Bopomofo, also called Zhuyin Fuhao[1] (/dʒuːˌjɪn fuːˈhaʊ/ joo-YIN foo-HOW; 注音符號; Zhùyīn fúhào; 'phonetic symbols'), or simply Zhuyin,[2] is a transliteration system for Standard Chinese and other Sinitic languages. It is the principal method of teaching Chinese Mandarin pronunciation in Taiwan. It consists of 37 characters and five tone marks, which together can transcribe all possible sounds in Mandarin Chinese.
| Bopomofo | |
|---|---|
 "Encyclopedia" written in bopomofo | |
| Script type | with diacritics for tones |
| Creator |
|
Time period |
|
| Direction | Left-to-right, right-to-left script  |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Child systems | Cantonese bopomofo, Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols, Suzhou Phonetic Symbols, Hmu Phonetic Symbols, Matsu Fuchounese bopomofo |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Bopo (285), Bopomofo |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Bopomofo |
| |
| Mandarin Phonetic Symbols | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 注音符號 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 注音符号 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bopomofo was first introduced in China during the 1910s by the Beiyang government, where it was used alongside Wade–Giles, a romanization system which used a modified Latin alphabet. Today, Bopomofo is more common in Taiwan than on the mainland, and is used as the primary electronic input method for Taiwanese Mandarin, as well as in dictionaries and other non-official documents.
Terminology
editBopomofo is the name used for the system by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and Unicode. Analogous to how the word alphabet is derived from the names of the first two letters alpha and beta, the name bopomofo derives from the first four syllabographs in the system's conventional lexicographic order: ㄅ, ㄆ, ㄇ, and ㄈ.[3]
In Taiwan the system is commonly known by its official name Zhuyin fuhao (注音符號; 'phonetic symbols'), or simply as zhuyin (注音; 'phonetic notation'). In official documents, it is occasionally called Mandarin Phonetic Symbols I (國語注音符號第一式), abbreviated as "MPS I" (注音一式),[4][5] to distinguish it from the Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II (MPS II) system published in 1984. Formerly, the system was named Guoyin zimu (國音字母; 'national language alphabet') and Zhuyin zimu (註音字母; 'phonetic alphabet').[4]
History
editOrigins
editThe Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation, led by Wu Zhihui from 1912 to 1913, created a system called Zhuyin Zimu,[4] which was based on Zhang Binglin's shorthand. It was used as the official phonetic script to annotate the sounds of the characters in accordance with the Old National Pronunciation.[6] A draft was released on 11 July 1913, by the Republic of China National Ministry of Education, but it was not officially proclaimed until 23 November 1928.[4] It was first named Guóyīn Zìmǔ 'national pronunciation alphabet', but in April 1930 was renamed Zhùyīn Fúhào 'phonetic symbols' to address fears that the alphabetic system might independently replace Chinese characters.[7]
Modern use
edit
Bopomofo is the predominant phonetic system in teaching, reading and writing in elementary school in Taiwan. In elementary school, particularly in the lower years, Chinese characters in textbooks are often annotated with Bopomofo as ruby characters as an aid to learning. Additionally, one children's newspaper in Taiwan, the Mandarin Daily News, annotates all articles with Bopomofo ruby characters.
It is also the most popular way for Taiwanese to enter Chinese characters into computers and smartphones and to look up characters in a dictionary.
In teaching Mandarin, Taiwan institutions and some overseas communities such as Filipino Chinese use Bopomofo.
Bopomofo is shown in a secondary position to Hanyu Pinyin in all editions of Xiandai Hanyu Cidian from the 1960 edition to the current 2016 edition (7th edition).
