| Taiwanese Hokkien | |
|---|---|
| Taiwanese | |
| 臺語 Tâi-gí /Tâi-gír /Tâi-gú | |
| Native to | Taiwan |
| Ethnicity | Hoklo Taiwanese |
| Speakers | L1: 6.9 million (2020)[1] L2: 12 million (2020)[1] Total: 19 million (2020)[1] |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
Early forms | |
| Chinese characters (Traditional),Latin (Tâi-lô,Pe̍h-ōe-jī),Kana,Bopomofo (Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols),Hangul | |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Taiwan[b] |
| Regulated by | Ministry of Education in Taiwan |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | taib1242 Taibei Hokkien |
| Linguasphere | 79-AAA-jh |
.svg) Proportion of residents aged 6 or older using Hokkien at home in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen & Matsu in 2010[10] | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
| Taiwanese Southern Min | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 臺灣閩南語 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tâi-lô | Tâi-uân Bân-lâm-gí / Bân-lâm-gír / Bân-lâm-gú | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Taiwanese speech | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 臺灣話 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tâi-lô | Tâi-uân-uē / Tâi-uân-uā | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Taiwanese language | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 臺語 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tâi-lô | Tâi-gí / Tâi-gír / Tâi-gú | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Taiwanese Hokkien | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 臺灣福建話 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tâi-lô | Tâi-uân Hok-kiàn-uē / Hok-kiàn-uā | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Taiwan Taigi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 臺灣台語 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tâi-lô | Tâi-uân Tâi-gí / Tâi-uân Tâi-gú / Tâi-uân Tâi-gír | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Taiwanese Hokkien (/ˈhɒkiɛn/HOK-ee-en,US also/ˈhoʊkiɛn/HOH-kee-en), orTaiwanese (Chinese:臺灣話;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Tâi-oân-ōe), also known asTaigi (臺語;Tâi-gí),[11]Taiwanese Taigi (臺灣台語;Tâi-oân Tâi-gí;Tâi-uân Tâi-gí),[12]Taiwanese Southern Min (臺灣閩南語;Tâi-oân Bân-lâm-gí),Hoklo andHolo,[13][14] is a variety of theHokkien language spoken natively by more than 70 percent of thepopulation of Taiwan.[15] It is spoken by a significant portion of thoseTaiwanese people who are descended fromHoklo immigrants ofsouthern Fujian.[16] It is one of the nationallanguages of Taiwan.
Taiwanese is generally similar to Hokkien spoken inXiamen (Amoy),Quanzhou, andZhangzhou, as well as dialects used inSoutheast Asia, such asSingaporean Hokkien,Penang Hokkien,Philippine Hokkien,Medan Hokkien, andSouthern Peninsular Malaysian Hokkien. It ismutually intelligible with the Amoy and Zhangzhou varieties at the mouth of theJiulong River in China, and withPhilippine Hokkien to the south in thePhilippines, spoken altogether by about 3 million people.[17] The mass popularity ofHokkien entertainment media from Taiwan has givenprominence to the Taiwanese variety of Hokkien, especially since the 1980s.
Taiwanese Hokkien is a variety ofHokkien, aSouthern Min language. Like many varieties ofMin Chinese, it has distinctliterary and colloquial layers of vocabulary, often associated with formal and informalregisters respectively. The literary layer can be traced to the lateTang dynasty, and as such is related toMiddle Chinese. In contrast, the colloquial layers of Min varieties are believed to have branched from the mainstream of Chinese around the time of theHan dynasty.[18][19][20][21]
Regional variations within the Taiwanese variant may be traced back to Hokkien variants spoken in Southern Fujian, specifically those fromQuanzhou andZhangzhou, and later fromAmoy. Taiwanese also contains loanwords from Japanese and nativeFormosan languages. Recent work by scholars such as Ekki Lu,[22] Toru Sakai,[23] and Li Khin-hoann,[24] based on former research by scholars such asOng Iok-tek, has gone so far as to associate part of the basic vocabulary of the colloquial Taiwanese with theAustronesian andTai language families; however, such claims are controversial.
The literary form of Hokkien once flourished inFujian and was brought to Taiwan by early emigrants.Tale of the Lychee Mirror, a manuscript of a series of plays published during theMing dynasty in 1566, is one of the earliest known works. This form of language is now largely extinct. However, literary readings of the numbers are used in certain contexts, such as reciting telephone numbers (seeLiterary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters).[citation needed]
During theYuan dynasty,Quanzhou became a major international port for trade with the outside world.[25] From that period onwards, many people from theHokkien-speaking regions (southern Fujian) started to emigrate overseas due to political and economic reasons. One of the destinations for the emigrants was the island of Taiwan (formerly Formosa), starting around 1600. They brought their native Hokkien language with them.
During the lateMing dynasty, the political chaos pushed more migrants from southern Fujian and easternGuangdong to Taiwan. The earliest immigrants involved in Taiwan's development includedpirate-merchantsPedro Yan Shiqi andZheng Zhilong. In 1621, Chinese Peter and his forces, hailing fromZhangzhou, occupiedPonkan (modern-dayBeigang, Yunlin) and started to developTirosen (modern-dayChiayi). After the death of Peter and another pirate,Li Dan of Quanzhou, Zheng sought to dominate theStrait of Taiwan. By 1628, he had grown so powerful that the Ming court bestowed him the official title, "Patrolling Admiral".[26]
In 1624, the number of Chinese on the island was about 25,000.[27] During the reign ofChongzhen Emperor (1627–1644), there were frequent droughts in the Fujian region. Zheng and a Chinese official suggested sending victims to Taiwan and provide "for each person threetaels of silver and for each three people one ox".[28] Although this plan was never carried out, the Zheng family maintained an interest in Taiwan that would have dire consequences for theDutch Empire, who ruled Taiwan asDutch Formosa at the time.
In 1624 and 1626, the Dutch and Spanish forces occupied theTainan andKeelung areas, respectively. During the 40 years ofDutch colonial rule of Taiwan, the Dutch recruited many Chinese from the regions around Quanzhou andZhangzhou in southern Fujian to help develop Taiwan.
In the 1661Siege of Fort Zeelandia, Chinese generalKoxinga, marshaling a military force composed of fellow hometownhoklo soldiers of Southern Fujian, expelled the Dutch and established theKingdom of Tungning. Koxinga originated from the Quanzhou region.Chen Yonghua, who was in charge of establishing the education system of Tungning, also originated fromTong'an county of Quanzhou Prefecture. Because most of the soldiers he brought to Taiwan came from Quanzhou, theprestige variant of Hokkien on the island at the time was theQuanzhou dialect.
In 1683, Chinese admiralShi Lang, marshaling a military force again composed of fellow hometownHoklo soldiers of Southern Fujian, attacked Taiwan in theBattle of Penghu, ending the Tungning era and beginningQing dynasty rule (until 1895).
In the first decades of the 18th century, the linguistic differences between the Qing imperial bureaucrats and the commoners were recorded by the Mandarin-speaking first ImperialHigh Commissioner to Taiwan (1722),Huang Shujing:
In this place, the language is asbirdcall – totally unintelligible! For example: for the surnameLiú, they say 'Lâu'; forChén, 'Tân';Zhuāng, 'Chng'; andZhāng is 'Tiuⁿ'. My deputy's surnameWú becomes 'Ngô͘'. My surnameHuáng does not even have a proper vowel: it is 'N̂g' here! It is difficult to make sense of this.
