Bopomofo

"Zhuyin" redirects here. For the mythological creature, see Zhulong (mythology).

Bopomofo, also called Zhuyin Fuhao^[1] (/dʒuːˌjɪn fuːˈhaʊ/ joo-YIN foo-HOW; 注音符號; Zhùyīn fúhào; 'phonetic symbols'), or simply Zhuyin,^[2] is a transliteration system for Standard Chinese and other Sinitic languages. It is the principal method of teaching Chinese Mandarin pronunciation in Taiwan. It consists of 37 characters and five tone marks, which together can transcribe all possible sounds in Mandarin Chinese.

Bopomofo
"Encyclopedia" written in bopomofo
Script type	Semisyllabary with diacritics for tones
Creator	Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation Introduced by the Beiyang government of the Republic of China
Time period	Mainland China (1918–1958) Xiandai Hanyu Cidian (1960–2016; as a supplement to Hanyu Pinyin) Taiwan (1945–present)
Direction	Left-to-right, right-to-left script
Related scripts
Parent systems	Oracle bone script Seal script Clerical script Bopomofo
Child systems	Cantonese bopomofo, Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols, Suzhou Phonetic Symbols, Hmu Phonetic Symbols, Matsu Fuchounese bopomofo [zh]
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Bopo (285), ​Bopomofo
Unicode
Unicode alias	Bopomofo
Unicode range	U+3100–U+312F (Bopomofo) U+31A0–U+31BF (Bopomofo Extended)
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.

Mandarin Phonetic Symbols
Traditional Chinese	注音符號
Simplified Chinese	注音符号
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhùyīn fúhào Bopomofo ㄓㄨˋ ㄧㄣ ㄈㄨˊ ㄏㄠˋ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Juh'in fwuhaw Wade–Giles Chu4-yin1 fu2-hao4 Tongyong Pinyin Jhù-yin fú-hào MPS2 Jùyīn fúhàu IPA [ʈʂû.ín fǔ.xâʊ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jyuyām Fùhhóu Jyutping Zyu3 jam1 fu4 hou2 IPA [tsy˧ jɐm˥ fu˩ hɔw˧˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Chù-im hû-hō Tâi-lô Tsù-im hû-hō

Bopomofo was first introduced in China during the 1910s by the Beiyang government, where it was used alongside Wade–Giles, a romanization system which used a modified Latin alphabet. Today, Bopomofo is more common in Taiwan than on the mainland, and is used as the primary electronic input method for Taiwanese Mandarin, as well as in dictionaries and other non-official documents.

Terminology

Bopomofo is the name used for the system by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and Unicode. Analogous to how the word alphabet is derived from the names of the first two letters alpha and beta, the name bopomofo derives from the first four syllabographs in the system's conventional lexicographic order: ㄅ, ㄆ, ㄇ, and ㄈ.^[3]

In Taiwan the system is commonly known by its official name Zhuyin fuhao (注音符號; 'phonetic symbols'), or simply as zhuyin (注音; 'phonetic notation'). In official documents, it is occasionally called Mandarin Phonetic Symbols I (國語注音符號第一式), abbreviated as "MPS I" (注音一式),^[4][5] to distinguish it from the Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II (MPS II) system published in 1984. Formerly, the system was named Guoyin zimu (國音字母; 'national language alphabet') and Zhuyin zimu (註音字母; 'phonetic alphabet').^[4]

History

Origins

Main article: Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation § Phonetic symbols

The Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation, led by Wu Zhihui from 1912 to 1913, created a system called Zhuyin Zimu,^[4] which was based on Zhang Binglin's shorthand. It was used as the official phonetic script to annotate the sounds of the characters in accordance with the Old National Pronunciation.^[6] A draft was released on 11 July 1913, by the Republic of China National Ministry of Education, but it was not officially proclaimed until 23 November 1928.^[4] It was first named Guóyīn Zìmǔ 'national pronunciation alphabet', but in April 1930 was renamed Zhùyīn Fúhào 'phonetic symbols' to address fears that the alphabetic system might independently replace Chinese characters.^[7]

Modern use

A guide on how to typeset Bopomofo alongside characters. (1936, Li Jinxi)

Bopomofo is the predominant phonetic system in teaching, reading and writing in elementary school in Taiwan. 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 Bopomofo ruby characters.

