Taiwanese (Chinese: 台語, 台灣話 or 福佬話; Taiwanese Pe̍h-oē-jī: Tâi-oân-oē or Hō-ló-oē; Hanyu Pinyin: Táiyǔ or Táiwānhuà) is the primary spoken language of 70% of the Taiwanese population. The sub-ethnic group in Taiwan for which Taiwanese is considered a native language is known as Holo (Hō-ló) or Hoklo (the correspondence between language and ethnicity is not absolute, however, as some Holo speak Taiwanese poorly while some non-Holo speak Taiwanese fluently). Pe̍h-oē-jī (POJ) is a popular orthography for this language, and Min-nan in general (see below). A bill is a law introduced within a legislature to be read as part of procedure to become a law. ... National motto: None Official language Mandarin Chinese Capital and largest city Taipei President Chen Shui-bian Premier Frank Hsieh Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 138th 35,980 km² 2. ... National motto: None Official language Mandarin Chinese Capital and largest city Taipei President Chen Shui-bian Premier Frank Hsieh Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 138th 35,980 km² 2. ... A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an organization that is not part of a government and was not founded by states. ... ISO 639 is one of several international standards that lists short codes for language names. ... SIL International is a non-profit, Christian, scientific organization with the main purpose to study, develop and document lesser-known languages for the purpose of expanding linguistic knowledge, promoting world literacy and aiding minority language development. ... This list of languages is alphabetical by English name. ... Pinyin (拼音, pÄ«nyÄ«n) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration to roman script) for Standard Mandarin. ... Taiwan is mostly mountainous in the east, but gradually transitions to gently sloping plains in the west. ... First language (native language, mother tongue, or vernacular) is the language a person learns first. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Classification

Taiwanese is the variant of Min-nan which is spoken in Taiwan. Taiwanese is often seen as a Chinese dialect within a larger Chinese language. On the other hand, it may also be seen as a language in the Sino-Tibetan family. As with most "language or dialect?" distinctions, how one describes Taiwanese depends largely on one's political views (see Chinese dialect: Manifestations of language differentiation). In any case, the classification may be represented hierarchically as: Mǐn Nán (also spelt Minnan or Min-nan; Simplified Chinese: 闽南语, Traditional Chinese: 閩南語; native name Bân-lâm-gú) literally, the Southern Min or Southern Fujian language, refers to the language/dialect of southern Fujian province, China and neighboring areas, and descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora. ... Spoken Chinese The Chinese spoken language(s) comprise(s) many regional variants. ... Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... Sino-Tibetan languages form a hypothetical language family of about 250 languages of East Asia, second only to Indo-European in terms of the number of speakers. ... Spoken Chinese The Chinese spoken language(s) comprise(s) many regional variants. ...

Sino-Tibetan ⊃ Chinese ⊃ Min (Fujian) ⊃ Min-nan (southern Fujian) ⊃ Taiwanese

Taiwanese is similar to the speech of the southern part of Fujian because most Taiwanese have ancestors who migrated from there in the 17th to 19th centuries. As a branch of Min-nan, there are both a colloquial version and a literary version of Taiwanese. The literary version, which was originally developed in the 10th century in Fujian and based on Middle Chinese, was brought to Taiwan by the migrants. Literary Taiwanese was used at one time for formal writing, but is now largely extinct. Sino-Tibetan languages form a language family of about 250 languages of East Asia, in number of speakers worldwide second only to Indo-European. ... Min (閩方言 in pinyin: min3 fang1 yan2) is a general term for a group of dialects of the Chinese language spoken in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian as well as by migrants from this province in Guangdong (around Chaozhou-Swatou, and Leizhou peninsula), Hainan, three counties in southern Zhejiang... Mǐn Nán (also spelt Minnan or Min-nan; Simplified Chinese: 闽南语, Traditional Chinese: 閩南語; native name Bân-lâm-gú) literally, the Southern Min or Southern Fujian language, refers to the language/dialect of southern Fujian province, China and neighboring areas, and descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora. ... Fujian (Chinese: 福建; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Fu-chien; Postal System Pinyin: Fukien, Foukien; local transliteration Hokkien from Min Nan Hok-kiàn) is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of China. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mǐn Nán (also spelt Minnan or Min-nan; Simplified Chinese: 闽南语, Traditional Chinese: 閩南語; native name Bân-lâm-gú) literally, the Southern Min or Southern Fujian language, refers to the language/dialect of southern Fujian province, China and neighboring areas, and descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora. ... ( 9th century - 10th century - 11th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... Middle Chinese (中古漢語, pinyin: zhōnggǔ Hànyǔ), or Ancient Chinese as used by linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties (6th century - 10th century). ...

Recent work by scholars such as Ekki Lu, Sakai Toru, and Lí Khîn-hoāⁿ (also known as Tavokan Khîn-hoāⁿ or Chin-An Li), based on former research by scholars such as Ông Io̍k-tek, has gone so far as to associate part of the basic vocabulary of the colloquial language with the Austronesian and Tai language families; however, such claims are not without controversy. The Austronesian languages are a family of languages widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia. ... The Tai languages are a subgroup of the Tai Kadai language family. ...

