PinYin and BoPoMoFo ZhuYin Equivalence
PinYin and BoPoMoFo ZhuYin Equivalence
There is a straight one-to-one correspondence between ZhuYin (BoPoMoFo)
and PinYin (Chinese Romanization), with the few exceptions listed
at the end of the next table.
Despite the usually emotionally
charged arguments (usually by those who do not bother to take the
time to understand the differences across the Taiwan Strait), it
is just a matter of choice of symbols to represent the many
sounds in Chinese.
In the following table, BoPoMoFo are coded in
Big5 (because BoPoMoFo is not used in mainland C thus, the
corresponding GB coding does not contain these symbols).
table below lists the 37 BoPoMoFo phonetic symbols, along with
the corresponding romanized equivalents.
The first half are the
consonants and the second half are the vowels.
Note that ㄧ, ㄨ,
and ㄩ can be both, and the corresponding PinYin are different.
Consonants
ㄅ bㄆ pㄇ mㄈ f
ㄉ dㄊ tㄋ nㄌ l
ㄍ gㄎ kㄏ h
ㄐ jㄑ qㄒ x
ㄓ zhㄔ chㄕ shㄖ r
ㄗ zㄘ cㄙ s
ㄧ yㄨ wㄩ yu
ㄧ iㄨ uㄩ u, u:
ㄚ aㄛ oㄜ eㄝ e, e^
ㄞ aiㄟ eiㄠ auㄡ ou
ㄢ anㄣ enㄤ angㄥ eng
Exceptions for some vowels (but not consonants):
i and ou (ㄧㄡ) combine to iu (e.g., 溜 liu)
(ㄧㄣ) combine to in (e.g., 林 lin)
i and eng (ㄧㄥ) combine to ing (e.g., 令 ling)
u and ei (ㄨㄟ) combine to ui (e.g., 雖 sui)
u and en (ㄨㄣ) combine to un (e.g., 孫 sun)
u and eng (ㄨㄥ) combine to ong (e.g., 松 song)
u and en (ㄩㄣ) combine to un (e.g., 君 jun)
u and eng (ㄩㄥ) combine to iong (e.g., 用 yong or 凶 xiong)
er (ㄦ) at the end of a character becomes just r.
Note that "u" stands for both wu (ㄨ) and yu (ㄩ), usually without any
confusion.
Exceptions are in combination with consonants "l" and "n"
where a distinction needs to be made (路 lu and 綠 lu:) (奴 nu and 女 nu:)
(In some pinyin input methods, we spell lu: and nu: instead with accent characters
l& and n& or with non-accent characters lyu and nyu.)
Note that "e" stands for both ㄜ and ㄝ, usually without any confusion.
The only exception is when ㄝ is used alone as in 誒; in that case spell e^.
One more exception to the rule for ZhuYin symbols that can stand alone:
In ZhuYin, ㄧ, ㄨ, and ㄩ can stand alone.
In PinYin, combine the consonant and vowel, i.e.,
yi, wu, and yu, respectively.
In ZhuYin, ㄓ, ㄔ, ㄕ, ㄖ, ㄗ, ㄘ, and ㄙ can stand alone.
In PinYin,
append "i" i.e., zhi, chi, shi, ri, zi, ci, and si, respectively.
The above are all the rules and exceptions to the rules.
Lastly, we indicate the tone by appending 1, 2, 3, 4, or 0
(e.g., wang2 nan2 xin1, which is my name).
The following table contains a complete set of all valid sounds
in Mandarin, and BoPoMoFo, pinyin, etc.
are the different ways
of expressing the various sounds.
The Big5 and GB characters in
the table are only representative characters with that
pronunciation.
Many Chinese characters share an identical
pronunciation.
Conversely, there are sometimes multiple
pronunciations for the same character.
Note that many
combinations of the consonants and vowels (e.g., "bui") are
missing in Mandarin Chinese, unless you speak with a very strange
accent or unless you are imitating the sounds of animals.
single font will not display the
to switch fonts to view this page in Big5 (present setting), GB, and
codes (which
you accomplish, for example, in Internet Explorer through the menu |View|Encoding|.