It is also the most popular way for Taiwanese to enter Chinese characters into computers and smartphones and to look up characters in a dictionary.

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 the current 2016 edition (7th edition).

Bopomofo is also used to transcribe other Chinese dialects, most commonly Taiwanese Hokkien and Cantonese, however its use can be applied to practically any dialect in handwriting (because not all letters are encoded). Outside of Chinese, Bopomofo letters are also used in Hmu and Ge languages by a small number of Hmu Christians.^[8]

Symbols

Table of Bopomofo, with romanization given in Gwoyeu Romatzyh

Bopomofo in Regular, Handwritten Regular & Cursive formats

The Bopomofo 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 bopomofo symbols

Consonants
Bopomofo	Origin[9]	IPA	Pinyin	WG	Example
ㄅ	From 勹, the ancient form and current top portion of 包 bāo, "to wrap up; package"	p	b	p	包 bāo ㄅㄠ
ㄆ	From 攵, a variant form of 攴 pū, "to knock lightly".	pʰ	p	pʻ	撲 pū ㄆㄨ
ㄇ	From 冂, the archaic character and current "cover" radical 冖 mì.	m	m	m	冞 mí ㄇㄧˊ
ㄈ	From the "right open box" radical 匚 fāng.	f	f	f	匪 fěi ㄈㄟˇ
ㄉ	From 𠚣, archaic form of 刀 dāo, "blade". Compare the Shuowen seal .	t	d	t	地 dì ㄉㄧˋ
ㄊ	From 𠫓 tū, an upside-down form of 子 zǐ and an ancient form of 突 tū ( and in seal script)[10][11]	tʰ	t	tʻ	提 tí ㄊㄧˊ
ㄋ	From /𠄎, ancient form of 乃 nǎi, "to be" (a copula in Classical Chinese).	n	n	n	你 nǐ ㄋㄧˇ
ㄌ	From 𠠲, archaic form of 力 lì, "power".	l	l	l	利 lì ㄌㄧˋ
ㄍ	From the obsolete character 巜 guì/kuài, "ditch".	k	g	k	告 gào ㄍㄠˋ
ㄎ	From the archaic character, now "breath" or "sigh" component 丂 kǎo.	kʰ	k	kʻ	考 kǎo ㄎㄠˇ
ㄏ	From the archaic character and current radical 厂 hǎn.	x	h	h	好 hǎo ㄏㄠˇ
ㄐ	From the archaic character 丩 jiū.	tɕ	j	ch	叫 jiào ㄐㄧㄠˋ
ㄑ	From the archaic character 𡿨 quǎn, graphic root of the character 巛 chuān, "river" (modern 川).	tɕʰ	q	chʻ	巧 qiǎo ㄑㄧㄠˇ
ㄒ	From 丅, an ancient form of 下 xià, "under".	ɕ	x	hs	小 xiǎo ㄒㄧㄠˇ
ㄓ	From /𡳿, archaic form of 之 zhī, a genitive marker in Classical Chinese.	ʈʂ	zhi, zh-	ch	知 zhī ㄓ; 主 zhǔ ㄓㄨˇ
ㄔ	From the character and radical 彳 chì	ʈʂʰ	chi, ch-	chʻ	吃 chī ㄔ; 出 chū ㄔㄨ
ㄕ	From 𡰣, an ancient form of 尸 shī	ʂ	shi, sh-	sh	是 shì ㄕˋ; 束 shù ㄕㄨˋ
ㄖ	Modified from the seal script form of 日 rì, "day" or "sun".	ɻ~ʐ	ri, r-	j	日 rì ㄖˋ; 入 rù ㄖㄨˋ
ㄗ	From the archaic character and current radical 卩 jié, dialectically zié ([tsjě]; tsieh² in Wade–Giles)	ts	zi, z-	ts	字 zì ㄗˋ; 在 zài ㄗㄞˋ