Phonetics

Phonetically, Taiwanese is a tonal language with extensive tone sandhi rules. Syllables consist maximally of an initial consonant, a vowel, a final consonant, and a tone; any or all of the consonants or vowels may be nasal. Phonetics (from the Greek word phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ... Tone refers to the use of pitch in language to distinguish words. ... Tone sandhi refers to tone manipulation rules governing the pronunciation of tonal languages. ... A syllable (ancient Greek: συλλαβή) is a unit of speech that is made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with one or more optional phones (single sounds or phonetic segments). Syllables are often considered the phonological building blocks of words. ... A consonant is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a closure or stricture sufficient to cause audible turbulence, at one or more points along the vocal tract. ... In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by an open configuration of the vocal tract, in contrast to consonants, which are characterized by a constriction or closure at one or more points along the vocal tract. ...

Consonants

There are the following consonants: A consonant is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a closure or stricture sufficient to cause audible turbulence, at one or more points along the vocal tract. ...

Unlike many other varieties of Chinese such as Standard Mandarin or Standard Cantonese, there are no native labiodental phonemes. Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some stop consonants. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some stop consonants. ... A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... Alveolars are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, the internal side of the upper gums (known as the alveoles of the upper teeth). ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... Dentals are consonants articulated with either the lower or the upper teeth, or both. ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Standard Mandarin is the official Chinese spoken language used by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China on Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. ... Standard Cantonese refers to the most prestigious dialect of Cantonese (Yue), a vernacular variety of spoken Chinese. ... In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lips and the upper teeth, or viceversa. ...

Vowels

There are the following vowels In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by an open configuration of the vocal tract, in contrast to consonants, which are characterized by a constriction or closure at one or more points along the vocal tract. ...

 a e i o o· u m ng 

The vowel o is akin to a schwa; in contrast, o· is more open. In addition, there are several diphthongs and triphthongs (for example, iau). The consonants m and ng can function as a syllabic nucleus and are therefore included here as vowels. The vowels may be either plain or nasal: a is non-nasal, and aⁿ is the same vowel with concurrent nasal articulation. This is similar to French, Portuguese, and many other languages. In phonetics, a diphthong (Greek δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally with two sounds) is a vowel combination usually involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ... In phonetics, a triphthong is a monosyllabic vowel combination usually involving a quick, but smooth movement from one vowel to another that passes over a third one. ...

Tones

There are 7 tones. In the traditional analysis, the tones are numbered from 1 to 8; in Taiwanese, tones 2 and 6 are the same. For example, the syllable a in each of the 7 distinct tones are Tone refers to the use of pitch in language to distinguish words. ...

1. a; high level
2. á; falling
3. à; low level
4. ah; low stopped
5. â; rising
6. tone number 2 is repeated; there is no tone number 6 per se
7. ā; middle level
8. a̍h; high stopped

Conventional linguistic analysis describes the tones on a five-point scale, with 1 being the lowest pitch and 5 the highest. Here, the tones are shown following the traditional tone class categorization above, and are correlated with the tones of Middle Chinese (shown in Han characters, last column below): Middle Chinese (中古漢語, pinyin: zhōnggǔ Hànyǔ), or Ancient Chinese as used by linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties (6th century - 10th century). ...

1. 44; yin level (陰平)
2. 51; rising (上聲)
3. 31; yin departing (陰去)
4. 3; yin entering (陰入)
5. 24; yang level (陽平)
6. (tone 2 repeated)
7. 33; yang departing (陽去)
8. 5; yang entering (陽入)

But see (for one example) Wi-vun Taiffalo Chiung's modern phonetic analysis in the References, which challenges these notions. Phonetics (from the Greek word phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ...

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 siaⁿh, as long as there is no final consonant other than h.

A tone number 0, typically written with a double dash (--) before the syllable with this tone, is used to denote the extent of a verb action, the end of a noun phrase, etc.

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 the tone sandhi rules of tone number 4.

Syllabic structure

A syllable requires a vowel (or diphthong or triphthong) to appear in the middle. All consonants can appear at the initial position. The consonants p, t, k; m, n, and ng (and some consider h) may appear at the end of a syllable. Therefore, it is possible to have syllables such as ngiau ("(to) itch") and thng ("soup"). Incidentally, both of these example syllables are nasal: the first has a nasal initial consonant; the second a nasal vowel. A syllable (ancient Greek: συλλαβή) is a unit of speech that is made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with one or more optional phones (single sounds or phonetic segments). Syllables are often considered the phonological building blocks of words. ...

Compare with Hangul. Hangul (한글) is the native alphabet used to write the Korean language, as opposed to the Hanja system borrowed from China. ...

