Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols Explained

Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols
Type:Semisyllabary
Typedesc:(letters for onsets and rimes; diacritics for tones)
Time:1946 to the present, used as ruby characters in Taiwan
Fam1:Oracle bone script
Fam2:Seal script
Fam3:Clerical script
Fam4:Mandarin Phonetic Symbols
Sisters:Simplified Chinese, Kanji, Hanja, Chữ Nôm, Khitan large script, Khitan small script
Unicode:U+3100 - U+312F,
U+31A0 - U+31BF
Iso15924:Bopo
Sample:Hong-im Pek-kho.svg
Languages:Hokkien, Hakka
Creator:Chu Chao-hsiang, Taiwan NLC

Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols (; 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)
[p][b][pʰ][m][t][tʰ][n][l][k][g][kʰ][ŋ][h][t͡ɕ][d͡ʑ][t͡ɕʰ][ɕ][t͡s][d͡z][t͡sʰ][s]
Final symbols (24)
[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
GroupSymbolIPAPOJTLBPwidth=400Notes!Example
Bilabialpronounced as /link/pbSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄅㄧㄢ pian)
pronounced as /link/bbbDerived from ㄅ as a voiced counterpartChinese: (ㆠㄨㄣˊ bûn)
pronounced as /link/phpSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄆㄜ pho)
pronounced as /link/mbbnSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄇㆦ mo͘)
Alveolarpronounced as /link/tdSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄉㆤ˫ tē)
pronounced as /link/thtSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄊㆩ thaⁿ)
pronounced as /link/nlnSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄋㄞ˫ nāi)
pronounced as /link/llSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄌㄧㄨˋ liú)
Velarpronounced as /link/kgSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄍㄧㄨˊ kiû)
pronounced as /link/gggDerived from ㄍ as a voiced counterpartChinese: (ㆣㄧˋ gí)
pronounced as /link/khkSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄎㄧ˪ khì)
pronounced as /link/ngggnOnce appeared in old MandarinChinese: (ㄫㄚˋ ngá)
Glottalpronounced as /link/hhDifferent value to Mandarin, in Mandarin pronounced as /link/Chinese: (ㄏㄧˋ hí)
Alveolo-
palatal
pronounced as /link/chitsiziSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄐㄧㆰ tsiam)
pronounced as /link/jizziDerived from ㄐ as a voiced counterpartChinese: (ㆢㄧㆴ. ji̍p)
pronounced as /link/chhitshiciSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄑㄧㄨˋ tshiú)
pronounced as /link/sisiSame value as in Mandarin (ㄒㄧㄚˋ)
Alveolarpronounced as /link/chtszSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄗㄢ chan)
pronounced as /link/jzzDerived from ㄗ as a voiced counterpartChinese: (ㆡㄨㄚㆷ. jua̍h)
pronounced as /link/chhtshcSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄘㄨㆵ chhut)
pronounced as /link/ssSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄙㆩ saⁿ)
Rhymes and medials
GroupSymbolIPAPOJTLBPNotesExample
Vowelspronounced as /link/aaSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄘㄚ cha)
pronounced as /link/aⁿannnaDerived from ㄚ as a nasalized counterpartChinese: (ㄙㆩ saⁿ)
pronounced as /link/ooooNew symbol solely used in Taiwanese, derived from ㄛChinese: (ㆦ o͘)
pronounced as /link/oⁿonnnooDerived from ㆦ as a nasalized counterpartChinese: (ㆧ oⁿ)
pronounced as /link/ooDifferent value from Mandarin, in Mandarin [{{IPA link|ɰ}}{{IPA link|ɤ}}]. May written as ㄛ and pronounced [o] in some dialectsChinese: (ㄍㄜ ko)
pronounced as /link/eeNew symbol solely used in TaiwaneseChinese: (ㄌㆤˋ lé)
pronounced as /link/eⁿennneDerived from ㆤ as a nasalized counterpartChinese: (ㄙㆥ seⁿ)
Diph-
thongs
[{{IPA link|a}}{{IPA link|i}}]aiaiSame value as in Mandarin
[{{IPA link|ã}}{{IPA link|ĩ}}]aiⁿainnnaiDerived from ㄞ as a nasalized counterpart
[{{IPA link|ɑ}}{{IPA link|u}}]auaoSame value as in Mandarin (ㆣㄠˊ)
[{{IPA link|ɑ̃}}{{IPA link|ũ}}]auⁿaunnnaoDerived from ㄠ as a nasalized counterpart, rarely used
M
finals
[{{IPA link|a}}{{IPA link|m}}]amamA combination of ㄚ and ㄇChinese: (ㆰ˪ ām)
[{{IPA link|ɔ}}{{IPA link|m}}]omomA combination of ㆦ and ㄇ, rarely usedChinese: (ㆱ om)
[{{IPA link|m̩}}]mmDerived from ㄇ. May be used as a final bilabial nasal or a syllabic consonantChinese: (ㆬˋ ḿ)
N
finals
[{{IPA link|a}}{{IPA link|n}}]ananSame value as in Mandarin
[{{IPA link|n}}]colspan=2-n-nOnly used in the finals ㄧㄣ, ㄨㄣ. ㄧㄣ has same value as in Mandarin. ㄨㄣ is pronounced as [un] unlike [wən] in MandarinChinese: (ㄧㄣ in)
Ng
finals
[{{IPA link|a}}{{IPA link|ŋ}}]angangSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄌㄤˊ lâng)
[{{IPA link|ɔ}}{{IPA link|ŋ}}]ongongNew symbol solely used in TaiwaneseChinese: (ㆲˊ ông)
[{{IPA link|ə}}{{IPA link|ŋ}}]colspan=2-ng-ngOnly used in the final ㄧㄥ.Chinese: (ㄧㄥ eng)
[{{IPA link|ŋ̍}}]ngngDerived from ㄫ. May be used as a final velar nasal or a syllabic consonantChinese: (ㄙㆭ sng)
Medial
vowels
pronounced as /link/iiSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄧ i)
pronounced as /link/iⁿinnniDerived from ㄧ as a nasalized counterpartChinese: (ㆪˊ îⁿ)
pronounced as /link/u/ouuSame value as in MandarinChinese: (ㄨ u)
pronounced as /link/uⁿunnnuDerived from ㄨ as a nasalized counterpart. Only used in the final ㄧㆫ [ĩũ]Chinese: (ㄉㄧㆫ tiuⁿ)