ㄘ	From 𠀁, archaic form of 七 qī, dialectically ciī ([tsʰí]; tsʻi¹ in Wade–Giles). Compare semi-cursive form and seal-script .	tsʰ	ci, c-	tsʻ	詞 cí ㄘˊ; 才 cái ㄘㄞˊ
ㄙ	From the archaic character 厶 sī, which was later replaced by its compound 私 sī.	s	si, s-	s	四 sì ㄙˋ; 塞 sāi ㄙㄞ
Rhymes and medials
Bopomofo	Origin	IPA	Pinyin	WG	Example
ㄚ	From 丫 yā	a	a	a	大 dà ㄉㄚˋ
ㄛ	From the obsolete character 𠀀 hē, inhalation, the reverse of 丂 kǎo, which is preserved as a phonetic in the compound 可 kě.[12]	o	o	o	多 duō ㄉㄨㄛ
ㄜ	Derived from its allophone in Standard Chinese, ㄛ o	ɤ	e	o/ê	得 dé ㄉㄜˊ
ㄝ	From 也 yě, "also". Compare the Warring States bamboo form	e	-ie/ê	eh	爹 diē ㄉㄧㄝ
ㄞ	From 𠀅 hài, archaic form of 亥.	ai	ai	ai	晒 shài ㄕㄞˋ
ㄟ	From 乁 yí, an obsolete character meaning 移 yí, "to move".	ei	ei	ei	誰 shéi ㄕㄟˊ
ㄠ	From 幺 yāo	au	ao	ao	少 shǎo ㄕㄠˇ
ㄡ	From 又 yòu	ou	ou	ou	收 shōu ㄕㄡ
ㄢ	From the archaic character 𢎘 hàn "to bloom", preserved as a phonetic in the compound 犯 fàn	an	an	an	山 shān ㄕㄢ
ㄣ	From 𠃉, archaic variant of 鳦 yǐ or 乚 yà[13] (乚 is  yǐn according to other sources[14])	ən	en	ên	申 shēn ㄕㄣ
ㄤ	From 尢 wāng	aŋ	ang	ang	上 shàng ㄕㄤˋ
ㄥ	From 𠃋, archaic form of 肱 gōng[15]	əŋ	eng	êng	生 shēng ㄕㄥ
ㄦ	From 儿, the bottom portion of 兒 ér used as a cursive and simplified form	aɚ	er	êrh	而 ér ㄦˊ
ㄧ	From 一 yī, "one"	i	y, yi, -i	i	以 yǐ ㄧˇ; 逆 nì ㄋㄧˋ
ㄨ	From 㐅, ancient form of 五 wǔ, "five". Compare the transitory form 𠄡.	u	w, wu, -u	u/w	努 nǔ ㄋㄨˇ; 我 wǒ ㄨㄛˇ
ㄩ	From the ancient character 凵 qū, which remains as a radical	y	yu, -ü	ü/yü	雨 yǔ ㄩˇ; 女 nǚ ㄋㄩˇ
ㄭ	From the character 帀. It represents the fricative vowel of ㄓ，ㄔ，ㄕ，ㄖ，ㄗ，ㄘ，ㄙ，though it is not used after them in transcription.[16]	ɻ̩~ʐ̩, ɹ̩~z̩	-i	ih/ŭ	資 zī ㄗ; 知 zhī ㄓ; 死 sǐ ㄙˇ

Writing

Stroke order

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

ㄧ 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 People's Republic of China almost exclusively uses horizontal writing, so the vertical form (in the rare occasion that Bopomofo is used) has become the standard form there. Language education in the Republic of China 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.^[17] Unicode 8.0.0 published an errata in 2014 that updates the representative glyph to be the horizontal form.^[18] 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.

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Bopomofo is occasionally unofficially handwritten as syllable blocks, similar to Hangul, however this is not considered an accepted form by the People's Republic of China nor the Republic of China, and is unsupported by Unicode.