Tone sandhi

Taiwanese has extremely extensive tone sandhi (tone-changing) rules: in an utterance, only the last syllable pronounced is not affected by the rules. What an 'utterance' is, in the context of this language, is an ongoing topic for linguistic research. For the purpose of this article, an utterance may be considered a word, a phrase, or a short sentence. 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 the last in an utterance): Tone sandhi refers to tone manipulation rules governing the pronunciation of tonal languages. ... An utterance is a complete unit of talk, bounded by silence. ... Word can mean one of several things: A linguistic word—a unit of language that symbolizes or communicates a meaning, consisting of one or more morphemes. ... A phrase is a group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. ... In linguistics, the sentence is a unit of language, characterised in most languages by the presence of a finite verb. ...

• If the original tone number is 5, pronounce it as tone number 7.
• If the original tone number is 7, pronounce it as tone number 3.
• If the original tone number is 3, pronounce it as tone number 2.
• If the original tone number is 2, pronounce it as tone number 1.
• If the original tone number is 1, pronounce it as tone number 7.
• If the original tone number is 8 and the final consonant is not h (that is, it is p, t, or k), pronounce it as tone number 4.
• If the original tone number is 4 and the final consonant is not h (that is, it is p, t, or k), pronounce it as tone number 8.
• If the original tone number is 8 and the final consonant is h, pronounce it as tone number 3.
• If the original tone number is 4 and the final consonant is h, pronounce it as tone number 2.

See the work by Tiuⁿ Jū-hông and Wi-vun Taiffalo Chiung in the References, and the work by Robert L. Cheng (Tēⁿ Liông-úi) of the University of Hawaii, for modern linguistic approaches to tones and tone sandhi in Taiwanese. Jean Charlots mural called Commencement is featured at Bachman Hall, the administrative center of the University of Hawai`i System. ... Broadly conceived, linguistics is the scientific study of human language, and a linguist is someone who engages in this study. ...

Vocabulary

Modern linguistic studies (by Robert L. Cheng and Chin-An Li, for example) estimate that most (75 % to 90 %) Taiwanese words have cognates in other Chinese languages. False friends do exist; for example, cháu means "to run" in Taiwanese, whereas the Mandarin cognate, zǒu, means "to walk". Moreover, cognates may have different lexical categories; for example, the morpheme phīⁿ means not only "nose" (a noun, as in Mandarin bí) but also "to smell" (a verb, unlike Mandarin). Word can mean one of several things: A linguistic word—a unit of language that symbolizes or communicates a meaning, consisting of one or more morphemes. ... Cognates are words that have a common origin. ... Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... False friends are pairs of words in two languages (or letters in two alphabets) that look and/or sound similar, but differ in meaning. ... This article is on all of the Northern Chinese dialects. ... In grammar, a part of speech or word class is defined as the role that a word (or sometimes a phrase) plays in a sentence. ... In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest language unit that carries a semantic interpretation. ...

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 (person, concrete) vs. jîn (人, person, abstract); cha-bó· (woman) vs. lú-jîn (女人, woman, literary); chi-bai (vagina (vulgar)) vs. im-tō (陰道, vagina). Unlike the English Germanic/Latin contrast, however, the two groups of Taiwanese words cannot be as strongly attributed to the influences of two disparate linguistic sources. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Extensive contact with the Japanese language has left a legacy of Japanese loanwords. Although a small percentage of the vocabulary, their usage tends to be high-frequency because of their relevance to modern society and popular culture. Examples are: o·-tó·-bái (from オートバイ ootobai "motorcycle") and pháng (from パン pan "bread," which is itself a loanword from Portuguese). Grammatical particles borrowed from Japanese, notably te̍k (from teki 的) and ka (from か), show up in the Taiwanese of older speakers. The Japanese language is a spoken and written language used mainly in Japan. ... A loanword (or a borrowing) is a word taken in by one language from another. ...

Whereas Mandarin attaches a syllabic suffix to the singular pronoun to make a collective form, Taiwanese pronouns are collectivized through nasalization. For example, i (he/she/it) and goá (I) become in (they) and goán (we), respectively. The -n thus represents a subsyllabic morpheme. Like all other Chinese languages, Taiwanese does not have true plurals. A collective is a group of people who share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. ... In phonetics, nasalization is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered, so that air escapes partially or wholly through the nose during the production of the sound. ... Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngwén) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: Hànyǔ, Huáyǔ, or Zhōngwén) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... Plural is a grammatical number, typically referring to more than one of the referent in the real world. ...

Unlike English, Taiwanese has two first-person plural pronouns. This distinction is called inclusive, which includes the addressee, and exclusive, which excludes the addressee. For example, goán means we excluding you, while lán means we including you (that is, pluralis auctoris). The inclusive lán may be used to express politeness or solidarity, as in the example of a speaker asking a stranger "where do we live?", meaning "where do you live?". The term inclusive, in a mathematical context, denotes that the endpoints of a set are included within that set. ... In linguistics, an addressee is an intended direct recipient of the speakers communication. ... In a mathematics the term exclusive denotes that the endpoints of a set are NOT included within that set. ... Pluralis majestatis (majestic plural) is the plural pronoun where it is used to refer to one person alone. ...