Big5GBHZZhuYinPinYinWadeYale
哀飢~{0'~}ㄞ
安假~{02~}ㄢ
骯偎~{09~}ㄤ
八匐~{0K~}ㄅㄚ
白啞~{0W~}ㄅㄞ
扳售~{0b~}ㄅㄢ
邦堊~{0n~}ㄅㄤ
包婦~{0|~}ㄅㄠ
卑掠~{10~}ㄅㄟ
奔掉~{1<~}ㄅㄣ
崩推~{1@~}ㄅㄥ
逼排~{1F~}ㄅㄧ
編晤~{1`~}ㄅㄧㄢBian
彪梵~{1k~}ㄅㄧㄠBiao
鱉梱~{1n~}ㄅㄧㄝBie
彬梃~{1r~}ㄅㄧㄣBin
冰梨~{1y~}ㄅㄧㄥBing
波疏~{2(~}ㄅㄛ
不祥~{2;~}ㄅㄨ
擦笠~{2A~}ㄘㄚ
猜笨~{2B~}ㄘㄞ
參統~{2N~}ㄘㄢ
倉累~{2V~}ㄘㄤ
Ts'ang Tsang
操紱~{2Y~}ㄘㄠ
冊聊~{2a~}ㄘㄜ
岑嶍~{a/~}ㄘㄣ
曾崠~{Tx~}ㄘㄥ
Ts'eng Tseng
叉脫~{2f~}ㄔㄚ
拆莞~{2p~}ㄔㄞ
摻莖~{2t~}ㄔㄢ
昌荻~{2}~}ㄔㄤ
Chang Ch'ang Chang
吵陶~{33~}ㄔㄠ
車陬~{35~}ㄔㄜ
琛銵~{h!~}ㄔㄣ
稱備~{3F~}ㄔㄥ
Cheng Ch'eng Cheng
吃勛~{3T~}ㄔ
充喃~{3d~}ㄔㄨㄥChong Ch'ung Chung
抽喲~{3i~}ㄔㄡ
出堤~{3v~}ㄔㄨ
揣揮~{4'~}ㄔㄨㄞChuai Ch'uai Chwai
川捶~{4(~}ㄔㄨㄢChuan Ch'uan Chwan
創斐~{44~}ㄔㄨㄤChuangCh'uangChwang
吹斯~{45~}ㄔㄨㄟChui
春景~{4:~}ㄔㄨㄣChun
綽朝~{4B~}ㄔㄨㄛChuo
疵棺~{4C~}ㄘ
匆棍~{4R~}ㄘㄨㄥCong
Ts'ung Tsung
粗棉~{4V~}ㄘㄨ
竄欽~{4\~}ㄘㄨㄢCuan
Ts'uan Tswan
崔殖~{4^~}ㄘㄨㄟCui
村游~{4e~}ㄘㄨㄣCun
撮湧~{4i~}ㄘㄨㄛCuo
答湘~{4p~}ㄉㄚ
呆渭~{4t~}ㄉㄞ
丹竣~{5$~}ㄉㄢ
當絞~{51~}ㄉㄤ
刀絮~{56~}ㄉㄠ
得腕~{5C~}ㄉㄜ
得腕~{5C~}ㄉㄟ
登腎~{5G~}ㄉㄥ
低腴~{5M~}ㄉㄧ
滇菲~{5a~}ㄉㄧㄢDian
刁街~{5s~}ㄉㄧㄠDiao
爹註~{5y~}ㄉㄧㄝDie
丁間~{6!~}ㄉㄧㄥDing
丟隍~{6*~}ㄉㄧㄡDiu
冬隄~{6,~}ㄉㄨㄥDong
兜項~{65~}ㄉㄡ
督飭~{6=~}ㄉㄨ
端傷~{6K~}ㄉㄨㄢDuan
堆剽~{6Q~}ㄉㄨㄟDui
敦嗟~{6X~}ㄉㄨㄣDun
多嗣~{6`~}ㄉㄨㄛDuo
娥塔~{6p~}ㄜ
恩塋~{6w~}ㄣ
兒嫁~{6y~}ㄦ
伐極~{7%~}ㄈㄚ
反毀~{74~}ㄈㄢ
方源~{7=~}ㄈㄤ
妃漦~{ez~}ㄈㄟ
分煦~{7V~}ㄈㄣ
丰猿~{7a~}ㄈㄥ
佛痰~{7p~}ㄈㄛ
浮腹~{8!~}ㄈㄡ
仆?~{FM~}ㄈㄨ
尬痸~{^N~}ㄍㄚ
垓跍~{[r~}ㄍㄞ
干補~{8I~}ㄍㄢ
