Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols

Phonetic script for Taiwanese languages

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (May 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols

Script type|

Semisyllabary

(letters for onsets and rimes; diacritics for tones)
Creator| Chu Chao-hsiang, Taiwan NLC

Period

| 1946 to the present, used as ruby characters in Taiwan
Languages| Hokkien, Hakka
Related scripts

Parent systems

Oracle bone script

* Seal script
* Clerical script
* Mandarin Phonetic Symbols
* Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols

Sister systems

| Simplified Chinese, Kanji, Hanja, Chữ Nôm, Khitan large script, Khitan small script
ISO 15924
ISO 15924| Bopo (285), ​Bopomofo
Unicode

Unicode alias

| Bopomofo

Unicode range

| U+3100–U+312F,
U+31A0–U+31BF
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.
Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols

Traditional Chinese| 臺語方音符號
Simplified Chinese| 台语方音符号
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| Táiyǔ Fāngyīn Fúhào
Bopomofo| ㄊㄞˊ ㄩˇ ㄈㄤ ㄧㄣ ㄈㄨˊ ㄏㄠˋ
Gwoyeu Romatzyh| Tairyeu Fang'yin Fwuhaw
Wade–Giles| T'ai2-yü3 Fang1-yin1 Fu2-hao4
Tongyong Pinyin| Tái-yǔ Fang-yin Fú-hào
MPS2| Táiyǔ Fāngyīn Fúhàu
IPA| [tʰǎɪ.ỳ fáŋ.ín fǔ.xâʊ]
Hakka
Romanization| Thòi-ngî Fông-yîm Fù-ho
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ| Tâi-gí Hong-im Hû-hō
Tâi-lô| Tâi-gí Hong-im Hû-hō
Transliteration of Chinese

Mandarin

Modern Standard Mandarin

* Hanyu Pinyin
* Gwoyeu Romatzyh
* Spelling conventions
* Latinxua Sin Wenz
* Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II
* Tongyong Pinyin
* Wade–Giles
* Yale romanization
* Lessing-Othmer
* Simplified Wade
* Comparison chart

Late imperial Mandarin

* Morrison romanization
* Legge romanization
* Postal romanization
* EFEO

Sichuanese

* Sichuanese Pinyin
* Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz

General Wu

* Romanization of Wu Chinese

Wenzhounese

* Wenzhounese romanization

Yue

Cantonese

* Jyutping
* Yale romanization
* Cantonese Transliteration Scheme
* Hong Kong Government
* Macau Government
* Meyer–Wempe
* Sidney Lau
* S. L. Wong (phonetic symbols)
* S. L. Wong (romanization)
* ILE romani ~~z~~ ation
* Standard Romanization
* Barnett–Chao
* Comparison chart

Min

Hokkien

* Pe̍h-ōe-jī
* Modern Literal Taiwanese
* Phofsit Daibuun
* Habhunwe Latinxua Sin Bhundzi
* Bbánlám pìngyīm
* Daighi tongiong pingim
* TLPA
* Tâi-lô
* Comparison chart

Teochew

* Peng'im
* Pe̍h-ūe-jī

Fuzhounese

* Foochow Romanized
* Fuzhou Transliteration Scheme

Northern Min

* Kienning Colloquial Romanized

Pu-Xian Min

* Hinghwa Romanized

Hainanese

* Hainan Romanized (Haikou dialect)
* Hainanese Transliteration Scheme (Wenchang dialect)

Shao–Jiang Min

* Romanized Shaowu (Shaowu dialect)

Gan

Chang-Du

* Pinfa

Hakka

Meixian

* Pinfa
* Hagfa Pinyim

Sixian

* Pha̍k-fa-sṳ
* TLPA

Xiang

Chang–Yi

* Pinfa

Polylectal

General Chinese

* Romanized General Chinese

See also

Other transliterations

* Character-based General Chinese
* Cyrillization
* Xiao'erjing
* ʼPhags-pa script
* Bopomofo
* Taiwanese kana
* Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols
* Transcription into Chinese

By place

* Romanization in Hong Kong
* Romanization in Singapore
* Romanization in Taiwan

* v
* t
* e

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]

## Symbols

[edit]

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] | [ɡ] | [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]

* 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

[edit]

Images below are a collection of Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols:

* For Taiwanese Hokkien and Taiwanese Hakka: , , , , , , ,
* For Taiwanese Hakka only: ,
* For Taiwanese Hokkien only: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
* For Mandarin only: , , ,
* For Taiwanese Hakka and Mandarin: , , , ,
* represents [x] in Mandarin 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