See Common phrases in different languages: Taiwanese. Here is a list of common phrases in different languages. ...

Grammar

The grammar of Taiwanese is similar to southern Chinese dialects such as Hakka and Cantonese. The sequence 'subject verb object' is typical as in (say) Mandarin, but 'subject object verb' or the passive voice (with the sequence 'object subject verb') is possible with particles. Take a simple sentence for example: "I hold you." The words involved are: goá ("I" or "me"), phō ("to hold"), lí ("you"). Grammar is the study of the rules governing the use of a language. ... Spoken Chinese The Chinese spoken language(s) comprise(s) many regional variants. ... Hakka is one language in the family of languages known as Chinese. ... Cantonese (粵語/粤语, lit. ... In linguistic typology, subject-verb-object (SVO) is the sequence subject verb object in neutral expressions: Sam ate oranges. ... This article is on all of the Northern Chinese dialects. ... In linguistic typology, Subject Object Verb (SOV) is the general order of words in a languages sentences: Sam oranges ate. The SOV type is the most common type found in natural languages. ... In grammar, voice is the relationship between the action or state expressed by a verb, and its arguments (subject, object, etc. ... Object Subject Verb (OSV) is one of the permutations of expression used in Linguistic typology. ...

• Subject verb object (typical sequence): The sentence in the typical sequence would be: Goá phō lí. ("I hold you.")

• Subject kā object verb: Another sentence of roughly equivalent meaning is Goá kā lí phō, with the slight connotation of "I take you and hold" or "I get to you and hold."

• Object hō· subject verb (the passive voice): Then, Lí hō· goá phō means the same thing but in the passive voice, with the connotation of "You allow yourself to be held by me" or "You make yourself available for my holding."

With this, more complicated sentences can be constructed: Goá kā chúi hō· lí lim ("I give water for you to drink": chúi means "water"; lim is "to drink"). In grammar, voice is the relationship between the action or state expressed by a verb, and its arguments (subject, object, etc. ...

This article can only give a few very simple examples on grammar, for flavour. Linguistic work on the syntax of Taiwanese is still a (quite nascent) scholarly topic being explored. In linguistics, syntax is the study of the rules, or patterned relations, that govern the way the words in a sentence are arranged. ...

An audio sample of Taiwanese for the sentence: "Kin-á-jit hit-ê cha-bó· gín-á lâi góan tau khòaⁿ góa." (Today that girl came to my house to see me.)

Scripts and orthographies

An issue of the Taiwan Church News, first published by Presbyterian missionaries in 1885. This was the first printed newspaper in Taiwan, and was written in Taiwanese, in a Latin alphabet.

In most cases, Taiwanese speakers write using the script called Han 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. Mandarin-Taiwanese bilingual speakers sometimes attempt to represent the sounds by adopting similar-sounding Mandarin Han characters. For example, the Han characters of the (crude) phrase 看三小 (khoàⁿ sáⁿ siâu, which is a misuse of 看啥"犭肖") 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 some situations, Taiwanese is written using a romanized orthography with the Latin alphabet (Pe̍h-oē-jī, "vernacular writing") developed first by Presbyterian missionaries and later by the indigenous Presbyterian 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. Other Latin-based orthographies exist, the more significant being TLPA (Taiwanese Language Phonetic Alphabet), Modern Literal Taiwanese, and Tongyong Pinyin. An issue of Taiwan Church News (July 1885), an example of Taiwanese written in Latin characters. ... An issue of Taiwan Church News (July 1885), an example of Taiwanese written in Latin characters. ... 1885 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... A writing system, also called a script, is a type of symbolic communication system used to represent elements or statements expressible in some spoken language, for the purpose of communication. ... Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... In linguistics, romanization or latinization is a system for representing a word or language with the Roman (Latin) alphabet, where the original word or language used a different writing system. ... The orthography of a language is the set of rules of how to write correctly in the writing system of a language. ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world. ... Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ... A missionary is a propagator of religion, often an evangelist or other representative of a religious community who works among those outside of that community. ... An issue of the Taiwan Church News, first published by Presbyterian missionaries in 1885. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Tongyong Pinyin (通用拼音, literally Universal/General Usage Sound-combining) is the current official romanization of the Chinese language adopted by the national government (although not all local governments) of the Republic of China (on Taiwan) since late 2000, announced by the Mandarin Promotion Council of the Ministry of Education. ...

The alphabet

In Pe̍h-oē-jī, the traditional list of letters is

a b ch chh e g h i j k kh l m n ng o o· p ph s t th (ts) u

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 capital form is seldom used), and the tonal diacritics. A diacritical mark or diacritic, sometimes called an accent mark, is a mark added to a letter to alter a words pronunciation or to distinguish between similar words. ...

Computing

Many keyboard layouts and input methods for entering either Latin or Han characters in Taiwanese are available. Some of them are free-of-charge, some commercial. Toogood is a dick Jack has no penis that is y he is so jealous becoz me toogood have a large penis. ... The Chinese language uses a logographic script—one in which one character corresponds roughly to one word or meaning—there are vastly more characters, or glyphs, than there are keys on a standard computer keyboard. ...

