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Bopomofo

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Bopomofo
注音符號
注音符号
(ㄅㄆㄇㄈ)
百科全書 百科全书 (encyclopedia) in Zhuyin Fuhao
Script type (letters for onsets and rhymes; diacritics for tones)
CreatorCommission on the Unification of Pronunciation
Introduced by the Beiyang government of the Republic of China
Time period
1918[1] to 1958 in mainland China (used in a secondary position to Hanyu Pinyin in all editions of Xiandai Hanyu Cidian from 1960 to present 2016 edition);
1945 to the present in Taiwan
DirectionLeft-to-right, right-to-left script Edit this on Wikidata
Related scripts
Parent systems
Oracle Bone Script
Child systems
Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols, Suzhou Phonetic Symbols, Hmu Phonetic Symbols
Sister systems
Simplified Chinese, Kanji, Hanja, Chữ Nôm, Khitan script
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Bopo (285), ​Bopomofo
Unicode
Unicode alias
Bopomofo
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Template:Ruby notice

Mandarin Phonetic Symbol
Traditional Chinese注音符號
Simplified Chinese注音符号
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinzhùyīn fúhào
Bopomofoㄓㄨˋ ㄧㄣ ㄈㄨˊ ㄏㄠˋ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhJuh'in fwuhaw
Wade–GilesChu4-yin1 fu2-hao4
Tongyong PinyinJhùyin fúhào
MPS2Jùyīn fúhàu
IPA[ʈʂû.ín fǔ.xâʊ]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationJyuyām Fùhhóu
JyutpingZyu3jam1 Fu4hou2
Southern Min
Hokkien POJChù-im hû-hō
Tâi-lôTsù-im hû-hō

Bopomofo, also called Zhuyin (Chinese: 注音) or Mandarin Phonetic Symbols, is the major Chinese transliteration system for Mandarin Chinese and other related languages and dialects which is nowadays most commonly used in Taiwanese Mandarin. It is also used to transcribe other varieties of Chinese, particularly other varieties of Standard Chinese and related Mandarin dialects, as well as Taiwanese Hokkien.

Zhuyin Fuhao and Zhuyin are traditional terms, whereas Bopomofo is the colloquial term, also used by the ISO and Unicode. Consisting of 37 characters and four tone marks, it transcribes all possible sounds in Mandarin. Zhuyin was introduced in China by the Republican Government in the 1910s and used alongside the Wade–Giles system, which used a modified Latin alphabet. The Wade system was replaced by Hanyu Pinyin in 1958 by the Government of the People's Republic of China,[2] and at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1982.[3] Bopomofo is an official transliteration system in Taiwan, being used in Guoyu Jianbian Cidian, Guoyu Chongbian Cidian and other documents. It is widely used as the main electronic input method for Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan (ROC). Taiwan adopted Hanyu Pinyin as one of the official romanization systems for Mandarin Chinese in 2009,[4] but the system is not commonly used in electronic input.

Etymology

The name Bopomofo comes from the first four letters of Zhuyin: ㄅ, ㄆ, ㄇ and ㄈ.[5] Meanwhile, Zhuyin (注音) literally means phonetic notation.

Similarly to the way that the word "alphabet" is ultimately derived from the names of the first two letters of the alphabet (alpha and beta), the name "Bopomofo" is derived from the first four syllables in the conventional ordering of available syllables in Mandarin Chinese. The four Bopomofo characters (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) that correspond to these syllables are usually placed first in a list of these characters. The same sequence is sometimes used by other speakers of Chinese to refer to other phonetic systems.[citation needed]

The original formal name of the system was 國音字母; Guóyīn Zìmǔ; 'National Language Phonetic Alphabet' and 註音字母; Zhùyīn Zìmǔ; 'Phonetic Alphabet or Annotated Phonetic Letters'.[6] It was later renamed 注音符號; Zhùyīn Fúhào; 'phonetic symbols'.

In official documents, Zhuyin is occasionally called "Mandarin Phonetic Symbols I" (國語注音符號第一式), abbreviated as "MPS I" (注音一式).

In English translations, the system is often also called either Chu-in or the Mandarin Phonetic Symbols.[6][7] A romanized phonetic system was released in 1984 as Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II (MPS II).

History

Origins

The Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation, led by Wu Zhihui from 1912 to 1913, created a system called Zhuyin Zimu,[6] which was based on Zhang Binglin's shorthand. A draft was released on July 11, 1913, by the Republic of China National Ministry of Education, but it was not officially proclaimed until November 23, 1928.[6] It was later renamed first Guoyin Zimu and then, in April 1930, Zhuyin Fuhao. The last renaming addressed fears that the alphabetic system might independently replace Chinese characters.[8]

Modern use

File:Left arrow direction sign using bopomofo in Taipei Municipal Dunhua Elementary School 20160804.jpg
Direction sign for children in Taipei including bopomofo

Bopomofo is the predominant phonetic system in teaching reading and writing in elementary school in Taiwan. It is also the most popular way to enter Chinese characters into computers and smartphones and to look up characters in a dictionary.

