This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Taiwanese kana" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(April 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Taiwanese kana
Script type
Syllabary
with some features of an alphabet
Time period
1896–1945
Languages
Taiwanese Hokkien
Related scripts
Parent systems
Oracle bone script
Seal script
Clerical script
Regular script (kanji)
Man'yōgana
Katakana
Taiwanese kana
Sister systems
Hakka kana
ISO 15924
ISO 15924
Kana(411), Katakana
Unicode
Unicode alias
Katakana
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
Taiwanese kana
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
臺灣語假名
Simplified Chinese
台湾语假名
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin
Táiwānyǔ jiǎmíng
Wade–Giles
T'ai2-wan1-yü3 chia3-ming2
Tongyong Pinyin
Táiwanyǔ jiǎmíng
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ
Tâi-oân-gí ká-bêng
Japanese name
Kyūjitai
臺灣語假名
Shinjitai
台湾語仮名
Transcriptions
Romanization
Taiwan-go kana
This article contains special characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols.
A page from the Japanese–Taiwanese Dictionary (日臺大辭典, Nittai daijiten) of 1907, by Ogawa Naoyoshi
Taiwanese kana (Min Nan Chinese: タイ𚿳ヲァヌ𚿳ギイ𚿰カア𚿰ビェン𚿳, tâi oân gí ká biêng, [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.
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 built for the Amoy dialect of Hokkien spoken in Taiwan, with some consideration for the Quanzhou and Zhangzhou dialects of Hokkien also spoken in Taiwan as well, which descendant speakers of all three of the historical major dialects of Hokkien thrived, developed, and intermixed in Taiwan for centuries producing modern Taiwanese Hokkien and its own specific regional dialects throughout the island (Formosa) and nearby smaller islands (e.g. Pescadores).
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.
rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols. Taiwanesekana (Min Nan Chinese: タイ𚿳ヲァヌ𚿳ギイ𚿰カア𚿰ビェン𚿳, tâi oân gí ká biêng, [tai˨˦...
Okinawan, in hiragana. Taiwanesekana were used in Taiwanese Hokkien as glosses (ruby text or furigana) for Chinese characters in Taiwan when it was under...
Ainu language only. Taiwanesekana (タイ ヲァヌ ギイ カア ビェン) is a katakana-based writing system once used to write Holo Taiwanese, when Taiwan was under Japanese...
hiah 簡單就煞。 Bopomofo is another script used in Taiwanese Hokkien writings. It is commonly used in Taiwanese literature to represent Hokkien-specific grammatical...
and the differing histories of mainland China and Taiwan during the 20th century. Amoyese and Taiwanese are mutually intelligible. Intelligibility with...
2022. ... mainland Chinese Braille for standard Mandarin, and Taiwanese Braille for Taiwanese Mandarin are phonetically based... tone (generally omitted...
Furigana Hangul Kana Ruby character Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols Zhuyin table The Republic of China government, Government Information Office. "Taiwan Yearbook...
Taiwanese Hakka is a language group consisting of Hakka dialects spoken in Taiwan, and mainly used by people of Hakka ancestry. Taiwanese Hakka is divided...
in Taiwan. A large majority of the Taiwanese population is fluent in Mandarin, though many also speak a variety of Min Chinese known as Taiwanese Hokkien...
standard set of Chinese character forms used to write Chinese languages. In Taiwan, the set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education...
majority of Taiwanese people also speak Taiwanese Hokkien (also called 台語; 'Taiwanese'), Hakka, or an Austronesian language. A speaker in Taiwan may mix pronunciations...
Education rejected the use of Daighi tongiong pingim for Taiwanese Hokkien and preferred the Taiwanese Romanization System. Some notable features of Tongyong...
initials TLPA, is a romanization system for the Taiwanese Hokkien, Taiwanese Hakka language, and Taiwanese language. Based on Pe̍h-ōe-jī and first published...
romanization was replaced by pinyin, but the system remained in place on Taiwan until 2002. In 1892, Herbert Giles created a romanization system called...
dialects. Standard Mandarin is one of the official languages of Taiwan. The Taiwanese standard of Mandarin differs very little from that of mainland China...
most commonly spoken by Taiwan's Han population were Taiwanese Hokkien, as well as Hakka to a lesser extent. Much of the Taiwanese Aboriginal population...
dictionaries). However, MPS II was not used for the official Romanized names of Taiwanese places (though many road signs replaced during this period use MPS II)...
as Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols or historically during Japanese rule over Taiwan, Taiwanesekana was also used for Taiwanese Hokkien in some Taiwanese-Japanese...
faced strong competition during the Japanese era in Taiwan (1895–1945) in the form of Taiwanesekana, a system designed as a teaching aid and pronunciation...
have popular usage, while those characters simplified originally by the Taiwanese government are much less common in daily appearance. In all areas, most...
General Chinese Cyrillization Xiao'erjing 'Phags-pa script Bopomofo TaiwanesekanaTaiwanese Phonetic Symbols Transcription into Chinese By place Romanization...
General Chinese Cyrillization Xiao'erjing 'Phags-pa script Bopomofo TaiwanesekanaTaiwanese Phonetic Symbols Transcription into Chinese By place Romanization...
ideographs, e.g. 孬 ('bad'). In Taiwan, there are also government-compiled dictionaries of characters used in Taiwanese Hokkien and Hakka. An example of...
閩南語經典辭書彙編 (in Japanese and Taiwanese Hokkien). Vol. 1. Taipei: Wǔlíng Publishing House [武陵出版社]. ISBN 9789573506195. (in Taiwanesekana) Âng Ûi-jîn [洪惟仁]; Siáu-chhoan...
Global Information