(郡中鴃舌鳥語，全不可曉。如：劉呼「澇」、陳呼「澹」、莊呼「曾」、張呼「丟」。余與吳待御兩姓，吳呼作「襖」，黃則無音，厄影切，更為難省。)
— Records from the mission to Taiwan and its Strait [zh], Volume II: "On the area aroundFort Provintia,Tainan" (臺海使槎錄 卷二 赤嵌筆談)
The tone of Huang's messageforetold the uneasy relationships between differentlanguage communities and colonial establishments over the next few centuries.
During the 200 years of Qing dynasty rule, thousands of immigrants fromFujian arrived yearly; the population was over one million in the middle of the 18th century.[29] Civil unrest and armed conflicts were frequent. In addition to resistance against governments (both Chinese and later Japanese),battles between ethnic groups were also significant: the belligerents usually grouped around the language they used. History has recorded battles betweenHakka speakers and Hokkien speakers, between these and theaborigines, and even between those who spoke different variants of Hokkien.
In the early 20th century, theHoklo Taiwanese could be categorized as originating from modern-dayXiamen,Quanzhou,Zhangzhou, andZhangpu.[clarification needed][30] People from the former two areas (Quanzhou-speaking) were dominant in the north of the island and along the west coast,[31] whereas people from the latter two areas (Zhangzhou-speaking) were dominant in the south and perhaps the central plains as well.
Although there were conflicts between Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speakers in Taiwan historically, their gradualintermingling led to the mixture of the twoaccents. Apart fromLukang city andYilan County, which have preserved their original Quanzhou and Zhangzhou accents, respectively, almost every region of Taiwan now speaks a mixture of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou Hokkien.[32] A similar phenomenon occurred inXiamen (Amoy) after 1842, when the mixture of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou Hokkien displaced the Quanzhou dialect to yield the modernAmoy dialect.[33]
During theImperial Japanese rule of Taiwan, Taiwan began to hold Amoy Hokkien as its standard pronunciation; the Japanese called this mixture Taiwanese (臺灣語,Taiwango).[34]
Due to the influx of Japanese loanwords before 1945 and the political separation after 1949,[citation needed] Amoy Hokkien and Taiwanese Hokkien began todiverge slightly.
Later, in the 20th century, the conceptualization of Taiwanese was more controversial than most variations of Chinese because, at one time, it marked a clear division between themainlanders whoarrived in 1949 and the pre-existing majority native Taiwanese. Although the political and linguistic divisions between the two groups have blurred considerably, the political issues surrounding the Taiwanese have been more controversial and sensitive than for othervarieties of Chinese.
After theFirst Sino-Japanese War, due to military defeat to the Japanese, theQing dynasty cededTaiwan to Japan, causing contact with theHokkien-speaking regions of mainland China to stop. During Japanese rule, Japanese became an official language in Taiwan, and Taiwanese began to absorb a large number of Japanese loanwords into its language. Examples of such loanwords (some which had in turn been borrowed from English) includepiān-só͘ frombenjo (便所; "toilet"),phêng fromtsubo (坪; "pyeong", an areal measurement) (see alsoTaiwanese units of measurement),ga-suh fromgasu (瓦斯; "gas"),o͘-tó͘-bái fromōtobai (オートバイ; "autobicycle", motorcycle). All of these caused the Taiwanese to deviate from Hokkien used elsewhere.
DuringKōminka of the late Japanese colonial period, theJapanese language appeared in every corner of Taiwan. TheSecond Sino-Japanese War beginning in 1937 brought stricter measures into force, and along with the outlawing ofromanized Taiwanese, various publications were prohibited and Confucian-style private schools which taughtClassical Chinese withliterary Southern Min pronunciation – was closed down in 1939.[36] Taiwanese thus was reduced to a commondaily language.[37] In 1937 the colonial government introduced a concept called "National Language Family" (国語の家), which meant that families that proved that they adopted Japanese as their daily language enjoyed benefits such as greater access to education.[38]
After the handover of Taiwan to theRepublic of China in 1945, there was a brief cultural exchange with mainland China followed by further oppression. TheChinese Civil War resulted in another political separation when theKuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) governmentretreated to Taiwan following their defeat by the communists in 1949. The influx of two million soldiers and civilians caused the population of Taiwan to increase from 6 million to 8 million. The government subsequently promoted Mandarin while suppressing, but short of banning, the use of written TaiwaneseHokkien (e.g.Pe̍h-ōe-jī, a phonetic rendering of spoken Hokkien using the Latin alphabet) as part of its general policy of political repression.[39] In 1964 the use of spoken TaiwaneseHokkien orHakka in schools or in official settings was forbidden; violations of the prohibition in schools often resulted in physical punishments, fines, or humiliation.[40]
Only after the lifting ofmartial law in 1987 and themother tongue movement in the 1990s did Taiwan finally see a truerevival in Taiwanese Hokkien. Today, there are a large number of Taiwanese Hokkien scholars dedicated to researching the language. Despite this, however, according to census data, the number of people speaking Taiwanese continued to drop.[35] Taiwanese remains the de facto language of temple ceremonies as part ofTaiwanese Folk Beliefs.[41]
The history of the Taiwanese variety of Hokkien and its interaction with Mandarin is complex and, at times, controversial, even regarding its name. The language has no official name in Taiwan.[42] Some dislike the name "Taiwanese" as they feel that it belittles other languages spoken on the island such as Mandarin,Hakka, and theindigenous languages. Others prefer the namesSouthern Min, Minnan or Hokkien as this views Taiwanese as a form of the Chinese variety spoken inFujian province inmainland China. Others dislike those names for precisely the same reason.[citation needed] In theAmerican Community Survey run by theUnited States Census Bureau, Taiwanese was referred to as "Formosan" from 2012 to 2015 and as "Min Nan Chinese" since 2016.[43]
Phonologically, Hokkien is atonal language with extensivetone sandhi rules.Syllables consist maximally of an initialconsonant, avowel, a final consonant, and a tone.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Alveolo -palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | [m] m ㄇ | [n] n ㄋ | [ŋ] ng ㄫ | |||
| Stop | voiced | [b] b ㆠ | [d]~[l]~[ɾ][i] ㄌ | [ɡ] g ㆣ | ||
| tenuis | [p] p ㄅ | [t] t ㄉ | [k] k ㄍ | |||
| aspirated | [pʰ] ph ㄆ | [tʰ] th ㄊ | [kʰ] kh ㄎ | |||
| Affricate | voiced | [dz]~[l][ii] j ㆡ | [dʑ]~[l][iii] j(i) ㆢ | |||
| tenuis | [ts] ch, ts ㄗ | [tɕ] ch(i), ts(i) ㄐ | ||||
| aspirated | [tsʰ] chh, tsh ㄘ | [tɕʰ] chh(i), tsh(i) ㄑ | ||||
| Fricative | [s] s ㄙ | [ɕ] si ㄒ | [h] h ㄏ | |||
| Liquid | [l]~[ɾ][iv] ㄌ | |||||
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | [m] -m | [n] -n | [ŋ] -ng | [◌̃] -ⁿ, -nn |
| Plosive | [p̚] -p ㆴ | [t̚] -t ㆵ | [k̚] -k ㆻ | [ʔ] -h ㆷ |
Unlike many other varieties of Chinese such as Mandarin,Cantonese,Hakka, etc., there are no nativelabiodental phonemes (i.e.[f],[v],[ʋ], etc.).