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 Zhuyin ruby characters.

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 present 2016 edition (7th edition).

Origin of symbols

Table showing Zhuyin in Gwoyeu Romatzyh
Bopomofo in Regular, Handwritten Regular & Cursive formats

The Zhuyin 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.

Origin of zhuyin symbols
Consonants
Zhuyin Origin[citation needed] IPA Pinyin WG Example
From , the ancient form and current top portion of bāo, "to wrap up; package" p b p bāo
ㄅㄠ
From , a variant form of , "to knock lightly". p
ㄆㄨ
From , the archaic character and current "cover" radical mì. m m m
ㄇㄧˊ
From "right open box" radical fāng. f f f 匪 fěi
ㄈㄟˇ
From 𠚣, archaic form of dāo. Compare the Shuowen seal . t d t
ㄉㄧˋ
From , an upside-down form of and an ancient form of ( and in seal script)[9][10] t
ㄊㄧˊ
From /𠄎, ancient form of nǎi (be) n n n
ㄋㄧˇ
From 𠠲, archaic form of l l l
ㄌㄧˋ
From the obsolete character guì/kuài "river" k g k gào
ㄍㄠˋ
From the archaic character, now "breath" or "sigh" component kǎo k kǎo
ㄎㄠˇ
From the archaic character and current radical hǎn x h h hǎo
ㄏㄠˇ
From the archaic character jiū j ch jiào
ㄐㄧㄠˋ
From the archaic character 𡿨 quǎn, graphic root of the character chuān (modern ) tɕʰ q chʻ qiǎo
ㄑㄧㄠˇ
From , an ancient form of xià. ɕ x hs xiǎo
ㄒㄧㄠˇ
From /𡳿, archaic form of zhī. ʈʂ zhi, zh- ch zhī
;
zhǔ
ㄓㄨˇ
From the character and radical chì ʈʂʰ chi, ch- chʻ chī
;
chū
ㄔㄨ
From 𡰣, an ancient form of shī ʂ shi, sh- sh shì
ㄕˋ;
shù
ㄕㄨˋ
Modified from the seal script form of (day/sun) ɻ~ʐ ri, r- j
ㄖˋ;

ㄖㄨˋ
From the archaic character and current radical jié, dialectically zié ([tsjě]; tsieh² in Wade–Giles) ts zi, z- ts
ㄗˋ;
zài
ㄗㄞˋ
From 𠀁, archaic form of , dialectically ciī ([tsʰí]; tsʻi¹ in Wade–Giles). Compare semi-cursive form and seal-script . tsʰ ci, c- tsʻ
ㄘˊ;
cái
ㄘㄞˊ
From the archaic character , which was later replaced by its compound . s si, s- s
ㄙˋ;
sāi
ㄙㄞ
Rhymes and medials
Zhuyin Origin IPA Pinyin WG Example
From a a a
ㄉㄚˋ
From the obsolete character 𠀀 , inhalation, the reverse of kǎo, which is preserved as a phonetic in the compound .[11] o o o duō
ㄉㄨㄛ
Derived from its allophone in Standard Chinese, o ɤ e o/ê
ㄉㄜˊ
From (also). Compare the Warring States bamboo form e ê eh diē
ㄉㄧㄝ
From 𠀅 hài, archaic form of . ai ai ai shài
ㄕㄞˋ
From , an obsolete character meaning "to move". ei ei ei shéi
ㄕㄟˊ
From yāo au ao ao shǎo
ㄕㄠˇ
From yòu ou ou ou shōu
ㄕㄡ
From the archaic character 𢎘 hàn "to bloom", preserved as a phonetic in the compound fàn an an an shān
ㄕㄢ
From 𠃉, archaic variant of or [12] ( is yǐn according to other sources[13]) ən en ên shēn
ㄕㄣ
From wāng ang ang shàng
ㄕㄤˋ
From 𠃋, archaic form of gōng[14] əŋ eng êng shēng
ㄕㄥ
From , the bottom portion of ér used as a cursive and simplified form er êrh ér
ㄦˊ
From (one) i yi, -i i
ㄧˇ;

ㄋㄧˋ
From , ancient form of (five). Compare the transitory form 𠄡. u w, wu, -u u/w
ㄋㄨˇ;

ㄨㄛˇ
From the ancient character , which remains as a radical y yu, -ü ü/yü
ㄩˇ;

ㄋㄩˇ

From the character . It represents the minimal vowel of ㄓ,ㄔ,ㄕ,ㄖ,ㄗ,ㄘ,ㄙ, though it is not used after them in transcription.[15] ɻ̩~ʐ̩, ɹ̩~ -i ih/ŭ
;
zhī
;

ㄙˇ

Writing

Stroke order

Zhuyin is written in the same stroke order rule as Chinese characters. Note that is written with three strokes, unlike the character from which it is derived (Chinese: ; pinyin: ), which has four strokes.

