinese: 上上 | Upper-going Chinese: 上去 | Upper-entering Chinese: 上入 | Lower-even Chinese: 下平 | Lower-high Chinese: 下上 | Lower-going Chinese: 下去 | Lower-entering Chinese: 下入 | |
| Chinese Tone names (traditional) | Upper-level Chinese: 上平 | Rising Chinese: [[wikt:上聲|上聲]] | Upper-departing Chinese: 上去 | Upper-entering Chinese: 上入 | Lower-level Chinese: 下平 | Lower-departing Chinese: 下去 | Departing Chinese: [[wikt:去聲|去聲]] | Lower-entering Chinese: 下入 | |
| Pitches | ˧ (33) | ˥˨ (52) | ˨˩˧ (213) | ˨ (2) | ˥ (55) | ˧˥ (35) | ˩ (11) | ˦ (4) | |
| Tone types | Mid level | High falling | Low dipping | Low stop | Top level | High rising | Bottom level | High stop | |
| Diacritics | none | none | Tilde | Overstroke | |||||
| Example | Chinese: 分 | Chinese: 粉 | Chinese: 訓 | Chinese: 忽 | Chinese: 雲 | Chinese: 混 | Chinese: 份 | Chinese: 佛 | |
| Sandhi | 1 | 6 | 2 or 5 | 8 | 7 or 3 | 3 or 7 | 7 or 3 | 4 |
Both the first and the fourth tones are unmarked but can be differenced by their coda-endings; those with the first tone end with an open vowel which could be either simple or nasalised, or end in a nasal consonant such as -m, -n, -ng, while those with the fourth tone end with a stop consonant such as -p, -t, -k, and -h.
Teochew features tone sandhi where for any compound that contains more than one word (a syllable), sandhi rules apply to all words except the last one in each phrase. For example, in the Swatow dialect, would be pronounced as, where all words in the compound (linked by a hyphen) undergo tone sandhi except for the final word in each compound: and . The tones markings of each word do not actually change to indicate tone sandhi and are written with their original tone markings.