Bopomofo is also used to transcribe other Chinese dialects, most commonly Taiwanese Hokkien and Cantonese, however its use can be applied to practically any dialect in handwriting (because not all letters are encoded). Outside of Chinese, Bopomofo letters are also used in Hmu and Ge languages by a small number of Hmu Christians.[8]
Symbols
edit
The Bopomofo characters were created by Zhang Binglin, taken mainly from "regularized" forms of ancient Chinese characters, the modern readings of which contain the sound that each letter represents. The consonants are listed in order of place of articulation, from the front of the mouth to the back, /b/, /p/, /m/, /f/, /d/, /t/, /n/, /l/ etc.
| Consonants | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bopomofo | Origin[9] | IPA | Pinyin | WG | Example |
| ㄅ | From 勹, the ancient form and current top portion of 包 bāo, "to wrap up; package" | p | b | p | 包 bāo ㄅㄠ |
| ㄆ | From 攵, a variant form of 攴 pū, "to knock lightly". | pʰ | p | pʻ | 撲 pū ㄆㄨ |
| ㄇ | From 冂, the archaic character and current "cover" radical 冖 mì. | m | m | m | 冞 mí ㄇㄧˊ |
| ㄈ | From the "right open box" radical 匚 fāng. | f | f | f | 匪 fěi ㄈㄟˇ |
| ㄉ | From 𠚣, archaic form of 刀 dāo, "blade". Compare the Shuowen seal  .
|
t | d | t | 地 dì ㄉㄧˋ |
| ㄊ | From 𠫓 tū, an upside-down form of 子 zǐ and an ancient form of 突 tū ( and  in seal script)[10][11]
|
tʰ | t | tʻ | 提 tí ㄊㄧˊ |
| ㄋ | From  /𠄎, ancient form of 乃 nǎi, "to be" (a copula in Classical Chinese).
|
n | n | n | 你 nǐ ㄋㄧˇ |
| ㄌ | From 𠠲, archaic form of 力 lì, "power". | l | l | l | 利 lì ㄌㄧˋ |
| ㄍ | From the obsolete character 巜 guì/kuài, "ditch". | k | g | k | 告 gào ㄍㄠˋ |
| ㄎ | From the archaic character, now "breath" or "sigh" component 丂 kǎo. | kʰ | k | kʻ | 考 kǎo ㄎㄠˇ |
| ㄏ | From the archaic character and current radical 厂 hǎn. | x | h | h | 好 hǎo ㄏㄠˇ |
| ㄐ | From the archaic character 丩 jiū. | tɕ | j | ch | 叫 jiào ㄐㄧㄠˋ |
| ㄑ | From the archaic character 𡿨 quǎn, graphic root of the character 巛 chuān, "river" (modern 川). | tɕʰ | q | chʻ | 巧 qiǎo ㄑㄧㄠˇ |
| ㄒ | From 丅, an ancient form of 下 xià, "under". | ɕ | x | hs | 小 xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ |
| ㄓ | From  /𡳿, archaic form of 之 zhī, a genitive marker in Classical Chinese.
|
ʈʂ | zhi, zh- | ch | 知 zhī ㄓ; 主 zhǔ ㄓㄨˇ |
| ㄔ | From the character and radical 彳 chì | ʈʂʰ | chi, ch- | chʻ | 吃 chī ㄔ; 出 chū ㄔㄨ |
| ㄕ | From 𡰣, an ancient form of 尸 shī | ʂ | shi, sh- | sh | 是 shì ㄕˋ; 束 shù ㄕㄨˋ |
| ㄖ | Modified from the seal script  form of 日 rì, "day" or "sun".
|
ɻ~ʐ | ri, r- | j | 日 rì ㄖˋ; 入 rù ㄖㄨˋ |
| ㄗ | From the archaic character and current radical 卩 jié, dialectically zié ([tsjě]; tsieh² in Wade–Giles) | ts | zi, z- | ts | 字 zì ㄗˋ; 在 zài ㄗㄞˋ |
| ㄘ | From 𠀁, archaic form of 七 qī, dialectically ciī ([tsʰí]; tsʻi¹ in Wade–Giles). Compare semi-cursive form  and seal-script  .
