Chinese language romanization in Taiwan
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Romanization of Chinese |
---|
Mandarin |
Wu |
Yue |
Min |
Gan |
Hakka |
Xiang |
Polylectal |
See also |
There are many
Today, many commonly encountered Taiwanese proper names (places and people) are written in
Since most Taiwanese are taught Bopomofo as a way to transcribe the pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese words rather than a romanization system, there is little incentive to standardize romanization.[4]
History
Prior to Dutch arrival to Formosa, the Taiwanese indigenous peoples did not use writing.[citation needed] During the brief Dutch rule over the island, Dutch missionaries created the Sinkan (新港) romanization system based on their own language to communicate with and evangelize native Formosans, particularly the Siraya people, who continued to utilize the script for over a century after the Dutch departure.[5]
Character-based writing only became prominent after the arrival of
Under Qing dynasty rule over Taiwan (1683–1895), Mandarin (late imperial lingua franca) was used as an elite lingua franca in governance, and those privileged enough to attend school would study Chinese characters and Chinese classics,[9] while speaking Hokkien or Hakka natively. During this era, characters were also novelly deployed to write vernacular Hokkien books, called Koa-á-chehh.[8]
Pe̍h-ōe-jī (POJ), an orthography used to write variants of Southern Min, was the first Chinese language romanization system in Taiwan. It was developed by Presbyterian missionaries who arrived to the island circa 1860, based on previous work done by missionaries to Southern Min-speaking communities in Southeast Asia, particularly Malacca.[10] Pe̍h-ōe-jī is also the first written system for Taiwanese Hokkien, and a similar system for Hakka was also developed at that time. A milestone was reached when the system was standardized and popularized through Thomas Barclay's Taiwan Church News, beginning in 1885.[10]
In 1892, the Wade–Giles system for the romanization of
After the Japanese annexation of Taiwan in 1895 established Japan's colonial rule, Barclay encouraged Japanese officials to continue to use the system; Hokkien and written Chinese were tolerated, but Japanese was favored as the primary language of the island and a subject of mandatory education.[11] Pe̍h-ōe-jī eventually faced strong competition during the Japanese era in Taiwan (1895–1945) in the form of Taiwanese kana, a system designed as a teaching aid and pronunciation guide, rather than an independent orthography like POJ.[12]
At the time of Japanese annexation, neither Wade–Giles nor any other system came to serve as a uniform, standard romanization system. US Consul to Formosa
There is fortunately no variance in the
Changhwa, Changhoa, Chanhue, Chan-hua, Tchanghoua, to which now is added the Japanese pronunciation Shoka. Hobé struggles along with nine different spellings all the way from Hobi to Hou-ouei.— J. Davidson, The Island of Formosa (1903)[14]
Scottish missionary William Campbell, whose mission in Formosa lasted forty-six years, wrote extensively on topics related to Taiwan. In 1903, he wrote that even as place names had increased in number with the recent development of the island, no effort was being made to follow any well-defined and consistent method of spelling. He also attributed some of the inconsistency in romanization to following the sounds of Mandarin dialect as opposed to the way they are locally pronounced. He believed that "the pronunciation as seen in Roman-letter books used by the natives must be taken as basis; while for outside purposes a simple method of spelling, in which all redundant letters and unusual signs are omitted, should be adopted."[15] He also reported that, "since the cession of the island in 1895, the educational and telegraph departments have replaced the well-known Chinese names by Japanese ones."
From the 1930s onwards, with the increasing militarization of Japan and the Kōminka movement encouraging Taiwanese people to "Japanize", there were a raft of measures taken against local languages.[16] In the climate of the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War, the government banned the Taiwan Church News in 1942.
After the handover of Taiwan to the ROC, Mandarin has been used as the medium of instruction in the educational system and in the media. Use of dialects was considered unpatriotic and any further efforts to develop romanization schemes for them were prohibited.[17] Use of POJ for proselytizing was outlawed in 1955, and the Taiwan Church News was banned again in 1969.[10] In 1974, the Government Information Office banned Bernard Embree's A Dictionary of Southern Min, with a government official saying: "...we don't want it published as a book and sold publicly because of the Romanization it contains. Chinese should not be learning Chinese through Romanization."[18] With the ending of martial law in 1987, the restrictions on "local languages" were quietly lifted, resulting in growing interest in Taiwanese writing during the 1990s. From 1987 to 1999, thirty different romanizations were invented.