[edit]

Initials

Group | Symbol | IPA | POJ | TL | BP | Notes | Example
Bilabial | ㄅ | [p] | p | b  | Same value as in Mandarin | 邊 (ㄅㄧㄢ pian)
ㆠ | [b] | b | bb  | Derived from ㄅ as a voiced counterpart | 文 (ㆠㄨㄣˊ bûn)
ㄆ | [pʰ] | ph | p  | Same value as in Mandarin | 波 (ㄆㄜ pho)
ㄇ | [m] | m | bbn  | Same value as in Mandarin | 毛 (ㄇㆦ mo͘ )
Alveolar | ㄉ | [t] | t | d  | Same value as in Mandarin | 地 (ㄉㆤ˫ tē)
ㄊ | [tʰ] | th | t  | Same value as in Mandarin | 他 (ㄊㆩ thaⁿ)
ㄋ | [n] | n | ln  | Same value as in Mandarin | 耐 (ㄋㄞ˫ nāi)
ㄌ | [l] | l | l  | Same value as in Mandarin | 柳 (ㄌㄧㄨˋ liú)
Velar | ㄍ | [k] | k | g  | Same value as in Mandarin | 求 (ㄍㄧㄨˊ kiû)
ㆣ | [ɡ] | g | gg  | Derived from ㄍ as a voiced counterpart | 語 (ㆣㄧˋ gí)
ㄎ | [kʰ] | kh | k  | Same value as in Mandarin | 去 (ㄎㄧ˪ khì)
ㄫ | [ŋ] | ng | ggn  | Once appeared in old Mandarin | 雅 (ㄫㄚˋ ngá)
Glottal | ㄏ | [h] | h | h  | Different value to Mandarin, in Mandarin [x] | 喜 (ㄏㄧˋ hí)
Alveolo-
palatal | ㄐ | [t͡ɕ] | chi | tsi | zi  | Same value as in Mandarin | 尖(ㄐㄧㆰ tsiam)
ㆢ | [d͡ʑ] | ji | zzi  | Derived from ㄐ as a voiced counterpart | 入 (ㆢㄧㆴ. ji̍p)
ㄑ | [t͡ɕʰ] | chhi | tshi | ci  | Same value as in Mandarin | 手 (ㄑㄧㄨˋ tshiú)
ㄒ | [ɕ] | si | si  | Same value as in Mandarin | 寫 (ㄒㄧㄚˋ siá)
Alveolar | ㄗ | [t͡s] | ch | ts | z  | Same value as in Mandarin | 曾 (ㄗㄢ chan)
ㆡ | [d͡z] | j | zz  | Derived from ㄗ as a voiced counterpart | 熱 (ㆡㄨㄚㆷ. jua̍h)
ㄘ | [t͡sʰ] | chh | tsh | c  | Same value as in Mandarin | 出 (ㄘㄨㆵ chhut)
ㄙ | [s] | s | s  | Same value as in Mandarin | 衫 (ㄙㆩ saⁿ)
Rhymes and medials
Group | Symbol | IPA | POJ | TL | BP | Notes | Example
Vowels  | ㄚ | [a] | a | a  | Same value as in Mandarin | 查 (ㄘㄚ cha)
ㆩ | [ã] | aⁿ | ann | na  | Derived from ㄚ as a nasalized counterpart | 衫 (ㄙㆩ saⁿ)
ㆦ | [ɔ] | o͘ | oo | oo  | New symbol solely used in Taiwanese, derived from ㄛ | 烏 (ㆦ o͘ )
ㆧ | [ɔ̃] | oⁿ | onn | noo  | Derived from ㆦ as a nasalized counterpart | 翁 (ㆧ oⁿ)
ㄜ | [ə] | o | o  | Different value from Mandarin, in Mandarin [ɰɤ]. May written as ㄛ and pronounced [o] in some dialects | 高 (ㄍㄜ ko)
ㆤ | [e] | e | e  | New symbol solely used in Taiwanese | 禮 (ㄌㆤˋ lé)
ㆥ | [ẽ] | eⁿ | enn | ne  | Derived from ㆤ as a nasalized counterpart | 生 (ㄙㆥ seⁿ)
Diph-
thongs | ㄞ | [ai] | ai | ai  | Same value as in Mandarin |
ㆮ | [ãĩ] | aiⁿ | ainn | nai  | Derived from ㄞ as a nasalized counterpart |
ㄠ | [ɑu] | au | ao  | Same value as in Mandarin | 𠢕 (ㆣㄠˊ gâu)
ㆯ | [ɑ̃ũ] | auⁿ | aunn | nao  | Derived from ㄠ as a nasalized counterpart, rarely used |