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 Republic of China almost exclusively uses horizontal writing, so the vertical form has become the standard form there. Language education in Taiwan 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.[16] Unicode 8.0.0 published an errata in 2014 that updates the representative glyph to be the horizontal form.[17] 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.

Tonal marks

As shown in the following table, tone marks for the second, third, and fourth tones are shared between bopomofo and pinyin. In bopomofo, the first tone mark is usually omitted but can be included[18][19] 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)[18][19]
◌̄ 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 · Middle Dot
(usually omitted)[20]

Unlike Hanyu Pinyin, Zhuyin aligns well with the hanzi characters in books whose texts are printed vertically, making Zhuyin better suited for annotating the pronunciation of vertically oriented Chinese text.

Zhuyin, when used in conjunction with Chinese characters, are typically placed to the right of the Chinese character vertically or to the top of the Chinese character in a horizontal print (see Ruby characters).

Below is an example for the word "bottle" (pinyin: píngzi):



ㄥˊ
˙
or
ㄆㄧㄥˊ ˙ㄗ

Erhua transcription

Erhua-ed words merge as a single syllable, which means is attached to the precedent syllable (like 歌兒ㄍㄜㄦ gēr). In case the syllable uses other tones than 1st tone, the tone is attached to the penultimate syllable, but not to (e.g. 哪兒ㄋㄚˇㄦ nǎr; 點兒ㄉㄧㄢˇㄦ yīdiǎnr; ㄏㄠˇ玩兒ㄨㄢˊㄦ hǎowánr).[21]

Comparison

Pinyin

Zhuyin and pinyin are based on the same Mandarin pronunciations, hence there is a one-to-one correspondence between the two systems:

IPA and pinyin counterparts of Zhuyin finals
Rhyme
Medial [ɨ]
() 1

-i
[a]

a
-a
[o]
3
o
-o 3
[ɤ]

e
-e
[ai̯]

ai
-ai
[ei̯]

ei
-ei
[au̯]

ao
-ao
[ou̯]

ou
-ou
[an]

an
-an
[ən]

en
-en
[aŋ]

ang
-ang
[əŋ]

eng
-eng
[aɚ]

er
 
[i]

yi
-i
[i̯a]
ㄧㄚ
ya
-ia
[i̯e]
ㄧㄝ
ye
-ie
[i̯au̯]
ㄧㄠ
yao
-iao
[i̯ou̯]
ㄧㄡ
you
-iu
[i̯ɛn]
ㄧㄢ
yan
-ian
[in]
ㄧㄣ
yin
-in
[i̯aŋ]
ㄧㄤ
yang
-iang
[iŋ]
ㄧㄥ
ying
-ing
[u]

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
[u̯aŋ]
ㄨㄤ
wang
-uang
[u̯əŋ], [ʊŋ]
ㄨㄥ
weng
-ong 4
[y]

yu
2
[y̯e]
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 /⟨-o⟩ after /⟨-b⟩, /⟨-p⟩, /⟨-m⟩, /⟨-f⟩.

4 ⟨weng⟩ is pronounced [ʊŋ] (written as ⟨-ong⟩) when it follows an initial.

