Bopomofo

Bopomofo
Bopomofo
Zhuyinbaike.svg
Type Semisyllabary (letters for onsets and rimes; diacritics for tones)
Languages Chinese languages, Formosan languages
Creator Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation
Time period 1913 to the present, now used as ruby characters in Taiwan for Chinese, and as the principal script for Formosan
Parent systems
Sister systems Simplified Chinese, Kanji, Hanja, Chữ Nôm, Khitan script
ISO 15924 Bopo, 285
Direction Left-to-right
Unicode alias Bopomofo
Unicode range U+3100–U+312F,
U+31A0–U+31BF
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols.
Bopomofo
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Chinese romanization
Mandarin
for Standard Chinese
    Hanyu Pinyin (ISO standard)
    EFEO
    Gwoyeu Romatzyh
        Spelling conventions
    Latinxua Sin Wenz
    Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II
    Chinese Postal Map Romanization
    Tongyong Pinyin
    Wade–Giles
    Yale
    Legge romanization
    Simplified Wade
    Comparison chart
for Sichuanese Mandarin
    Sichuanese Pinyin
    Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz
Yue
for Cantonese
    Guangdong Romanization
    Hong Kong Government
    Jyutping
    Meyer-Wempe
    Sidney Lau
    S. L. Wong (phonetic symbols)
    S. L. Wong (romanisation)
    Cantonese Pinyin
    Standard Romanization
    Yale
    Barnett–Chao
Wu
for Shanghai and Suzhou dialects
    Long-short
for Wenzhounese

    Wenzhounese romanisation

Min Nan
for Taiwanese, Amoy, and related
    Pe̍h-ōe-jī
    Bbínpīn Hōngàn
    Daighi tongiong pingim
    Modern Literal Taiwanese
    Phofsit Daibuun
    Tâi-lô
    TLPA
for Hainanese
    Hainanhua Pinyin Fang'an
for Teochew
    Peng'im
Min Dong
for Fuzhou dialect
    Foochow Romanized
Hakka
for Moiyan dialect
    Kejiahua Pinyin Fang'an
For Siyen dialect
    Pha̍k-fa-sṳ
    TLPA
Gan
for Nanchang dialect
    Pha̍k-oa-chhi
See also:
   General Chinese
   Cyrillization
   Xiao'erjing
   'Phags-pa script
   Bopomofo
   Taiwanese kana
   Romanisation in Singapore
   Romanisation in the ROC
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Zhuyin fuhao (pinyin: Zhùyīn fúhào; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄓㄨˋ ㄧㄣ ㄈㄨˊ ㄏㄠˋ; literally "phonetic symbol"), often abbreviated as zhuyin and colloquially called bopomofo,[1] was introduced in the 1910s as the first official phonetic system for transcribing Chinese, especially Mandarin.

Consisting of 37 characters and four tone marks, it transcribes all possible sounds in Mandarin. Despite being phased out in Mainland China in the 1950s, this system is still widely used as an educational tool and Chinese computer input method in Taiwan.

Contents

Name

Zhuyin is often called bopomofo whose name is derived from the first four letters of the system (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) and occasionally used to refer to pinyin in mainland China. In official documents, it is occasionally called the "Mandarin Phonetic Symbols I" (國語注音符號第一式), abbreviated as the "MPS I" (注音一式).

In English translations, the system is often called either Chu-yin or the Mandarin Phonetic Symbols.[2][3] A romanized version of bopomofo, released in 1984, is called MPS II.

History

The Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation, led by Woo Tsin-hang from 1912 to 1913, created a system called Guóyīn Zìmǔ (國音字母 "National Pronunciation Letters") or Zhùyīn Zìmǔ (註音字母 or 注音字母 "Sound-annotating Letters")[2] which is based on Zhang Binglin's shorthands.

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.[2] zhùyīn zìmǔ was renamed zhùyīn fúhào in April 1930.

The symbols were initially called Zhùyīn Zìmǔ ("Phonetic Alphabet"); later they were also called Guóyīn Zìmǔ ("National Phonetic Alphabet"). The fear that they might be considered an alphabetic system of writing independent of characters led to their being renamed Zhùyīn Fúhào ("Phonetic Symbols") in 1930.[4]

After 1949, bopomofo was superseded in mainland China by the pinyin system promulgated by the People's Republic of China, but its use is retained in Taiwan.

