Teochew Romanization

Teochew Romanization, also known as Swatow Church Romanization, or locally as Pe̍h-ūe-jī (Chinese: 白話はくわ字じ; lit. 'Vernacular orthography'), is an orthography similar to Pe̍h-ōe-jī used to write the Chaoshan dialect (including the Teochew dialect and Swatow dialect). It was introduced by John Campbell Gibson and William Duffus, two British missionaries, to Swatow in 1875.

Teochew Romanization Tiê-chiu Pe̍h-ūe-jī 潮うしお州しゅう白話はくわ字じ
Bible in Teochew Romanised (1 Samuel), published by the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1915
Script type	Latin alphabet (modified)
Creator	John Campbell Gibson William Duffus
Time period	c. 1875 — ?
Languages	Swatow dialect and Teochew dialect
Related scripts
Parent systems	Latin script Church Romanization Teochew Romanization

History

Romanization of Teochew can be traced back to the 1840s. The earliest attempt to write the language in the Latin script was undertaken by Baptist missionary William Dean in his 1841 publication First Lessons in the Tie-chiw Dialect published in Bangkok, Thailand; however, his tonal system was said to be incomplete.

The first complete orthographic system was devised by John Campbell Gibson and William Duffus, two Presbyterianism missionaries, in 1875. The orthography was generally based on the Pe̍h-ōe-jī system, another work of presbyterian origin devised for the Amoy dialect. The first translation of the Gospel of Luke in Swatow romanization was published in 1876. It has been said that the vernacular orthographic system is more easier for illiterate persons to learn in their own mother tongue.

Besides Gibson and Duffus's original romanization system, several variations of the system were later devised, such as those by William Ashmore (1884) and Lim Hiong Seng (1886).

Other systems developed by Baptist missionaries such as Adele Marion Fielde (1883) and Josiah Goddard (1888) were generally used as a means of phonetic notation instead of a full orthographic system.

Through the church's use of the romanization system, the number of users of the system grew and came to its high point in the 1910s. However, starting in the 1920s, the Chinese government promoted education in Mandarin and more people learned to read and write in Chinese characters. Thus, the promotion of romanized vernacular writing become less necessary. By the 1950s, there were an estimated one thousand users of the system remaining in the Chaoshan area.

Spelling schemes

Alphabet

The orthography uses 18 letters of the basic Latin alphabet.

Capital letters	A	B	CH	CHH	E	G	H	I	J	K	KH	L	M	N	ᴺ	NG	O	P	PH	S	T	TH	TS	TSH	U	Ṳ	Z
Lowercase letters	a	b	ch	chh	e	g	h	i	j	k	kh	l	m	n	ⁿ	ng	o	p	ph	s	t	th	ts	tsh	u	ṳ	z

Initial

The initial consonants in Teochew are listed below:

The letters in the table represent the initial with its pronunciation in IPA, followed by the example of Chinese word and its translation in Teochew romanization.

		Lateral	Nasal	Stop		Affricate		Fricative
				Unaspirated	Aspirated	Unaspirated	Aspirated
Bilabial	Voiceless			p [p] 邊あたり (pian)	ph [pʰ] 頗 (phó)
	Voiced		m [m] 門もん (mûn)	b [b] 文ぶん (bûn)
Alveolar	Voiceless			t [t] 地ち (tī)	th [tʰ] 他た (tha)	ts [ts] 之これ (tsṳ)	tsh [tsʰ] 出で (tshut)	s [s] 思おもえ (sṳ)
	Voiced	l [l] 柳やなぎ (liú)	n [n] 挪 (nô)			z [dz] 而 (zṳ̂)
Alveolo-palatal	Voiceless					ch [tɕ] 貞さだ (cheng)	chh [tɕʰ] 刺とげ (chhì)	s [ɕ] 時とき (sî)
	Voiced					j [dʑ] 入いれ (ji̍p)
Velar	Voiceless			k [k] 球たま (kiû)	kh [kʰ] 去さ (khṳ̀)
	Voiced		ng [ŋ] 俄にわか (ngô)	g [ɡ] 語かたり (gṳ́)
Glottal	Voiceless							h [h] 喜き (hí)

The affricate consonants ts/ch, tsh/chh, and z/j are three allophone pairs where those voiced and voiceless alveolar affricate will shift to voiced and voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate when they meet with close or close-mid front vowels (i, e).