亢蕩~{?:~}ㄍㄤ
高詢~{8_~}ㄍㄠ
戈資~{8j~}ㄍㄜ
給跤~{8x~}ㄍㄟ
根跦~{8y~}ㄍㄣ
耕較~{8{~}ㄍㄥ
工馱~{9$~}ㄍㄨㄥGong
勾僑~{94~}ㄍㄡ
估嘛~{9@~}ㄍㄨ
瓜圖~{9O~}ㄍㄨㄚGua
乖墊~{9T~}ㄍㄨㄞGuai
官夥~{9Y~}ㄍㄨㄢGuan
光嫖~{9b~}ㄍㄨㄤGuang Kuang
圭寧~{9g~}ㄍㄨㄟGui
滾幗~{9v~}ㄍㄨㄣGun
郭廖~{9y~}ㄍㄨㄛGuo
哈慇~{9~~}ㄏㄚ
孩滯~{:"~}ㄏㄞ
酣漕~{:(~}ㄏㄢ
夯獄~{:;~}ㄏㄤ
壕瑣~{:>~}ㄏㄠ
呵瘉~{:G~}ㄏㄜ
黑窪~{:Z~}ㄏㄟ
痕窩~{:[~}ㄏㄣ
亨箋~{:`~}ㄏㄥ
哄箏~{:e~}ㄏㄨㄥHong
侯綜~{:n~}ㄏㄡ
乎綱~{:u~}ㄏㄨ
化趙~{;/~}ㄏㄨㄚHua
徊輔~{;2~}ㄏㄨㄞHuai
歡辣~{;6~}ㄏㄨㄢHuan
肓蹅~{kA~}ㄏㄨㄤHuang Huang
灰閡~{;R~}ㄏㄨㄟHui
昏餉~{;h~}ㄏㄨㄣHun
豁魁~{;m~}ㄏㄨㄛHuo
几撓~{<8~}ㄐㄧ
加樓~{<S~}ㄐㄧㄚJia
奸潮~{<i~}ㄐㄧㄢJian
江蔬~{=-~}ㄐㄧㄤJiang Chiang Jyang
交蝠~{=;~}ㄐㄧㄠJiao
皆諂~{=T~}ㄐㄧㄝJie
巾踫~{=m~}ㄐㄧㄣJin
京儔~{>)~}ㄐㄧㄥJing
窘噬~{>=~}ㄐㄩㄥJiong Chiung Jyung
九嬝~{>E~}ㄐㄧㄡJiu
居懈~{>S~}ㄐㄩ
娟樽~{>j~}ㄐㄩㄢJuan
Chuan: Jywan
孓箵~{f^~}ㄐㄩㄝJue
Chueh: Jywe
君澱~{>}~}ㄐㄩㄣJun
卡縐~{?(~}ㄎㄚ
開羲~{?*~}ㄎㄞ
刊膳~{?/~}ㄎㄢ
康艙~{?5~}ㄎㄤ
考蕉~{?<~}ㄎㄠ
刻覦~{?L~}ㄎㄜ
肯諫~{?O~}ㄎㄣ
坑諧~{?S~}ㄎㄥ
空諾~{?U~}ㄎㄨㄥKong
口諳~{?Z~}ㄎㄡ
枯豫~{?]~}ㄎㄨ
夸蹂~{?d~}ㄎㄨㄚKua
快辦~{?l~}ㄎㄨㄞKuai
寬遵~{?m~}ㄎㄨㄢKuan
匡選~{?o~}ㄎㄨㄤKuang K'uang Kwang
盔錳~{?x~}ㄎㄨㄟKui
坤壑~{@$~}ㄎㄨㄣKun
括嬤~{@(~}ㄎㄨㄛKuo
拉嶺~{@-~}ㄌㄚ
來懂~{@4~}ㄌㄞ
婪懋~{@7~}ㄌㄢ
郎檔~{@I~}ㄌㄤ
撈檜~{@L~}ㄌㄠ
勒毚~{@U~}ㄌㄜ
淚濡~{@a~}ㄌㄟ
愣蒹~{c6~}ㄌㄥ
哩薇~{A(~}ㄌㄧ
倆薨~{A)~}ㄌㄧㄚLia
連蟀~{A,~}ㄌㄧㄢLian
良謎~{A<~}ㄌㄧㄤLiang Liang
撩謄~{AC~}ㄌㄧㄠLiao
咧萻~{_V~}ㄌㄧㄝLie
林輿~{AV~}ㄌㄧㄣLin
令鍔~{An~}ㄌㄧㄥLing
溜闊~{Ao~}ㄌㄧㄡLiu
隆癒~{B!~}ㄌㄨㄥLong
摟禮~{B'~}ㄌㄡ
盧竅~{B,~}ㄌㄨ