|
tsʰ | ci, c- | tsʻ | 詞 cí ㄘˊ; 才 cái ㄘㄞˊ |
| ㄙ | From the archaic character 厶 sī, which was later replaced by its compound 私 sī. | s | si, s- | s | 四 sì ㄙˋ; 塞 sāi ㄙㄞ |
| Rhymes and medials | |||||
| Bopomofo | Origin | IPA | Pinyin | WG | Example |
| ㄚ | From 丫 yā | a | a | a | 大 dà ㄉㄚˋ |
| ㄛ | From the obsolete character 𠀀 hē, inhalation, the reverse of 丂 kǎo, which is preserved as a phonetic in the compound 可 kě.[12] | o | o | o | 多 duō ㄉㄨㄛ |
| ㄜ | Derived from its allophone in Standard Chinese, ㄛ o | ɤ | e | o/ê | 得 dé ㄉㄜˊ |
| ㄝ | From 也 yě, "also". Compare the Warring States bamboo form 
|
e | -ie/ê | eh | 爹 diē ㄉㄧㄝ |
| ㄞ | From 𠀅 hài, archaic form of 亥. | ai | ai | ai | 晒 shài ㄕㄞˋ |
| ㄟ | From 乁 yí, an obsolete character meaning 移 yí, "to move". | ei | ei | ei | 誰 shéi ㄕㄟˊ |
| ㄠ | From 幺 yāo | au | ao | ao | 少 shǎo ㄕㄠˇ |
| ㄡ | From 又 yòu | ou | ou | ou | 收 shōu ㄕㄡ |
| ㄢ | From the archaic character 𢎘 hàn "to bloom", preserved as a phonetic in the compound 犯 fàn | an | an | an | 山 shān ㄕㄢ |
| ㄣ | From 𠃉, archaic variant of 鳦 yǐ or 乚 yà[13] (乚 is yǐn according to other sources[14]) | ən | en | ên | 申 shēn ㄕㄣ |
| ㄤ | From 尢 wāng | aŋ | ang | ang | 上 shàng ㄕㄤˋ |
| ㄥ | From 𠃋, archaic form of 肱 gōng[15] | əŋ | eng | êng | 生 shēng ㄕㄥ |
| ㄦ | From 儿, the bottom portion of 兒 ér used as a cursive and simplified form | aɚ | er | êrh | 而 ér ㄦˊ |
ㄧ
|
From 一 yī, "one" | i | y, yi, -i | i | 以 yǐ ㄧˇ; 逆 nì ㄋㄧˋ |
| ㄨ | From 㐅, ancient form of 五 wǔ, "five". Compare the transitory form 𠄡. | u | w, wu, -u | u/w | 努 nǔ ㄋㄨˇ; 我 wǒ ㄨㄛˇ |
| ㄩ | From the ancient character 凵 qū, which remains as a radical | y | yu, -ü | ü/yü | 雨 yǔ ㄩˇ; 女 nǚ ㄋㄩˇ |
ㄭ
|
From the character 帀. It represents the fricative vowel of ㄓ，ㄔ，ㄕ，ㄖ，ㄗ，ㄘ，ㄙ，though it is not used after them in transcription.[16] | ɻ̩~ʐ̩, ɹ̩~z̩ | -i | ih/ŭ | 資 zī ㄗ; 知 zhī ㄓ; 死 sǐ ㄙˇ |
Writing
editStroke order
editBopomofo is written in the same stroke order rule as Chinese characters. ㄖ is written with three strokes, unlike the character from which it is derived (Chinese: 日; pinyin: rì), which has four strokes.
ㄧ can be written as a vertical line (
) or a horizontal line ( ); both are accepted forms. Traditionally, it should be written as a horizontal line in vertical writing, and a vertical line in horizontal writing. The People's Republic of China almost exclusively uses horizontal writing, so the vertical form (in the rare occasion that Bopomofo is used) has become the standard form there. Language education in the Republic of China generally uses vertical writing, so most people learn it as a horizontal line, and use a horizontal form even in horizontal writing. In 2008, the Taiwanese Ministry of Education decided that the primary form should always be the horizontal form, but that the vertical form is accepted alternative.[17] Unicode 8.0.0 published an errata in 2014 that updates the representative glyph to be the horizontal form.[18] Computer fonts may only display one form or the other, or may be able to display both if the font is aware of changes needed for vertical writing.
Bopomofo is occasionally unofficially handwritten as syllable blocks, similar to Hangul, however this is not considered an accepted form by the People's Republic of China nor the Republic of China, and is unsupported by Unicode.