Chart

Vowels a, e, o
IPA a ɔ ɛ ɤ ai ei au ou an ən əŋ ʊŋ
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 ㄨㄥ
example
Vowels i, u, y
IPA i je jou jɛn in 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 yüeh yüan yün
Bopomofo ㄧㄝ ㄧㄡ ㄧㄢ ㄧㄣ ㄧㄥ ㄩㄥ ㄨㄛ/ㄛ ㄨㄟ ㄨㄣ ㄨㄥ ㄩㄝ ㄩㄢ ㄩㄣ
example
Non-sibilant consonants
IPA p m fəŋ tjou twei twən tʰɤ ny ly kʰɤ
Pinyin b p m feng diu dui dun te ge ke he
Tongyong Pinyin fong diou duei nyu lyu
Wade–Giles p fêng tiu tui tun tʻê ko kʻo ho
Bopomofo ㄈㄥ ㄉㄧㄡ ㄉㄨㄟ ㄉㄨㄣ ㄊㄜ ㄋㄩ ㄌㄩ ㄍㄜ ㄎㄜ ㄏㄜ
example
Sibilant consonants
IPA tɕjɛn tɕjʊŋ tɕʰin ɕɥɛn ʈʂɤ ʈʂɨ ʈʂʰɤ ʈʂʰɨ ʂɤ ʂɨ ɻɤ ɻɨ tsɤ tswo tsɨ tsʰɤ tsʰɨ
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 jih tsê tso tzŭ tsʻê tzʻŭ ssŭ
Bopomofo ㄐㄧㄢ ㄐㄩㄥ ㄑㄧㄣ ㄒㄩㄢ ㄓㄜ ㄔㄜ ㄕㄜ ㄖㄜ ㄗㄜ ㄗㄨㄛ ㄘㄜ ㄙㄜ
example
Tones
IPA ma˥ ma˧˥ ma˨˩˦ ma˥˩ ma
Pinyin ma
Tongyong Pinyin ma
Wade–Giles ma1 ma2 ma3 ma4 ma
Bopomofo ㄇㄚ ㄇㄚˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄇㄚˋ ˙ㄇㄚ
example (Chinese characters)

Use outside Standard Mandarin

Three letters formerly used in non-standard dialects of Mandarin are now also used to write other Chinese varieties. Some Zhuyin fonts do not contain these letters; see External links for PDF pictures.

In 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.

Zhuyin IPA GR Pinyin
v v v
ŋ ng ng
ɲ gn ny

Computer uses

Input method

An example of a Zhuyin keypad for Taiwan

Zhuyin 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 the user 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]

A typical keyboard layout for Zhuyin on computers

Unicode

Zhuyin was added to the Unicode Standard in October 1991 with the release of version 1.0.

The Unicode block for Zhuyin, called 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
U+311x
U+312x
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

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
U+31Bx
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0

Unicode 3.0 also added the characters U+02EA and U+02EB, in the Spacing Modifier Letters block. These two characters are now (since Unicode 6.0) classified as Bopomofo characters.[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ 中國文字改革委員會 (Committee for the Reform of the Chinese Written Language). 漢語拼音方案(草案) (Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet (Draft)). Beijing. Feb 1956. Page 15. "注音字母是1913年拟定,1918年公布的。"
  2. ^ "Pinyin celebrates 50th birthday". Xinhua News Agency. 2008-02-11. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  3. ^ "ISO 7098:1982 – Documentation – Romanization of Chinese". Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  4. ^ Shih Hsiu-Chuan (18 Sep 2008). "Hanyu Pinyin to be standard system in 2009". Taipei Times. p. 2.
  5. ^ "Zhuyin fuhao / Bopomofo (注音符號/ㄅㄆㄇㄈ)" Omniglot
  6. ^ a b c d The Republic of China government, Government Information Office. "Taiwan Yearbook 2006: The People & Languages". Archived from the original on 2007-05-09. |Also available at
  7. ^ Taiwan Headlines. "Taiwan Headlines: Society News: New Taiwanese dictionary unveiled". Government Information Office, Taiwan(ROC). Archived from the original on 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
  8. ^ John DeFrancis. The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy. Honolulu, HI, USA: University of Hawaii Press, 1984. p. 242.
  9. ^ Wenlin dictionary, entry 𠫓.
  10. ^ KangXi: page 164, character 1http://www.kangxizidian.com/kangxi/0164.gif
  11. ^ "Unihan data for U+20000".
  12. ^ Wenlin dictionary, entry 𠃉.
  13. ^ "Unihan data for U+4E5A".
  14. ^ Wenlin dictionary, entry 𠃋.
  15. ^ Michael Everson, H. W. Ho, Andrew West, "Proposal to encode one Bopomofo character in the UCS", SC2 WG2 N3179.
  16. ^ Unicode document L2/14-189
  17. ^ Unicode Consortium, "Errata Fixed in Unicode 8.0.0"
  18. ^ 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。
  19. ^ 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, "", would be left out on Bopomofo notes.{...}1st tone This high and level tone can be noted as a short dash mark and could be left out in Bopomofo note. This tone should be left out.
  20. ^ The middle dot may optionally precede light-tone syllables only in reference books (辞书), see section 7.3 of the PRC national standard GB/T 16159-2012 Basic rules of the Chinese phonetic alphabet orthography.
  21. ^ "The Zhuyin Alphabet 注音字母 Transcription System (Bo-po-mo-fo) (www.chinaknowledge.de)". www.chinaknowledge.de.
  22. ^ "Scripts-6.0.0.txt". Unicode Consortium.