Current system Pe̍h-ōe-jī

1 current system

1.1 tone markings
1.2 hyphens
1.3 audio examples
1.4 regional differences

current system

the current system of pe̍h-ōe-jī has been stable since 1930s, few minor exceptions (detailed below). there fair degree of similarity vietnamese alphabet, including ⟨b/p/ph⟩ distinction , use of ⟨ơ⟩ in vietnamese compared ⟨o͘⟩ in poj. poj uses following letters , combinations:

chinese phonology traditionally divides syllables in chinese 3 parts; firstly initial, consonant or consonant blend appears @ beginning of syllable, secondly final, consisting of medial vowel (optional), nucleus vowel, , optional ending; , tone, applied whole syllable. in terms of non-tonal (i.e. phonemic) features, nucleus vowel required part of licit consonant in chinese varieties. unlike mandarin other southern varieties of chinese, taiwanese has final stop consonants no audible release, feature has been preserved middle chinese. there debate whether these stops tonal feature or phonemic one, authorities distinguishing between ⟨-h⟩ tonal feature, , ⟨-p⟩, ⟨-t⟩, , ⟨-k⟩ phonemic features. southern min dialects have optional nasal property, written superscript ⟨ⁿ⟩ , identified being part of vowel.

a legitimate syllable in hokkien takes form (initial) + (medial vowel) + nucleus + (stop) + tone, items in parenthesis indicate optional components.

the initials are:

vowels:

coda endings:

poj has limited amount of legitimate syllables, although sources disagree on particular instances of these syllables. following table contains licit spellings of poj syllables, based on number of sources:

tone markings


the 5 tone markings used in pe̍h-ōe-jī, representing tones 2, 3, 5, 7, , 8

in standard amoy or taiwanese hokkien there 7 distinct tones, convention numbered 1–8, number 6 omitted (tone 6 used distinct tone, has long since merged tone 2). tones 1 , 4 both represented without diacritic, , can distinguished each other syllable ending, vowel, ⟨-n⟩, ⟨-m⟩, or ⟨-ng⟩ tone 1, , ⟨-h⟩, ⟨-k⟩, ⟨-p⟩, , ⟨-t⟩ tone 4.

southern min dialects undergo considerable tone sandhi, i.e. changes tone depending on position of syllable in given sentence or utterance. however, pinyin mandarin chinese, poj marks citation tone (i.e. original, pre-sandhi tone) rather tone spoken. means when reading aloud reader must adjust tone markings on page account sandhi. textbooks learners of southern min mark both citation tone , sandhi tone assist learner.

there debate correct placement of tone marks in case of diphthongs , triphthongs, particularly include ⟨oa⟩ , ⟨oe⟩. modern writers follow 6 rules:

hyphens

a single hyphen used indicate compound. constitutes compound controversial, authors equating word in english, , others not willing limit english concept of word. examples poj include ⟨sì-cha̍p⟩ forty , ⟨bé-hì-thôan⟩ circus , , ⟨hôe-ho̍k⟩ recover (from illness) . rule-based sandhi behaviour of tones in compounds has not yet been defined linguists. double hyphen ⟨--⟩ used when poj deployed orthography (rather transcription system) indicate following syllable should pronounced in neutral tone. marks reader preceding syllable not undergo tone sandhi, following syllable non-neutral. morphemes following double hyphen (but not always) grammatical function words.

audio examples

regional differences

in addition standard syllables detailed above, there several regional variations of hokkien speech can represented non-standard or semi-standard spellings. in zhangzhou dialect, spoken in zhangzhou , parts of taiwan close it, particularly northeastern coast around yilan city, final ⟨ng⟩ replaced ⟨uiⁿ⟩, example in egg ⟨nuiⁿ⟩ , cooked rice ⟨puiⁿ⟩. /ε/ vowel written <ε> or <e͘> (with dot above right, analogy <o͘>).