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 mark for first tone is usually omitted but can be included,^[19][20] 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)[19][20]	◌̄	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[21]	·	Middle Dot (usually omitted)[22]

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

When used in conjunction with Chinese characters, Bopomofo is typically placed to the right of the Chinese character vertically in both vertical print^[23][24] and horizontal print^[25] or to the top of the Chinese character in a horizontal print (see Ruby characters).

Example

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

瓶 ㄆ ㄧ ㄥˊ 子 ˙ ㄗ

,

瓶 ㄆ ㄧ ㄥˊ 子 ˙ ㄗ

or

ㄆㄧㄥˊ ˙ㄗ 瓶 子

Erhua transcription

Words rhotacized as a result of erhua are spelled with ㄦ attached to the syllable (like 歌兒（ㄍㄜㄦ） gēr). In case the syllable uses other tones than the 1st tone, the tone mark is attached to the penultimate letter standing for syllable nucleus, but not to ㄦ (e.g. 哪兒（ㄋㄚˇㄦ） nǎr; 一（ㄧ）點兒（ㄉㄧㄢˇㄦ） yīdiǎnr; 好（ㄏㄠˇ）玩兒（ㄨㄢˊㄦ） hǎowánr).^[26]

Comparison

Pinyin

Bopomofo 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 Bopomofo finals

		Rhyme
			ㄚ	ㄛ	ㄜ	ㄝ	ㄞ	ㄟ	ㄠ	ㄡ	ㄢ	ㄣ	ㄤ	ㄥ	ㄦ
Medial		[ɨ] (ㄭ) 1 -i	[a] ㄚ a -a	[o] ㄛ 3 o -o 3	[ɤ] ㄜ e -e	[ɛ] ㄝ ê	[ai̯] ㄞ ai -ai	[ei̯] ㄟ ei -ei	[ɑu̯] ㄠ ao -ao	[ou̯] ㄡ ou -ou	[an] ㄢ an -an	[ən] ㄣ en -en	[ɑŋ] ㄤ ang -ang	[ɤŋ] ㄥ eng -eng	[aɚ] ㄦ er
	ㄧ	[i] ㄧ yi -i	[i̯a] ㄧㄚ ya -ia	[i̯o] ㄧㄛ yo		[i̯ɛ] ㄧㄝ ye -ie	[i̯ai̯] ㄧㄞ yai		[i̯ɑu̯] ㄧㄠ yao -iao	[i̯ou̯] ㄧㄡ you -iu	[i̯ɛn] ㄧㄢ yan -ian	[in] ㄧㄣ yin -in	[i̯ɑŋ] ㄧㄤ yang -iang	[iŋ] ㄧㄥ ying -ing
	ㄨ	[u] ㄨ 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	[u̯ɑŋ] ㄨㄤ wang -uang	[u̯ɤŋ], [ʊŋ] ㄨㄥ weng -ong 4
	ㄩ	[y] ㄩ yu -ü 2				[y̯ɛ] 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 ⟨ㄛ⟩/⟨-o⟩ after ⟨ㄅ⟩/⟨b-⟩, ⟨ㄆ⟩/⟨p-⟩, ⟨ㄇ⟩/⟨m-⟩, ⟨ㄈ⟩/⟨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	aŋ	əŋ	ʊŋ	aɹ
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	ㄚ	ㄛ	ㄝ	ㄜ	ㄞ	ㄟ	ㄠ	ㄡ	ㄢ	ㄣ	ㄤ	ㄥ	ㄨㄥ	ㄦ
example	阿	喔	誒	俄	艾	黑	凹	偶	安	恩	昂	冷	中	二

Vowels i, u, y

IPA	i	je	jou	jɛn	in	iŋ	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	yü	yüeh	yüan	yün
Bopomofo	ㄧ	ㄧㄝ	ㄧㄡ	ㄧㄢ	ㄧㄣ	ㄧㄥ	ㄩㄥ	ㄨ	ㄨㄛ/ㄛ	ㄨㄟ	ㄨㄣ	ㄨㄥ	ㄩ	ㄩㄝ	ㄩㄢ	ㄩㄣ
example	一	也	又	言	音	英	用	五	我	位	文	翁	玉	月	元	雲