Tonal marks
editAs shown in the following table, tone marks for the second, third, and fourth tones are shared between bopomofo and pinyin. In bopomofo, the mark for first tone is usually omitted but can be included,[19][20] while a dot above indicates the fifth tone (also known as the neutral tone). In pinyin, a macron (overbar) indicates the first tone, and the lack of a marker usually indicates the fifth (light) tone.
| Tone | Bopomofo | Pinyin | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tone Marker | Unicode Name | Tone Marker | Unicode Name | |
| 1 | ˉ | Modifier Letter Macron (usually omitted)[19][20] |
◌̄ | Combining Macron |
| 2 | ˊ | Modifier Letter Acute Accent | ◌́ | Combining Acute Accent |
| 3 | ˇ | Caron | ◌̌ | Combining Caron |
| 4 | ˋ | Modifier Letter Grave Accent | ◌̀ | Combining Grave Accent |
| 5 | ˙ | Dot Above[21] | · | Middle Dot (usually omitted)[22] |
Unlike Hanyu Pinyin, Bopomofo aligns well with the Chinese characters in books whose texts are printed vertically, making Bopomofo better suited for annotating the pronunciation of vertically oriented Chinese text.
When used in conjunction with Chinese characters, Bopomofo is typically placed to the right of the Chinese character vertically in both vertical print[23][24] and horizontal print[25] or to the top of the Chinese character in a horizontal print (see Ruby characters).
Example
editBelow is an example for the word "bottle" (pinyin: píngzi):
|
, |
|
or |
|
Erhua transcription
editWords rhotacized as a result of erhua are spelled with ㄦ attached to the syllable (like 歌兒 gēr). In case the syllable uses other tones than the 1st tone, the tone mark is attached to the penultimate letter standing for syllable nucleus, but not to ㄦ (e.g. 哪兒 nǎr; 一點兒 yīdiǎnr; 好玩兒 hǎowánr).[26]
Comparison
editPinyin
editBopomofo and pinyin are based on the same Mandarin pronunciations; hence there is a one-to-one correspondence between the two systems:
| Rhyme | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ㄚ | ㄛ | ㄜ | ㄝ | ㄞ | ㄟ | ㄠ | ㄡ | ㄢ | ㄣ | ㄤ | ㄥ | ㄦ | |||
| Medial | [ɨ] (ㄭ) 1 -i |
[a] ㄚ a -a |
[o] ㄛ 3 o -o 3 |
[ɤ] ㄜ e -e |
[ɛ] ㄝ ê |
[ai̯] ㄞ ai -ai |
[ei̯] ㄟ ei -ei |
[ɑu̯] ㄠ ao -ao |
[ou̯] ㄡ ou -ou |
[an] ㄢ an -an |
[ən] ㄣ en -en |
[ɑŋ] ㄤ ang -ang |
[ɤŋ] ㄥ eng -eng |
[aɚ] ㄦ er | |
| ㄧ | [i] ㄧ yi -i |
[i̯a] ㄧㄚ ya -ia |
[i̯o] ㄧㄛ yo |
[i̯ɛ] ㄧㄝ ye -ie |
[i̯ai̯] ㄧㄞ yai |
[i̯ɑu̯] ㄧㄠ yao -iao |
[i̯ou̯] ㄧㄡ you -iu |
[i̯ɛn] ㄧㄢ yan -ian |
[in] ㄧㄣ yin -in |
[i̯ɑŋ] ㄧㄤ yang -iang |
[iŋ] ㄧㄥ ying -ing |
||||
| ㄨ | [u] ㄨ wu -u |
[u̯a] ㄨㄚ wa -ua |
[u̯o] ㄨㄛ 3 wo -uo 3 |
[u̯ai̯] ㄨㄞ wai -uai |
[u̯ei̯] ㄨㄟ wei -ui |
[u̯an] ㄨㄢ wan -uan |
[u̯ən] ㄨㄣ wen -un |
[u̯ɑŋ] ㄨㄤ wang -uang |
[u̯ɤŋ], [ʊŋ] ㄨㄥ weng -ong 4 |
||||||
| ㄩ | [y] ㄩ yu -ü 2 |
[y̯ɛ] ㄩㄝ yue -üe 2 |
[y̯ɛn] ㄩㄢ yuan -üan 2 |
[yn] ㄩㄣ yun -ün 2 |
[i̯ʊŋ] ㄩㄥ yong -iong |
||||||||||
1 Not written.
2 ⟨-ü⟩ is written as ⟨-u⟩ after ⟨j-⟩, ⟨q-⟩, ⟨x-⟩, or ⟨y-⟩.