The language Min-nan is registered per RFC 3066 as zh-min-nan [1]. Taiwanese can be represented as zh-min-nan-TW. Mǐn Nán (also spelt Minnan or Min-nan; Simplified Chinese: 闽南语, Traditional Chinese: 閩南語; native name Bân-lâm-gú) literally, the Southern Min or Southern Fujian language, refers to the language/dialect of southern Fujian province, China and neighboring areas, and descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora. ...

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 in Cantonese, Vietnamese chữ nôm, Korean hanja and Japanese kanji. These are usually not encoded in Unicode (or the corresponding ISO/IEC 10646: Universal Character Set), thus creating problems in computer processing. Cantonese (粵語/粤语, lit. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... Hanja (lit. ... Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Romaji ローマ字 Kanji (漢字, literally characters from Han China; see also Han Chinese) are Chinese characters used in Japanese. ... In computing, Unicode provides an international standard which has the goal of providing the means to encode the text of every document people want to store on computers. ... The Universal Character Set (UCS) is a character encoding that is defined by the international standard ISO/IEC 10646. ...

All Latin characters required by Pe̍h-oē-jī can be represented using Unicode (or the corresponding ISO/IEC 10646: Universal character set), using precomposed or combining (diacritics) characters. Prior to June 2004, the vowel 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/IEC working 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 documents N1593, N2507, N2628, N2699, and N2713). Font support is expected to follow. In computing, Unicode provides an international standard which has the goal of providing the means to encode the text of every document people want to store on computers. ... The Universal Character Set (UCS) is a character encoding that is defined by the international standard ISO/IEC 10646. ... June is the sixth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A middle dot is one of several types of dots that occur in the middle of a character space, such as the examples in the following table. ...

Sociolinguistics

Regional variations

Within the wider Min-nan (Hō-ló-oē) speaking community in Southeast Asia, Amoy (Xiamen) is historically the variant of prestige (close to a 'standard language'), with other major variants from Choâⁿ-chiu (Chinchew or Quanzhou in Fujian), Chiang-chiu (Changchew or Zhangzhou in Fujian), and Tiô-chiu (Teochew or Chaozhou in Guangdong). Xiamen (Simplified Chinese: 厦门; Traditional Chinese: 廈門; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hsiamen) is a coastal sub-provincial city in Fujian Province, southern China. ... A standard language (also standard dialect or standardized dialect) is a particular variety of a language that has been given either legal or quasi-legal status. ... Quanzhou (Chinese: 泉州; pinyin: Quánzhōu) is a prefecture level city, located in the Fujian province of China. ... Fujian (Chinese: 福建; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Fu-chien; Postal System Pinyin: Fukien, Foukien; local transliteration Hokkien from Min Nan Hok-kiàn) is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of China. ... Zhangzhou (Chinese: 漳州; pinyin: Zhāngzhōu) is a prefecture-level city, located on the banks of the Xi River in the Fujian province of China, about 55 km (35 mi) west of Xiamen. ... Chaozhou (Chinese: 潮州 lit. ... Guangdong (Simplified Chinese: 广东; Traditional Chinese: 廣東; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kuang-tung; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangtung or Canton Province, Jyutping: gwong2 dung1), is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

In Taiwan, however, the Tâi-lâm (Tainan, southern Taiwan) speech is the variant of prestige, and the other major variants are the northern speech, the central speech (near Taichung and the port town of Lo̍k-káng in Changhua County), and the northern (northeastern) coastal speech (dominant in Gî-lân). The distinguishing feature of the coastal speech is the use of the vowel 'uiⁿ' in place of 'ng'. The northern speech is distinguished by the absence of the 8th tone, and some vowel exchanges (for example, 'i' and 'u', 'e' and 'oe'). The central speech has an additional vowel between 'i' and 'u', which may be represented as 'ö'. Tainan is the name of a city and a county in southwestern Taiwan. ... Abbreviation: Central City (中市) City nickname: The cultural city Capital District West Dist. ... Lukang (鹿港, old Taiwanese name Lo̍k-á-káng, lit. ... Changhua County (彰化縣, pinyin: Zhānghuà Xiàn) is a county in western Taiwan administered as part of Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. ... Yilan County (宜蘭縣, pinyin: Yílán Xiàn) is a county in Northeastern Taiwan. ...

Fluency

Most people in Taiwan can speak both Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese although the degree of fluency varies widely. There are however significant numbers of people in Taiwan (roughly 20 to 30 percent of the population of Taiwan), mainly but not exclusively Hakka and Mainlanders, who cannot speak Taiwanese at all, as well as large numbers of people (roughly 10 to 20 percent of the population), mainly people born before the 1950s, who cannot speak Mandarin at all. Urban, working-class Hakkas as well as younger, southern-Taiwan Mainlanders tend to have better, even native-like fluency. This article is on all of the Northern Chinese dialects. ... Hakka (Chinese: 客家; pinyin: kèjiā, literal meaning guest families) are a Han Chinese people whose ancestors are said to originate from around Henan and Shanxi in northern China over 2700 years ago. ... Mainlanders are those humans who live, or were born, in a mainland. ...

