Romanization of Wu Chinese

Wu Chinese has three major schools of romanization.

The most popular school, Common Wu Pinyin (通用吴语拼音), was developed by amateur language clubs and local learners. There are two competing schemes; both adhere to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and are very similar to each other. The initial scheme was "Wu Chinese Society pinyin" (吴语协会拼音, developed around 2005)^[1] and it formed the basis of "Wugniu pinyin" (吴语学堂拼音, around 2016).^[2] Either of them is the default romanization scheme in most learning materials.

The second school is the Latin Phonetic Method (吴语拉丁式注音法, French-Wu or Fawu [法吴]). Its use is in decline. It utilizes the similarities between French and Wu phonetics and thus adheres to both IPA and French orthography. It was developed in 2003 by a Shanghai-born surgeon based in Lyon, France.^[3]^[4]

The final, and least used school, adheres to Mandarin-Putonghua pinyin as sanctioned by the State Council. It is the only school developed by professional linguists, mostly working in state-administered universities. While more than 20 competing schemes within this school have been published since the 1980s, the most notable one is the Shanghainese Pinyin (上海话拼音方案, often shortened to Qian's Pin [钱拼]), developed by Qian Nairong in 2006.^[5]

Comparison chart

All examples are given in Shanghainese and Suzhounese

Initials

IPA	Romanization schemes				Characters
IPA	Wu Chinese Society	Wugniu	French-Wu	Qian's Pinyin	Characters
p	p	p	p	b	巴百
pʰ	ph	ph	ph	p	怕捧
b	b	b	b	bh	旁别
m	m	m	m	mh	没母
ˀm	'm	m	mh	m	闷美
f	f	f	f	f	夫反
v	v	v	v	fh	佛犯
ˀv	v	v	vh	v	勿^[6]
t	t	t	t	d	多德
tʰ	th	th	th	t	体通
d	d	d	d	dh	地同
n	n	n	n	nh, -n	纳努
ˀn	'n	n	nh	ng	囡呢
ȵ^[7]	ny	gn	gn	nh	尼女
ˀȵ	'ny	gn	kn	n	研妞
l	l	l	l	lh	勒路
ˀl	'l	l	lh	l	拎了
ts	ts	ts	tz	z	子张
tsʰ	tsh	tsh	ts	c	超参
s	s	s	s	s	书三
z	z	z	z	sh	传食
tɕ	c	c	c	j	居尖
tɕʰ	ch	ch	ch	q	曲青
dʑ	j	j	dj	jh	求极
ɕ	sh	sh	x	x	需血
ʑ	zh	zh	j	xh	谢墙
k	k	k	k	g	工各
kʰ	kh	kh	kh	k	苦客
ɡ	g	g	g	gh	共搞
ŋ	ng	ng	ng	nhg-, -ng	鹅牙
ˀŋ	ng	ng	nk	ng	我砑
h	h	h	h	h	好黑
ɦ	gh / w / y^[8]	gh / w / y^[8]	r	hh	红合