Taiwanese has the followingvowels:
| Front | Central | Back | Syllabic consonant | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral | Nasal | Oral | Nasal | Oral | Nasal | ||||
| Close | [i] i ㄧ | [ĩ] iⁿ, inn ㆪ | [u] u ㄨ | [ũ] uⁿ,unn ㆫ | [m̩] m ㆬ | [ŋ̍] ng ㆭ | |||
| Mid | [e] e ㆤ | [ẽ] eⁿ,enn ㆥ | [ɤ] ~[o] o ㄜ, ㄛ | [ɔ] o͘, oo ㆦ | [ɔ̃] oⁿ, onn ㆧ | ||||
| Open | [a] a ㄚ | [ã] aⁿ, ann ㆩ | |||||||
The vowel⟨o⟩ is akin to aschwa; in contrast,⟨o͘ ⟩ (with dot) or⟨oo⟩ is a moreopen vowel. In addition, there are severaldiphthongs andtriphthongs (for example,⟨iau⟩). The consonants⟨m⟩ and⟨ng⟩ can function as asyllabic nucleus and are therefore included here as vowels. The vowels may be either plain ornasal:⟨a⟩ is non-nasal, and⟨aⁿ⟩ or⟨ann⟩ is the same vowel with concurrent nasal articulation. This is similar toFrench,Portuguese,Polish, and many other languages.
There are two pronunciations of vowel⟨o⟩. In the south (e.g.,Tainan andKaohsiung) it is[ɤ]; in the north (e.g.,Taipei) it is[o]. Due to the development of transportation and communication, both pronunciations are common and acceptable throughout the country.
/i/ is a diphthong [iɪ] before -k or -ng (Pe̍h-ōe-jī:ek, eng;Tâi-lô:ik, ing), and is slightly shortened and retracted before -p or -t to something more like [í̞]. Similarly,/u/ is slightly shortened and retracted before -t or -n to something more like [ʊ].[48]
In the traditional analysis, there are eight "tones",numbered from 1 to 8. Strictly speaking, there are only fivetonal contours. But as in other Sinitic languages, the two kinds of stopped syllables are also considered to be tones and assigned numbers 4 and 8. Words of tone 6 have merged into either tone 2 or tone 7 in most Taiwanese variants, and thus tone 6 is duplicated in the count. Here the eight tones are shown, following the traditional tone class categorization, named after the tones ofMiddle Chinese:
| Tone number | Name | POJ accent | Pitch in Taipei | Description | Pitch in Tainan | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yin Level (陰平) | a | /á/ =/a˥/ (55) | High | /á/ =/a˦/ (44) | High |
| 2 (6) | Rising (上聲) | á | /â/ =/a˥˩/ (51) | Falling | /â/ =/a˥˧/ (53) | High Falling |
| 3 | Yin Departing (陰去) | à | /à/ =/a˧˩/ to/˨˩/ (21) | Low Falling | /à/ =/a˩/ (11) | Low |
| 4 | Yin Entering (陰入) | ah | /āʔ/ =/aʔ˧˨/ (32) | Mid Stopped | /àʔ/ =/aʔ˨˩/ (21) | Low Stopped |
| 5 | Yang Level (陽平) | â | /ǎ/=/a˩˦~a˨˦/ (24) | Rising | /ǎ/ =/a˨˦/ (25) | Rising |
| 7 | Yang Departing (陽去) | ā | /ā/ =/a˧/ (33) | Mid | /ā/ =/a˨/ (22) | Mid |
| 8 | Yang Entering (陽入) | a̍h | /áʔ/ =/aʔ˦/ (4) | High Stopped | /áʔ/ =/aʔ˥/ (5) | High Stopped |
See (for one example) the modern phonological analysis inChiung (2003), which challenges these notions.
For tones 4 and 8, a final consonant⟨p⟩,⟨t⟩, or⟨k⟩ may appear. When this happens, it is impossible for the syllable to be nasal. Indeed, these are the counterpart to the nasal final consonants⟨m⟩,⟨n⟩, and⟨ng⟩, respectively, in other tones. However, it is possible to have a nasal 4th or 8th tone syllable such as⟨siahⁿ⟩ or⟨siahnn⟩, as long as there is no final consonant other than⟨h⟩.
In the dialect spoken near the northern coast of Taiwan, there is no distinction between tones number 8 and number 4 – both are pronounced as if they follow thetone sandhi rules of tone number 4.
Tone number 0, typically written with two consecutive hyphens (--a) or a point (·a) before the syllable with this tone, is used to markenclitics denoting the extent of a verb action, the end of a noun phrase, etc. A frequent use of this tone is to denote a question, such as inChia̍h-pá--bōe? orTsia̍h-pá--būe? (lit. 'Have you eaten yet?'). This is realized by speaking the syllable with either a low-falling tone (3) or a low stop (4). The syllable prior to the⟨--⟩ maintains its original tone.
Although uncommon in written Taiwanese, there is a ninth tone which is used for three main purposes: contractions, triplicated adjectives, andloan words.[50] The writing conventions for this tone vary, but the most common are with abreve accent (U+0306, ⟨◌̆⟩) in POJ and with adouble acute accent (U+030B, ⟨◌̋⟩) in Tai-lo.[50][51]
Asyllable requires a vowel (or diphthong ortriphthong) to appear in the middle. All consonants can appear at the initial position. The consonants⟨p, t, k⟩ and⟨m, n, ng⟩ (and some consider⟨h⟩) may appear at the end of a syllable. Therefore, it is possible to have syllables such as⟨ngiau⟩ ("(to) tickle") and⟨thng⟩ ("soup").
Taiwanese has extremely extensivetone sandhi (tone-changing) rules: in an utterance, only the last syllable pronounced is not affected by the rules.[52] What an 'utterance' (or 'intonational phrase') is, in the context of this language, is an ongoing topic for linguistic research, but some general rules apply:[53]
The following syllables are unaffected by tone sandhi:
The following rules, listed in the traditional pedagogical mnemonic order, govern the pronunciation of tone on each of the syllables affected (that is, all but those described according to the rules listed above):
An example of the normal tone sandhi rule is:
| Tone number | Sandhi | Taipei | Tainan |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | tang5⁻3 / tang5⁻7 | [taŋ˨˦꜔꜖] | [taŋ˨˦꜕] |
| 7 | tang7⁻3 | [taŋ˧꜔꜖] | [taŋ˨꜖] |
| 3 | tang3⁻2 | [taŋ˧˩꜒꜖] | [taŋ˩꜒꜔] |
| 2 | tang2⁻1 | [taŋ˥˩꜒] | [taŋ˥˧꜓] |
| 1 | tang1⁻7 | [taŋ˥꜔] | [taŋ˦꜕] |
| 8 | tak8⁻4 | [tak˦꜔꜕] | [tak˥꜕꜖] |
| tah8⁻3 | [taʔ˦꜔꜖] | [taʔ˥꜖] | |
| 4 | tak4⁻8 | [tak˧˨꜓] | [tak˨˩꜒] |
| tah4⁻2 | [taʔ˧˨꜒꜖] | [taʔ˨˩꜒꜔] |
There are a number of a single syllable words that undergo double tone sandhi, that is, they follow the tone change rule twice and are pronounced according to the second tone change. These syllables are almost always a 4th tone ending in-h, and include the words 欲 (beh), 佮 (kah), 閣 (koh), 才 (chiah/tsiah), as well as the 3rd tone verb 去 khì. As a result of following the tone change rule twice, these syllables are all pronounced as tone number1.
