Romanization of Chinese in Taiwan
Encyclopedia
There are a large number of romanisation systems used in the Republic of China
(ROC, Taiwan
). Many commonly encountered Taiwanese proper names (places and people) are written in Wade–Giles, a historic system semi-official in the ROC. After a long resistance against the use of Hanyu Pinyin, the official romanisation system used in the People's Republic of China
, the Republic of China
officially adopted Hanyu Pinyin on January 1, 2009.
The contention surrounding romanisations has never been purely academic or in response to the needs of the foreign community in Taiwan, but rather clouded by partisan politics. As a result, romanisation of Mandarin in Taiwan in the 20th century was generally inconsistent and quite difficult for everyone—be they tourists, foreign-born residents or native-born Taiwanese—to interpret.
(All except the last were locally developed by officials of the ROC.)
Alongside these aforementioned nominally official systems, Wade-Giles has been widely used for decades in many contexts, such as in passports.
When Tongyong was introduced, place names — save for counties
and the top-level municipalities
— were romanised in Tongyong. Street and building signs have been normally transcribed in one of the official systems and not Wade-Giles, except in Taipei
, where Hanyu Pinyin was adapted in the early 2000s, before the rest of the country.
learn Mandarin using Hanyu Pinyin). However, like all other aspects of romanisation in Taiwan, this is a controversial issue. The plan in the early 2000s to adopt Pinyin was delayed due to disagreements over which form to use (Tongyong or Hanyu). The move is complicated by the massive effort needed to produce new instructional materials and retrain teachers.
Textbooks teaching other languages of Taiwan — namely, Hoklo, Hakka, and Formosan languages
— now also often include pronunciation in romanisations (such as modified Tongyong) in addition to Zhuyin. Textbooks purely supplemented by romanisation, without Zhuyin annotations, are very rare at the elementary-school level, since a sizeable minority of Taiwanese schoolchildren cannot easily read the English alphabet.
Government publications for teaching overseas Taiwanese children 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 romanisation 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 romanised, in addition to having Zhuyin.
Like most Mandarin instructional materials released in North America, phrasebooks and textbooks targeting Mandarin students from overseas (mostly adult learners and workers) in Taiwan usually include only Hanyu Pinyin with tone marks (accompanied by Traditional Chinese characters).
, adopted Hanyu Pinyin. Taipei replaced its earlier signage, most of which had used a bastardized version of Wade-Giles influenced by the Postal department. Kaohsiung
, Taiwan's second city, adopted Tongyong. Elsewhere in Taiwan, signs tend to be in a mixture of systems, with Tongyong Pinyin being increasingly common, but still having many signs left over from the MPS II (or even the GR) era. In September 2008, the Ministry of Education announced it was switching from Tongyong Pinyin
to Hanyu Pinyin as of January 1, 2009 , which is the current legal standard.
Romanisation errors are common throughout Taiwan, because of the shortage of a workforce trained in romanisation 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. Simple typos (such as replacing e with t) are also ubiquitous. The area with the fewest errors on official signage is Taipei. In Kaohsiung, because of the World Games 2009
, the city sponsored a "Say It Right" effort, which fixed most of the romanization mistakes in the city. Since romanised signage is not a priority in areas with few foreign tourists, most errors occur in remote areas with limited resources (if there were any romanised signs to begin with).
Official websites of local governments also employ romanisation inconsistently. For instance, , the Zhongli City Hall website's title and URL
are still in MPS II (Jung-li). On the other hand, the Zhongli Land Office has updated its title to Tongyong (Jhongli), but URL remains in MPS II. Also, the Zhongli Household Registration Office have a Wade-Giles URL (Chungli) but refers to itself in Tongyong .
There are a few Taiwanese personalities (such as politicians) whose names are transcribed in obscure or idiosyncratic schemes. For instance, using any major romanisation, Lee Teng-hui
's surname would have been Li. Vincent Siew
's surname and Ma Ying-jeou
's given name are also peculiarly romanised. The single closest romanization to Chen Shui-bian
's name would be Hanyu Pinyin, except that Hanyu Pinyin never uses hyphens in given names.
and China Airlines
are actually identical in Mandarin, i.e., Zhonghua (中華), meaning "(of) China".
Many business owners use an ad hoc approach, just so long as the end result is pronounceable and visually pleasant. The Hualon Group and Yulon Motor have opted for readability and have lost a couple of letters (the second syllable would be long or lung in all major romanisations).
As many conglomerates in Taiwan are owned by the Hoklo
, it is not uncommon to find companies that romanised their names in Hokkien
. The Shin Kong Group, for example, is faithful to its Hokkien pronunciation but not Mandarin.