3 ⟨ㄨㄛ⟩/⟨-uo⟩ is written as ⟨ㄛ⟩/⟨-o⟩ after ⟨ㄅ⟩/⟨b-⟩, ⟨ㄆ⟩/⟨p-⟩, ⟨ㄇ⟩/⟨m-⟩, ⟨ㄈ⟩/⟨f-⟩.
4 ⟨weng⟩ is pronounced [ʊŋ] (written as ⟨-ong⟩) when it follows an initial.
Chart
edit| IPA | a | ɔ | ɛ | ɤ | ai | ei | au | ou | an | ən | aŋ | əŋ | ʊŋ | aɹ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinyin | a | o | ê | e | ai | ei | ao | ou | an | en | ang | eng | ong | er |
| Tongyong Pinyin | ||||||||||||||
| Wade–Giles | eh | ê/o | ên | êng | ung | êrh | ||||||||
| Bopomofo | ㄚ | ㄛ | ㄝ | ㄜ | ㄞ | ㄟ | ㄠ | ㄡ | ㄢ | ㄣ | ㄤ | ㄥ | ㄨㄥ | ㄦ |
| example | 阿 | 喔 | 誒 | 俄 | 艾 | 黑 | 凹 | 偶 | 安 | 恩 | 昂 | 冷 | 中 | 二 |
| IPA | i | je | jou | jɛn | in | iŋ | jʊŋ | u | wo | wei | wən | wəŋ | y | ɥe | ɥɛn | yn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinyin | yi | ye | you | yan | yin | ying | yong | wu | wo/o | wei | wen | weng | yu | yue | yuan | yun |
| Tongyong Pinyin | wun | wong | ||||||||||||||
| Wade–Giles | i/yi | yeh | yu | yen | yung | wên | wêng | yü | yüeh | yüan | yün | |||||
| Bopomofo | ㄧ | ㄧㄝ | ㄧㄡ | ㄧㄢ | ㄧㄣ | ㄧㄥ | ㄩㄥ | ㄨ | ㄨㄛ/ㄛ | ㄨㄟ | ㄨㄣ | ㄨㄥ | ㄩ | ㄩㄝ | ㄩㄢ | ㄩㄣ |
| example | 一 | 也 | 又 | 言 | 音 | 英 | 用 | 五 | 我 | 位 | 文 | 翁 | 玉 | 月 | 元 | 雲 |
| IPA | p | pʰ | m | fəŋ | tjou | twei | twən | tʰɤ | ny | ly | kɤ | kʰɤ | xɤ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinyin | b | p | m | feng | diu | dui | dun | te | nü | lü | ge | ke | he |
| Tongyong Pinyin | fong | diou | duei | nyu | lyu | ||||||||
| Wade–Giles | p | pʻ | fêng | tiu | tui | tun | tʻê | nü | lü | ko | kʻo | ho | |
| Bopomofo | ㄅ | ㄆ | ㄇ | ㄈㄥ | ㄉㄧㄡ | ㄉㄨㄟ | ㄉㄨㄣ | ㄊㄜ | ㄋㄩ | ㄌㄩ | ㄍㄜ | ㄎㄜ | ㄏㄜ |
| example | 玻 | 婆 | 末 | 封 | 丟 | 兌 | 頓 | 特 | 女 | 旅 | 歌 | 可 | 何 |
| IPA | tɕjɛn | tɕjʊŋ | tɕʰin | ɕɥɛn | ʈʂɤ | ʈʂɨ | ʈʂʰɤ | ʈʂʰɨ | ʂɤ | ʂɨ | ɻɤ | ɻɨ | tsɤ | tswo | tsɨ | tsʰɤ | tsʰɨ | sɤ | sɨ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinyin | jian | jiong | qin | xuan | zhe | zhi | che | chi | she | shi | re | ri | ze | zuo | zi | ce | ci | se | si |
| Tongyong Pinyin | jyong | cin | syuan | jhe | jhih | chih | shih | rih | zih | cih | sih | ||||||||
| Wade–Giles | chien | chiung | chʻin | hsüan | chê | chih | chʻê | chʻih | shê | shih | jê | jih | tsê | tso | tzŭ | tsʻê | tzʻŭ | sê | ssŭ |
| Bopomofo | ㄐㄧㄢ | ㄐㄩㄥ | ㄑㄧㄣ | ㄒㄩㄢ | ㄓㄜ | ㄓ | ㄔㄜ | ㄔ | ㄕㄜ | ㄕ | ㄖㄜ | ㄖ | ㄗㄜ | ㄗㄨㄛ | ㄗ | ㄘㄜ | ㄘ | ㄙㄜ | ㄙ |
