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Bopomofo

NameBopomofo
TypeSemisyllabary
Typedesc(letters for onsets and rimes; diacritics for tones)
Time1913 to the present, now used as ruby characters in Taiwan for Chinese, and as the principal script for Formosan
LanguagesChinese languages, Formosan languages
Fam1Oracle Bone Script
Fam2Seal Script
Fam3Clerical Script
SistersSimplified Chinese, Kanji, Hanja, Chữ Nôm, Khitan script
UnicodeU+312F,
Iso15924Bopo
SampleZhuyinbaike.svg
Imagesize250px
CreatorCommission on the Unification of Pronunciation

     Home | Writing system | Bopomofo







'Zhuyin fuhao' ( ), often abbreviated as 'zhuyin' and colloquially called 'bopomofo', was introduced in the 1910s as the first official phonetic system for transcribing Chinese, especially Mandarin.

Consisting of 37 characters and four tone marks, it transcribes all possible sounds in Mandarin.

Despite being phased out on China in the 1950s, this system is still widely used as

an educational tool and Chinese computer input method in Taiwan.

Bopomofo Video

Chinesische Lautschrift Zhuyin Bopomo, Bopomofo
3.22 min. | 4.64 user rating		 slow bopomofo with combination sounds
4.40 min. | 3.66 user rating		 how to write bopomofo mandarin chinese phonetics alphabet
1.13 min. | 5.0 user rating		 Riverside Cafe Blues Bash Festival Blues Bash 2005 "49 Highway Blues" Douglas Rapier BoPoMoFo -Taiwan Blues Society introducing Gabriel Gratzer at the Riverside Café in Taipei
6.35 min. | 4.42 user rating		 As I was visiting my friend Victoria in the hospital, the neighbor's grandson came over and taught us BoPoMoFo which is the phonetic system for writing Chinese. People here will usually learn this when first learning how to write Chinese.
1.42 min. | 5.0 user rating
BoPoMoFo performs at the Blues Bash 2 The Blues Society on Taiwan presents The Blues Bash 2 Nov 5, 2005 Breeze Center, Taipei
5.65 min. | 5.0 user rating		 BoPoMoFo, a five-man Blues band out of Taipei, Taiwan, puts on a dynamic show in world-famous BB King's Blues Club, Memphis, Tennessee!
5.70 min. | 5.0 user rating		 how to use Taiwan's bopomofo to input chinese.
1.40 min. | 3.33 user rating		 swipe left-right for other keyboards -qwerty -bopomofo -numbers & symbols
0.70 min. | 5.0 user rating		 Live with the BoPoMoFo Blues Band Aki 'the Flame' Ikeda 'Dafu' Daisuke Neishi Klaus Tseng Mike 'Steel Fingers' Tennant DC Rapier
5.78 min. | 3.66 user rating

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colspan="3"|Origin of zhuyin symbols
Zhuyin Pinyin Origin
  b From  , the ancient form and current top portion of   bāo
  p From  , the combining form of   pū
  m From  , the archaic character and current radical   mì
  f From   fāng
  d From the archaic form of   dāo. Compare the bamboo form .
  t From the upside-down   seen at the top of  
  n From / , ancient form of   nǎi
  l From the archaic form of   lì
  g From the obsolete character   guì/kuài" 'river'
  k From the archaic character   kǎo
  h From the archaic character and current radical   hàn
  j From the archaic character   jiū
  q From the archaic character   quǎn, graphic root of the character   chuān (modern  )
  x From  , a ancient form of   xià.
  zh From / , archaic form of   zhī.
  ch From the character and radical   chì
  sh From the character   shī
  r Modified from the seal script form of   rì
  z From the archaic character and current radical   jié, dialectically zié
  c Variant of   qī, dialectically ciī. Compare semi-cursive form and seal-script .
  s From the archaic character   sī, which was later replaced by its compound   sī.
  i, y From   yī
  u, w From  , ancient form of   wǔ.
  ü, yu From the ancient character   qū, which remains as a radical
  a From   yā
  o From the obsolete character   hē, inhalation, the reverse of   kǎo, which is preserved as a phonetic in the compound   kě.
  e Derived from its allophone in Standard Chinese,   o
  ê From   yě. Compare the Warring States bamboo form
  ai From   hài, bronze form of  .
  ei From   yí, an obsolete character meaning   yí "to move".
  ao From   yāo
  ou From   yòu
  an From the obsolete character   hàn "to bloom", preserved as a phonetic in the compound   fàn
  en From   yǐn
  ang From   wāng
  eng From  , an obsolete form of   gōng
  er From  , the bottom portion of   ér used as a cursive form
  -i (, and inverted  ) Perhaps  , in addition to  . It is the minimal vowel of  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,   that is spelled "ih" in Tongyong Pinyin and Wade-Giles and "i" in pinyin.