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 in rural areas, while Mandarin is used more in urban settings, particularly in Taipei. Older people tend to use Taiwanese, while younger people tend to use Mandarin. In the broadcast media, soap opera/dramas and variety shows tend to use Taiwanese, while game shows and documentaries tend to use Mandarin. Political news is broadcasted in both Taiwanese and Mandarin. City nickname: the City of Azaleas Capital District Xinyi Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 16 of 25 271. ... The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of Our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... Drama is a term generally used to refer to a literary form involving parts written for actors to perform. ... A variety show is a show with a variety of acts, often including music and comedy skits, especially on television. ... A game show is a radio or television program involving members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, playing a game, perhaps involving answering quiz questions, for points or prizes. ... A documentary is a work in a visual or auditory medium presenting political, scientific, social, or historical subjects in a factual and informative manner. ...

Special literary and art forms

Chhit-jī-á (literally, "that which has seven syllables") is a poetic meter where each verse has 7 syllables. Bust of Homer, one of the earliest European poets, in the British Museum Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... Metre (American spelling: meter) describes the regular linguistic sound patterns of verse. ...

Puppetry is part of the heritage in the Taiwanese language.

There is a special form of musical/dramatic performance koa-á-hì ("Taiwanese opera"); the subject matter is usually a historical event. A similar form of puppetry, pò·-tē-hì ("Taiwanese puppetry"), is also unique and has been elaborated in the past two decades into impressive televised spectacles. Taiwanese puppetry, from http://movie. ... Taiwanese puppetry, from http://movie. ... Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Music Look up Music in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikisource, as part of the 1911 Encyclopedia Wikiproject, has original text related to this article: Music Wikicities has a wiki about Music: Music Music City : a collaborative music database All Music Guide... Drama is a term generally used to refer to a literary form involving parts written for actors to perform. ... Taiwanese (folk) opera (歌仔戲; Taiwanese koa-á-hì; Mandarin: GÄ“zÇŽixì; lit. ... Taiwanese (folk) opera (Taiwanese: koa-á-hì; Mandarin: 歌仔戲, Gezaixi; lit. ... History Forums - History is Happening -Discuss all historical topics, as well as current events, in an academic setting. ... A puppeteer is a person who manipulates a puppet or marionette, either by the use of strings, wires or their hands, for a stage production or film. ...

See Taiwanese cuisine for names of several local dishes. Several Taiwanese snacks bought from food stalls at the Shilin Night Market, Taipei. ...

Conceptualization and history

In the 18th and 19th centuries, civil unrest and armed conflicts were frequent in Taiwan. In addition to resistance against the government (both Chinese and Japanese), battles between ethnic groups were also significant: the belligerent usually grouped around the language they use. History recorded battles between the Hakka and the Taiwanese-language speakers; between these and the aborigines; and between those who spoke the Choâⁿ-chiu variant of what became the Taiwanese language and those who spoke the Chiang-chiu variant. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Hakka (Chinese: 客家; pinyin: kèjiā, literal meaning guest families) are a Han Chinese people whose ancestors are said to originate from around Henan and Shanxi in northern China over 2700 years ago. ... A Rukai village Chief visiting the Department of Anthropology in Tokyo Imperial University during the Japanese rule. ...

Later, in the 20th century, the conceptualization of Taiwanese is more controversial than most variations of Chinese because at one time it marked a clear division between the Mainlanders who arrived 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 Taiwanese have been more controversial and sensitive than for other variants of Chinese. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

The history of Taiwanese and the interaction with Mandarin is complex and at times controversial. Even the name is somewhat controversial. Some dislike the name Taiwanese as they feel that it belittles other variants such as Mandarin, Hakka, and the aboriginal languages which are spoken on Taiwan. Others prefer the name Min-nan or Hokkien as this views Taiwanese as a variant of the speech which is spoken on Fujian province in Mainland China. Others dislike the name Min-nan and Hokkien for precisely the same reason. One can get into similar controversial debates as to whether Taiwanese is a language or a dialect. Hakka is one language in the family of languages known as Chinese. ... A Rukai village Chief visiting the Department of Anthropology in Tokyo Imperial University during the Japanese rule. ... Fujian (Chinese: 福建; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Fu-chien; Postal System Pinyin: Fukien, Foukien; local transliteration Hokkien from Min Nan Hok-kiàn) is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of China. ... In this map of China, the light-coloured areas represent Mainland China, while yellow coloured area refers to Taiwan. ...