finals  | ㆰ | [am] | am | am  | A combination of ㄚ and ㄇ | 暗 (ㆰ˪ ām)
ㆱ | [ɔm] | om | om  | A combination of ㆦ and ㄇ, rarely used | 掩 (ㆱ om)
ㆬ | [m̩] | m | m  | Derived from ㄇ. May be used as a final bilabial nasal or a syllabic consonant | 姆 (ㆬˋ ḿ)

finals  | ㄢ | [an] | an | an  | Same value as in Mandarin |
ㄣ | [n] | -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)

finals  | ㄤ | [aŋ] | ang | ang  | Same value as in Mandarin | 人 (ㄌㄤˊ lâng)
ㆲ | [ɔŋ] | ong | ong  | New symbol solely used in Taiwanese | 王 (ㆲˊ ông)
ㄥ | [əŋ] | -ng | -ng  | Only used in the final ㄧㄥ. | 英 (ㄧㄥ eng)
ㆭ | [ŋ̍] | ng | ng  | Derived from ㄫ. May be used as a final velar nasal or a syllabic consonant | 酸 (ㄙㆭ sng)
Medial
vowels  | ㄧ | [i] | i | i  | Same value as in Mandarin | 衣 (ㄧ i)
ㆪ | [ĩ] | iⁿ | inn | ni  | Derived from ㄧ as a nasalized counterpart | 圓 (ㆪˊ îⁿ)
ㄨ | [u] | u/o[a] | u | u  | Same value as in Mandarin | 污 (ㄨ u)
ㆫ | [ũ] | uⁿ | unn | nu  | 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

[edit]

### Combined rhymes

[edit]

| Vowel(s) | Open syllables | Nasal | Plosive

|
|
|

[m] | [n] | [ŋ] | [p̚] | [t̚] | [k̚] | [ʔ]
[a]  | ㄚ | ㆩ | ㆰ | ㄢ | ㄤ | ㄚㆴ | ㄚㆵ | ㄚㆻ | ㄚㆷ | ㆩㆷ
[ai]  | ㄞ | ㆮ |  |  |  |  |  |  | ㄞㆷ | ㆮㆷ
[au]  | ㄠ |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ㄠㆷ |
[e]  | ㆤ | ㆥ |  |  |  |  |  |  | ㆤㆷ | ㆥㆷ
[i]  | ㄧ | ㆪ | ㄧㆬ | ㄧㄣ | ㄧㄥ | ㄧㆴ | ㄧㆵ | ㄧㆻ | ㄧㆷ | ㆪㆷ
[ia]  | ㄧㄚ | ㄧㆩ | ㄧㆰ | ㄧㄢ | ㄧㄤ | ㄧㄚㆴ | ㄧㄚㆵ | ㄧㄚㆻ | ㄧㄚㆷ | ㄧㆩㆷ
[iau]  | ㄧㄠ | ㄧㆯ |  |  |  |  |  |  | ㄧㄠㆷ |
[iə]  | ㄧㄜ |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ㄧㄜㆷ |
[iɔ]  |  |  |  |  | ㄧㆲ |  |  | ㄧㆦㆻ |  |
[iu]  | ㄧㄨ | ㄧㆫ |  |  |  |  |  |  | ㄧㄨㆷ | ㄧㆫㆷ
| Vowel(s) | Open syllables | Nasal | Plosive

|
|
|

[m] | [n] | [ŋ] | [p̚] | [t̚] | [k̚] | [ʔ]
[ə]  | ㄜ |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ㄜㆷ |
[ɔ]  | ㆦ | ㆧ | ㆱ |  | ㆲ | ㆦㆴ |  | ㆦㆻ | ㆦㆷ | ㆧㆷ
[u]  | ㄨ |  |  | ㄨㄣ |  |  | ㄨㆵ |  | ㄨㆷ |
[ua]  | ㄨㄚ | ㄨㆩ |  | ㄨㄢ |  |  | ㄨㄚㆵ |  | ㄨㄚㆷ |
[uai]  | ㄨㄞ | ㄨㆮ |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
[ue]  | ㄨㆤ |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ㄨㆤㆷ |
[ui]  | ㄨㄧ |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
[m̩]  | ㆬ | － | ㆬㆷ
[ŋ̍]  | ㆭ | － | ㆭㆷ