| Tone number | Sandhi | Taipei | Tainan |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | kah⁴⁻¹ | [kaʔ˧˨꜒] | [kaʔ˨˩꜓] |
| 3 | khi³⁻¹ | [kʰi˧˩꜒] | [kʰi˩꜓] |
Apart from the normal tone sandhi rules described above, there are two special cases where a different set of tone sandhi apply.[54] In a noun with the nounsuffix '仔' (á), the penultimate syllable is governed by the following rules:
| Tone number | Sandhi | Taipei | Tainan |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | tang⁵⁻⁷ | [taŋ˨˦꜔] | [taŋ˨˦꜕] |
| 7 | tang⁷⁻⁷ | [taŋ˧꜔] | [taŋ˨꜕] |
| 3 | tang³⁻¹ | [taŋ˧˩꜒] | [taŋ˩꜓] |
| 2 | tang²⁻¹ | [taŋ˥˩꜒] | [taŋ˥˧꜓] |
| 1 | tang¹⁻⁷ | [taŋ˥꜔] | [taŋ˦꜕] |
| 8 | tak⁸⁻⁴ | [tak˦꜔꜕] | [tak˥꜕꜖] |
| tah⁸⁻⁷ | [taʔ˦꜔] | [taʔ˥꜕] | |
| 4 | tak⁴⁻⁸ | [tak˧˨꜓] | [tak˨˩꜒] |
| tah⁴⁻¹ | [taʔ˧˨꜒] | [taʔ˨˩꜓] |
Finally, in the case of a single-syllable adjectivetriplication (for added emphasis), the first syllable is governed by the following rules (the second syllable follows the normal tone sandhi rules above):
| Tone number | Sandhi | Taipei | Tainan |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | tang⁵⁻⁵ | [taŋ˨˦꜕꜓] | [taŋ˨˦꜕꜓] |
| 7 | tang⁷⁻¹ | [taŋ˧꜒] | [taŋ˨꜓] |
| 3 | tang³⁻² | [taŋ˧˩꜒꜖] | [taŋ˩꜒꜔] |
| 2 | tang²⁻¹ | [taŋ˥˩꜒] | [taŋ˥˧꜓] |
| 1 | tang¹⁻⁵ | [taŋ˥꜕꜓] | [taŋ˦꜕꜓] |
| 8 | tak⁸⁻⁴ | [tak˦꜔꜕] | [tak˥꜕꜖] |
| tah⁸⁻⁵ | [taʔ˦꜕꜓] | [taʔ˥꜕꜓] | |
| 4 | tak⁴⁻⁸ | [tak˧˨꜓] | [tak˨˩꜒] |
| tah⁴⁻² | [taʔ˧˨꜒꜖] | [taʔ˨˩꜒꜔] |
SeeTiuⁿ (2001),Chiung (2003) and the work of Robert L. Cheng (鄭良偉; Tēⁿ Liông-úi or Tēnn Liông-úi)[56] for modern linguistic approaches to tones and tone sandhi in Taiwanese.
Modern linguistic studies (by Robert L. Cheng and Chin-An Li, for example) estimate that most (75% to 90%) Taiwanesewords havecognates in other Sinitic languages.False friends do exist; for example,cháu/tsáu (走) means "to run" in Taiwanese, whereas theMandarin cognate,zǒu, means "to walk". Moreover, cognates may have differentlexical categories; for example, themorphemephīⁿ/phīnn (鼻) means not only "nose" (a noun, as in Mandarinbí) but also "to smell" (a verb, unlike Mandarin).
Among the apparently cognate-less words are many basic words with properties that contrast with similar-meaning words of pan-Chinese derivation. Often the former group lacks a standard Han character, and the words are variously considered colloquial, intimate, vulgar, uncultured, or more concrete in meaning than the pan-Chinese synonym. Some examples:lâng (人 or儂, person, concrete) vs.jîn (人, person, abstract);cha-bó͘/tsa-bóo (查某, woman) vs.lú-jîn (女人, woman, literary). Unlike theEnglish Germanic/Latin contrast, however, the two groups of Taiwanese words cannot be as strongly attributed to the influences of two disparate linguistic sources.
Extensive contact with theJapanese language has left a legacy of Japaneseloanwords, with 172 recorded in the Ministry of Education'sDictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan.[57] Although a very small percentage of the vocabulary, their usage tends to be high-frequency because of their relevance to modern society and popular culture. Examples are:o͘-tó͘-bái/oo-tóo-bái fromōtobai (オートバイ; "autobike"/motorcycle) andpháng frompan (パン; "bread", itself a loanword fromPortuguese).Grammatical particles borrowed from Japanese, notablyte̍k/ti̍k fromteki (的) andka fromka (か), show up in the Taiwanese of older speakers.
Whereas Mandarin attaches a syllabic suffix to the singular pronoun to make acollective form, Taiwanese pronouns are collectivized throughnasalization. For example,i (he/she/it) andgoá/guá (I) becomein (they) andgoán/guán (we), respectively. The-n thus represents a subsyllabicmorpheme. Like all othervarieties of Chinese, Taiwanese does not have true grammaticalplurals.
Unlike English, Taiwanese has twofirst-person plural pronouns. This distinction is calledinclusive, which includes theaddressee, and exclusive, which excludes the addressee. Thus,goán/guán meanswe excluding you, whilelán meanswe including you (similar topluralis auctoris). The inclusivelán may be used to express politeness or solidarity, as in the example of a speaker asking a stranger "Where do we live?" while implicitly asking "Where doyou live?".
Thesyntax of Taiwanese is similar to southern Sinitic languages such asHakka andYue. Thesubject–verb–object sequence is typical as in, for example,Mandarin, butsubject–object–verb or thepassive voice (with the sequenceobject–subject–verb) is possible with particles. Take a simple sentence for example: 'I hold you.' The words involved are:goá/guá ('I' or 'me'),phō ('to hold'),lí ('you').
The wordhō͘/hōo also has other uses, such as to introduce an embedded clause:Goá hō͘ lí chúi lim/Guá hōo lí tsúi lim ('I give water for you to drink':chúi/tsúi means 'water';lim is 'to drink').
Until the late 19th century, Taiwanese speakers wrote mostly inClassical Chinese,[58] although songbooks usingHan characters are attested from the 1820s.[59] Among many systems of writing Taiwanese using Latin characters, the most used is calledPe̍h-ōe-jī (POJ) and was developed in the 19th century, while theTaiwanese Romanization System (Tâi-lô) has been officially promoted since 2006 by Taiwan'sMinistry of Education. (For additional romanized systems, see references in "Orthography in Latin characters", below.) Nonetheless, Taiwanese speakers nowadays most commonly write in Mandarin, though many of the same characters are also used to write Taiwanese.
In most cases, Taiwanese speakers write using thescript calledHan characters as in Mandarin, although there are a number of special characters which are unique to Taiwanese and which are sometimes used in informal writing. Where Han characters are used, they are not always etymological or genetic; the borrowing of similar-sounding or similar-meaning characters is a common practice. Bilingual speakers of both Mandarin and Taiwanese sometimes attempt to represent the sounds by adopting similar-sounding Mandarin Han characters. For example, the Han characters of thevulgar slang 'khoàⁿ sáⁿ-siâu' or 'khuánn sánn-siâu' (看三小, substituted for the etymologically correct看啥潲, meaning 'What the hell are you looking at?') has very little meaning in Mandarin and may not be readily understood by a Taiwanese monolingual, as knowledge of Mandarin character readings is required to fully decipher it.
In 2007, theMinistry of Education in Taiwan published the first list ofTaiwanese Southern Min Recommended Characters, a list of 300 Han characters standardized for the use of writing Taiwanese and implemented the teaching of them in schools.[60] In 2008, the ministry published a second list of 100 characters, and in 2009 added 300 more, giving a total of 700 standardized characters used to write uniquely Taiwanese words. With increasing literacy in Taiwanese, there are currently more Taiwanese online bloggers who write Taiwanese online using these standardized Chinese characters. Han characters are also used by Taiwan's Hokkien literary circle for Hokkien poets and writers to write literature or poetry in Taiwanese.