巒蟬~{BM~}ㄌㄨㄢLuan
掠謨~{BS~}ㄌㄩㄝLue:
掄謬~{BU~}ㄌㄨㄣLun
囉蹕~{B^~}ㄌㄨㄛLuo
媽鎔~{Bh~}ㄇㄚ
埋鎚~{Bq~}ㄇㄞ
顢簼~{r)~}ㄇㄢ
忙疆~{C&~}ㄇㄤ
貓癡~{C(~}ㄇㄠ
沒羶~{C;~}ㄇㄟ
悶蟻~{CF~}ㄇㄣ
矇蟹~{CI~}ㄇㄥ
咪蛷~{_d~}ㄇㄧ
眠蹺~{C_~}ㄇㄧㄢMian
喵裚~{_w~}ㄇㄧㄠMiao
羋娷~{XB~}ㄇㄧㄝMie
民鏍~{Cq~}ㄇㄧㄣMin
名靡~{C{~}ㄇㄧㄥMing
謬韻~{C}~}ㄇㄧㄡMiu
摸類~{C~~}ㄇㄛ
牟觸~{D2~}ㄇㄡ
木躂~{D>~}ㄇㄨ
那饒~{DG~}ㄋㄚ
乃騰~{DK~}ㄋㄞ
男鹹~{DP~}ㄋㄢ
囊黨~{DR~}ㄋㄤ
惱齣~{DU~}ㄋㄠ
內囀~{DZ~}ㄋㄟ
能夔~{D\~}ㄋㄥ
尼攝~{Da~}ㄋㄧ
年爛~{Dj~}ㄋㄧㄢNian
娘矓~{Do~}ㄋㄧㄤNiang Niang
鳥纏~{Dq~}ㄋㄧㄠNiao
捏羼~{Ds~}ㄋㄧㄝNie
您蠟~{Dz~}ㄋㄧㄣNin
寧譴~{D~~}ㄋㄧㄥNing
牛籟~{E#~}ㄋㄧㄡNiu
農觼~{E)~}ㄋㄨㄥNong
耨嚭~{qq~}ㄋㄨㄡNou
奴贖~{E+~}ㄋㄨ
女躓~{E.~}ㄋㄩ
暖轡~{E/~}ㄋㄨㄢNuan
虐酈~{E0~}ㄋㄩㄝNue:
挪鑑~{E2~}ㄋㄨㄛNuo
偶髒~{E<~}ㄡ
芭剪~{0E~}ㄆㄚ
拍鼴~{ED~}ㄆㄞ
潘攣~{EK~}ㄆㄢ
乓籤~{ER~}ㄆㄤ
拋纔~{EW~}ㄆㄠ
坏輓~{;5~}ㄆㄟ
噴驗~{Eg~}ㄆㄣ
朋攬~{Es~}ㄆㄥ
匹?~{F%~}ㄆㄧ
片?~{F,~}ㄆㄧㄢPian
票?~{F1~}ㄆㄧㄠPiao
撇?~{F2~}ㄆㄧㄝPie
拚皙~{^U~}ㄆㄧㄣPin
乒?~{F9~}ㄆㄧㄥPing
坡?~{FB~}ㄆㄛ
剖?~{FJ~}ㄆㄡ
仆?~{FM~}ㄆㄨ
七?~{F_~}ㄑㄧ
掐?~{F~~}ㄑㄧㄚQia
千?~{G'~}ㄑㄧㄢQian
Ch'ien Chyan
羌?~{G<~}ㄑㄧㄤQiang Ch'iangChyang
悄?~{GD~}ㄑㄧㄠQiao
Ch'iao Chyau
切?~{GP~}ㄑㄧㄝQie
Ch'ieh Chye
侵?~{GV~}ㄑㄧㄣQin
青?~{G`~}ㄑㄧㄥQing
Ch'ing Ching
穹騇~{q7~}ㄑㄩㄥQiong Ch'iungChyung
丘?~{Gp~}ㄑㄧㄡQiu
曲?~{Gz~}ㄑㄩ
圈?~{H&~}ㄑㄩㄢQuan
Ch'uan:Chywan
缺?~{H1~}ㄑㄩㄝQue
Ch'ueh:Chywe
群?~{H:~}ㄑㄩㄣQun
Ch'un: Chyun
然?~{H;~}ㄖㄢ
嚷?~{HB~}ㄖㄤ
嬈甈~{f,~}ㄖㄠ
熱?~{HH~}ㄖㄜ
人?~{HK~}ㄖㄣ
扔?~{HS~}ㄖㄥ
日?~{HU~}ㄖ
戎?~{HV~}ㄖㄨㄥRong
柔?~{Ha~}ㄖㄡ
如?~{Hg~}ㄖㄨ
阮?~{Hn~}ㄖㄨㄢRuan