### Tones

[edit]

Tone No.  | 1 | 2(6) | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Name  | 陰平 | 上聲 | 陰去 | 陰入 | 陽平 | 陽去 | 陽入
im-pîng | siōng-siann | im-khì | im-ji̍p | iông-pîng | iông-khì | iông-ji̍p
Symbol  | none | ˋ | ˪ | ㄅ, ㄉ, ㄍ, ㄏ | ˊ | ˫ | ㄅ̇, ㄉ̇, ㄍ̇, ㄏ̇
Pitch  | ˥ | ˥˩ | ˧˩ | ˧ʔ | ˨˦ | ˧ | ˥ʔ
55 | 51 | 31 | 3ʔ | 24 | 33 | 5ʔ
Example  | ㄉㆲ (東) | ㄉㆲˋ (黨) | ㄉㆲ˪ (棟) | ㄉㆦㆻ (督) | ㄉㆲˊ (同) | ㄉㆲ˫ (洞) | ㄉㆦㆻ̇ (毒)

## Example

[edit]

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

[edit]

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)

| 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

1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0
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)

| 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

1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0

## Font support

[edit]

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

[edit]

* Taiwanese Hokkien
* Written Hokkien
* Pe̍h-ōe-jī
* Taiwanese Romanization System
* Taiwanese kana
* Bopomofo

## References

[edit]

1. ^ 吳守禮, 吳昭新. 華、台語注音符號溯源 (PDF). Archived from the original on 2020-01-12. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "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。

## External links

[edit]

* 教育部方音符號系統 Archived 2014-05-05 at the Wayback Machine
* 吳守禮, 吳昭新. "華、台語注音符號總表" Archived 2013-02-28 at the Wayback Machine
* 吳守禮, 吳昭新. "台語七種拼音法對照表"
* 吳昭新. "台語注音符號二式"

* v
* t
* e

Chinese language

Sinitic languages

Major linguistic groups

| Mandarin|

| Northeastern|

* Changchun
* Harbin
* Shenyang
* Taz

|

Beijing|

* Beijing
* Taiwan

Jilu|

* Tianjin
* Jinan

Jiaoliao|

* Dalian
* Qingdao
* Weihai

Central Plains|

* Dongping
* Gangou
* Guanzhong
* Xi'an
* Luoyang
* Xuzhou
* Dungan
* Xinjiang

Southwestern|

* Sichuanese
* Chengdu–Chongqing
* (?) Minjiang
* Leshan
* Renshou–Fushun [zh]
* Zigong
* Kunming
* Nanping
* Wuhan
* Gui–Liu
* Wuming

Jianghuai|

* Nanjing
* Nantong
* Nanping

Lanyin|

* Lanzhou dialect [zh]
* Ürümqi dialect [zh]
* Xinjiang

Other|

* Junjiahua
* Qinjiang
* Gyami

Jin|

* Zhangjiakou–Hohhot
* Zhi–Yan

Wu|

| Taihu|

* Shanghai
* Suzhou
* Wuxi
* Changzhou
* (?) Hangzhou
* Shaoxing
* Ningbo
* Jinxiang
* Jiangyin
* Shadi

|

Taizhou Wu|

* Taizhou
* Tiantai

Oujiang|

* Wenzhou
* Rui'an
* Wencheng

Wuzhou|

* Jinhua

Chu–Qu|

* Quzhou
* Jiangshan
* Qingtian

Xuanzhou|

* Xuancheng

Huizhou|

* Ji-She [zh]
* Xiu-Yi [zh]
* Qi-De [zh]
* Yanzhou [zh]
* Jing-Zhan [zh]

Gan|

* Chang–Du
* Nanchang
* Yi–Liu
* Ying–Yi
* Da–Tong

Xiang|

* Changyi
* Changsha
* Loushao
* Shuangfeng
* Xiangxiang
* Wugang
* Ji–Xu
* Yong–Quan
* Qiyang