Finals

Shanghainese IPA	Suzhounese IPA^[9]	Romanization schemes				Characters
Shanghainese IPA	Suzhounese IPA^[9]	Wu Chinese Society	Wugniu	French-Wu	Qian's Pinyin	Characters
a	ɑ	a	a	a	a	蟹
ua	uɑ	ua	ua	ua	ua	怪
ia	iɑ	ia	ia	ia	ia	写
o	o	o	o	au	o	沙
io	io	io	io	iau	io	靴
ɿ^[7]	ɿ	y	y	y	y	斯
ɿ	ʮ^[7]	yu	yu	y	y	书
i	i	i	i	i	i	移
u	u	u	u	u	u	副
u	əu	ou	ou	u	u	乌
y	y	iu	iu	ü	(y)u	遇
ɛ	ɛ	ae	ae	e	ae	兰
e	ɛ	e	e	e	e	雷
uɛ	uɛ	uae	uae	ue	ue	还
ɔ	æ	au	au	o	ao	包
iɔ	iæ	iau	iau	io	iao	萧
ɤ	øʏ	eu	eu	oe	ou	勾
iɤ	iøʏ	ieu	ieu	ioe	iou	旧
i	iɪ	ie	ie	i	i	先
ø	ø	oe	oe	eu	oe	干
uø	uø	uoe	uoe	ueu	uoe	碗
yø	iø	ioe	ioe	ieu	ioe	捐
ã	ã	an	an	aen	an	梗
uã	uã	uan	uan	uaen	uan	横
iã	iã	ian	ian	iaen	ian	阳
ɑ̃	ɑ̃	aon	aon	an	ang	刚
uɑ̃	uɑ̃	uaon	uaon	uan	uang	黄
iɑ̃	iɑ̃	iaon	iaon	ian	iang	旺
oŋ	oŋ	on	on	on	ong	东
ioŋ	ioŋ	ion	ion	ion	iong	兄
ən	ən	en	en	en	eng	真
uən	uən	uen	uen	uen	ueng	昆
in	in	in	in	in	in	清
yn	yn	iuin	iun	ün	(y)un	君
ɐʔ	aʔ	aeh	aeq	aq	ak	鸭
uɐʔ	uaʔ	uaeh	uaeq	uaq	uak	刮
iɐʔ	iaʔ	iaeh	iaeq	iaq	iak	甲
yɪʔ	yaʔ	iuaeh	iuaeq	uiq	yuik	曰
ɐʔ	ɑʔ	ah	aq	aq	ak	格
uɐʔ	uɑʔ	uah	uaq	uaq	uak	猾
iɐʔ	iɑʔ	iah	iaq	iaq	iak	脚
əʔ	əʔ	eh	eq	eq	ek	黑
uəʔ	uəʔ	ueh	ueq	ueq	uek	阔
iɪʔ	iəʔ	ih	iq	iq	ik	立
yɪʔ	yəʔ	iuih	iuq	uiq	yuik	决
oʔ	oʔ	oh	oq	oq	ok	读
ioʔ	ioʔ	ioh	ioq	ioq	iok	局
əl	ɚ	r	er	er	er	而
m̩	m̩	m	m	m	m	无
n̩	n̩	n	n	n	n	尔
ŋ̍	ŋ̍	ng	ng	ng	ng	五

References

^ "吴语通用拼音教程: 学习吴语自己的拼音". 吴语公众号. 26 April 2020. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021.
^ "吴语学堂，重新出发". 吴语学堂. 18 March 2018. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021 – via Zhihu.
^ 唐骋华; 孔亮 (19 August 2007). "都市年轻人为传承上海方言走到一起". Youth Daily [青年报] (in Chinese). Shanghai. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013.
^ "吳語拼音草案" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 4 March 2010.
^ Qian, Nairong (6 December 2006). "首届国际上海方言学术研讨会审定上海话拼音方案". 北大中文论坛 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 16 February 2021.
^ 出现在三个或以上音节的语音词的第一个音节。
^ ^a ^b ^c [ɿ ʮ ȵ] are Sinological extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet that are not part of the official IPA
^ ^a ^b If the final begins with "u" or "i", this initial is written with "w" or "y", respectively. If the "u" or "i" is part of the medial, it is replaced by the "w" or "y".
^ 刑雯芝 (3 February 2018). Shíyòng Sūzhōuhuà 实用苏州话 [Practical Suzhou Dialect] (in Simplified Chinese, Wu, and English). Peking University Press. ISBN 978-7-301-18998-6.

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[1] "吴语通用拼音教程: 学习吴语自己的拼音". 吴语公众号. 26 April 2020. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021.

[2] "吴语学堂，重新出发". 吴语学堂. 18 March 2018. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021 – via Zhihu.

[3] 唐骋华; 孔亮 (19 August 2007). "都市年轻人为传承上海方言走到一起". Youth Daily [青年报] (in Chinese). Shanghai. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013.

[4] "吳語拼音草案" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 4 March 2010.

[5] Qian, Nairong (6 December 2006). "首届国际上海方言学术研讨会审定上海话拼音方案". 北大中文论坛 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 16 February 2021.

[6] 出现在三个或以上音节的语音词的第一个音节。

[han-7] [ɿ ʮ ȵ] are Sinological extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet that are not part of the official IPA

[gh-w-y-8] If the final begins with "u" or "i", this initial is written with "w" or "y", respectively. If the "u" or "i" is part of the medial, it is replaced by the "w" or "y".

[practical-suzhou-9] 刑雯芝 (3 February 2018). Shíyòng Sūzhōuhuà 实用苏州话 [Practical Suzhou Dialect] (in Simplified Chinese, Wu, and English). Peking University Press. ISBN 978-7-301-18998-6.

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