| example | 件 | 囧 | 秦 | 宣 | 哲 | 之 | 扯 | 赤 | 社 | 是 | 惹 | 日 | 仄 | 左 | 字 | 策 | 次 | 色 | 斯 |
| IPA | ma˥ | ma˧˥ | ma˨˩˦ | ma˥˩ | ma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinyin | mā | má | mǎ | mà | ma |
| Tongyong Pinyin | ma | må | |||
| Wade–Giles | ma1 | ma2 | ma3 | ma4 | ma |
| Bopomofo | ㄇㄚ | ㄇㄚˊ | ㄇㄚˇ | ㄇㄚˋ | ˙ㄇㄚ |
| example (Chinese characters) | 媽 | 麻 | 馬 | 罵 | 嗎 |
Use outside Standard Mandarin
editBopomofo symbols for non-Mandarin Chinese varieties are added to Unicode in the Bopomofo Extended block.
Taiwanese Hokkien
editIn Taiwan, Bopomofo is used to teach Taiwanese Hokkien, and is also used to transcribe it phonetically in contexts such as on storefront signs, karaoke lyrics, and film subtitles.
Three letters no longer used for Mandarin are carried over from the 1913 standard:
| Bopomofo | IPA | GR | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| ㄪ | v | v | v |
| ㄫ | ŋ | ng | ng |
| ㄬ | ɲ | gn | gn |
23 more letters were added specifically for Taiwanese Hokkien:
| Bopomofo | IPA | TL | Derivation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ㆠ | b | b | ㄅ with voicing circle |
| ㆣ | g | g | ㄍ with voicing circle |
| ㆢ | d͡ʑ | ji | ㄐ with voicing circle |
| ㆡ | d͡z | j | ㄗ with voicing circle |
| ㆨ | ɨ | ir | ㄨ and ㄧ combined (?) |
| ㆦ | ɔ | oo | from ㄛ |
| ㆤ | e | e | from ㄝ |
| ㆩ | ã | ann | ㄚ with nasal curl |
| ㆧ | ɔ̃ | onn | ㆦ with nasal curl |
| ㆥ | ẽ | enn | ㆤ with nasal curl |
| ㆪ/ㆳ | ĩ | inn | ㄧ with nasal curl |
| ㆫ | ũ | unn | ㄨ with nasal curl |
| ㆮ | ãĩ | ainn | ㄞ with nasal curl |
| ㆯ | ãũ | aunn | ㄠ with nasal curl |
| ㆰ | am | am | ㄚ and ㄇ combined |
| ㆱ | ɔm | om | ㆦ and ㄇ combined |
| ㆲ | ɔŋ | ong | |
| ㆬ | m̩ | m | ㄇ with syllabic stroke |
| ㆭ | ŋ̍ | ng | ㄫ with syllabic stroke |
| ㆴ | -p̚ | -p | small ㄅ |
| ㆵ | -t̚ | -t | small ㄉ |
| ㆻ/ㆶ | -k̚ | -k | small ㄍ (and variant small ㄎ) |
| ㆷ | -ʔ | -h | small ㄏ |
Two tone marks were added for the additional tones: ˪, ˫
Cantonese
editThe following letters are used in Cantonese.[27]
| Bopomofo | IPA | Jyutping |
|---|---|---|
| ㆼ | kʷ | gw |
| ㆽ | kʷʰ | kw |
| ㆾ | ɵ | eo |
| ㆿ | ɐ | a |
If a syllable ends with a consonant other than -an or -aan, the consonant's letter is added, then followed by a final middle dot.
-ㄞ is used for [aːi] (aai) (e.g. 敗, ㄅㄞ baai6, "to be defeated").