There are several Latin-based orthographies, the oldest beingPe̍h-ōe-jī (POJ, meaning "vernacular writing"), developed in the 19th century.Taiwanese Romanization System (Tâi-ôan lô-má-jī, Tâi-lô) andTaiwanese Language Phonetic Alphabet (TLPA) are two later adaptations of POJ. Other 20th-century innovations includeDaighi tongiong pingim (DT),Ganvsig daiuuan bhanlam ghiw tongiong pingimv (GDT),Modern Literal Taiwanese (MLT),Simplified MLT (SMLT),Phofsit Daibuun (PSDB). The last four employtonalspelling to indicate tone without use ofdiacritic symbols, but letters instead.
In POJ, the traditional list of letters is
Twenty-four in all, including the obsolete⟨ts⟩, which was used to represent the modern⟨ch⟩ at some places. The additional necessities are the nasal symbol⟨ⁿ⟩ (superscript⟨n⟩; the uppercase form⟨N⟩ is sometimes used inall caps texts,[61] such as book titles or section headings), and the tonaldiacritics.POJ was developed first byPresbyterianmissionaries and later by the indigenousPresbyterian Church in Taiwan; they have been active in promoting the language since the late 19th century. Recently there has been an increase in texts using a mixed orthography of Han characters and romanization, although these texts remain uncommon.
In 2006, theNational Languages Committee (Ministry of Education, Republic of China) proposed itsTaiwanese Romanization System (Tâi-ôan Lô-má-jī pheng-im, Tâi-Lô). This alphabet reconciles two orthographies, TLPA and POJ.[62] The changes for the consonants involved using⟨ts⟩ for POJ's⟨ch⟩ (reverting to the orthography in the 19th century), and⟨tsh⟩ for⟨chh⟩. For the vowels,⟨o͘⟩ could optionally be represented as⟨oo⟩. The nasal mark⟨ⁿ⟩ could also be represented optionally as⟨nn⟩. The rest of the alphabet, most notably the use of diacritics to mark the tones, appeared to keep to the POJ tradition. One of the aims of this compromise was to curb any increase of 'market share' for Daighi tongiong pingim/Tongyong Pinyin.[63] It is unclear whether the community will adopt this new agreement.
There was an orthography of Taiwanese based on theJapanese kana duringJapanese rule. The Kuomintang government also tried to introduce an orthography inbopomofo.
Here the different orthographies are compared:
| IPA | Pe̍h-ōe-jī | Tâi-lô | TLPA | BP | MLT | DT | Kana | Phonetic Symbols | Hangul | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional | Simplified | ||||||||||
| a | a | a | a | a | a | a | アア | ㄚ | ᅡ | 亞洲 | 亚洲 |
| ap | ap | ap | ap | ap | ab/ap | āp/ap | アㇷ゚ | ㄚㆴ | 압 | 壓力 | 压力 |
| at | at | at | at | at | ad/at | āt/at | アッ | ㄚㆵ | 앋 | 警察 | 警察 |
| ak | ak | ak | ak | ak | ag/ak | āk/ak | アㇰ | ㄚㆻ | 악 | 沃水 | 沃水 |
| aʔ | ah | ah | ah | ah | aq/ah | āh/ah | アァ | ㄚㆷ | 앟 | 牛肉 | 牛肉 |
| ã | aⁿ | ann | ann/aN | na | va | ann/aⁿ | アア | ㆩ | 앗 | 三十 | 三十 |
| ɔ | o͘ | oo | oo | oo | o | o | オオ | ㆦ | ᅩ | 烏色 | 乌色 |
| ɔk | ok | ok | ok | ok | og/ok | ok | オㇰ | ㆦㆻ | 옥 | 中國 | 中国 |
| ɔ̃ | oⁿ | onn | oonn/ooN | noo | vo | onn/oⁿ | オオ | ㆧ | 옷 | 否 | 否 |
| ə | o | o | o | o | ø | or | オオ | ㄜ | ᅥ | 澳洲 | 澳洲 |
| o | ヲヲ | ㄛ | |||||||||
| e | e | e | e | e | e | e | エエ | ㆤ | ᅦ | 下晡 | 下晡 |
| ẽ | eⁿ | enn | enn/eN | ne | ve | enn/eⁿ | エエ | ㆥ | 엣 | 青 | 青 |
| i | i | i | i | i | i | i | イイ | ㄧ | ᅵ | 醫學 | 医学 |
| iɛn | ian | ian | ian | ian | ien | ian/en | イェヌ | ㄧㄢ | 엔 | 鉛筆 | 铅笔 |
| iəŋ | eng | ing | ing | ing | eng | ing | イェン | ㄧㄥ | 영 | 英國 | 英国 |
| iək | ek | ik | ik | ik | eg/ek | ik | イェㇰ | ㄧㆻ | 역 | 翻譯 | 翻译 |
| ĩ | iⁿ | inn | inn/iN | ni | vi | inn/iⁿ | イイ | ㆪ | 잇 | 病院 | 病院 |
| ai | ai | ai | ai | ai | ai | ai | アイ | ㄞ | ᅢ | 愛情 | 爱情 |
| aĩ | aiⁿ | ainn | ainn/aiN | nai | vai | ainn/aiⁿ | アイ | ㆮ | 앳 | 載 | 载 |
| au | au | au | au | au | au | au | アウ | ㆯ | 알 | 歐洲 | 欧洲 |
| am | am | am | am | am | am | am | アム | ㆰ | 암 | 暗時 | 暗时 |
| ɔm | om | om | om | om | om | om | オム | ㆱ | 옴 | 參 | 参 |
| m̩ | m | m | m | m | m | m | ム | ㆬ | 음 | 阿姆 | 阿姆 |
| ɔŋ | ong | ong | ong | ong | ong | ong | オン | ㆲ | 옹 | 王梨 | 王梨 |
| ŋ̍ | ng | ng | ng | ng | ng | ng | ン | ㆭ | 응 | 黃色 | 黄色 |
| u | u | u | u | u | u | u | ウウ | ㄨ | ᅮ | 有無 | 有无 |
| ua | oa | ua | ua | ua | oa | ua | ヲア | ㄨㄚ | ᅪ | 歌曲 | 歌曲 |
| ue | oe | ue | ue | ue | oe | ue | ヲエ | ㄨㆤ | ᅰ | 講話 | 讲话 |
| uai | oai | uai | uai | uai | oai | uai | ヲァイ | ㄨㄞ | ᅫ | 奇怪 | 奇怪 |
| uan | oan | uan | uan | uan | oan | uan | ヲァヌ | ㄨㄢ | 왠 | 人員 | 人员 |
| ɨ | i | ir | ir | i | i | i | ウウ | ㆨ | ᅵ | 豬肉 | 猪肉 |
| (i)ũ | (i)uⁿ | (i)unn | (i)unn/uN | n(i)u | v(i)u | (i)unn/uⁿ | ウウ | ㆫ | 윳 | 舀水 | 舀水 |
| IPA | Pe̍h-ōe-jī | Tâi-lô | TLPA | BP | MLT | DT | Kana | Phonetic Symbols | Hangul | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional | Simplified | ||||||||||
| p | p | p | p | b | p | b | パア | ㄅ | ᄇ | 報紙 | 报纸 |
| b | b | b | b | bb | b | bh | バア | ㆠ | ᄈ | 閩南 | 闽南 |
| pʰ | ph | ph | ph | p | ph | p | パ̣ア | ㄆ | ᄑ | 普通 | 普通 |
| m | m | m | m | bb | m | m | マア | ㄇ | ᄆ | 請問 | 请问 |
| t | t | t | t | d | t | d | タア | ㄉ | ᄃ | 豬肉 | 猪肉 |
| tʰ | th | th | th | t | th | t | タ̣ア | ㄊ | ᄐ | 普通 | 普通 |
| n | n | n | n | n | n | n | ナア | ㄋ | ᄂ | 過年 | 过年 |
| nŋ | nng | nng | nng | lng | nng | nng | ヌン | ㄋㆭ | 雞卵 | 鸡卵 | |
| l | l | l | l | l | l | l | ラア | ㄌ | ᄅ | 樂觀 | 乐观 |
| k | k | k | k | g | k | g | カア | ㄍ | ᄀ | 價值 | 价值 |
| ɡ | g | g | g | gg | g | gh | ガア | ㆣ | ᄁ | 牛奶 | 牛奶 |
| kʰ | kh | kh | kh | k | kh | k | カ̣ア | ㄎ | ᄏ | 客廳 | 客厅 |