Non-sibilant consonants

IPA	p	pʰ	m	fəŋ	tjou	twei	twən	tʰɤ	ny	ly	kɤ	kʰɤ	xɤ
Pinyin	b	p	m	feng	diu	dui	dun	te	nü	lü	ge	ke	he
Tongyong Pinyin				fong	diou	duei			nyu	lyu
Wade–Giles	p	pʻ		fêng	tiu	tui	tun	tʻê	nü	lü	ko	kʻo	ho
Bopomofo	ㄅ	ㄆ	ㄇ	ㄈㄥ	ㄉㄧㄡ	ㄉㄨㄟ	ㄉㄨㄣ	ㄊㄜ	ㄋㄩ	ㄌㄩ	ㄍㄜ	ㄎㄜ	ㄏㄜ
example	玻	婆	末	封	丟	兌	頓	特	女	旅	歌	可	何

Sibilant consonants

IPA	tɕjɛn	tɕjʊŋ	tɕʰin	ɕɥɛn	ʈʂɤ	ʈʂɨ	ʈʂʰɤ	ʈʂʰɨ	ʂɤ	ʂɨ	ɻɤ	ɻɨ	tsɤ	tswo	tsɨ	tsʰɤ	tsʰɨ	sɤ	sɨ
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	jê	jih	tsê	tso	tzŭ	tsʻê	tzʻŭ	sê	ssŭ
Bopomofo	ㄐㄧㄢ	ㄐㄩㄥ	ㄑㄧㄣ	ㄒㄩㄢ	ㄓㄜ	ㄓ	ㄔㄜ	ㄔ	ㄕㄜ	ㄕ	ㄖㄜ	ㄖ	ㄗㄜ	ㄗㄨㄛ	ㄗ	ㄘㄜ	ㄘ	ㄙㄜ	ㄙ
example	件	囧	秦	宣	哲	之	扯	赤	社	是	惹	日	仄	左	字	策	次	色	斯

Tones

IPA	ma˥	ma˧˥	ma˨˩˦	ma˥˩	ma
Pinyin	mā	má	mǎ	mà	ma
Tongyong Pinyin	ma				må
Wade–Giles	ma1	ma2	ma3	ma4	ma
Bopomofo	ㄇㄚ	ㄇㄚˊ	ㄇㄚˇ	ㄇㄚˋ	˙ㄇㄚ
example (Chinese characters)	媽	麻	馬	罵	嗎

Use outside Standard Mandarin

Bopomofo symbols for non-Mandarin Chinese varieties are added to Unicode in the Bopomofo Extended block.

Taiwanese Hokkien

Main article: Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols

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.

Three letters no longer used for Mandarin are carried over from the 1913 standard:

Bopomofo	IPA	GR	Pinyin
ㄪ	v	v	v
ㄫ	ŋ	ng	ng
ㄬ	ɲ	gn	gn

23 more letters were added specifically for Taiwanese Hokkien:

Bopomofo	IPA	TL	Derivation
ㆠ	b	b	ㄅ with voicing circle
ㆣ	g	g	ㄍ with voicing circle
ㆢ	d͡ʑ	ji	ㄐ with voicing circle
ㆡ	d͡z	j	ㄗ with voicing circle
ㆨ	ɨ	ir	ㄨ and ㄧ combined (?)
ㆦ	ɔ	oo	from ㄛ
ㆤ	e	e	from ㄝ
ㆩ	ã	ann	ㄚ with nasal curl
ㆧ	ɔ̃	onn	ㆦ with nasal curl
ㆥ	ẽ	enn	ㆤ with nasal curl
ㆪ/ㆳ	ĩ	inn	ㄧ with nasal curl
ㆫ	ũ	unn	ㄨ with nasal curl
ㆮ	ãĩ	ainn	ㄞ with nasal curl
ㆯ	ãũ	aunn	ㄠ with nasal curl
ㆰ	am	am	ㄚ and ㄇ combined
ㆱ	ɔm	om	ㆦ and ㄇ combined
ㆲ	ɔŋ	ong
ㆬ	m̩	m	ㄇ with syllabic stroke
ㆭ	ŋ̍	ng	ㄫ with syllabic stroke
ㆴ	-p̚	-p	small ㄅ
ㆵ	-t̚	-t	small ㄉ
ㆻ/ㆶ	-k̚	-k	small ㄍ (and variant small ㄎ)
ㆷ	-ʔ	-h	small ㄏ