Like those on street signs, romanisation on store signs and commercial products' labels are not yet systematized.
currently provides official support to address romanisation in both Hanyu and Tongyong Pinyin. Prior to 2000, addresses were usually written in Wade-Giles or MPS II. Given the correct 5-digit zip code, the postal workers are usually able to deliver mail in any other romanisation as well.
Most of the universities in Taiwan have names in Wade-Giles, such as Cheng Kung
, Chung Hsing
, Feng Chia
and Chiao Tung
. A few with pre-Taiwanese existence were romanised using the Postal Guide, i.e., Tsing Hua
, Soochow
, and Chengchi
(actually ad hoc, since it would be chih in Postal). Few universities have names in other local languages, such as Tamkang
and Takming (both in Hoklo).
Since elementary, middle, and senior high schools are under the jurisdiction of the local government, they follow whatever romanisation 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.
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
(ROC, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
). Many commonly encountered Taiwanese proper names (places and people) are written in Wade–Giles, a historic system semi-official in the ROC. After a long resistance against the use of Hanyu Pinyin, the official romanisation system used in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
officially adopted Hanyu Pinyin on January 1, 2009.
The contention surrounding romanisations has never been purely academic or in response to the needs of the foreign community in Taiwan, but rather clouded by partisan politics. As a result, romanisation of Mandarin in Taiwan in the 20th century was generally inconsistent and quite difficult for everyone—be they tourists, foreign-born residents or native-born Taiwanese—to interpret.
History
The following systems were official in the ROC:- Gwoyeu RomatzyhGwoyeu RomatzyhGwoyeu Romatzyh , abbreviated GR, is a system for writing Mandarin Chinese in the Latin alphabet. The system was conceived by Y.R. Chao and developed by a group of linguists including Chao and Lin Yutang from 1925 to 1926. Chao himself later published influential works in linguistics using GR...
(GR, 1928-1986), - Mandarin Phonetic Symbols IIMandarin Phonetic Symbols IIMandarin Phonetic Symbols II , abbreviated MPS II, is a romanization system formerly used in the Republic of China . It was created to replace the complex tonal-spelling Gwoyeu Romatzyh, and to co-exist with the popular Wade-Giles and Zhuyin...
(MPS II, 1986-2002), - Tongyong PinyinTongyong PinyinTongyong Pinyin was the official Romanization of Mandarin Chinese in the Republic of China between 2002 and 2008. The system was unofficially used between 2000 and 2002, when a new romanization system for the Republic of China was being evaluated for adoption. The ROC's Ministry of Education...
(2002-2008), and - Hanyu Pinyin (since January 1, 2009).
(All except the last were locally developed by officials of the ROC.)
Alongside these aforementioned nominally official systems, Wade-Giles has been widely used for decades in many contexts, such as in passports.
When Tongyong was introduced, place names — save for counties
County (Republic of China)
Counties , are one of administrative divisions within the Republic of China . They are officially found at the second level. However, the streamlining of Taiwan Province and Fukien Province has effectively promoted the county the first level below the Republic of China central government's rule...
and the top-level municipalities
Direct-controlled municipality
A direct-controlled municipality is the highest level classification for cities used by unitary state, with status equal to that of the provinces in the respective countries...
— were romanised in Tongyong. Street and building signs have been normally transcribed in one of the official systems and not Wade-Giles, except in Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
, where Hanyu Pinyin was adapted in the early 2000s, before the rest of the country.
Education
Romanisation is not normally taught in Taiwan's public schools at any level. Consequently, most Taiwanese do not know how to romanise their names or addresses. Teachers use only Zhuyin ("bopomofo") for teaching and annotating the pronunciation of Mandarin. There have been sporadic discussions about using a romanisation system during early education to teach children Mandarin pronunciation (like how students in Mainland ChinaMainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
learn Mandarin using Hanyu Pinyin). However, like all other aspects of romanisation in Taiwan, this is a controversial issue. The plan in the early 2000s to adopt Pinyin was delayed due to disagreements over which form to use (Tongyong or Hanyu). The move is complicated by the massive effort needed to produce new instructional materials and retrain teachers.
Textbooks teaching other languages of Taiwan — namely, Hoklo, Hakka, and Formosan languages
Formosan languages
The Formosan languages are the languages of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Taiwanese aborigines currently comprise about 2% of the island's population. However, far fewer can still speak their ancestral language, after centuries of language shift...
— now also often include pronunciation in romanisations (such as modified Tongyong) in addition to Zhuyin. Textbooks purely supplemented by romanisation, without Zhuyin annotations, are very rare at the elementary-school level, since a sizeable minority of Taiwanese schoolchildren cannot easily read the English alphabet.
Government publications for teaching overseas Taiwanese children 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 romanisation 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 romanised, in addition to having Zhuyin.
