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]
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 below are a collection of Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols:
Initials | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Group | Symbol | IPA | POJ | TL | BP | width=400 | Notes! | Example |
Bilabial | ㄅ | pronounced as /link/ | p | b | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 邊 (ㄅㄧㄢ pian) | ||
ㆠ | pronounced as /link/ | b | bb | Derived from ㄅ as a voiced counterpart | Chinese: 文 (ㆠㄨㄣˊ bûn) | |||
ㄆ | pronounced as /link/ | ph | p | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 波 (ㄆㄜ pho) | |||
ㄇ | pronounced as /link/ | m | bbn | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 毛 (ㄇㆦ mo͘) | |||
Alveolar | ㄉ | pronounced as /link/ | t | d | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 地 (ㄉㆤ˫ tē) | ||
ㄊ | pronounced as /link/ | th | t | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 他 (ㄊㆩ thaⁿ) | |||
ㄋ | pronounced as /link/ | n | ln | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 耐 (ㄋㄞ˫ nāi) | |||
ㄌ | pronounced as /link/ | l | l | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 柳 (ㄌㄧㄨˋ liú) | |||
Velar | ㄍ | pronounced as /link/ | k | g | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 求 (ㄍㄧㄨˊ kiû) | ||
ㆣ | pronounced as /link/ | g | gg | Derived from ㄍ as a voiced counterpart | Chinese: 語 (ㆣㄧˋ gí) | |||
ㄎ | pronounced as /link/ | kh | k | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 去 (ㄎㄧ˪ khì) | |||
ㄫ | pronounced as /link/ | ng | ggn | Once appeared in old Mandarin | Chinese: 雅 (ㄫㄚˋ ngá) | |||
Glottal | ㄏ | pronounced as /link/ | h | h | Different value to Mandarin, in Mandarin pronounced as /link/ | Chinese: 喜 (ㄏㄧˋ hí) | ||
Alveolo- palatal | ㄐ | pronounced as /link/ | chi | tsi | zi | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 尖(ㄐㄧㆰ tsiam) | |
ㆢ | pronounced as /link/ | ji | zzi | Derived from ㄐ as a voiced counterpart | Chinese: 入 (ㆢㄧㆴ. ji̍p) | |||
ㄑ | pronounced as /link/ | chhi | tshi | ci | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 手 (ㄑㄧㄨˋ tshiú) | ||
ㄒ | pronounced as /link/ | si | si | Same value as in Mandarin | (ㄒㄧㄚˋ) | |||
Alveolar | ㄗ | pronounced as /link/ | ch | ts | z | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 曾 (ㄗㄢ chan) | |
ㆡ | pronounced as /link/ | j | zz | Derived from ㄗ as a voiced counterpart | Chinese: 熱 (ㆡㄨㄚㆷ. jua̍h) | |||
ㄘ | pronounced as /link/ | chh | tsh | c | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 出 (ㄘㄨㆵ chhut) | ||
ㄙ | pronounced as /link/ | s | s | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 衫 (ㄙㆩ saⁿ) | |||
Rhymes and medials | ||||||||
Group | Symbol | IPA | POJ | TL | BP | Notes | Example | |
Vowels | ㄚ | pronounced as /link/ | a | a | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 查 (ㄘㄚ cha) | ||
ㆩ | pronounced as /link/ | aⁿ | ann | na | Derived from ㄚ as a nasalized counterpart | Chinese: 衫 (ㄙㆩ saⁿ) | ||
ㆦ | pronounced as /link/ | o͘ | oo | oo | New symbol solely used in Taiwanese, derived from ㄛ | Chinese: 烏 (ㆦ o͘) | ||
ㆧ | pronounced as /link/ | oⁿ | onn | noo | Derived from ㆦ as a nasalized counterpart | Chinese: 翁 (ㆧ oⁿ) | ||