瑞?~{Hp~}ㄖㄨㄟRui
閏?~{Hr~}ㄖㄨㄣRun
若?~{Ht~}ㄖㄨㄛRuo
卅埵~{X&~}ㄙㄚ
塞?~{H{~}ㄙㄞ
三?~{H}~}ㄙㄢ
桑氿~{I#~}ㄙㄤ
搔犰~{I&~}ㄙㄠ
色伎~{I+~}ㄙㄜ
森伬~{I-~}ㄙㄣ
僧仵~{I.~}ㄙㄥ
沙伈~{I3~}ㄕㄚ
晒伄~{I9~}ㄕㄞ
山刓~{I=~}ㄕㄢ
商妀~{IL~}ㄕㄤ
Shang Shang
捎孖~{IS~}ㄕㄠ
奢异~{I]~}ㄕㄜ
誰阰~{K-~}ㄕㄟ
申扠~{Ij~}ㄕㄣ
升汔~{I}~}ㄕㄥ
Sheng Sheng
尸坌~{J,~}ㄕ
收彶~{JU~}ㄕㄡ
書抎~{Ji~}ㄕㄨ
刷芃~{K"~}ㄕㄨㄚShua
衰迉~{K%~}ㄕㄨㄞShuai Shuai
拴邥~{K)~}ㄕㄨㄢShuan Shuan
霜邞~{K*~}ㄕㄨㄤShuangShuang Shwang
誰阰~{K-~}ㄕㄨㄟShui
吮丳~{K1~}ㄕㄨㄣShun
說佽~{K5~}ㄕㄨㄛShuo
司侗~{K>~}ㄙ
松碪~{bl~}ㄙㄨㄥSong
叟袹~{[E~}ㄙㄡ
疏抌~{Jh~}ㄙㄨ
酸呫~{Ka~}ㄙㄨㄢSuan
雖呥~{Kd~}ㄙㄨㄟSui
孫呤~{Ko~}ㄙㄨㄣSun
唆坭~{Kt~}ㄙㄨㄛSuo
他坻~{K{~}ㄊㄚ
台怢~{L(~}ㄊㄞ
坍怌~{L.~}ㄊㄢ
湯抸~{L@~}ㄊㄤ
桃朊~{LR~}ㄊㄠ
特杻~{LX~}ㄊㄜ
騰枆~{LZ~}ㄊㄥ
剔枌~{L^~}ㄊㄧ
天毞~{Ll~}ㄊㄧㄢTian
佻椄~{Y,~}ㄊㄧㄠTiao
帖泃~{L{~}ㄊㄧㄝTie
聽泭~{L}~}ㄊㄧㄥTing
同肮~{M,~}ㄊㄨㄥTong
偷芚~{M5~}ㄊㄡ
禿芮~{M:~}ㄊㄨ
團芶~{ME~}ㄊㄨㄢTuan
推芢~{MF~}ㄊㄨㄟTui
吞迒~{ML~}ㄊㄨㄣTun
佗晬~{Y"~}ㄊㄨㄛTuo
娃俅~{M^~}ㄨㄚ
歪俉~{Ma~}ㄨㄞ
剜嵑~{X`~}ㄨㄢ
亡厗~{Mv~}ㄨㄤ
委巹~{N/~}ㄨㄟ
文恅~{ND~}ㄨㄣ
翁恟~{NL~}ㄨㄥ
倭椑~{YA~}ㄨㄛ
圬訹~{[X~}ㄨ
兮殽~{Yb~}ㄒㄧ
匣牰~{O;~}ㄒㄧㄚXia
仙珈~{OI~}ㄒㄧㄢXian
相眈~{O`~}ㄒㄧㄤXiang Hsiang Syang
削祅~{Ow~}ㄒㄧㄠXiao
些虳~{P)~}ㄒㄧㄝXie
心陑~{PD~}ㄒㄧㄣXin
星陎~{PG~}ㄒㄧㄥXing
凶倜~{PW~}ㄒㄩㄥXiong Hsiung Syung
休倎~{P]~}ㄒㄧㄡXiu
徐剢~{Pl~}ㄒㄩ
宣哫~{P{~}ㄒㄩㄢXuan
Hsuan: Sywan
靴悒~{Q%~}ㄒㄩㄝXue
Hsueh: Sywe
勛悗~{Q+~}ㄒㄩㄣXun
丫挩~{Q>~}ㄧㄚ
奄栟~{QY~}ㄧㄢ
央栝~{Qk~}ㄧㄤ
堯牶~{R"~}ㄧㄠ
夜珗~{R9~}ㄧㄝ
一珨~{R;~}ㄧ
因秪~{Rr~}ㄧㄣ
英荎~{S"~}ㄧㄥ
邕諅~{g_~}ㄩㄥ
攸惎~{X|~}ㄧㄡ