-ㄣ is used for [ɐn] (an) (e.g. 跟, ㄍㄣ gan1, "to follow"), and -ㄢ is used for [aːn] (aan) (e.g. 間, ㄍㄢ gaan1, "within"). Other vowels that end with -n use -ㄋ· for the final ㄋ. (e.g. 見, ㄍㄧㄋ· gin3, "to see").
-ㄡ is used for [ɐu] (au). (e.g. 牛, ㄫㄡ, ngau4, "cow") To transcribe [ou] (ou), it is written as ㄛㄨ (e.g. 路, ㄌㄛㄨ lou6, "path").
ㄫ is used for both initial ng- (as in 牛, ㄫㄡ, ngau4) and final -ng (as in 用, ㄧㄛㄫ·, jung6 "to use").
ㄐ is used for [t͡s] (z) (e.g. 煑, ㄐㄩ zyu2, "to cook") and ㄑ is used for [t͡sʰ] (c) (e.g. 全, ㄑㄩㄋ· cyun4, "whole").
During the time when Bopomofo was proposed for Cantonese, tones were not marked.
Computer uses
editInput method
edit
Bopomofo can be used as an input method for Chinese characters. It is one of the few input methods that can be found on most modern personal computers without having to download or install any additional software. It is also one of the few input methods that can be used for inputting Chinese characters on certain cell phones.[citation needed]. On the QWERTY keyboard, the symbols are ordered column-wise top-down (e.g. 1+Q+A+Z)
Unicode
editBopomofo was added to the Unicode Standard in October 1991 with the release of version 1.0.
The Unicode block for Bopomofo 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 | ||||||||||||||||
Additional characters were added in September 1999 with the release of version 3.0.
The Unicode block for these additional characters, called Bopomofo Extended, is U+31A0–U+31BF:
| 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
| ||||||||||||||||
Unicode 3.0 also added the characters U+02EA ˪ MODIFIER LETTER YIN DEPARTING TONE MARK and U+02EB ˫ MODIFIER LETTER YANG DEPARTING TONE MARK, in the Spacing Modifier Letters block. These two characters are now (since Unicode 6.0) classified as Bopomofo characters.[28]
| Tonal marks for bopomofo Spacing Modifier Letters | |||
| Tone | Tone Marker | Unicode | Note |
| 1 Yin Ping (Level) | ˉ | U+02C9 | Usually omitted |
| 2 Yang Ping (Level) | ˊ | U+02CA | |
| 3 Shang (Rising) | ˇ | U+02C7 | |
| 4 Qu (Departing) | ˋ | U+02CB | |
| 4a Yin Qu (Departing) | ˪ | U+02EA | For Minnan and Hakka languages |
| 4b Yang Qu (Departing) | ˫ | U+02EB | For Minnan and Hakka languages |
| 5 Qing (Neutral) | ˙ | U+02D9 | |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Qiu Gui Su (27 January 2019). "Bopomofo Chinese Phonetic System". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Zhuyin vs. Pinyin: Exploring the Unique Chinese Phonetic System of Bopomofo". Chineasy. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Bopomofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) | All You Need to Know". Bubble Tea Island. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
The term "Bopomofo" is derived from the first four characters of the system's alphabet [ㄅㄆㄇㄈ – B'P'M'F'].
- ^ a b c d "Taiwan Yearbook 2006: The People & Languages". Government Information Office, Taiwan. Archived from the original on 9 May 2007.
- ^ "Taiwan Headlines: Society News: New Taiwanese dictionary unveiled". Government Information Office, Taiwan. Archived from the original on 31 October 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
- ^ Dong, Hongyuan (2014). A History of the Chinese Language. Routledge. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-415-66039-6.
- ^ John DeFrancis. The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1984. p. 242.
- ^ The Unicode Standard / the Unicode Consortium (PDF) (14.0 ed.). Mountain View, CA: Unicode. 2021. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-936213-29-0.
- ^ 國音學 (in Chinese (Taiwan)) (8th ed.). Taiwan: 國立臺灣師範大學. 國音敎材編輯委員會. 2008. pp. 27–30.
- ^ Wenlin dictionary, entry 𠫓.