Politics

Until the 1980s, the use of Taiwanese was discouraged by the Kuomintang through measures such as banning its use in schools and limiting the amount of Taiwanese broadcast on electronic media. These measures were removed by the 1990s, and Taiwanese became an emblem of localization. Mandarin remains the predominant language of education, although there is a local language requirement in Taiwanese schools which can be satisfied with Taiwanese, Hakka, or aboriginal languages. // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... The Kuomintang (KMT) or Nationalist Party of China (Traditional: 中國國民黨; Simplified: 中国国民党; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo Kuo-min-tang; Tongyong Pinyin: Jhongguo Guomindang) is a conservative political party currently active in the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... Localization (本土化, POJ: pún-thó·-hòa, Pinyin: Běntǔ huà) is a political term used within Taiwan to support the view of Taiwan as a centered place rather than as solely an appendage of China. ...

Although the use of Taiwanese over Mandarin was historically part of the Taiwan independence movement, the linkage between politics and language is not as strong as it once was. Fluency in Taiwanese has become a de facto requirement for political office in Taiwan for both independence and unificationist politicians. At the same time even some supporters of Taiwan independence have played down its connection with Taiwanese language in order to gain the support of the Mainlanders and Hakka. Taiwan independence (Chinese: 台灣獨立, pinyin: Táiwān dúlì, Taiwanese Romanization: Tâi-oân To̍k-li̍p; abbreviated to 台獨, Táidú, Tâi-to̍k) is a political movement whose goal is primarily to create an independent and sovereign Republic of Taiwan that is politically, culturally, and geographically... Mainlanders are those humans who live, or were born, in a mainland. ... Hakka (Chinese: 客家; pinyin: kèjiā, literal meaning guest families) are a Han Chinese people whose ancestors are said to originate from around Henan and Shanxi in northern China over 2700 years ago. ...

James Soong restricted the use of Taiwanese and other local tongues in broadcasting while serving as Director of the Government Information Office earlier in his career, but later became one of the first Mainlander politicians to use Taiwanese in semi-formal occasions. Since then, politicians opposed to Taiwan independence have used it frequently in rallies even when they are not native speakers of the language and speak it badly. Conversely, politicians who have traditionally been identified with Taiwan independence have used Mandarin on formal occasions and semi-formal occasions such as press conferences. An example of the latter is President Chen Shui-bian who uses Mandarin in all official state speeches, but uses Taiwanese in political rallies and some informal state occasions such as New Year greetings, although in the latter case he never uses Taiwanese exclusively. Soong Chu-yu James Chu-yu Soong (宋楚瑜 Wade-Giles: Sung Chu-yü; pinyin: Sòng Chǔyú; born March 16, 1942) is a politician in the Republic of China on Taiwan. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Chen Shui-bian, President of the Republic of China Chen Shui-bian (ch. ...

In the early 21st century, there are few differences in language usage between the anti-independence leaning Pan-Blue Coalition and the independence leaning Pan-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 in northern Taiwan and more Taiwanese in southern 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 and PFP tend to use Mandarin. The Taiwan Solidarity Union, which advocates a strong line on Taiwan independence, tends to use Taiwanese even in formal press conferences. In speaking, politicians will frequently code switch. In writing, almost everyone uses vernacular Mandarin which is farther from Taiwanese, and the use of semi-alphabetic writing or even colloquial Taiwanese characters is rare. The Pan-Blue Coalition, or Pan-Blue Force (Chinese: 泛藍軍; pinyin: fàn lán jÅ«n), is a political coalition in early 21st century Taiwan, consisting of the Kuomintang (KMT), the People First Party (PFP), and the smaller New Party (CNP). ... The Pan-Green Coalition (Traditional Chinese: 泛綠聯盟; Simplified Chinese: 泛绿联盟; pinyin: ) or Pan-Green Force (Traditional Chinese: 泛綠軍; Simplified Chinese: 泛绿军; pinyin: ), is an informal political alliance in early 21st century Taiwan, consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), and the minor Taiwan Independence Party (TAIP). ... The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) (Traditional Chinese: 台灣團結聯盟, pinyin: Táiwān túanjíe líanméng) is a political party in the Republic of China on Taiwan which advocates Taiwan independence. ... Taiwan independence (Chinese: 台灣獨立, pinyin: Táiwān dúlì, Taiwanese Romanization: Tâi-oân To̍k-li̍p; abbreviated to 台獨, Táidú, Tâi-to̍k) is a political movement whose goal is primarily to create an independent and sovereign Republic of Taiwan that is politically, culturally, and geographically... Code-switching is a term in linguistics referring to alternation between one or more languages, dialects, or language registers in the course of discourse between people who have more than one language in common. ... Vernacular Chinese (pinyin: Bai hua; Wade-Giles: Pai hua) is a style or register of the written Chinese language essentially modeled after the spoken language and associated with Standard Mandarin. ...

Despite these commonalities, there are still different attitudes toward the relationship between Taiwanese and Mandarin. In general, while supporters of Chinese reunification believe that all languages used on Taiwan should be respected, they tend to believe that Mandarin should have a preferred status as the common working language between different groups. Supporters of Taiwan independence tend to believe that either Taiwanese should be preferred or that no language should be preferred.