Min|

| Eastern|

| Houguan [zh]|

* Fuzhou
* Fuqing
* Changle
* Gutian
* Matsu

|

Fu–Ning [zh]|

* Ningde
* Fu'an

Other|

* Manjiang
* Zhongshan
* Longdu
* Nanlang

Pu–Xian|

* Putian
* Xianyou

Southern|

| Hokkien|

* Quanzhou
* Zhangzhou
* Amoy
* Chawan
* Taiwan
* Philippines
* Penang
* Medan
* Singapore
* Southern Malaysia

|

Teochew|

* Swatow
* Haklau
* Pontianak

Zhongshan|

* Sanxiang

Other|

* Zhenan
* Longyan

Leizhou|

* Zhanjiang

Hainan|

* Wenchang
* Haikou
* Banqiao

Inland|

* Northern
* Jian'ou
* Jianyang
* Central
* Shao–Jiang

Hakka|

* Huiyang [zh]
* Changting
* Meixian
* Pontianak
* Singkawang
* Taiwan
* Sixian
* Hailu
* Raoping
* Tingzhou
* Wuhua

Yue|

| Yuehai|

* Guangzhou
* Hong Kong
* Malaysia
* Xiguan
* Jiujiang
* Shiqi
* Weitou
* Dapeng

|

Siyi|

* Taishan
* Xinhui [zh]

Other|

* Gao–Yang
* Goulou
* Wu–Hua
* Yong–Xun
* Luo–Guang
* Qin–Lian

Pinghua|

* Northern Pinghua
* Tongdao
* Younian
* Southern Pinghua
* Yongjiang
* Guandao
* Rongjiang

Unclassified|

* Shaozhou Tuhua
* Xiangnan Tuhua
* Danzhou
* Badong Yao
* Shehua
* Waxiang
* Yeheni
* Huizhou
* Mai
* Laobeizi

(?) Macro-Bai|

* Bai
* Cai-Long
* Caijia
* Longjia
* Luren

Standard forms of Chinese

| Mandarin
(Standard Chinese)|

* Sichuanese
* Taiwanese
* Philippine
* Malaysian
* Singaporean
* Standard

|

Other varieties|

* Cantonese
* Hokkien
* Hakka

History, phonology, and grammar

| History|

* Old Chinese
* Eastern Han
* Middle Chinese
* Old Mandarin
* Middle Mandarin
* Proto-Min
* Proto-Hakka
* Ba–Shu
* Gan

|

Phonology|

* Historical
* Old
* Old National
* Cantonese
* Hokkien
* Northern Wu
* Mandarin
* Literary and colloquial readings

Grammar|

* Numerals
* Classifiers
* Honorifics
* Cantonese grammar
* Classical grammar

Idioms|

* Chengyu
* Xiehouyu

Written Chinese and input methods

| Literary forms|

| Official|

* Classical
* Adoption
* in Japan
* in Vietnam
* Vernacular

|

* Written Cantonese
* Written Dungan
* Written Hokkien
* Written Sichuanese

Scripts|

| Logographic|

| Script styles|

* Oracle bone
* Bronze
* Seal
* Clerical
* Semi-cursive
* Cursive

|

* Chinese characters
* Simplified
* Traditional
* Punctuation

Braille|

* Cantonese
* Mainland Chinese
* Taiwanese
* Two-cell

Phonetic|

* Romanization
* Gwoyeu Romatzyh
* Hanyu Pinyin
* MPS II
* Postal
* Tongyong Pinyin
* Wade–Giles
* EFEO
* Lessing-Othmer
* Yale
* Cyrillization
* Dungan Cyrillic
* Bopomofo
* Cantonese Bopomofo
* Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols
* Taiwanese kana
* Taiwanese Hangul
* Xiao'erjing
* Nüshu

Input methods|

| Logographic|

* Biaoxingma
* Boshiamy [zh]
* Cangjie
* Simplified
* CKC
* Dayi
* Stroke count
* Wubi (Wang Ma)
* ZhengMa
* Q9

|

Pinyin|

* Google
* Microsoft
* Sogou

List of varieties of Chinese

* v
* t
* e

Min Chinese

Languages

| Eastern Min|

| Houguan|

* Fuzhou dialect
* Fuqing dialect
* Changle dialect
* Gutian dialect
* Matsu dialect

|

Funing|

* Xiapu dialect
* Fu'an dialect
* Ningde dialect

Others|

* Manjiang dialect
* Zhongshan Min
* Longdu dialect
* Nanlang dialect

Southern Min|

| Teochew|

* Swatow dialect

|

Hokkien|

* Amoy dialect
* Quanzhou dialects
* Hui'an dialect
* Yongchun dialect
* Zhangzhou dialects
* Chawan dialect
* Longyan dialect
* Taiwanese
* Banana colloquial speech
* Northern Malacca Straits Hokkien
* Penang Hokkien
* Medan Hokkien
* Kelantan Peranakan Hokkien
* Philippine Hokkien
* Southern Malacca Straits Hokkien
* Southern Peninsular Malaysian Hokkien
* Singaporean Hokkien