Two tone marks were added for the additional tones: ˪, ˫

Cantonese

Main article: Cantonese Bopomofo

The following letters are used in Cantonese.^[27]

Bopomofo	IPA	Jyutping
ㆼ	kʷ	gw
ㆽ	kʷʰ	kw
ㆾ	ɵ	eo
ㆿ	ɐ	a

If a syllable ends with a consonant other than -an or -aan, the consonant's letter is added, then followed by a final middle dot.

-ㄞ is used for [aːi] (aai) (e.g. 敗, ㄅㄞ baai6, "to be defeated").

-ㄣ is used for [ɐn] (an) (e.g. 跟, ㄍㄣ gan1, "to follow"), and -ㄢ is used for [aːn] (aan) (e.g. 間, ㄍㄢ gaan1, "within"). Other vowels that end with -n use -ㄋ· for the final ㄋ. (e.g. 見, ㄍㄧㄋ· gin3, "to see").

-ㄡ is used for [ɐu] (au). (e.g. 牛, ㄫㄡ, ngau4, "cow") To transcribe [ou] (ou), it is written as ㄛㄨ (e.g. 路, ㄌㄛㄨ lou6, "path").

ㄫ is used for both initial ng- (as in 牛, ㄫㄡ, ngau4) and final -ng (as in 用, ㄧㄛㄫ·, jung⁶ "to use").

ㄐ is used for [t͡s] (z) (e.g. 煑, ㄐㄩ zyu2, "to cook") and ㄑ is used for [t͡sʰ] (c) (e.g. 全, ㄑㄩㄋ· cyun4, "whole").

During the time when Bopomofo was proposed for Cantonese, tones were not marked.

Computer uses

Input method

An example of a Bopomofo keypad for Taiwan

A typical keyboard layout for Bopomofo on computers

Bopomofo 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 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]}. On the QWERTY keyboard, the symbols are ordered column-wise top-down (e.g. 1+Q+A+Z)

Unicode

Main articles: Bopomofo (Unicode block) and Bopomofo Extended (Unicode block)

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

The Unicode block for 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

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

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

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

Unicode 3.0 also added the characters U+02EA ˪ MODIFIER LETTER YIN DEPARTING TONE MARK and U+02EB ˫ MODIFIER LETTER YANG DEPARTING TONE MARK, in the Spacing Modifier Letters block. These two characters are now (since Unicode 6.0) classified as Bopomofo characters.^[28]

Tonal marks for bopomofo Spacing Modifier Letters
Tone	Tone Marker	Unicode	Note
1 Yin Ping (Level)	ˉ	U+02C9	Usually omitted
2 Yang Ping (Level)	ˊ	U+02CA
3 Shang (Rising)	ˇ	U+02C7
4 Qu (Departing)	ˋ	U+02CB
4a Yin Qu (Departing)	˪	U+02EA	For Minnan and Hakka languages
4b Yang Qu (Departing)	˫	U+02EB	For Minnan and Hakka languages
5 Qing (Neutral)	˙	U+02D9

See also

• Chinese input methods for computers
• Fanqie
• Furigana
• Hangul
• Kana
• Ruby character
• Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols
• Zhuyin table