Wade–Giles (for Mandarin) continued to co-exist with several official but obscure romanizations in succession: Gwoyeu Romatzyh (GR), Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II (MPS II, 1986), and Tongyong Pinyin (2002).[19][20] Taiwan then switched to Hanyu Pinyin in 2009,[1][2] which had become the international standard for romanized Chinese in the previous decades.
When Tongyong was introduced, it was used to romanize placenames (excluding
Education
Romanization is not normally taught in Taiwan's
Textbooks teaching other languages of Taiwan — namely,
Government publications for teaching overseas Taiwanese children[21] usually are completely bilingual, but only have Zhuyin in the main body of the texts and a comparison chart of Zhuyin and one or more romanization systems. Those for teaching advanced learners (such as youths and adults) have infrequent phonetic annotations for new phrases or characters. These annotations, usually in the footnotes, are romanized, in addition to having Zhuyin.
Like most Mandarin instructional materials released in North America, phrasebooks and textbooks targeting Mandarin learners from overseas (mostly adult learners and workers) in Taiwan usually include only Hanyu Pinyin with tone marks (accompanied by Traditional Chinese characters).
Placenames
When the national government officially adopted Tongyong Pinyin in 2002, local governments were to make their own choices. Consequently, Taipei adopted Hanyu Pinyin.[22] Taipei replaced its earlier signage, most of which had used a modified version of Wade–Giles influenced by the Postal Office.[23] Elsewhere in Taiwan, signs tend to a mix of systems, with Tongyong being common, but still having many signs left over from the MPS II (or even the GR) era.
The legal standard since 2009, Hanyu Pinyin, is used fairly consistently on
The
Romanization errors on local street signs are common throughout Taiwan because of the shortage of a workforce trained in romanization and the lack of political will for correct implementation. Many common errors are derived from the accent of Taiwanese Mandarin, such as interchanging the -ng and -n sounds. For example, guan and guang are often confused with one another on signs and plaques. Random typos (such as replacing e with t) are also ubiquitous. The area with the fewest errors on official signage is Taipei.[citation needed]
Because of the
Personal names
Most people in Taiwan romanize their names using a variation of Wade–Giles. This simplified version employs no diacritics, tone marks, apostrophes,
There are a few Taiwanese personalities (such as politicians) whose names are in obscure or idiosyncratic schemes. For instance, using any major romanization, former president Lee Teng-hui's surname would have been Li. Former vice-president Vincent Siew's surname is a rare form of Xiao, from Hokkien (also Sio or Siau). Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan representative to the US, has a given name that is the Hokkien romanization of 美琴.[26] The given names of successive presidents Ma Ying-jeou and Tsai Ing-wen are romanized in Gwoyeu Romatzyh. The single closest romanization to Chen Shui-bian's name would be Hanyu Pinyin.
On August 9, 2019, the
Businesses
Public and private enterprises are not bound to any set of standards in their English names. The variations in this areas are therefore even greater and unpredictable. Some chose to transliterate their names, but others opted to translate the meaning. The first word of Chunghwa Telecom, Chinese Television and China Airlines are actually identical in Mandarin, i.e., Zhonghua (中華), meaning "Chinese (in a general sense)".
Many business owners use an ad hoc approach, so long as the result is pronounceable and visually pleasant. The
As many conglomerates in Taiwan are owned by the Hoklo, it is not uncommon to find companies that romanized their names in Hokkien. The Shin Kong Group, for example, is faithful to its Hokkien pronunciation (Chinese: 新光; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sin-kong) but not Mandarin.
Like those on street signs, romanization on store signs and commercial products' labels are not yet systematized.
Other contexts
Postal addresses are romanized officially in both Hanyu and Tongyong Pinyin.[28] Prior to 2000, addresses were usually written in Wade–Giles or MPS II. Given the correct 5-digit postal code, the postal workers are usually able to deliver mail in any romanization as well.
Most universities in Taiwan have names in Wade–Giles, such as
Since most elementary, middle, and senior high schools are under the jurisdiction of the local government, they follow whatever romanization the particular county or city uses at the time. For instance, during the first decade of the 21st century, the school signs outside of Taipei were usually in Tongyong Pinyin.
