Taiwanese kana (タイヲァヌギイカアビェン, Pe̍h-ōe-jī : "tâi oân gí ká biêng", IPA : [tai˨˦uan˨˦gi˥˩ka˥˩bieŋ˨˦]) is a katakana-based writing system that was used to write Taiwanese Hokkien (commonly called "Taiwanese") when the island of Taiwan was under Japanese rule. It functioned as a phonetic guide to hanzi, much like furigana in Japanese or Zhuyin fuhao in Chinese. There were similar systems for other languages in Taiwan as well, including Hakka and Formosan languages.

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The system was imposed by Japan at the time and used in a few dictionaries, as well as textbooks. The Taiwanese-Japanese Dictionary, published in 1931–32, is an example.[1] It uses various signs and diacritics to identify sounds that do not exist in Japanese. The system is chiefly based on the Amoy dialect of Hokkien.

Through the system, the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan aimed to help Taiwanese people learn the Japanese language, as well as help Japanese people learn the Taiwanese language. Linguistically speaking, however, the syllabary system was cumbersome for a language that has phonology far more complicated than Japanese. After Japanese administration ended, the system soon became obsolete. Now, only a few scholars, such as those who study the aforementioned dictionary, learn Taiwanese kana.

The system has undergone some modification over time. This article is mainly about the last edition, used from roughly 1931.

Basic rules

Mapped sounds are mostly similar to katakana in Japanese, with the kana ヤ, ユ, ヨ, ワ, ヰ, and ヱ not used. Each syllable is written with two or three kana (with a few exceptions). Notable differences include:

Vowels

• There are six vowels in Taiwanese: ア [a], イ [i], ウ [u], エ [e], オ [ɔ], ヲ [ə]. Note that the pronunciations of ウ,オ, and ヲ are different from Japanese (which are [ɯ], [o], and [(w)o] respectively.)
• The vowel ヲ is pronounced [u] in the diphthongs ヲア [ua] and ヲエ [ue], also their extensions such as ヲァイ [uai], ヲァッ [uat̚]. In some dialects ヲ may be pronounced [o] or [ɤ].
• In syllables with a single vowel, the kana for the vowel is repeated, like the long vowels in Japanese. For example, カア [ka], キイ [ki], オオ [ɔ], ヲヲ [ə].
• The small kana ァ, ィ, ゥ, ェ, ォ, 𛅦 are defined as short vowels. They are used to represent the second vowel in the middle of a syllable, or a final glottal stop. For example, キァウ [kiau], キェク for [kiek̚], キァゥ [kiauʔ].
• There are two optional vowel kana for Choâⁿ-chiu accent (Quanzhou dialect): ウ [ɨ] and オ [ə]. For example, クウ [kɨ], コオ [kə], クゥヌ [kɨn].

Consonants

• フ is pronounced [hu], not [ɸɯ] as in Japanese.
• There are five overlined kana to distinguish [t] and [ts]/[tɕ]. サ [tsa], チ [ti], ツ [tu], セ [tse], ソ [tsə] or [tso].

	Taiwanese kana					Modern Japanese kana
	a	i	u	e	ɔ/ə	a	i	ɯ	e	o
t	タ	チ	ツ	テ	ト	タ	ティ	トゥ	テ	ト
ts/tɕ	サ	チ	ツ	セ	ソ	ツァ	チ	ツ	ツェ	ツォ

• The aspirated consonants [pʰ], [tʰ], [kʰ], [tsʰ]/[tɕʰ] are represented by adding an underdot to the kana. For example, ク̣ for [kʰu].
• Final nasal consonants are written as ム [m], ヌ [n], ン [ŋ]. Note that ム, ヌ are pronounced [mu], [nu] when they are used as initials. For example, カヌ [kan], ヌヌ for [nun].
• The syllabic consonant [ŋ̍] is spelt (u+)ン, for example クン [kŋ̍]. Note that [ŋ̍] without a preceding vowel is written as a single ン, not ウン or ンン.
• The syllabic consonant [m̩] is spelt (u+)ム, for example フム [hm̩]. Note that [m̩] without a preceding vowel is written as a single ム, not ウム or ムム.
• Initial [ŋ] is spelt as [ɡ] with a nasal tone sign. For example, ガア [ɡa˥˩], ガア [ŋa˥˩].
• Final plosives (which have no audible release) are プ [p̚], ッ [t̚], ク [k̚], similar to the kana used in Ainu.
• Final glottal stops [ʔ] are represented by the short-vowel small kana (ァ, ィ, ゥ, ェ, ォ, ヲ) at the end. For example, カァ [kaʔ], カゥ [kauʔ].