Like most Mandarin instructional materials released in North America, phrasebooks and textbooks targeting Mandarin students from overseas (mostly adult learners and workers) in Taiwan usually include only Hanyu Pinyin with tone marks (accompanied by Traditional Chinese characters).
Place names
The national government officially adopted Tongyong Pinyin in 2002 but allowed local governments to make their own choices. Consequently, TaipeiTaipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
, adopted Hanyu Pinyin. Taipei replaced its earlier signage, most of which had used a bastardized version of Wade-Giles influenced by the Postal department. Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...
, Taiwan's second city, adopted Tongyong. Elsewhere in Taiwan, signs tend to be in a mixture of systems, with Tongyong Pinyin being increasingly common, but still having many signs left over from the MPS II (or even the GR) era. In September 2008, the Ministry of Education announced it was switching from Tongyong Pinyin
Tongyong Pinyin
Tongyong Pinyin was the official Romanization of Mandarin Chinese in the Republic of China between 2002 and 2008. The system was unofficially used between 2000 and 2002, when a new romanization system for the Republic of China was being evaluated for adoption. The ROC's Ministry of Education...
to Hanyu Pinyin as of January 1, 2009 , which is the current legal standard.
Romanisation errors are common throughout Taiwan, because of the shortage of a workforce trained in romanisation and the lack of political will for correct implementation. Many common errors are derived from the accent of Taiwanese Mandarin
Taiwanese Mandarin
Taiwanese Mandarin is a variant of Mandarin derived from the official Standard Mandarin spoken in Taiwan Area of the Republic of China . The latter's standard lect is known in Taiwan as 國語 , based on the phonology of the Beijing dialect together with the grammar of Vernacular Chinese...
, such as interchanging the -ng and -n sounds. For example, guan and guang are often confused with one another on signs and plaques. Simple typos (such as replacing e with t) are also ubiquitous. The area with the fewest errors on official signage is Taipei. In Kaohsiung, because of the World Games 2009
World Games 2009
The World Games of 2009 took place in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, from July 16, 2009 to July 26, 2009. The games featured sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games....
, the city sponsored a "Say It Right" effort, which fixed most of the romanization mistakes in the city. Since romanised signage is not a priority in areas with few foreign tourists, most errors occur in remote areas with limited resources (if there were any romanised signs to begin with).
Official websites of local governments also employ romanisation inconsistently. For instance, , the Zhongli City Hall website's title and URL
Uniform Resource Locator
In computing, a uniform resource locator or universal resource locator is a specific character string that constitutes a reference to an Internet resource....
are still in MPS II (Jung-li). On the other hand, the Zhongli Land Office has updated its title to Tongyong (Jhongli), but URL remains in MPS II. Also, the Zhongli Household Registration Office have a Wade-Giles URL (Chungli) but refers to itself in Tongyong .
Personal names
Most people in Taiwan have their names romanised using a variation of Wade-Giles. This simplified version employs no diacritics (tone marks, apostrophes and umlauts) and, in semi- and unofficial contexts, usually incorrectly capitalized. The first letter in the second character of the given names should be, according to governmental and academic conventions, in the lower case, but in reality usually not. For example, Lü Hsiu-lien is sometimes written incorrectly as Lu Hsiu-Lien, contrary to the set rules of Wade-Giles. The use of Wade-Giles is generally not out of personal preference but because this system has been used by most government offices' reference materials in Taiwan to date.There are a few Taiwanese personalities (such as politicians) whose names are transcribed in obscure or idiosyncratic schemes. For instance, using any major romanisation, Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui is a politician of the Republic of China . He was the 7th, 8th, and 9th-term President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang from 1988 to 2000. He presided over major advancements in democratic reforms including his own re-election which marked the first direct...
's surname would have been Li. Vincent Siew
Vincent Siew
Vincent C. Siew Wan-chang is the incumbent Vice President of the Republic of China. He was the first Taiwanese-born Premier of the Republic of China and former vice-chairman of the Kuomintang .-Biography:...
's surname and Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou is the 12th term and current President of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, and the Chairman of the Kuomintang Party, also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party. He formerly served as Justice Minister from 1993 to 1996, Mayor of Taipei from 1998 to 2006, and Chairman...
's given name are also peculiarly romanised. The single closest romanization to Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian is a former Taiwanese politician who was the 10th and 11th-term President of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008. Chen, whose Democratic Progressive Party has traditionally been supportive of Taiwan independence, ended more than fifty years of Kuomintang rule in Taiwan...
's name would be Hanyu Pinyin, except that Hanyu Pinyin never uses hyphens in given names.