References

1. Qiu Gui Su (27 January 2019). "Bopomofo Chinese Phonetic System". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
2. "Zhuyin vs. Pinyin: Exploring the Unique Chinese Phonetic System of Bopomofo". Chineasy. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
3. "Bopomofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) | All You Need to Know". Bubble Tea Island. Retrieved 24 July 2024. The term "Bopomofo" is derived from the first four characters of the system's alphabet [ㄅㄆㄇㄈ – B'P'M'F'].
4. "Taiwan Yearbook 2006: The People & Languages". Government Information Office, Taiwan. Archived from the original on 9 May 2007.
5. "Taiwan Headlines: Society News: New Taiwanese dictionary unveiled". Government Information Office, Taiwan. Archived from the original on 31 October 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
6. Dong, Hongyuan (2014). A History of the Chinese Language. Routledge. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-415-66039-6.
7. John DeFrancis. The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1984. p. 242.
8. The Unicode Standard / the Unicode Consortium (PDF) (14.0 ed.). Mountain View, CA: Unicode. 2021. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-936213-29-0.
9. 國音學 (in Chinese (Taiwan)) (8th ed.). Taiwan: 國立臺灣師範大學. 國音敎材編輯委員會. 2008. pp. 27–30.
10. Wenlin dictionary, entry 𠫓.
11. KangXi: page 164, character 1 Archived 2 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine kangxizidian.com
12. "Unihan data for U+20000". Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
13. Wenlin dictionary, entry 𠃉.
14. "Unihan data for U+4E5A". Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
15. Wenlin dictionary, entry 𠃋.
16. Michael Everson, H. W. Ho, Andrew West, "Proposal to encode one Bopomofo character in the UCS Archived 2021-01-26 at the Wayback Machine", SC2 WG2 N3179.
17. "Unicode document L2/14-189" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
18. Unicode Consortium, "Errata Fixed in Unicode 8.0.0 Archived 2020-11-01 at the Wayback Machine"
19. 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。
20. 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, "¯", could be left out on Bopomofo notes.{...}This high and level tone is noted as a short dash mark and could be left out in Bopomofo note. If it is noted, it should be put on the upper right corner of the last Bopomofo note.
21. "A study of neutral-tone syllables in Taiwan Mandarin" (PDF). p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
22. The middle dot may optionally precede light-tone syllables only in reference books (辞书), see section 7.3 Archived 17 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine of the PRC national standard GB/T 16159-2012 Basic rules of the Chinese phonetic alphabet orthography.
23. "Bopomofo Extended Name". 12 December 2011. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
24. "Zhuyin and Hanzi location". 22 December 2009. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
25. "Bopomofo on Taiwanese street – with English – Nov 2016 2". 3 August 2016. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
26. "The Zhuyin Alphabet 注音字母 Transcription System (Bo-po-mo-fo) (www.chinaknowledge.de)". www.chinaknowledge.de. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
27. Yang, Ben; Chan, Eiso. "Proposal to encode Cantonese Bopomofo Characters" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
28. "Scripts-6.0.0.txt". Unicode Consortium. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.

External links

• The Manual of The Phonetic Symbols of Mandarin Chinese
• Unicode reference glyphs for "bopomofo" (PDF). (69.6 KB) and "extended bopomofo" (PDF). (61.6 KB)
• Bopomofo annotations – adds inline and pop-up annotations with bopomofo pronunciation and English definitions to Chinese text or web pages.
• Mandarin Dictionary – needs Chinese font for Big5 encoding
• Chinese Phonetic Conversion Tool – converts between Pinyin, Bopomofo and other phonetic systems
• Chinese Romanization Converter – converts between Hanyu Pinyin, Wade–Giles, Gwoyeu Romatzyh and other known or (un-)common Romanization systems
• Bopomofo -> Wade-Giles -> Pinyin -> Word List
• NPA->IPA National Phonetic Alphabet (bopomofo) spellings of words transliterated into the International Phonetic Alphabet. The vowel values have been verified against the official IPA site. See IPA help preview, SIL International website. See IPA help preview, SIL International website. (Accessed 23 December 2010).
• Bopomofo to Pinyin converter and reverse
• bopomofo syllable chart, with Hanyu Pinyin equivalents
• Pinyin Annotator – adds bopomofo (bopomofo) or pinyin on top of any Chinese text, prompts alternative pronunciations to homonyms, has the option of exporting into OpenOffice Writer for further editing
• 《請利用螢幕上的小鍵盤輸入注音符號》 – online keyboard for bopomofo which can turn it into Chinese characters
• Online Bopomofo Input Method Editor 免费在线中文输入法，使用注音