| h | h | h | h | h | h | h | ハア | ㄏ | ᄒ | 煩惱 | 烦恼 |
| tɕi | chi | tsi | zi | zi | ci | zi | チイ | ㄐ | ᄌ | 支持 | 支持 |
| ʑi | ji | ji | ji | li | ji | r | ジイ | ㆢ | ᄍ | 漢字 | 汉字 |
| tɕʰi | chhi | tshi | ci | ci | chi | ci | チ̣イ | ㄑ | ᄎ | 支持 | 支持 |
| ɕi | si | si | si | si | si | si | シイ | ㄒ | ㅅ | 是否 | 是否 |
| ts | ch | ts | z | z | z | z | サア | ㄗ | ᄌ | 報紙 | 报纸 |
| dz | j | j | j | l | j | r | ザア | ㆡ | ᄍ | 熱天 | 热天 |
| tsʰ | chh | tsh | c | c | zh | c | サ̣ア | ㄘ | ᄎ | 参加 | 参加 |
| s | s | s | s | s | s | s | サア | ㄙ | ㅅ | 司法 | 司法 |
| Tone name | IPA | Pe̍h-ōe-jī | Tâi-lô | TLPA | BP | MLT | DT | Kana (normal vowels) | Kana (nasal vowels) | Phonetic Symbols | Hangul | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional | Simplified | ||||||||||||
| Yin level (陰平 1) | a˥ | a | a | a1 | ā | af | a | アア | アア | ㄚ | ᄋ | 公司 | 公司 |
| Yin rising (陰上 2) | a˥˧ | á | á | a2 | ǎ | ar | à | アア | アア | ㄚˋ | ᄅ | 報紙 | 报纸 |
| Yin departing (陰去 3) | a˨˩ | à | à | a3 | à | ax | â | アア | アア | ㄚ˪ | ᄂ | 興趣 | 兴趣 |
| Yin entering (陰入 4) | ap˩ at˩ak˩aʔ˩ | ap atakah | ah | a4 | āp ātākāh | ab adagaq | āp ātākāh | アㇷ゚ アッ | アㇷ゚ アッ | ㄚㆴ ㄚㆵㄚㆻㄚㆷ | ᄋ | 血壓 警察中國牛肉 | 血压 警察中国牛肉 |
| Yang level (陽平 5) | a˧˥ | â | â | a5 | ǎ | aa | ǎ | アア | アア | ㄚˊ | ᄉ | 人員 | 人员 |
| Yang rising (陽上 6) | ǎ | ǎ | a6 | aar | 老爸 | 老爸 | |||||||
| Yang departing (陽去 7) | a˧ | ā | ā | a7 | â | a | ā | アア | アア | ㄚ˫ | ᄀ | 草地 | 草地 |
| Yang entering (陽入 8) | ap˥ at˥ak˥aʔ˥ | a̍p a̍ta̍ka̍h | a̍h | a8 | áp átákáh | ap atakah | ap atakah | アㇷ゚ アッ | アㇷ゚ アッ | ㄚㆴ˙ ㄚㆵ˙ㄚㆻ˙ㄚㆷ˙ | ᄇ | 配合 法律文學歇熱 | 配合 法律文学歇热 |
| High rising (9) | a˥˥ | ă | a̋ | a9 | á | ㅋ | 昨昏 | 昨昏 | |||||
| Neutral (0) | a˨ | --a | --ah | a0 | ~a | å | 入去 | 入去 | |||||
Manykeyboard layouts andinput methods for entering either Latin or Han characters in Taiwanese are available. Some of them are free of charge, and some are commercial.
TheMin Nan dialect group is registered perRFC 3066 aszh-min-nan.[64] Taiwanese Min Nan can be represented as 'zh-min-nan-TW'.
When writing Taiwanese in Han characters, some writers create 'new' characters when they consider it is impossible to use directly or borrow existing ones; this corresponds to similar practices in character usage inCantonese,Vietnamese chữ nôm,Korean hanja andJapanese kanji. These are usually not encoded inUnicode (or the corresponding ISO/IEC 10646:Universal Character Set), thus creating problems in computer processing.
All Latin characters required by Pe̍h-ōe-jī can be represented usingUnicode (or the corresponding ISO/IEC 10646:Universal character set), using precomposed or combining (diacritics) characters.
Prior to June 2004, the vowel[ɔ] akin to but more open than ⟨o⟩, written with a 'dot above right', was not encoded. The usual workaround was to use the (stand-alone; spacing) character 'middle dot' (U+00B7, ⟨·⟩) or, less commonly, the combining character 'dot above' (U+0307). As these are far from ideal, since 1997, proposals have been submitted to the ISO/IECworking group in charge of ISO/IEC 10646 – namely,ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 – to encode a new combining character 'dot above right'. This is now officially assigned to U+0358 (see documentsN1593,N2507,N2628,N2699Archived 10 March 2021 at theWayback Machine, andN2770Archived 8 March 2021 at theWayback Machine). Font support has followed: for example, inCharis SIL.
Theprestige variant of Taiwanese Hokkien is the southern speech found inTainan andKaohsiung. Other major variants are the northern speech, the central speech (nearTaichung and the port town ofLukang), and the northern (northeastern) coastal speech (dominant inYilan).
The distinguishing feature of the coastal speech is the use of the vowel⟨uiⁿ⟩ or⟨uinn⟩ in place of⟨ng⟩. The northern speech is distinguished by the absence of the8th tone, and some vowel exchanges (for example,⟨i⟩ and⟨u⟩,⟨e⟩ and⟨oe⟩ or⟨ue⟩). The central speech has an additional vowel[ɨ] or[ø] between⟨i⟩ and⟨u⟩, which may be represented as⟨ö⟩. There are also a number of other pronunciation and lexical differences between the Taiwanese variants; the online Ministry of Education dictionary specifies these to a resolution of eight regions on Taiwan proper, in addition toKinmen andPenghu.[66][67]
Concerning the fifth (rising) tone in normal sandhi patterns, the Quanzhou/Coastal/Northern dialects change to the seventh (mid-level) tone, whereas the Zhangzhou/"Mixed"/Southern dialects change to the third (low falling) tone.
Certain new north–south distinctions have appeared in recent decades.[citation needed][68] The fourth and eighth tones tend to be reversed in the north and south.[69][better source needed]
Hokkien immigrants to Taiwan originated fromQuanzhou prefecture (44.8%) andZhangzhou prefecture (35.2%).[citation needed] The original phonology from these regions was spread around Taiwan during the immigration process. With the advanced development of transportation and greater mobility of the Taiwanese population, Taiwanese speech has steered itself towards a mixture of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speech, known asChiang–Chôan-lām/Tsiang–Tsûan-lām (漳泉濫, in MandarinZhāng–Quán làn).[32] Due to different proportions of the mixture, some regions are inclined more towards the Quanzhou accent, while others are inclined more towards the Zhangzhou accent.