- ^ KangXi: page 164, character 1 Archived 2 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine kangxizidian.com
- ^ "Unihan data for U+20000". Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Wenlin dictionary, entry 𠃉.
- ^ "Unihan data for U+4E5A". Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Wenlin dictionary, entry 𠃋.
- ^ Michael Everson, H. W. Ho, Andrew West, "Proposal to encode one Bopomofo character in the UCS Archived 2021-01-26 at the Wayback Machine", SC2 WG2 N3179.
- ^ "Unicode document L2/14-189" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
- ^ Unicode Consortium, "Errata Fixed in Unicode 8.0.0 Archived 2020-11-01 at the Wayback Machine"
- ^ a b Department of Lifelong Education, Ministry of Education 教育部終身教育司, ed. (January 2017). 國語注音手冊 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Ministry of Education; Digital version: Wanderer Digital Publishing Inc. 汪達數位出版股份有限公司. pp. 2, 7. ISBN 978-986-051-481-0.
韻符「ㄭ」，陰平調號「¯」，注音時省略不標{...}陰平 以一短橫代表高平之聲調，注音時可省略不標。標注在字音最後一個符號右上角。
- ^ a b Department of Lifelong Education, Ministry of Education 教育部終身教育司, ed. (January 2017). The Manual of the Phonetic Symbols of Mandarin Chinese (in English and Chinese (Taiwan)). Ministry of Education; Digital version: Wanderer Digital Publishing Inc. 汪達數位出版股份有限公司. pp. 2, 7. ISBN 978-986-051-869-6.
the rhyme symbol, "ㄭ", and the mark of Yin-ping tone, "¯", could be left out on Bopomofo notes.{...}This high and level tone is noted as a short dash mark and could be left out in Bopomofo note. If it is noted, it should be put on the upper right corner of the last Bopomofo note.
- ^ "A study of neutral-tone syllables in Taiwan Mandarin" (PDF). p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
- ^ The middle dot may optionally precede light-tone syllables only in reference books (辞书), see section 7.3 Archived 17 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine of the PRC national standard GB/T 16159-2012 Basic rules of the Chinese phonetic alphabet orthography.
- ^ "Bopomofo Extended Name". 12 December 2011. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ "Zhuyin and Hanzi location". 22 December 2009. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- ^ "Bopomofo on Taiwanese street – with English – Nov 2016 2". 3 August 2016. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
- ^ "The Zhuyin Alphabet 注音字母 Transcription System (Bo-po-mo-fo) (www.chinaknowledge.de)". www.chinaknowledge.de. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ Yang, Ben; Chan, Eiso. "Proposal to encode Cantonese Bopomofo Characters" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
- ^ "Scripts-6.0.0.txt". Unicode Consortium. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
External links
edit
- The Manual of The Phonetic Symbols of Mandarin Chinese
- Unicode reference glyphs for "bopomofo" (PDF). (69.6 KB) and "extended bopomofo" (PDF). (61.6 KB)
- Bopomofo annotations – adds inline and pop-up annotations with bopomofo pronunciation and English definitions to Chinese text or web pages.
- Mandarin Dictionary – needs Chinese font for Big5 encoding
- Chinese Phonetic Conversion Tool – converts between Pinyin, Bopomofo and other phonetic systems
- Chinese Romanization Converter – converts between Hanyu Pinyin, Wade–Giles, Gwoyeu Romatzyh and other known or (un-)common Romanization systems
- Bopomofo -> Wade-Giles -> Pinyin -> Word List
- NPA->IPA National Phonetic Alphabet (bopomofo) spellings of words transliterated into the International Phonetic Alphabet. The vowel values have been verified against the official IPA site. See IPA help preview, SIL International website. See IPA help preview, SIL International website. (Accessed 23 December 2010).
- Bopomofo to Pinyin converter and reverse
- bopomofo syllable chart, with Hanyu Pinyin equivalents
- Pinyin Annotator – adds bopomofo (bopomofo) or pinyin on top of any Chinese text, prompts alternative pronunciations to homonyms, has the option of exporting into OpenOffice Writer for further editing
- 《請利用螢幕上的小鍵盤輸入注音符號》 – online keyboard for bopomofo which can turn it into Chinese characters
- Online Bopomofo Input Method Editor 免费在线中文输入法，使用注音