Modern use

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

In grade one, Chinese characters in textbooks are often annotated with bopomofo as students take ten weeks to learn them.[clarification needed][citation needed]

In teaching Mandarin, Taiwan institutions and some overseas communities still use bopomofo as a learning tool.

Besides transcribing Chinese, bopomofo is also used as the primary writing system for a few aboriginal languages of Taiwan, such as Atayal,[5] Seediq,[6] Paiwan,[7] or Tao.[8] It is sometimes used to annotate Taiwanese Hokkien,[9] a widely spoken Chinese language in Taiwan, however pe̍h-ōe-jī romanization is more common in use.

Etymology

The zhuyin letters were created by Zhang Binglin, and mainly taken from "regularized" forms of ancient Chinese characters, the modern readings of which contain the sound that each letter represents.

Origin of zhuyin symbols
Zhuyin Pinyin Origin
b From , the ancient form and current top portion of bāo
p From , the combining form of
m From , the archaic character and current radical
f From fāng
d From the archaic form of dāo. Compare the bamboo form Dao1 knife bamboo graph.png.
t From the upside-down seen at the top of
n From Nai3 chu silk form.png/

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • BoPoMoFo — Equivalence Zhuyin Pinyin les traits sont tracés dans l ordre rouge, vert, bleu Le bopomofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) ou zhuyin fuhao (caractères traditionnels : 注音符號 ; caractères simplifiés : 注音符号 ; pinyin : Zhùyīn fúhào ; Tongyong… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bopomofo — Equivalence Zhuyin Pinyin les traits sont tracés dans l ordre rouge, vert, bleu Le bopomofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) ou zhuyin fuhao (caractères traditionnels : 注音符號 ; caractères simplifiés : 注音符号 ; pinyin : Zhùyīn fúhào ; Tongyong… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bopomofo — Zhuyin Fuhao Schrifttyp Kombiniertes Alphabet und Silbenschrift Sprachen Chinesisch Entstehung ab ca. 1920 Offiziell in Taiwan Abstammung …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • bopomofo — noun Name for Zhuyin fuhao used by ISO and Unicode …   Wiktionary

  • Unicode-Block Bopomofo — Der Unicode Block Bopomofo (Bopomofo) (3100–312F) enthält die Basiszeichen des Zhuyin, das auf Taiwan zur Transkription des Chinesischen genutzt wird. Weitere Zeichen befinden sich im Unicode Block Bopomofo, erweitert. Unicode Nummer Zeichen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Unicode-Block Bopomofo, erweitert — Der Unicode Block Bopomofo Extended (Bopomofo, erweitert) (31A0–31BF) enthält die erweiterten Zeichen des Zhuyin, die zur Transkription von chinesischen Minderheitensprachen benötigt werden. Die Basiszeichen befinden sich im Unicode Block… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Zhuyin — Bopomofo Equivalence Zhuyin Pinyin les traits sont tracés dans l ordre rouge, vert, bleu Le bopomofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) ou zhuyin fuhao (caractères traditionnels : 注音符號 ; caractères simplifiés : 注音符号 ; pinyin : Zhùyīn fúhào ;… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Romanization of Mandarin Chinese — National language (國語; Guóyǔ) written in Traditional and Simplified Chinese characters, followed by Hanyu Pinyin, Gwoyeu Romatzyh, Tongyong Pinyin and Wade Giles romanizations. Chinese romanization Mandarin for Stand …   Wikipedia

  • Liste der Unicode-Zeichen — Die Liste der Unicode Blöcke listet alle Ebenen und Blöcke des Unicode Standards auf. Unicode Ebenen (planes) sind die übergeordnete Struktur für die Unicode Blöcke (blocks). Jede der 17 Ebenen enthält 216 = 65,536 Codepoints; zur Zeit ist nur… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Liste von Unicode-Zeichen — Die Liste der Unicode Blöcke listet alle Ebenen und Blöcke des Unicode Standards auf. Unicode Ebenen (planes) sind die übergeordnete Struktur für die Unicode Blöcke (blocks). Jede der 17 Ebenen enthält 216 = 65,536 Codepoints; zur Zeit ist nur… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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