Others|

* Datian Min
* Houlu dialect
* Haklau Min
* Zhenan Min
* Zhongshan Min
* Sanxiang dialect

Pu–Xian Min
(Hinghwa)|

* Putian dialect
* Xianyou dialect

Northern Min|

* Jian'ou dialect
* Jianyang dialect

Shao–Jiang Min|

* Shaowu dialect
* Jiangle dialect

Central Min|

* Sanming dialect
* Shaxian dialect
* Yong'an dialect

Leizhou Min|

* Zhanjiang dialect

Hainanese|

* Haikou dialect
* Wenchang dialect

Writing system

| Logographic|

* Chinese characters

|

Alphabetic|

* Pe̍h-ōe-jī
* Pe̍h-ūe-jī
* Hainan Romanized
* Foochow Romanized
* Hinghwa Romanized
* Kienning Colloquial Romanized
* Taiwanese Romanization System
* Taiwanese Language Phonetic Alphabet
* Daighi tongiong pingim
* Bbánlám pìngyīm
* Peng'im
* Fuzhou Transliteration Scheme
* Hainanese Transliteration Scheme

Mixed|

* Hàn-lô

Research

| Proto-languages|

* Proto-Min

|

Rime dictionaries|

* Qi Lin Bayin
* Jianzhou Ba Yin

* v
* t
* e

Types of writing systems

| Overview|

* History of writing
* Grapheme

|

Lists|

* Writing systems
* undeciphered
* inventors
* constructed
* Languages by writing system / by first written accounts

Types

Abjads

* Numerals

* Aramaic
* Hatran
* Arabic
* Elifba
* Egyptian hieroglyphs
* Elymaic
* Hebrew
* Ashuri
* Cursive
* Rashi
* Solitreo
* Tifinagh
* Mandaic
* Manichaean
* Nabataean
* Ancient North Arabian
* Pahlavi
* Book
* Inscriptional
* Inscriptional Parthian
* Psalter
* Pegon
* Phoenician
* Paleo-Hebrew
* Pitman shorthand
* Proto-Sinaitic
* Punic
* Samaritan
* South Arabian
* Zabur
* Musnad
* Sogdian
* Syriac
* ʾEsṭrangēlā
* Serṭā
* Maḏnḥāyā
* Teeline Shorthand
* Ugaritic

Abugidas

| Brahmic|

| Northern|

* Bengali–Assamese
* Bhaiksuki
* Brahmi script
* Devanagari
* Dogri
* Gujarati
* Gupta
* Gurmukhi
* Kaithi
* Kalinga
* Khema
* Khojki
* Khudabadi
* Laṇḍā
* Lepcha
* Mahajani
* Marchen
* Meitei
* Modi
* Multani
* Nagari
* Nandinagari
* Nepalese scripts
* Bhujimol
* Golmol
* Himmol
* Kummol
* Kvemmol
* Pachumol
* Pracalit
* Ranjana
* Tamyig
* Tirhuta
* Limbu
* Litumol
* Odia
* Karani
* ʼPhags-pa
* Sharada
* Siddhaṃ
* Soyombo
* Sylheti Nagri
* Takri
* Tibetan
* Uchen
* Umê
* Tocharian
* Zanabazar square

|

Southern|

* Ahom
* Balinese
* Batak
* Baybayin
* Bhattiprolu
* Buda
* Buhid
* Chakma
* Cham
* Fakkham
* Grantha
* Goykanadi
* Hanunoo
* Javanese
* Kadamba
* Kannada
* Karen
* Kawi
* Khmer
* Khom Thai
* Kulitan
* Lanna
* Langdi
* Lao
* Leke
* Lontara
* Bilang-bilang
* Makasar
* Malayalam
* Old Maldivian
* Dhives Akuru
* Eveyla Akuru
* Mon–Burmese
* Pallava
* Pyu
* Saurashtra
* Shan
* Sinhala
* Sukhothai
* Sundanese
* Old Sundanese
* Tagbanwa
* Tai Le
* New Tai Lue
* Tai Noi
* Tai Tham
* Tai Viet
* Lai Tay
* Tamil
* Tamil-Brahmi
* Tanchangya
* Telugu
* Thai
* Tigalari
* Ulu scripts
* Incung
* Lampung
* Lembak
* Ogan
* Pasemah
* Rejang
* Serawai
* Vatteluttu
* Kolezhuthu
* Malayanma

