Meyer–Wempe
Romanization of Chinese |
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Mandarin |
Wu |
Yue |
Min |
Gan |
Hakka |
Xiang |
Polylectal |
See also |
Meyer–Wempe
Provenance
Although some [2] attribute development of the system to them, there was nothing new in it[1]: Explanatory Notes as their entire schema followed the system devised in the last decade of the 19th century known as Standard Romanization (SR), which, in turn, was almost identical to John Chalmers' system of 1870.[3] Chalmers' system was significant in that it was the first system to virtually do away with diacritics entirely, the sole survivor being his final ö, which is eu in the Standard Romanization while being in this one oeh.
Initials
p [p] |
p' [pʰ] |
m [m] |
f [f] |
|
t [t] |
t' [tʰ] |
n [n] |
l [l] | |
k [k] |
k' [kʰ] |
ng [ŋ] |
h [h] |
|
kw [kw] |
k'w [kʰw] |
oo, w [w] | ||
ts [ts] |
ts' [tsʰ] |
s [s] |
i, y [j] | |
ch [tɕ] |
ch' [tɕʰ] |
sh [ɕ] |
The distinction between the
Finals
a [aː] |
aai [aːi] |
aau [aːu] |
aam [aːm] |
aan [aːn] |
aang [aːŋ] |
aap [aːp] |
aat [aːt] |
aak [aːk] |
ai [ɐi] |
au [ɐu] |
am, om [ɐm] |
an [ɐn] |
ang [ɐŋ] |
ap, op [ɐp] |
at [ɐt] |
ak [ɐk] | |
e [ɛː] |
ei [ei] |
eng [ɛːŋ] |
ek [ɛːk] | |||||
i [iː] |
iu [iːu] |
im [iːm] |
in [iːn] |
ing [eŋ] |
ip [iːp] |
it [iːt] |
ik [ek] | |
oh [ɔː] |
oi [ɔːy] |
o [ou] |
on [ɔːn] |
ong [ɔːŋ] |
ot [ɔːt] |
ok [ɔːk] | ||
oo [uː] |
ooi [uːy] |
oon [uːn] |
ung [oŋ] |
oot [uːt] |
uk [ok] | |||
oeh [œː] |
ui [ɵy] |
un [ɵn] |
eung [œːŋ] |
ut [ɵt] |
euk [œːk] | |||
ue [yː] |
uen [yːn] |
uet [yːt] |
||||||
m [m̩] |
ng [ŋ̩] |
The finals m and ng can only be used as standalone
Tones
Diacritics are used to mark the six tones of Cantonese.[4] The tone mark should be placed above the first letter of the final.
No. | Description | Contour | Tone mark | Example |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | high flat/high falling | 55 / 53 | No mark | ma |
2 | high rising | 35 | Acute accent ( ´ ) | má |
3 | mid flat | 33 | Grave accent ( ` ) | mà |
4 | low falling | 21 | Circumflex ( ˆ ) | mâ |
5 | low rising | 23 | Breve ( ˘ ) | mă |
6 | low flat | 22 | Macron( ¯ ) | mā |
References
- ^ a b Meyer, Bernard F; Wempe, Theodore F (1935). The Student's Cantonese-English Dictionary. Hong Kong: St Louis Industrial School.
- ISBN 9627141186.
- ^ Kataoka, Shin; Lee, Cream (2008). "A System without a System: Cantonese Romanization Used in Hong Kong Place and Personal Names". Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics: 82.
- ISBN 978-0887100949.
- English-Cantonese dictionary: Cantonese in Yale romanization. ISBN 962-201-970-6.