迂衯~{SX~}ㄩ
元啋~{T*~}ㄩㄢ
月堎~{TB~}ㄩㄝ
暈婠~{TN~}ㄩㄣ
匝婧~{TQ~}ㄗㄚ
災婐~{TV~}ㄗㄞ
簪穮~{t"~}ㄗㄢ
臧穈~{j0~}ㄗㄤ
遭婈~{Tb~}ㄗㄠ
則寀~{Tr~}ㄗㄜ
賊崞~{Tt~}ㄗㄟ
怎崋~{Tu~}ㄗㄣ
曾崠~{Tx~}ㄗㄥ
扎崨~{Tz~}ㄓㄚ
摘晡~{U*~}ㄓㄞ
占梩~{U<~}ㄓㄢ
張桲~{UE~}ㄓㄤ
Zhang Chang
召欸~{UY~}ㄓㄠ
遮殑~{UZ~}ㄓㄜ
珍湴~{Ud~}ㄓㄣ
正淏~{U}~}ㄓㄥ
Zheng Cheng
之眳~{V.~}ㄓ
中笢~{VP~}ㄓㄨㄥZhong Chung
州笣~{V]~}ㄓㄡ
朱紾~{Vl~}ㄓㄨ
抓蚰~{W%~}ㄓㄨㄚZhua
拽蚹~{W'~}ㄓㄨㄞZhuai Chuai
專蚳~{W(~}ㄓㄨㄢZhuan Chuan
妝衒~{W1~}ㄓㄨㄤZhuangChuang Jwang
隹鶹~{v?~}ㄓㄨㄟZhui
准袧~{W<~}ㄓㄨㄣZhun
卓袗~{W?~}ㄓㄨㄛZhuo
子赽~{WS~}ㄗ
宗跁~{WZ~}ㄗㄨㄥZong
鄒軜~{W^~}ㄗㄡ
租逤~{Wb~}ㄗㄨ
鑽郰~{Wj~}ㄗㄨㄢZuan
嘴郲~{Wl~}ㄗㄨㄟZui
尊郬~{Wp~}ㄗㄨㄣZun
作釬~{Ww~}ㄗㄨㄛZuo
Additional Points
The above table deals with the phonetic symbols employed to
represent the Chinese pronunciation of a character.
analogous to the many different schemes used in English
dictionaries to represent pronunciation (long vowels, short
consonants, etc).
As we can see from the above table, there are
many methods (and many more are not listed above).
common ones are pinyin (China) and BoPoMoFo (Taiwan).
purpose of this web page is to demonstrate the nearly one-to-one
correspondence between these two methods.
Personally, I prefer
the pinyin method, because I already know my alphabets.
waste time learning another set of phonetic symbols, especially
when they are so nearly equivalent?