Other features

Combined rhymes

valign=top
Vowel(s)Open syllablesNasalPlosive
[m][n][ŋ][p̚][t̚][k̚][ʔ]
[a]ㄚㆴㄚㆵㄚㆻㄚㆷㆩㆷ
[ai]ㄞㆷㆮㆷ
[au]ㄠㆷ
[e]ㆤㆷㆥㆷ
[i]ㄧㆬㄧㄣㄧㄥㄧㆴㄧㆵㄧㆻㄧㆷㆪㆷ
[ia]ㄧㄚㄧㆩㄧㆰㄧㄢㄧㄤㄧㄚㆴㄧㄚㆵㄧㄚㆻㄧㄚㆷㄧㆩㆷ
[iau]ㄧㄠㄧㆯㄧㄠㆷ
[iə]ㄧㄜㄧㄜㆷ
[iɔ]ㄧㆲㄧㆦㆻ
[iu]ㄧㄨㄧㆫㄧㄨㆷㄧㆫㆷ
valign=top
Vowel(s)Open syllablesNasalPlosive
[m][n][ŋ][p̚][t̚][k̚][ʔ]
[ə]ㄛㆷ
[ɔ]ㆦㆴㆦㆻㆦㆷㆧㆷ
[u]ㄨㄣㄨㆵㄨㆷ
[ua]ㄨㄚㄨㆩㄨㄢㄨㄚㆵㄨㄚㆷ
[uai]ㄨㄞㄨㆮ
[ue]ㄨㆤㄨㆤㆷ
[ui]ㄨㄧ
[m̩]ㆬㆷ
[ŋ̍]ㆭㆷ

Tones

Tone No.12(6)34578
Name
im-pîngsiōng-siannim-khìim-ji̍piông-pîngiông-khìiông-ji̍p
Symbolnone,,, ,,,
Pitch˥˥˩˧˩˧ʔ˨˦˧˥ʔ
5551312433
Exampleㄉㆲ ㄉㆲˋ ㄉㆲ˪ ㄉㆦㆻ ㄉㆲˊ ㄉㆲ˫ ㄉㆦㆻ̇

Example

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

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

Unicode support

See main article: 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.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. One can learn more information from the proposals.[7] [8]

Font support

The Academia Sinica of Taiwan has released three sets of fonts for Taiwanese Hokkien: "Chinese: 吳守禮標楷台語注音字型", "Chinese: 吳守禮細明台語注音字型", and "Chinese: 吳守禮台語注音字型".[9] 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 "Chinese: 破音" fonts to find the desired pronunciation. The user manual can be downloaded here.[10]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: zh:華、台語注音符號溯源. http://olddoc.tmu.edu.tw/chiaushin/marker-0.htm . 吳守禮, 吳昭新.
  2. Book: 方音符號系統(Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols) . Practical Manual for the Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols . zh:臺語方音符號拼音方案使用手冊(閩南語音標系統) . ROC Ministry of Education . 2001 . zh.
  3. https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/Unicode-13.0/U130-31A0.pdf Bopomofo Extended (Version 13.0)
  4. https://language.moe.gov.tw/001/Upload/files/site_content/M0001/mina/D/D002.pdf "Taiwanese Hakka Romanization System" (Chinese: 臺灣客家語拼音方案)
  5. https://ws.moe.edu.tw/001/Upload/6/relfile/7803/38403/67447334-bef4-4c69-bc24-32090b745031.pdf "Hakka Romanization System" (Chinese: 客家語拼音方案使用手冊)
  6. https://ws.moe.edu.tw/001/Upload/6/relfile/7803/38403/67447334-bef4-4c69-bc24-32090b745031.pdf "Hakka Romanization System" (Chinese: 客家語拼音方案使用手冊)
  7. Yang, B., & Chan, E. (2019). L2/19-177R Proposal to encode Cantonese Bopomofo Characters.
  8. Tung, B., Ko, B., Wei, S. (2018). L2/18-255 Proposal to fix glyphs in Bopomofo Extended block and encode one Bopomofo letter.
  9. http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/download/WSL_TPS_Font.htm Chinese: 吳守禮台語注音字型
  10. Chinese: 中研院資訊所。(2013)。Chinese: 吳守禮台語注音字型說明