Others|

* Bharati
* Boyd's syllabic shorthand
* Canadian syllabics
* Blackfoot
* Déné syllabics
* Dham
* Fox I
* Geʽez
* Gunjala Gondi
* Japanese Braille
* Sarati
* Jenticha
* Kharosthi
* Mandombe
* Masaram Gondi
* Meroitic
* Miao
* Mwangwego
* Pahawh Hmong
* Sorang Sompeng
* Tengwar
* Thaana
* Thomas Natural Shorthand
* Warang Citi
* Mwangwego
* Rma

Alphabets

| Linear|

* Adlam
* Ariyaka
* Armenian
* Avestan
* Pazend
* Avoiuli
* Bassa Vah
* Carian
* Caucasian Albanian
* Cirth
* Coelbren
* Coorgi–Cox alphabet
* Coptic
* Cyrillic
* Serbian
* Early
* Deseret
* Duployan shorthand
* Chinook
* Eclectic shorthand
* Elbasan
* Enochian
* Etruscan
* Formosan
* Fox II
* Fraser
* Gabelsberger shorthand
* Gadabuursi
* Garay alphabet
* Georgian
* Asomtavruli
* Nuskhuri
* Mkhedruli
* Veso Bey
* Glagolitic
* Gothic
* Gregg shorthand
* Greek (Archaic)
* Greco-Iberian alphabet
* Hangul
* Hanifi
* Sunuwar
* Kaddare
* Kayah Li
* Klingon
* Latin
* Beneventan
* Blackletter
* Carolingian minuscule
* Fraktur
* Gaelic
* Insular
* IPA
* Kurrent
* Merovingian
* Sigla
* Sütterlin
* Tironian notes
* Visigothic
* Luo
* Lycian
* Lydian
* Manchu
* Medefaidrin
* Molodtsov
* Mru
* Mundari Bani
* N'Ko
* Ogham
* Ol Chiki
* Old Hungarian
* Old Italic
* Old Permic
* Orkhon
* Old Uyghur
* Mongolian
* Evenki
* Galik alphabet
* Manchu
* Oirat
* Vagindra
* Ol Onal
* Osage
* Osmanya
* Pau Cin Hau
* Phrygian
* Pisidian
* Runic
* Anglo-Saxon
* Cipher
* Dalecarlian
* Elder Futhark
* Younger Futhark
* Gothic
* Marcomannic
* Medieval
* Staveless
* Shavian
* Sidetic
* Sorang Sompeng
* Sunuwar
* Tifinagh
* Todhri
* Tolong Siki
* Vellara
* Visible Speech
* Vithkuqi
* Wancho
* Warang Citi
* Yezidi
* Zaghawa

|

Non-linear|

* Braille
* Maritime flags
* Telegraph code
* New York Point
* Flag semaphore
* Moon type

Ideograms

* Adinkra
* Aztec
* Blissymbols
* Dongba
* Ersu Shaba
* Emoji
* Isotype
* Kaidā
* Miꞌkmaw
* Mixtec
* New Epoch Notation Painting
* Nsibidi
* Anishinaabewibii'iganan
* Olmec
* Siglas poveiras
* Testerian
* Yerkish
* Zapotec

Logograms

| Chinese family of scripts|

| Chinese characters|

* Simplified
* Traditional
* Oracle bone script
* Bronze scripts
* Seal script
* large
* small
* bird-worm
* Hanja
* Kanji
* Chữ Nôm
* Sawndip
* Bowen

|

Chinese-influenced|

* Jurchen
* Khitan large script
* Sui
* Tangut

Cuneiform|

* Akkadian
* Assyrian
* Elamite
* Hittite
* Luwian
* Sumerian

Other logosyllabic|

* Anatolian
* Bagam
* Cretan
* Isthmian
* Maya
* Proto-Elamite
* Tenevil
* Yi (Classical)

Logoconsonantal|

* Demotic
* Hieratic
* Hieroglyphs

Numerals|

* Hindu-Arabic
* Abjad
* Attic (Greek)
* Muisca
* Roman

Other|

* Sitelen Pona

Semi-syllabaries

| Full|

* Linear Elamite
* Celtiberian
* Iberian
* Northeastern
* Southeastern
* Khom
* Dunging

|

Redundant|

* Espanca script
* Pahawh Hmong
* Khitan small script
* Southwest Paleohispanic
* Bopomofo
* Quốc Âm Tân Tự