Tonal marks :
Tone bopomofo Pinyin
1 none  
2    
3    
4    
short   none

Alignment :

Alignment :
   
   

Alignment :
   
   

Bopomofo vs. Pinyin
Alignment :
Bopomofo Hanyu Pinyin Tongyong Pinyin Wade-Giles Example (Bopomofo, Pinyin)
ㄅ b b p 八 (ㄅㄚ, bā)
ㄆ p p p' 杷 (ㄆㄚˊ, pá)
ㄇ m m m 馬 (ㄇㄚˇ, mǎ)
ㄈ f f f 法 (ㄈㄚˇ, fǎ)
ㄉ d d t 地 (ㄉㄧˋ, dì)
ㄊ t t t' 提 (ㄊㄧˊ, tí)
ㄋ n n n 你 (ㄋㄧˇ, nǐ)
ㄌ l l l 利 (ㄌㄧˋ, lì)
ㄍ g g k 告 (ㄍㄠˋ, gào)
ㄎ k k k' 考 (ㄎㄠˇ, kǎo)
ㄏ h h h 好 (ㄏㄠˇ, hǎo)
ㄐ j j ch 叫 (ㄐㄧㄠˋ, jiào)
ㄑ q c ch' 巧 (ㄑㄧㄠˇ, qiǎo)
ㄒ x s hs 小 (ㄒㄧㄠˇ, xiǎo)
ㄓ zhi 【zh】 jhih 【jh】 chih 【ch】 主 (ㄓㄨˇ, zhǔ)
ㄔ chi 【ch】 chih 【ch】 ch'ih 【ch'】 出 (ㄔㄨ, chū)
ㄕ shi 【sh】 shih 【sh】 shih 【sh】 束 (ㄕㄨˋ, shù)
ㄖ ri 【r】 rih 【r】 jih 【j】 入 (ㄖㄨˋ, rù)
ㄗ zi 【z】 zih 【z】 tzû 【ts】 在 (ㄗㄞˋ, zài)
ㄘ ci 【c】 cih 【c】 tz'û 【ts'】 才 (ㄘㄞˊ, cái)
ㄙ si 【s】 sih 【s】 ssû 【s】 塞 (ㄙㄞ, sāi)
Finals
Bopomofo Hanyu Pinyin Tongyong Pinyin Wade-Giles Example(Bopomofo, Hanyu)
ㄚ a a a 大 (ㄉㄚˋ, dà)
ㄛ o o o 多 (ㄉㄨㄛ, duō)
ㄜ e e e 得 (ㄉㄜˊ, dé)
ㄝ ê e eh 爹 (ㄉㄧㄝ, diē)
ㄞ ai ai ai 晒 (ㄕㄞˋ, shài)
ㄟ ei ei ei 誰 (ㄕㄟˊ, shéi)
ㄠ ao ao ao 少 (ㄕㄠˇ, shǎo)
ㄡ ou ou ou 收 (ㄕㄡ, shōu)
ㄢ an an an 山 (ㄕㄢ, shān)
ㄣ en en en 申 (ㄕㄣ, shēn)
ㄤ ang ang ang 上 (ㄕㄤˋ, shàng)
ㄥ eng eng eng 生 (ㄕㄥ, shēng)
ㄦ er er erh 而 (ㄦˊ, ér)
ㄧ yi 【i】 yi 【i】 yi 【i】 逆 (ㄋㄧˋ, nì)
ㄧㄣ yin 【in】 yin 【in】 yin 【in】 音 (ㄧㄣ, yīn)
ㄧㄥ ying 【ing】 ying 【ing】 ying 【ing】 英 (ㄧㄥ, yīng)
ㄨ wu 【u】 wu 【u】 wu 【u】 努 (ㄋㄨˇ, nǔ)
ㄨㄣ wen 【un】 wun 【un】 wen 【un】 文 (ㄨㄣˊ, wén)
ㄨㄥ weng 【ong】 wong 【ong】 ng 【ung】 翁 (ㄨㄥ, wēng)
ㄩ yu 【u, ü】 yu 【u, yu】 yü 【ü】 女 (ㄋㄩˇ, nǚ)
ㄩㄣ yun 【un】 yun 【un, yun】 yün 【ün】 韻 (ㄩㄣˋ, yūn)
ㄩㄥ yong 【iong】 yong yung 【iung】 永 (ㄩㄥˇ, yǒng)

Alignment :
Char Pinyin
ㄪ v
ㄫ ng
ㄬ ny

Extended bopomofo
Alignment :
Char Pinyin Char Pinyin Char Pinyin Char Pinyin
ㆠ（） bb* ㆦ（） oo blinkɔ ㆬ（） syllabic m ㆲ（） ong
ㆡ（） zz* ㆧ（） onn [õ] ㆭ（） syllabic ng ㆳ（） innn
ㆢ（） jj* ㆨ（） ir blinkɨ ㆮ（） ainn [aĩ] ㆴ（） Final p
ㆣ（） gg* ㆩ（） ann [ã] ㆯ（） aunn [aũ] ㆵ（） Final t
ㆤ（） ee [e] ㆪ（） inn [ĩ] ㆰ（） am ㆶ（） Final k
ㆥ（） enn [ẽ] ㆫ（） unn [ũ] ㆱ（） om ㆷ（） Final h blinkʔ

Tones
Alignment :
Char Tone Value Unicode
˪ (└) Chao number "11", depicts 低平"low, level tone" (陰去聲 "upper departing") in Taiwanese Minnan U+02EA
˫ (├) Chao number "33", depicts 平"mid, level tone" (陽去聲 "lower departing") in Taiwanese Minnan U+02EB



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