Teochew Romanization

Teochew Romanization, also known as Swatow Church Romanization, or locally as Pe̍h-ūe-jī (白話字, literally "Vernacular orthography"), is an orthography similar to Pe̍h-ōe-jī used to write the Chaoshan dialect (including the Teochew dialect and Swatow dialect). It was introduced by John Campbell Gibson and William Duffus, two British missionaries, to Swatow in 1875.

Teochew Romanization
Tiê-chiu Pe̍h-ūe-jī
潮州白話字
A sample of PUJ text
Bible in Teochew Romanised (1 Samuel), published by the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1915
Script type (modified)
CreatorJohn Campbell Gibson
William Duffus
Time period
c. 1875 — ?
LanguagesSwatow dialect and Teochew dialect
Related scripts
Parent systems

History

Romanization of Teochew can be traced back to the 1840s. The earliest attempt to write the language in the Latin script was undertaken by Baptist missionary William Dean in his 1841 publication First Lessons in the Tie-chiw Dialect published in Bangkok, Thailand[1]; however, his tonal system was said to be incomplete.[2]

The first complete orthographic system was devised by John Campbell Gibson and William Duffus, two Presbyterianism missionaries, in 1875. The orthography was generally based on the Pe̍h-ōe-jī system, another work of presbyterian origin devised for the Amoy dialect. The first translation of the Gospel of Luke in Swatow romanization was published in 1876.[2][3] It has been said that the vernacular orthographic system is more easier for illiterate persons to learn in their own mother tongue.

Besides Gibson and Duffus's original romanization system, several variations of the system were later devised, such as those by William Ashmore (1884)[4] and Lim Hiong Seng (1886).[5]

Other systems developed by Baptist missionaries such as Adele Marion Fielde (1883) and Josiah Goddard (1888) were generally used as a means of phonetic notation instead of a full orthographic system.[2][3]

Through the church's use of the romanization system, the number of users of the system grew and came to its high point in the 1910s. However, starting in the 1920s, the Chinese government promoted education in Mandarin and more people learned to read and write in Chinese characters. Thus, the promotion of romanized vernacular writing become less necessary.[2][3] By the 1950s, there were an estimated one thousand users of the system remaining in the Chaoshan area.[6]

Spelling schemes

Alphabet

The orthography uses 18 letters of the basic Latin alphabet.

Capital letters ABCHCHHEGHIJKKHLMNNGOPPHSTTHTSTSHUZ
Lowercase letters abchchheghijkkhlmnngopphstthtstshuz

Initial

The initial consonants in Teochew are listed below:[7]

The letters in the table represent the initial with its pronunciation in IPA, followed by the example of Chinese word and its translation in Teochew romanization.

Lateral Nasal Stop Affricate Fricative
Unaspirated Aspirated Unaspirated Aspirated
Bilabial Voiceless p [p]
(pian)
ph [pʰ]
(phó)
Voiced m [m]
(mûn)
b [b]
(bûn)
Alveolar Voiceless t [t]
()
th [tʰ]
(tha)
ts [ts]
(tsṳ)
tsh [tsʰ]
(tshut)
s [s]
(sṳ)
Voiced l [l]
(liú)
n [n]
()
z [dz]
(zṳ̂)
Alveolo-palatal Voiceless ch [tɕ]
(cheng)
chh [tɕʰ]
(chhì)
s [ɕ]
()
Voiced j [dʑ]
(ji̍p)
Velar Voiceless k [k]
(kiû)
kh [kʰ]
(khṳ̀)
Voiced ng [ŋ]
(ngô)
g [ɡ]
(gṳ́)
Glottal Voiceless h [h]
()

The affricate consonants ts/ch, tsh/chh, and z/j are three allophone pairs where those voiced and voiceless alveolar affricate will shift to voiced and voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate when they meet with close or close-mid front vowels (i, e).

Finals

The rhymes used in the orthography are listed below:[7]

The latin alphabet sets in the table represent the spelling of syllable final in the system with its pronunciation in IPA, followed by the example of Chinese word and its translation in Teochew romanization.

