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]

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
Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols
Traditional Chinese臺語方音符號
Simplified Chinese台语方音符号
Sinitic (Chinese) romanization
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

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)
ㄅㆠㄆㄇㄉㄊㄋㄌㄍㆣㄎㄫㄏㄐㆢㄑㄒㄗㆡㄘㄙ
[p][b][pʰ][m][t][tʰ][n][l][k][g][kʰ][ŋ][h][t͡ɕ][d͡ʑ][t͡ɕʰ][ɕ][t͡s][d͡z][t͡sʰ][s]
Final symbols (24)
ㄚㆩㆦㆧㄜㆤㆥㄞㆮㄠㆯㆰㆱㆬㄢㄣㄤㆲㄥㆭㄧㆪㄨㆫ
[a][ã][ɔ][ɔ̃][ə][e][ẽ][ai][ãĩ][ɑu][ɑ̃ũ][am][ɔm][m̩][an][ən][aŋ][ɔŋ][əŋ][ŋ̍][i][ĩ][u][ũ]
  • The symbols in blue do not exist in Mandarin phonology.
  • Four voiceless consonants ㄅ, ㄉ, ㄍ, ㄏ may be written in small form to represent the unreleased coda, as in ㆴ [p̚ ], ㆵ [t̚ ], ㆶ [k̚ ], ㆷ [ʔ]. However, due to technical errors, the coda symbol for ㄍ was mistaken as ㄎ. Unicode encoded ㆻ (31BB) in its version 13.0, and added a note under ㆶ (31B6), indicating 31BB is preferred.[3]
  • Some extra symbols are used in other Taiwanese dialects: ㄬ[ɲ], ㄛ [o], ㄝ [ɛ], ㆨ [ɨ].

Images

Images below are a collection of Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols:

  • For Taiwanese Hokkien and Taiwanese Hakka: , , , , , , ,
  • For Taiwanese Hakka only: ,
  • For Taiwanese Hokkien only: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
  • For Standard Chinese only: , , ,
  • For Taiwanese Hakka and Standard Chinese: , , , ,
  • represents [x] in Standard Chinese and [h] in Taiwanese Hokkien and Taiwanese Hakka.
  • / represent [ɛ]/[e] in Taiwanese Hokkien respectively, but they represent [e]/[ɛ] in Taiwanese Hakka.[4][5]
  • Vowel [ɨ] is represented with in Hokkien and in Hakka.[5]