In 2002, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, a party with about 10 % of the Legislative Yuan seats at the time, suggested making Taiwanese a second official language. 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 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 it appears very unlikely to pass. 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Legislative Yuan building in Zhongzheng District, Taipei City (the view is blocked by the childrens hospital building of the National Taiwan University Hospital). ...

In 2003, there was a controversy when parts of the civil service examination for judges were written in characters used only in Taiwanese. 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 Hakka and aborigines.

References

(As not too much English literature is available on learning Taiwanese, also Japanese and German books are listed here.)

• Bodman, Nicholas C.: Spoken Taiwanese with Cassette(s), 1980/2001, ISBN 0879504617 or ISBN 0879504609 or ISBN 0879504625
• Campbell, William: Ē-mn̂g-im Sin Jī-tián (Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular). Tainan, Taiwan: Tâi-oân Kàu-hoē Kong-pò-siā (Taiwan Church Press, Presbyterian Church in Taiwan). 1993-06 (First published 1913-07).
• Iâu Chèng-to: Cheng-soán Pe̍h-oē-jī (Concise Colloquial Writing). Tainan, Taiwan: Jîn-kong (an imprint of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan). 1992.
• Tân, K. T: A Chinese-English Dictionary: Taiwan Dialect. Taipei: Southern Materials Center. 1978.
• Maryknoll Language Service Center: English-Amoy Dictionary. Taichung, Taiwan: Maryknoll Fathers. 1979.
• Tiuⁿ Jū-hông: Principles of Pe̍h-oē-jī or the Taiwanese Orthography: an introduction to its sound-symbol correspondences and related issues. Taipei: Crane Publishing, 2001. ISBN 957-2053-07-8
• Wi-vun Taiffalo Chiung: Tone Change in Taiwanese: Age and Geographic Factors.
• 樋口 靖: 台湾語会話, 2000, ISBN 4497200043 (Good and yet concise introduction to the Taiwanese language in Japanese; CD: ISBN 449720006X)
• 趙 怡華: はじめての台湾, 2003, ISBN 4756906656 (In Japanese: Introduction to Taiwanese and Chinese)
• Katharina Sommer, Xie Shu-Kai, Xie Shu-Kai: Taiwanisch Wort für Wort, 2004, ISBN 389416348 (Taiwanese for travellers, in German. CD: ISBN 3831760942)
• Taiwanese learning resources (a good bibliography in English) (Google cache as a web page)

External links

Taiwanese (linguistics) edition of Wikipedia

• Taiwanese Minnan Hua (Nursery rhymes and songs in Han characters and romanization w/ recordings in MP3)
• Hoklo.orgexplores the Austro-Tai roots of Taiwanese.
• Learn Taiwanese by James Campbell. The orthography used appears to be slightly modified Pe̍h-oē-jī.
• Ethnologue Report For Chinese Min-Nan (15th edition). This report uses a classification which considers Taiwanese a dialect of Min-Nan, which is classified as a separate language from Mandarin. This view of Taiwanese is controversial for the political reasons mentioned above.
• Ethnologue Report For Chinese Min-Nan (14th edition). This report uses a classification which considers Taiwanese a dialect of Min-Nan, which is classified as a separate language from Mandarin. This view of Taiwanese is controversial for the political reasons mentioned above.
• Lomaji.com. Resources for Taiwanese language(s).
• Open Directory (dmoz): World: Taiwanese
• Travlang (language resources for travellers): Hō-ló-oē
• TLH: an organization promoting Pe̍h-oē-jī and other latinized (romanized) orthographies for languages in Taiwan
• Daiwanway: Tutorial, dictionary, and stories in Taiwanese. Uses a unique romanization system, different from Pe̍h-oē-jī. Includes sound files.
• Taiwanese language culture promotion
• Summary of pronunciation of Church Romanization according to International Phonetic Alphabet

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Min Dong Language (or Eastern Min Language, 閩東語) is the language mainly spoken in the eastern part of Fujian Province (福建省). It’s also referred to as Foochowese (福州話) because it is considered the standard form of Min Dong Language. ... Mǐn N n (Chinese: 閩南語), also spelt as Minnan or Min-nan; native name B ; literally means Southern Min or Southern Fujian and refers to the local language/dialect of southern Fujian province, China. ... The following is a list of major Chinese dialects. ... Standard Mandarin is the official Chinese spoken language used by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China on Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. ... Standard Cantonese refers to the most prestigious dialect of Cantonese (Yue), a vernacular variety of spoken Chinese. ... Historical Chinese Phonology deals with reconstructing the sounds of Chinese from the past. ... Old Chinese, or Archaic Chinese (上古汉语), refers to the Chinese spoken during the Zhou Dynasty (10th century BC - 256 BC). ... Middle Chinese (中古漢語, pinyin: zhōnggǔ Hànyǔ), or Ancient Chinese as used by linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties (6th century - 10th century). ... Proto-Mandarin is an ancient language based on an older form of Mandarin before it was Mandarin. ... The Haner language (漢兒言語) was a Chinese language heavil