ㄜ | pronounced as /link/ | o | o | Different value from Mandarin, in Mandarin [{{IPA link|ɰ}}{{IPA link|ɤ}}]. May written as ㄛ and pronounced [o] in some dialects | Chinese: 高 (ㄍㄜ ko) | |||
ㆤ | pronounced as /link/ | e | e | New symbol solely used in Taiwanese | Chinese: 禮 (ㄌㆤˋ lé) | |||
ㆥ | pronounced as /link/ | eⁿ | enn | ne | Derived from ㆤ as a nasalized counterpart | Chinese: 生 (ㄙㆥ seⁿ) | ||
Diph- thongs | ㄞ | [{{IPA link|a}}{{IPA link|i}}] | ai | ai | Same value as in Mandarin | |||
ㆮ | [{{IPA link|ã}}{{IPA link|ĩ}}] | aiⁿ | ainn | nai | Derived from ㄞ as a nasalized counterpart | |||
ㄠ | [{{IPA link|ɑ}}{{IPA link|u}}] | au | ao | Same value as in Mandarin | (ㆣㄠˊ) | |||
ㆯ | [{{IPA link|ɑ̃}}{{IPA link|ũ}}] | auⁿ | aunn | nao | Derived from ㄠ as a nasalized counterpart, rarely used | |||
M finals | ㆰ | [{{IPA link|a}}{{IPA link|m}}] | am | am | A combination of ㄚ and ㄇ | Chinese: 暗 (ㆰ˪ ām) | ||
ㆱ | [{{IPA link|ɔ}}{{IPA link|m}}] | om | om | A combination of ㆦ and ㄇ, rarely used | Chinese: 掩 (ㆱ om) | |||
ㆬ | [{{IPA link|m̩}}] | m | m | Derived from ㄇ. May be used as a final bilabial nasal or a syllabic consonant | Chinese: 姆 (ㆬˋ ḿ) | |||
N finals | ㄢ | [{{IPA link|a}}{{IPA link|n}}] | an | an | Same value as in Mandarin | |||
ㄣ | [{{IPA link|n}}] | colspan=2 | -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 | Chinese: 因 (ㄧㄣ in) | ||
Ng finals | ㄤ | [{{IPA link|a}}{{IPA link|ŋ}}] | ang | ang | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 人 (ㄌㄤˊ lâng) | ||
ㆲ | [{{IPA link|ɔ}}{{IPA link|ŋ}}] | ong | ong | New symbol solely used in Taiwanese | Chinese: 王 (ㆲˊ ông) | |||
ㄥ | [{{IPA link|ə}}{{IPA link|ŋ}}] | colspan=2 | -ng | -ng | Only used in the final ㄧㄥ. | Chinese: 英 (ㄧㄥ eng) | ||
ㆭ | [{{IPA link|ŋ̍}}] | ng | ng | Derived from ㄫ. May be used as a final velar nasal or a syllabic consonant | Chinese: 酸 (ㄙㆭ sng) | |||
Medial vowels | ㄧ | pronounced as /link/ | i | i | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 衣 (ㄧ i) | ||
ㆪ | pronounced as /link/ | iⁿ | inn | ni | Derived from ㄧ as a nasalized counterpart | Chinese: 圓 (ㆪˊ îⁿ) | ||
ㄨ | pronounced as /link/ | u/o | u | u | Same value as in Mandarin | Chinese: 污 (ㄨ u) | ||
ㆫ | pronounced as /link/ | uⁿ | unn | nu | Derived from ㄨ as a nasalized counterpart. Only used in the final ㄧㆫ [ĩũ] | Chinese: 張 (ㄉㄧㆫ tiuⁿ) |
valign=top |
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Tone No. | 1 | 2(6) | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | ||||||||
im-pîng | siōng-siann | im-khì | im-ji̍p | iông-pîng | iông-khì | iông-ji̍p | ||
Symbol | none | ,,, | ,,, | |||||
Pitch | ˥ | ˥˩ | ˧˩ | ˧ʔ | ˨˦ | ˧ | ˥ʔ | |
55 | 51 | 31 | 3ʔ | 24 | 33 | 5ʔ | ||
Example | ㄉㆲ | ㄉㆲˋ | ㄉㆲ˪ | ㄉㆦㆻ | ㄉㆲˊ | ㄉㆲ˫ | ㄉㆦㆻ̇ |
Audio File: | ||
Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols: | Chinese: ㄒㄧㄢ ㄒㆪ ㄍㆲˋ, ㄏㄚㆻ̇ ㄒㄧㄥ ㄉㄧㆰ˫ ㄉㄧㆰ˫ ㄊㄧㆩ | |
IPA | pronounced as /[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 | 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: 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".
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]
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]