Vowels Coda-ending
Types
Articulation Simple Nasal Glottal Stop Bilabial Alveolar Velar
Backness Height Simple Nasal Nasal Stop Nasal Stop Nasal Stop
Front Open a [a]
(ka)
aⁿ [ã]
(kaⁿ)
ah [aʔ]
(kah)
ahⁿ [ãʔ]
(na̍hⁿ)
am [am]
(kam)
ap [ap̚]
鴿 (kap)
an [an]
(kan)
at [at̚]
(kat)
ang [aŋ]
(kang)
ak [ak̚]
(kak)
Mid e [e]
(ke)
eⁿ [ẽ]
(keⁿ)
eh [eʔ]
(keh)
ehⁿ [ẽʔ]
(me̍hⁿ)
eng [eŋ]
(keng)
ek [ek̚]
(kek)
Close i [i]
(ki)
iⁿ [ĩ]
(thiⁿ)
ih [iʔ]
(kih)
ihⁿ [ĩʔ]
(tihⁿ)
im [im]
(kim)
ip [ip̚]
(kip)
in [in]
(kin)
it [it̚]
(kit)
Back Mid o [o]
(ko)
oⁿ [õ]
(mōⁿ)
oh [oʔ]
(koh)
ohⁿ [õʔ]
(mo̍hⁿ)
ong [oŋ]
(kong)
ok [ok̚]
(kok)
Close u [u]
(ku)
uh [uʔ]
(kuh)
un [un]
(kun)
ut [ut̚]
(kut)
[ɯ]
(kṳ)
ṳh [ɯʔ]
(tsṳ̍h)
ṳn [ɯn]
(kṳn)
ṳt [ɯt̚]
(khṳt)
ṳng [ɯŋ]
(kng)
Front Closing ai [ai]
(kai)
aiⁿ [ãĩ]
(àiⁿ)
aih [aiʔ]
𫠡 (ga̍ih)
aihⁿ [ãiʔ]
(nga̍ihⁿ)
Backward au [au]
(kau)
auⁿ [ãũ]
(hàuⁿ)
auh [auʔ]
(ga̍uh)
auhⁿ [ãuʔ]
(nauhⁿ)
Front Opening ia [ia]
(kia)
iaⁿ [ĩã]
(kiaⁿ)
iah [iaʔ]
(kiah)
iam [iam]
(kiam)
iap [iap̚]
(kiap)
ian [ian]
(kian)
iat [iat̚]
(kiat)
iang [iaŋ]
(kiang)
iak [iak̚]
(iak)
ie [ie]
(chie)
ieⁿ [ĩẽ]
(kieⁿ)
ieh [ieʔ]
(chieh)
ien [ien]
(kien)
iet [iet̚]
(kiet)
Backward io [io]
(chio)
ioⁿ [ĩõ]
(kioⁿ)
ioh [ioʔ]
(chioh)
iong [ioŋ]
(kiong)
iok [iok̚]
(kiok)
Close iu [iu]
(khiu)
iuⁿ [ĩũ]
(iùⁿ)
Forward Closing oi [oi]
(koi)
oiⁿ [õĩ]
(koiⁿ)
oih [oiʔ]
(koih)
Back ou [ou]
(kou)
ouⁿ [õũ]
(hóuⁿ)
Forward Opening ua [ua]
(kua)
uaⁿ [ũã]
(kuaⁿ)
uah [uaʔ]
(kuah)
uam [uam]
(huâm)
uap [uap̚]
(huap)
uan [uan]
(kuan)
uat [uat̚]
(kuat)
uang [uaŋ]
(kuang)
uak [uak̚]
(kuak)
ue [ue]
(kue)
ueⁿ [ũẽ]
(kúeⁿ)
ueh [ueʔ]
(kueh)
uehⁿ [uẽʔ]
(gu̍ehⁿ)
uen [uen]
(kuen)
uet [uet̚]
(kuet)
ueng [ueŋ]
(ueng)
uek [uek̚]
(hu̍ek)
Close ui [ui]
(kui)
uiⁿ [ũĩ]
(kũiⁿ)
Backward Close-up iau [iau]
(kiau)
iauⁿ [ĩãũ]
(hiauⁿ)
iauh [iauʔ]
(iauh)
iauhⁿ [iãuʔ]
(iauhⁿ)
iou [iou]
(kiou)
iouⁿ [ĩõũ]
(hiouⁿ)
iouh [iouʔ]
(iouh)
iouhⁿ [iõuʔ]
(iouhⁿ)
Forward uai [uai]
(kuai)
uaiⁿ [ũãĩ]
(suāiⁿ)
uaihⁿ [uãiʔ]
(ua̍ihⁿ)
Syllabic consonant ngh [ŋʔ]
(n̍gh)
m [m]
()
ng [ŋ]
(n̂g)
hng [ŋ̊ŋ̍]
(hn̂g)
  Generally found in Swatow dialect
  Generally found in Teochew dialect
  Generally found in Kityang dialect

Nowadays, in most cities in Chaoshan, alveolar codas (-n/-t) have largely shifted to velar codas (-ng/-k); therefore, they are not found in the Peng'im system which was developed later in the 1960s. However, these codas are still present among native speakers particularly in few border townships like Fenghuang (鳳凰), Sanrao (三饒), and Nan'ao.