In general, the Quanzhou accent is more common along the coastal region and is known as thehái-kháu accent; the Zhangzhou accent is more common within the mountainous region of Taiwan and is known as thelāi-po͘/lāi-poo accent. The regional variation within Taiwanese may be attributed to variations in the mixture of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou accents and/or lexicons. It ranges from Lukang accent (based on Quanzhou accent) on one end to the northern coastalYilan accent (based on Zhangzhou accent) on another end. Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Taitung accents, on the other hand, are closest to the prestige accent.
| Quanzhou accent |
|---|
| Lukang |
| Penghu,Taixi,Dajia—Budai coastal region (hái-kháu) |
| Taipei,Hsinchu (very similar toTong'an accent) |
| Chiayi—Kaohsiung surrounding |
| Taichung,Changhua—Yunlin inland area,North Taoyuan (lāi-po͘/lāi-poo) |
| Yilan |
| Zhangzhou accent |
Recent research has found a need for new terminology of Taiwanese dialects, mainly because the Quanzhou and Zhangzhou dialects in Taiwan developed independently from those in Fujian. Thus, some scholars (i.e., Klöter, following董忠司) have divided Taiwanese into five subdialects, based on geographic region:[70]
Bothphian-hái andphian-lāi are intermediate dialects betweenhái-kháu andlāi-po͘/lāi-poo, these also known asthong-hêng/thong-hîng (通行腔) or "不泉不漳". In some ways this mixed dialect is similar to the Amoy dialect, which itself is a blend of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speech. The common dialect refers to that which can be heard on radio, television, official announcements, etc.[citation needed]
A great majority of people in Taiwan can speak bothMandarin and Hokkien, but the degree of fluency varies widely.[35] There are, however, small but significant numbers of people in Taiwan, mainly but not exclusivelyHakka andMainlanders, who cannot speak Taiwanese fluently. A shrinking percentage of the population, mainly people born before the 1950s, cannot speak Mandarin at all or learned to speak Mandarin later in life, though some of these speak Japanese fluently. Urban, working-class Hakkas, as well as younger, southern-Taiwan Mainlanders, tend to have better, even native-like fluency. Approximately half of the Hakka in Taiwan do speak Taiwanese. There are many families of mixed Hakka, Hoklo, andAboriginal bloodlines. There is, however, a large percentage of people in Taiwan, regardless of their background, whose ability to understand and read written Taiwanese is greater than their ability to speak it. This is the case with some singers who can sing Taiwanese songs with native-like proficiency but can neither speak nor understand the language.
Which variant is used depends strongly on the context, and in general, people will use Mandarin in more formal situations and Taiwanese in more informal situations. Taiwanese tends to get used more inrural areas, while Mandarin is used more inurban settings. Older people tend to use Taiwanese, while younger people tend to use Mandarin. In the broadcast media where Mandarin is used in many genres,soap opera,variety shows, and even some news programs can also be found in Taiwanese.
Chhit-jī-á/Tshit-jī-á (literally, "that which has seven syllables") is apoeticmeter where each verse has 7 syllables.
There is a special form ofmusical/dramatic performancekoa-á-hì/kua-á-hì: theTaiwanese opera; the subject matter is usually ahistorical event. A similar formpò͘-tē-hì/pòo-tē-hì (glove puppetry) is also unique and has been elaborated in the past two decades into impressivetelevised spectacles.
SeeTaiwanese cuisine for names of several local dishes.
As with many other languages, thetranslations of the Bible in Taiwan marked milestones in the standardization attempts of the language and its orthography.
The first translation of the Bible in Amoy or Taiwanese in the Pe̍h-ōe-jī orthography was by the first missionary to Taiwan,James Laidlaw Maxwell, with the New TestamentLán ê Kiù-chú Iâ-so͘ Ki-tok ê Sin-iok published in 1873 and the Old TestamentKū-iok ê Sèng Keng in 1884.
The next translation of the Bible in Taiwanese or Amoy was by the missionary to Taiwan,Thomas Barclay, carried out in Fujian and Taiwan.[71][72] A New Testament translation was completed and published in 1916. The resulting work containing the Old and the New Testaments, in thePe̍h-ōe-jī orthography, was completed in 1930 and published in 1933 as theAmoy Romanized Bible [nan] (Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Sin-kū-iok ê Sèng-keng; Tâi-lô:Sin-kū-iok ê Sìng-kìng). 2000 copies of the Amoy Romanized Bible were confiscated by the Taiwan Garrison from the Bible Society of Taiwan in 1975. This edition was later transliterated into Han characters and published asSèng-keng Tâi-gí Hàn-jī Pún [nan] (聖經台語漢字本) in 1996.[73]
The Ko–Tân (Kerygma) Colloquial Taiwanese Version of the New Testament (Sin-iok) in Pe̍h-ōe-jī, also known as theRed Cover Bible [nan] (Âng-phoê Sèng-keng;Âng-phuê Sìng-king), was published in 1973 as an ecumenical effort between the ProtestantPresbyterian Church in Taiwan and the Roman Catholic missionMaryknoll. This translation used a more modern vocabulary (somewhat influenced by Mandarin), and reflected the central Taiwan dialect, as the Maryknoll mission was based nearTâi-tiong. It was soon confiscated by the Kuomintang government (which objected to the use of Latin orthography) in 1975.
A translation using the principle offunctional equivalence, "Today's Taiwanese Romanized Version [nan]" (現代台語譯本;Hiān-tāi Tâi-gú E̍k-pún;Hiān-tāi Tâi-gú I̍k-pún), containing only the New Testament, again in Pe̍h-ōe-jī, was published in 2008[74] as a collaboration between thePresbyterian Church in Taiwan and theBible Society in Taiwan; a parallel-text version with both Han-character and Pe̍h-ōe-jī orthographies was published in 2013.[75] A translation of the Old Testament following the same principle was completed and the whole Bible was published in 2021 as a parallel-text volume.[76][77]
Another translation using the principle of functional equivalence, "Common Taiwanese Bible" (Choân-bîn Tâi-gí Sèng-keng;Tsuân-bîn Tâi-gí Sìng-king), with versions of Pe̍h-ōe-jī, Han characters and Ruby version (both Han characters and Pe̍h-ōe-jī) was published in 2015, available in printed and online.[citation needed]
| Translation[78] | John3:16 |
|---|---|
| 1933 Taiwanese Bible Romanized Character Edition (Thomas Barclay)[79] | In-ūi Siōng-tè chiong to̍k-siⁿ ê Kiáⁿ siúⁿ-sù sè-kan, hō͘ kìⁿ-nā sìn I ê lâng bōe tîm-lûn, ōe tit-tio̍h éng-oa̍h; I thiàⁿ sè-kan kàu án-ni. |
| 1973 Ko–Tân/Kerygma “Red Cover Bible” (Âng-phoê Sèng-keng) | Siōng-chú chiah-ni̍h thiàⁿ sè-kan-lâng, só͘-í chiah chiong I ê Ko͘-kiáⁿ siúⁿ-sù in, thang hō͘ só͘ ū sìn I ê lâng m̄-bián bia̍t-bông, lâi tit-tio̍h éng-seng. |
| 1996 Taiwanese Bible Han Character Edition[80] | 因為上帝將獨生的子賞賜世間，互見若信伊的人，𣍐沈淪，會得著永活，伊疼世間到按呢。 |
| 2013 ≈ 2021 Today’s Taiwanese Romanized Version (Hiān-tāi Tâi-gú E̍k-pún) | Siōng-tè liân I to̍k-it ê Kiáⁿ to sù hō͘ sè-kan, beh hō͘ ta̍k ê sìn I ê lâng bián bia̍t-bông, hoán-tńg tit-tio̍h éng-oán ê oa̍h-miā, I chiah-ni̍h thiàⁿ sè-kan! |
| 2015 Common Taiwanese Bible" (Choân-bîn Tâi-gí Sèng-keng) | Siōng-tè chiah-ni̍h thiàⁿ sè-kan, sīm-chì siúⁿ-sù to̍k-seⁿ Kiáⁿ, hō͘ só͘-ū sìn I ê lâng bē tîm-lûn, hoán-tńg ē tit tio̍h éng-oán ê oa̍h-miā. |
Until the 1980s, the use of Taiwanese Hokkien, along with allvarieties other thanMandarin, was discouraged by the Kuomintang through measures such as banning its use in schools and limiting the amount of Taiwanese broadcast on radio and television. These restrictions were lifted by the 1990s, and the Taiwanese became an emblem oflocalization. Mandarin remains the predominant language of education, but Taiwanese schools have a "mother tongue" language requirement which can be satisfied with students' choice of the mother tongue: Taiwanese, Hakka, orindigenous languages.