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 choose to transliterate their names, but others to transcribe. The first parts of Chunghwa TelecomChunghwa Telecom
Chunghwa Telecom is the largest telecommunications company in Taiwan. It has its headquarters in Zhongzheng District, Taipei on the remains of the old Taipei Prison.- History :...
and China Airlines
China Airlines
China Airlines is both the flag carrier and the largest airline of Republic of China . Although not directly state-owned, the airline is owned by China Airlines Group, which is owned by the China Aviation Development Foundation...
are actually identical in Mandarin, i.e., Zhonghua (中華), meaning "(of) China".
Many business owners use an ad hoc approach, just so long as the end result is pronounceable and visually pleasant. The Hualon Group and Yulon Motor have opted for readability and have lost a couple of letters (the second syllable would be long or lung in all major romanisations).
As many conglomerates in Taiwan are owned by the Hoklo
Hoklo people
The Hoklo people are Han Chinese people whose traditional Ancestral homes are in southern Fujian of South China...
, it is not uncommon to find companies that romanised their names in Hokkien
Hokkien
Hokkien is a Hokkien word corresponding to Standard Chinese "Fujian". It may refer to:* Hokkien dialect, a dialect of Min Nan Chinese spoken in Southern Fujian , Taiwan, South-east Asia, and elsewhere....
. The Shin Kong Group, for example, is faithful to its Hokkien pronunciation but not Mandarin.
Like those on street signs, romanisation on store signs and commercial products' labels are not yet systematized.
Other contexts
Chunghwa PostChunghwa Post
The Chunghwa Post Co., Ltd. , formerly Taiwan Post Co. , is the official postal service of the Republic of China , providing mail service for Taiwan Area of the Republic of China. It also provides a savings account service...
currently provides official support to address romanisation in both Hanyu and Tongyong Pinyin. Prior to 2000, addresses were usually written in Wade-Giles or MPS II. Given the correct 5-digit zip code, the postal workers are usually able to deliver mail in any other romanisation as well.
Most of the universities in Taiwan have names in Wade-Giles, such as Cheng Kung
National Cheng Kung University
National Cheng Kung University is a national university in Tainan City, Taiwan. Its abbreviation is NCKU. In Chinese, its name is shortened to 成大...
, Chung Hsing
National Chung Hsing University
National Chung Hsing University is a university in Taichung, Republic of China . According to Ministry of Education rankings, it is the best university in central Taiwan.-History:...
, Feng Chia
Feng Chia University
Feng Chia University is a private university in Taichung, Taiwan. It was named after Chiu Feng-Chia , one of the leaders of the military resistance against the Japanese invasion of Taiwan in 1895.-History:In the 1950s, some of the gentry in the central Taiwan area proposed to establish one...
and Chiao Tung
National Chiao Tung University
National Chiao Tung University is a public university located in Hsinchu, Taiwan. It is recognized as one of the most prestigious and selective universities in Taiwan and is renowned for its research and teaching excellence in electrical engineering, computer science, engineering, management, and...
. A few with pre-Taiwanese existence were romanised using the Postal Guide, i.e., Tsing Hua
National Tsing Hua University
National Tsing Hua University is one of the most prestigious universities in Taiwan. The university has a strong reputation in the studies of science and engineering. Times Higher Education - World University Rankings is107in the world. Engineering and Science are the best in Taiwan...
, Soochow
Soochow University (Taiwan)
Soochow University is a private university located in Taipei, Taiwan. Although the Soochow University in Taiwan maintains a church and a Methodist minister in residence, it may be considered a secular institution...
, and Chengchi
National Chengchi University
National Chengchi University is a prestigious public university at Muzha in Wenshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan. It is well-known for its concentration on the social sciences, law, commerce, communication, liberal arts and for its MBA programs....
(actually ad hoc, since it would be chih in Postal). Few universities have names in other local languages, such as Tamkang
Tamkang University
Tamkang University is a private Taiwanese university located in Tamsui District, New Taipei City. Founded in 1950 as a junior college of English literature, the college has expanded into a full university with 11 colleges today....
and Takming (both in Hoklo).
Since elementary, middle, and senior high schools are under the jurisdiction of the local government, they follow whatever romanisation 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 ChineseRomanization of ChineseThe romanization of Mandarin Chinese is the use of the Latin alphabet to write Chinese. Because Chinese is a tonal language with a logographic script, its characters do not represent phonemes directly. There have been many systems of romanization throughout history...
, 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 romanisations
External links
- A Comparison of Various Chinese Romanization Systems, summary from the Government Information OfficeGovernment Information OfficeThe Government Information Office is a cabinet-level agency of the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China in charge of promoting government policies and regulating domestic media.-History:...
(no GR) - A comparison chart of Chinese romanizations, with Tongyong Pinyin highlighted and include GR
- Differences between Tongyong Pinyin and Hanyu Pinyin