Sign languages

* ASLwrite
* SignWriting
* si5s
* Stokoe notation

Syllabaries

* Afaka
* Bamum
* Bété
* Byblos
* Canadian Aboriginal
* Cherokee
* Cypriot
* Cypro-Minoan
* Ditema tsa Dinoko
* Eskayan
* Geba
* Great Lakes Algonquian
* Iban
* Idu
* Kana
* Hiragana
* Katakana
* Man'yōgana
* Hentaigana
* Sōgana
* Jindai moji
* Kikakui
* Kpelle
* Linear B
* Linear Elamite
* Lisu
* Loma
* Nüshu
* Nwagu Aneke script
* Old Persian cuneiform
* Sumerian
* Vai
* Woleai
* Yi
* Yugtun

* v
* t
* e

Braille ⠃⠗⠁⠊⠇⠇⠑

Braille cell|

* 1829 braille
* International uniformity
* ASCII braille
* Unicode braille patterns

Braille scripts|

| French-ordered|

* Albanian
* Azerbaijani
* Cantonese
* Catalan
* Chinese (mainland Mandarin) (largely reassigned)
* Czech
* Dutch
* English (Unified English)
* Esperanto
* French
* German
* Ghanaian
* Guarani
* Hawaiian
* Hungarian
* Iñupiaq
* IPA
* Irish
* Italian
* Latvian
* Lithuanian
* Luxembourgish (extended to 8-dot)
* Maltese
* Māori
* Navajo
* Nigerian
* Philippine
* Polish
* Portuguese
* Romanian
* Samoan
* Slovak
* South African
* Spanish
* Taiwanese Mandarin (largely reassigned)
* Turkish
* Vietnamese
* Welsh
* Yugoslav
* Zambian

| Nordic family|

* Estonian
* Faroese
* Icelandic
* Scandinavian
* Danish
* Finnish
* Greenlandic
* Northern Sámi
* Norwegian
* Swedish

|

Russian lineage family
i.e. Cyrillic-mediated scripts|

* Belarusian
* Bulgarian
* Kazakh
* Kyrgyz
* Mongolian
* Russian
* Tatar
* Ukrainian

Egyptian lineage family
i.e. Arabic-mediated scripts|

* Arabic
* Persian
* Urdu (Pakistan)

Indian lineage family
i.e. Bharati Braille|

* Devanagari (Hindi / Marathi / Nepali)
* Bengali (Bangla / Assamese)
* Gujarati
* Kannada
* Malayalam
* Odia
* Punjabi
* Sinhala
* Tamil
* Telugu
* Urdu (India)

Other scripts|

* Amharic
* Armenian
* Burmese
* Dzongkha (Bhutanese)
* Georgian
* Greek
* Hebrew
* Inuktitut (reassigned vowels)
* Khmer
* Thai and Lao (Japanese vowels)
* Tibetan

Reordered|

* Algerian Braille (obsolete)

Frequency-based|

* American Braille (obsolete)

Independent|

* Chinese semi-syllabaries
* Cantonese
* Mainland Chinese Mandarin
* Taiwanese Mandarin
* Two-cell Chinese (Shuangpin)
* Japanese
* Korean

Eight-dot|

* Luxembourgish
* Kanji
* Gardner–Salinas braille codes (GS8)

Symbols in braille|

* Braille music
* Canadian currency marks
* Computer Braille Code
* Gardner–Salinas braille codes (science; GS8/GS6)
* International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
* Nemeth braille code

Braille technology|

* Braille e-book
* Braille embosser
* Braille translator
* Braille watch
* Mountbatten Brailler
* Optical braille recognition
* Perforation
* Perkins Brailler
* Refreshable braille display
* Slate and stylus
* Braigo

People|

* Louis Braille
* Charles Barbier
* Róża Czacka
* Valentin Haüy
* Harris Mowbray
* Thakur Vishva Narain Singh
* Sabriye Tenberken
* William Bell Wait

Organisations|

* Braille Institute of America
* Braille Without Borders
* Japan Braille Library
* National Braille Association
* Blindness organizations
* Schools for the blind
* American Printing House for the Blind

Other tactile alphabets|

* Decapoint
* Moon type
* New York Point
* Night writing
* Vibratese

Related topics|

* Accessible publishing
* Braille literacy
* RoboBraille

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template