Although the use of Taiwanese Hokkien over Mandarin was historically part of theTaiwan independence movement, the linkage between politics and language is not as strong as it once was. Some fluency in Taiwanese Hokkien is desirable for political office in Taiwan for both independence and unificationist politicians. At the same time, even some supporters of Taiwan's independence have played down its connection with the Taiwanese in order to gain the support of theMainlanders andHakka people.
James Soong restricted the use of Taiwanese Hokkien and other local tongues in broadcasting while serving as Director of theGovernment Information Office earlier in his career, but later became one of the first politicians of Mainlander origin to use it in semi-formal occasions.[improper synthesis?] Since then, politicians opposed to Taiwanese independence have used it frequently in rallies, even when they are not native speakers. Conversely, politicians who have traditionally been identified with Taiwan's independence have used Mandarin on formal occasions and semi-formal occasions such as press conferences. An example of the latter is former PresidentChen Shui-bian, who uses Mandarin in all official state speeches but uses mainly Taiwanese in political rallies and some informal state occasions such as New Year greetings. FormerPresidentTsai Ing-wen was criticized by some of her supporters for not using Taiwanese in speeches.[81] Her predecessorMa Ying-jeou spoke in Taiwanese during his 2008Double Ten Day speech when he was talking about the state of theeconomy in Taiwan.
In the early 21st century, there are few differences in language usage between thepro-unification leaningPan-Blue Coalition and theindependence leaningPan-Green Coalition. Both tend to use Taiwanese at political rallies and sometimes in informal interviews, and both tend to use Mandarin at formal press conferences and official state functions. Both also tend to use more Mandarin inNorthern Taiwan and more Taiwanese inSouthern Taiwan. However, at official party gatherings (as opposed to both Mandarin-leaning state functions and Taiwanese-leaning party rallies), the DPP tends to use Taiwanese while KMT andPFP tend to use Mandarin. TheTaiwan Solidarity Union, which advocates a strong line on Taiwan independence, tends to use Taiwanese even in formal press conferences. In speaking, politicians will frequentlycode switch. In writing, almost everyone usesvernacular Mandarin which is further from Taiwanese, and the use of semi-alphabetic writing or evencolloquial Taiwanese characters is rare.[82][83]
In 2002, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, a party with about 10% of theLegislative Yuan seats at the time, suggested making Taiwanese Hokkien a second official language.[84] This proposal encountered strong opposition not only from Mainlander groups but also from Hakka and aboriginal groups who felt that it would slight their home languages, as well as others includingHoklo who objected to the proposal on logistical grounds and on the grounds that it would increase ethnic tensions. Because of these objections, support for this measure is lukewarm among moderate Taiwan independence supporters, and the proposal did not pass.
In 2003, there was a controversy when parts of the civil service examination for judges were written in characters used only in Taiwanese Hokkien.[85] After strong objections, these questions were not used in scoring. As with the official-language controversy, objections to the use of Taiwanese came not only from Mainlander groups but also Hoklo, Hakka, and aborigines. TheControl Yuan later created a rule that only allowed Standard Mandarin characters on civil service exams. According to public opinion surveys in 2008, more people supported making English a second official language than Taiwanese.[86]
Taiwanization developed in the 1990s into a 'mother tongue revival movement' aiming to save, preserve, and develop the local ethnic culture and language of Holo (Taiwanese), Hakka, and aborigines. The effort tosave declining languages has since allowed them to revive and flourish. In 1993, Taiwan became the first country in the world to implement the teaching of Taiwanese Hokkien in schools. By 2001, Taiwanese languages such as Taiwanese Hokkien, Hakka, and indigenous languages were taught in all Taiwanese schools.[87][failed verification][dubious –discuss] Since the 2000s, elementary school students are required to take a class in either Taiwanese, Hakka or aboriginal languages.[88][dubious –discuss] In junior high this is usually an availableelective.[89] Taiwan also has its ownliterary circle whereby Hokkien poets and writers compose poetry and literature in Taiwanese on a regular basis.
As a result of the mother tongue movement, Taiwan has emerged as a significant cultural hub for Hokkien in the world in the 21st century. It also plans to be the major export center forHokkien culture worldwide in the 21st century.[90]
On September 1st, 2025, Beiling Elementary School inLujhu District, Kaohsiung, officially opened as a "Taiwanese Language Experimental Elementary School."[91] After a year of preparation and pilot programs, the school welcomed its first cohort of 16 new students. The principal and teachers greeted them in Taiwanese at the school gate, and the community and language community celebrated the event as a milestone in Taiwanese language education. This wasn't just a name change; it was a systematic experiment in local language, curriculum autonomy, and small school transformation.
 | You can helpexpand this section with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Chinese. (August 2020)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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Klöter'sWritten Taiwanese (cited below) has been described as "the most comprehensive English-language study of written Taiwanese".[92]
Languages Mandarin (Chinese), Holo (Taiwanese), Hakka, Austronesian languages
Principal languages
《國家語言發展法》並未以法律明列各固有族群之語言名稱，即是尊重各族群使用者慣常使用之命名權。
(3) 柳母標爲 ⟨d⟩ 興董昭輝，藍淸漢同。這是實際審音的結果，台灣大多數地區柳母都讀塞音 [d]，低元音時可能會出現流音 [l]，可 以視爲 ⟨d⟩ 的無定分音。若爲從俗可以標爲 ⟨l⟩，但因爲這個 [d] 和古音學有重大關係，標爲 ⟨d⟩ 容易解釋一些語源學現象。(4) [b], [d], [g] 的音值等於 [m], [n], [ŋ] 減去鼻音部分，歷史上也是 [m], [n], [ŋ] 變來，所以塞音緊度只有英語 [b], [d], [g] 的一半，致使 [d] 的音値變得十分接近 [l]。
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)The'j-' sound is relatively rare within Taiwanese, and for many speakers the sound is replaced by the'l-' sound.
...and we write it with this little symbol down here which is called a breve accent it's uh it's round at the bottom...
台語裡有個變調系統，細說分明需要時間，但最大的規則就是「最後一個字不要變！其他變變變！」
(As English language material on Taiwanese learning is limited, Japanese and German books are also listed here.)
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
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| WesternHimalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand,Nepal,Sikkim) |
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| EasternHimalayas (Tibet,Bhutan,Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
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| East andSoutheast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates,Arunachal) |
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| Proto-languages | |||||
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