Tones

There are eight tones in Teochew and are indicated as below,

Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Chinese Tone names
(modern)
Dark-level
陰平
(Im-phêⁿ)
Dark-rising
陰上
(Im-siãng)
Dark-departing
陰去
(Im-khṳ̀)
Dark-entering
陰入
(Im-ji̍p)
Light-level
陽平
(Iôⁿ-phêⁿ)
Light-rising
陽上
(Iôⁿ-siãng)
Light-departing
陽去
(Iôⁿ-khṳ̀)
Light-entering
陽入
(Iôⁿ-ji̍p)
Chinese Tone names
(alternative)[8]
Upper-even
上平
(Chiẽⁿ-phêⁿ)
Upper-high
上上
(Chiẽⁿ-siãng)
Upper-going
上去
(Chiẽⁿ-khṳ̀)
Upper-entering
上入
(Chiẽⁿ-ji̍p)
Lower-even
下平
(Ẽ-phêⁿ)
Lower-high
下上
(Ẽ-siãng)
Lower-going
下去
(Ẽ-khṳ̀)
Lower-entering
下入
(Ẽ-ji̍p)
Chinese Tone names
(traditional)[5][9]
Upper-level
上平
(Chiẽⁿ-phêⁿ)
Rising
上聲
(Siãng-siaⁿ)
Upper-departing
上去
(Chiẽⁿ-khṳ̀)
Upper-entering
上入
(Chiẽⁿ-ji̍p)
Lower-level
下平
(Ẽ-phêⁿ)
Lower-departing
下去
(Ẽ-khṳ̀)
Departing
去聲
(Khṳ̀-siaⁿ)
Lower-entering
下入
(Ẽ-ji̍p)
Pitches ˧ (33) ˥˨ (52) ˨˩˧ (213) ˨ (2) ˥ (55) ˧˥ (35) ˩ (11) ˦ (4)
Tone types Mid level High falling Low dipping Low stop Top level High rising Bottom level High stop
Diacritics none Acute accent Grave accent none Circumflex Tilde Macron Overstroke
Example hun hún hùn hut hûn hũn hūn hu̍t
Sandhi 1 6 2 or 5 8 7 or 3 3 or 7 7 or 3 4

Both the first and the fourth tones are unmarked but can be differenced by their coda-endings; those with the first tone end with an open vowel which could be either simple or nasalised, or end in a nasal consonant such as -m, -n, -ng, while those with the fourth tone end with a stop consonant such as -p, -t, -k, and -h.

Teochew features tone sandhi where for any compound that contains more than one word (a syllable), sandhi rules apply to all words except the last one in each phrase. For example, in the Swatow dialect, Tiê-chiu Pe̍h-ūe-jī would be pronounced as Tiē-chiu Peh-ùe-jī, where all words in the compound (linked by a hyphen) undergo tone sandhi except for the final word in each compound: chiu and . The tones markings of each word do not actually change to indicate tone sandhi and are written with their original tone markings.

References

  1. Dean, William (1841). First Lessons in the Tie-chiw Dialect. Bangkok.
  2. Snow, Don; Nuanling, Chen (2015-04-01). "Missionaries and written Chaoshanese". Global Chinese. 1 (1): 5–26. doi:10.1515/glochi-2015-1001. ISSN 2199-4382.
  3. Klöter, Henning; Saarela, Mårten Söderblom (6 October 2020). Language Diversity in the Sinophone World: Historical Trajectories, Language Planning, and Multilingual Practices. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-20148-2.
  4. Ashmore, William (1884). Primary Lessons in Swatow Grammar (colloquial). Swatow: English Presbyterian Mission Press.
  5. Lim, Hiong Seng (1886). "Tones, Hyphens". Handbook of the Swatow Vernacular. Singapore. p. 40.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. "關於白話字-中國南方白話字發展". 台灣白話字文獻館 (in Traditional Chinese). 國立台灣師範大學. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  7. Ma, Chongqi (2014). "A Comparative Research on Phonetic Systems of Four Swatow Dialect Works by Western Missionaries in the 1880s". Research in Ancient Chinese Language (4): 10–22+95. PDF
  8. Fielde, Adele Marion (1883). A pronouncing and defining dictionary of the Swatow dialect, arranged according to syllables and tones. Shangai: American Presbyterian Mission Press.
  9. Lechler, Rudolf; Williams, Samuel Wells; Duffus, William (1883). English-Chinese Vocabulary of the Vernacular Or Spoken Language of Swatow. Swatow: English Presbyterian Mission Press.
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