Tone signs

There are different tone signs for normal vowels and nasal vowels.

Tone number	1	2(6)	3	4	5	7	8
Pitch	˦	˥˩	˧˩	˧	˨˦	˧	˥
Normal vowels	None
Nasal vowels
Pe̍h-ōe-jī	a	á	à	ah	â	ā	a̍h

• When a text is written vertically, these signs are written on the right side of letters. Taiwanese kana is only attested in vertical orientation, so it is unknown where the signs would be placed if it were written horizontally.
• Initial consonants [m], [n], [ŋ] are always written with nasal vowel tone signs, whereas [b], [l], [ɡ] are always with normal vowels. Note that [ŋ] and [ɡ] share the same initial kana.

Taiwanese kana chart

Rime chart

Syllable chart

1. Tone signs are always needed for a syllable.
2. [ɡ] always takes normal vowel tone signs; [m], [n], [ŋ] always take nasal vowel tone signs.
3. Some spellings are not clear. 仔(á) was sometimes written as ア rather than アア. 的(ê) was sometimes written as エ rather than エエ.
4. [ɔ] is spelt with オ, such as in オオ, ポオ, イオ, ピオ, and so on.

Example

Audio File:
Taiwanese kana:	シェヌ シイ コン、ハク シェン チァム チァム チ̣ア。
IPA:	[ ɕjæn˧ ɕĩ˥ kɔŋ˥˩ hak̚˧ ɕjəŋ˥ tjam˧ tjam˧ tʰjã˥ ]
Pe̍h-ōe-jī:	Sian-siⁿ kóng, ha̍k-seng tiām-tiām thiaⁿ.
Tâi-lô:	Sian-sinn kóng, ha̍k-sing tiām-tiām thiann.
Traditional Chinese:	先生講、學生恬恬聽。
Translation:	A teacher is speaking. Students are quietly listening.

Unicode support

Amongst software/encodings, Mojikyo fully supports the system.

Unicode has been able to represent small ku (ㇰ) and small pu (ㇷ゚) since Unicode 3.2, small katakana wo (𛅦) since Unicode 12.0, and tone signs since Unicode 14.0 (2021).

It also requires the use of the combining overline and combining dot below with kana to represent overlined and underdotted kana (like so: チ̅, ツ̣). Font support for these small kana and for sensible rendering of these uncommon combining sequences is in practice limited; overlines and less well-supported small kana are simulated in the tables below using markup.

References

Further reading

• Ogawa Naoyoshi, ed. (1931–1932). 臺日大辭典. 上卷 [Taiwanese-Japanese Dictionary] (in Japanese and Taiwanese Hokkien). Vol. 1. Taihoku: Governor-General of Taiwan.
  • Ogawa Naoyoshi, ed. (1931–1932). 臺日大辭典. 下卷 [Taiwanese-Japanese Dictionary] (in Japanese and Taiwanese Hokkien). Vol. 2. Taihoku: Governor-General of Taiwan.
• Ogawa Naoyoshi; Ang Ui-jin, eds. (1993) [1931–1932]. 臺日大辭典〈上卷〉 [Taiwanese-Japanese Dictionary]. 閩南語經典辭書彙編 (in Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese Hokkien). Vol. 1. 武陵. ISBN 9573506211.
  • Ogawa Naoyoshi; Ang Ui-jin, eds. (1993) [1931–1932]. 臺日大辭典〈下卷〉 [Taiwanese-Japanese Dictionary]. 閩南語經典辭書彙編 (in Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese Hokkien). Vol. 2. 武陵. ISBN 957350622X.
• 台語辭典(台日大辭典台語譯本)查詢 [Taiwanese Dictionary (translation of Taiwanese-Japanese Dictionary) search] (in Taiwanese Hokkien). Retrieved 6 April 2016.
• Chun-Hui Chen (June 2002). 《訂正臺灣十五音字母詳解》 音系研究 [Phonetic study on The revised guide of 15 Taiwanese letters] (PDF) (Master's thesis) (in Chinese). National Sun Yat-sen University.
• Lîm, Chùn-io̍k. (2008). 《台日大辭典》索引羅馬字對照表.