Etymology
Initials
GroupSymbolIPAPOJ TLBPNotesExample
Bilabial ㄅppb Same value as in Mandarin邊 (ㄅㄧㄢ pian)
ㆠbbbb Derived from ㄅ as a voiced counterpart文 (ㆠㄨㄣˊ bûn)
ㄆpʰphp Same value as in Mandarin波 (ㄆㄜ pho)
ㄇmmbbn Same value as in Mandarin毛 (ㄇㆦ mo͘ )
Alveolar ㄉttd Same value as in Mandarin地 (ㄉㆤ˫ tē)
ㄊtʰtht Same value as in Mandarin他 (ㄊㆩ thaⁿ)
ㄋnnln Same value as in Mandarin耐 (ㄋㄞ˫ nāi)
ㄌlll Same value as in Mandarin柳 (ㄌㄧㄨˋ liú)
Velar ㄍkkg Same value as in Mandarin求 (ㄍㄧㄨˊ kiû)
ㆣgggg Derived from ㄍ as a voiced counterpart語 (ㆣㄧˋ gí)
ㄎkʰkhk Same value as in Mandarin去 (ㄎㄧ˪ khì)
ㄫŋngggn Once appeared in old Mandarin雅 (ㄫㄚˋ ngá)
Glottal ㄏhhh Different value to Mandarin, in Mandarin [x]喜 (ㄏㄧˋ hí)
Alveolo-
palatal		 ㄐt͡ɕchitsizi Same value as in Mandarin尖(ㄐㄧㆰ tsiam)
ㆢd͡ʑjizzi Derived from ㄐ as a voiced counterpart入 (ㆢㄧㆴ. ji̍p)
ㄑt͡ɕʰchhitshici Same value as in Mandarin手 (ㄑㄧㄨˋ tshiú)
ㄒɕsisi Same value as in Mandarin寫 (ㄒㄧㄚˋ siá)
Alveolar ㄗt͡schtsz Same value as in Mandarin曾 (ㄗㄢ chan)
ㆡd͡zjzz Derived from ㄗ as a voiced counterpart熱 (ㆡㄨㄚㆷ. jua̍h)
ㄘt͡sʰchhtshc Same value as in Mandarin出 (ㄘㄨㆵ chhut)
ㄙsss Same value as in Mandarin衫 (ㄙㆩ saⁿ)
Rhymes and medials
GroupSymbolIPAPOJ TLBPNotesExample
Vowels ㄚaaa Same value as in Mandarin查 (ㄘㄚ cha)
ㆩãaⁿannna Derived from ㄚ as a nasalized counterpart衫 (ㄙㆩ saⁿ)
ㆦɔo͘oooo New symbol solely used in Taiwanese烏 (ㆦ o͘ )
ㆧɔ̃oⁿonnnoo Derived from ㆦ as a nasalized counterpart翁 (ㆧ oⁿ)
ㄜəoo Different value from Mandarin, in Mandarin [ɰɤ]. May written as ㄛ and pronounced [o] in some dialects高 (ㄍㄜ ko)
ㆤeee New symbol solely used in Taiwanese禮 (ㄌㆤˋ lé)
ㆥẽeⁿennne Derived from ㆤ as a nasalized counterpart生 (ㄙㆥ seⁿ)
Diph-
thongs		 ㄞaiaiai Same value as in Mandarin
ㆮãĩaiⁿainnnai Derived from ㄞ as a nasalized counterpart
ㄠɑuauao Same value as in Mandarin𠢕 (ㆣㄠˊ gâu)
ㆯɑ̃ũauⁿaunnnao Derived from ㄠ as a nasalized counterpart, rarely used
M
finals		 ㆰamamam A combination of ㄚ and ㄇ暗 (ㆰ˪ ām)
ㆱɔmomom A combination of ㆦ and ㄇ, rarely used掩 (ㆱ om)
ㆬm̩mm Derived from ㄇ. May be used as a final bilabial nasal or a syllabic consonant姆 (ㆬˋ ḿ)
N
finals		 ㄢananan Same value as in Mandarin
ㄣn-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		 ㄤaŋangang Same value as in Mandarin人 (ㄌㄤˊ lâng)
ㆲɔŋongong New symbol solely used in Taiwanese王 (ㆲˊ ông)
ㄥəŋ-ng-ng Only used in the final ㄧㄥ.英 (ㄧㄥ eng)
ㆭŋ̍ngng Derived from ㄫ. May be used as a final velar nasal or a syllabic consonant酸 (ㄙㆭ sng)
Medial
vowels		 ㄧiii Same value as in Mandarin衣 (ㄧ i)
ㆪĩiⁿinnni Derived from ㄧ as a nasalized counterpart圓 (ㆪˊ îⁿ)
ㄨuu/o[lower-alpha 1]uu Same value as in Mandarin污 (ㄨ u)
ㆫũuⁿunnnu 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 syllablesNasalPlosive
[m][n][ŋ][p̚][t̚][k̚][ʔ]
[a] ㄚㆩㆰㄢㄤㄚㆴㄚㆵㄚㆻㄚㆷㆩㆷ
[ai] ㄞㆮㄞㆷㆮㆷ
[au] ㄠㄠㆷ
[e] ㆤㆥㆤㆷㆥㆷ
[i] ㄧㆪㄧㆬㄧㄣㄧㄥㄧㆴㄧㆵㄧㆻㄧㆷㆪㆷ
[ia] ㄧㄚㄧㆩㄧㆰㄧㄢㄧㄤㄧㄚㆴㄧㄚㆵㄧㄚㆻㄧㄚㆷㄧㆩㆷ
[iau] ㄧㄠㄧㆯㄧㄠㆷ
[iə] ㄧㄜㄧㄜㆷ
[iɔ] ㄧㆲㄧㆦㆻ
[iu] ㄧㄨㄧㆫㄧㄨㆷㄧㆫㆷ
Vowel(s)Open syllablesNasalPlosive
[m][n][ŋ][p̚][t̚][k̚][ʔ]
[ə] ㄛㄛㆷ
[ɔ] ㆦㆧㆱㆲㆦㆴㆦㆻㆦㆷㆧㆷ
[u] ㄨㄨㄣㄨㆵㄨㆷ
[ua] ㄨㄚㄨㆩㄨㄢㄨㄚㆵㄨㄚㆷ
[uai] ㄨㄞㄨㆮ
[ue] ㄨㆤㄨㆤㆷ
[ui] ㄨㄧ
[m̩] ㆬ－ㆬㆷ
[ŋ̍] ㆭ－ㆭㆷ

Tones
Tone No. 12(6)34578
Name 陰平上聲陰去陰入陽平陽去陽入
im-pîngsiōng-siannim-khìim-ji̍piông-pîngiông-khìiông-ji̍p
Symbol noneˋ˪ㄅ, ㄉ, ㄍ, ㄏˊ˫ㄅ̇, ㄉ̇, ㄍ̇, ㄏ̇
Pitch ˥˥˩˧˩˧ʔ˨˦˧˥ʔ
5551313ʔ24335ʔ
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)
 0123456789ABCDEF
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)
 0123456789ABCDEF
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. 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. "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。
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