See also
- Romanization of Chinese, a general discussion across regions
- Daoism–Taoism romanization issue, case study of the academic contention in romanizing Chinese
- Wade–Giles · Punctuation section, example of deviations from set standards in Taiwanese romanizations
References
- ^ a b Shih, Hsiu-chuan (2008-09-18). "Hanyu Pinyin to be Standard System in 2009". Taipei Times. p. 2.
- ^ a b "Gov't to Improve English-Friendly Environment". The China Post. 2008-09-18. Archived from the original on 2008-09-19. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
- ^ Note: "Kaohsiung" is a Wade–Giles romanization
- ^ Mama, Mandarin (2015-11-20). "The Case for Zhuyin (Bopomofo)". Mandarin Mama. Retrieved 2016-07-08.
- ^ Lin (2015), pp. 194–95.
- ^ Chiung (2001), p. 3.
- ^ Chiung (2001), pp. 2–4.
- ^ a b Chiung (2001), p. 4.
- ^ Davidson (1903), pp. 601–2.
- ^ a b c Lin (2015), pp. 195.
- ^ Lin (2015), pp. 196.
- ^ Klöter (2005), p. 136.
- ^ Davidson (1903), p. 598(alternate romanizations in brackets from text and Index)
- ^ Davidson (1903), p. 261: "The name still remains the same so far as meaning is concerned, but the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters is given, and the two frequently sound about as much alike as Paris and Sondershausen...There is fortunately no variance in the romaji spelling of the Japanese pronunciations ; otherwise life in Formosa would be unbearable. The Chinese spelling and pronunciation is frequently given in as many as six or more different ways by as many so-called authorities. Tamsui, Tamshuy, Tamshui, Tamsoui, Tan-sui, are all one, likewise Changwha, Changhwa, Changhoa, Chanhue, Chan-hua, Tchanghoua, to which now is added the Japanese pronunciation Shoka. Hobé struggles along with nine different spellings all the way from Hobi to Hou-ouei."
- ^ Campbell (1903), p. 550.
- ^ Klöter (2005), p. 153.
- ^ Lin (2015), p. 198.
- OCLC 41879041. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
- ^ "Tongyong Pinyin the New System for Romanization". Taipei Times. 2002-07-11. p. 3.
- ^ Li, Yan (2002-07-12). "Taiwan Authority Concerned Passes Tongyong Pinyin Scheme". People's Daily Online.
- ^ "Sitemap". Global Chinese Language and Culture Center. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ Huang, Sandy (2002-08-03). "Ma Remains Tongyong Pinyin Holdout". Taipei Times. p. 2.
- ^ Swofford, Mark (2001-06-28). "Taipei's [Ridiculous] Nicknumbering System for Street Names". romanization.com. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ a b "Kaohsiung Nixes Proposal to Adopt Hanyu Pinyin Street Signs". Focus Taiwan. CNA. 2020-10-14.
- ^ Davidson (1903), p. iii: as variant Kelung
- ^ Mair, Victor (2020-07-21). "The Importance of Being and Speaking Taiwanese". Language Log.
- ^ Everington, Keoni (2019-08-15). "Taiwan Passport Can Now Include Names in Hoklo, Hakka, Indigenous Languages". Taiwan News.
- ^ "Postal Services – Zip Codes". Chunghwa Post. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
Works cited
- LCCN 04007338.
- Chiung, Wi-vun Taiffalo (2001). "Romanization and Language Planning in Taiwan*" (PDF). The Linguistic Association of Korea Journal. 9 (1): 15–43.
- OL 6931635M.
- Klöter, Henning (2005). Written Taiwanese. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 9783447050937.
- Lin, Peiyin (2015). "Language, Culture, and Identity: Romanization in Taiwan and Its Implications" (PDF). Taiwan Journal of East Asian Studies. 12 (2): 191–233. .
External links
- A Comparison of Various Chinese Romanization Systems, summary from the Government Information Office (no GR)
- A comparison chart of Chinese romanizations, with Tongyong Pinyin highlighted and include GR
- Differences between Tongyong Pinyin and Hanyu Pinyin