GB Because of the political division of China,
there are two major coding schemes:
Big5 (mainly in Taiwan) and
GB (mainly in mainland China).
Do not confuse Big5/GB with the
BoPoMoFo/pinyin phonetic representation.
The coding scheme is
simply a way to represent a character with a number, much like
how we represent an alphabet with a number with the ASCII scheme, e.g., 65 for the
letter "A".
Both coding schemes are based on 4 bytes ( 32 bits)
per character.
For example, the character of my last name is
represented with different numerical values in different coding
Big5, GB (and, for that matter, Japanese, or Korean).
Big5|GB vs.
Unicode|HZ To make the matter worse, there
exist many coding schemes other than just Big5 and GB.
time, every Chinese software company seemed to advocate its own
proprietary coding scheme.
Another fairly common coding scheme,
although not as popular as Big5 or GB, is HZ.
Then there is
Unicode, which is used to express characters/letters of not just
Chinese Mandarin, but all sorts of languages, Asian and European
thus, the Unicode coding system contains Chinese
characters along with many non-Chinsese characters.
Traditional vs.
Simplified Style.
A completely separate
idea (not to be confused with phonetic representation or coding
schemes) is the traditional style (which has more strokes for
certain characters, favored in Taiwan) versus the simplified
style (favored in China).
The styles are analogous to different
fonts in the US, much like how my wingdings font and my courier
font display two different symbols for the same alphabet "A".
Input Method.
Another yet completely different concept is
the input method.
Because the English-based keyboard is what we
normally see in the US, we need to adopt that to Chinese.
are many input methods for picking out a specific Chinese character
-- I am aware of at least 15 such methods.
One of these is
pinyin, where you simply type in the alphabet (which I think is
the simplest because I am comfortable with typing English with a
US keyboard).
For example, I would type "w" "a" "n" "g"; about
15 characters and I pick out the character
that corresponds to my last name.
The BoPoMoFo method is similar
in that each key maps into a phonetic symbol.
There are many
mappings for BoPoMoFo, one such mapping is shown here.
There are sufficient number
of keys on a US keyboard for each of the 37 BoPoMoFo phonetic
Other input methods are based on pronunciation in other
dialects (such as Cantonese, rather than Mandarin), radicals
(bu4shou3), number of strokes, the type of strokes at four
corners of the character (si4jiao3hao4ma3), the shape of the
character (cang1jie2), ..., even English equivalent.
example, my last name translates to "king" in E thus, when
I employ the last input method, I type "king" on my US
a number of Chinese characters or phrases that correspond to
"king" in meaning and I choose the correct
As for me -- well, I hardly ever type in Chinese -- but
when I do, I do most of my input with pinyin.
Without exception,
everyone I know who masters both BoPoMoFo and pinyin
prefers pinyin, just like myself.
I occasionally switch to other
methods, when I, for example, do not know the pronunciation of
the character that I am trying to type.
Directionality.
Western languages are written in
horizontal lines left-to-right.
However, certain languages (such
as Hebrew and Arabic) are written in horizontal lines
right-to-left.
Chinese languages (and those with a strong Chinese
influence such as Japanese and Korean) are traditionally
written in vertical lines (top-to-bottom) arranged right-to-left.
However, this tradition is not commonly practiced today.
has long changed the directionality to be in line with the
Western practice (i.e., horizontal lines left-to-right).
However, many Taiwanese publications seem to follow no rules.
is typical to see top-to-bottom, right-to-left, and left-to-right
conventions all coexist on the same page in a newspaper.
can cause serious confusions, especially when the phrases are
sufficiently short such that both directions make perfect sense,
but convey completely different meanings.
For example, with my
name read in an opposite direction, I become another equally
plausible person:
a new Southern King, which of course I am not.
There are many permutations of the above concepts.
To make the
matter worse, there are people who mix already messy Chinese
schemes with other languages that also employ Chinese characters
(such as Japanese and Korean).
Such is the sad state of things when a
country that should be united remains divided, and ordinary folks
like I pay for the resulting chaos.
I wrote this web page in an
attempt to reduce such misunderstandings.
PinYin and BoPoMoFo ZhuYin Equivalence
Forward comments to:
Nam Sun Wang
Department of Chemical Engineering
University of Maryland
College Park, MD
301-405-1910 (voice)
301-314-9126 (FAX)
&1999 by Nam Sun Wang