Finals

The rhymes used in the orthography are listed below:

The latin alphabet sets in the table represent the spelling of syllable final in the system with its pronunciation in IPA, followed by the example of Chinese word and its translation in Teochew romanization.

Vowels					Coda-ending
Types	Articulation		Simple	Nasal	Glottal Stop		Bilabial		Alveolar		Velar
	Backness	Height			Simple	Nasal	Nasal	Stop	Nasal	Stop	Nasal	Stop
Monophthongs	Front	Open	a [a] 膠にかわ (ka)	aⁿ [ã] 柑 (kaⁿ)	ah [aʔ] 甲きのえ (kah)	ahⁿ [ãʔ] 垃 (na̍hⁿ)	am [am] 甘あま (kam)	ap [ap̚] 鴿どばと (kap)	an [an] 干ひ (kan)	at [at̚] 結ゆい (kat)	ang [aŋ] 江こう (kang)	ak [ak̚] 覺さとし (kak)
		Mid	e [e] 家いえ (ke)	eⁿ [ẽ] 更さら (keⁿ)	eh [eʔ] 格かく (keh)	ehⁿ [ẽʔ] 脈みゃく (me̍hⁿ)					eng [eŋ] 經けい (keng)	ek [ek̚] 革かわ (kek)
		Close	i [i] 枝えだ (ki)	iⁿ [ĩ] 天てん (thiⁿ)	ih [iʔ] 砌みぎり (kih)	ihⁿ [ĩʔ] 碟 (tihⁿ)	im [im] 金きむ (kim)	ip [ip̚] 急きゅう (kip)	in [in] 斤きん (kin)	it [it̚] 吉よし (kit)
	Back	Mid	o [o] 高こう (ko)	oⁿ [õ] 望もち (mōⁿ)	oh [oʔ] 閣かく (koh)	ohⁿ [õʔ] 瘼 (mo̍hⁿ)					ong [oŋ] 公おおやけ (kong)	ok [ok̚] 國くに (kok)
		Close	u [u] 龜かめ (ku)		uh [uʔ] 嗝 (kuh)				un [un] 君きみ (kun)	ut [ut̚] 骨ほね (kut)
			ṳ [ɯ] 車くるま (kṳ)		ṳh [ɯʔ] 嗻 (tsṳ̍h)				ṳn [ɯn] 巾はば (kṳn)	ṳt [ɯt̚] 乞 (khṳt)	ṳng [ɯŋ] 扛 (kng)
Diphthongs	Front	Closing	ai [ai] 皆みな (kai)	aiⁿ [ãĩ] 愛あい (àiⁿ)	aih [aiʔ] 𫠡 (ga̍ih)	aihⁿ [ãiʔ] 捱 (nga̍ihⁿ)
	Backward		au [au] 交 (kau)	auⁿ [ãũ] 好このみ (hàuⁿ)	auh [auʔ] 樂らく (ga̍uh)	auhⁿ [ãuʔ] 鬧 (nauhⁿ)
	Front	Opening	ia [ia] 佳けい (kia)	iaⁿ [ĩã] 京きょう (kiaⁿ)	iah [iaʔ] 揭 (kiah)		iam [iam] 兼けん (kiam)	iap [iap̚] 劫こう (kiap)	ian [ian] 堅けん (kian)	iat [iat̚] 潔きよし (kiat)	iang [iaŋ] 姜きょう (kiang)	iak [iak̚] 龠 (iak)
			ie [ie] 蕉 (chie)	ieⁿ [ĩẽ] 薑はじかみ (kieⁿ)	ieh [ieʔ] 借か (chieh)				ien [ien] 堅けん (kien)	iet [iet̚] 潔きよし (kiet)
	Backward		io [io] 蕉 (chio)	ioⁿ [ĩõ] 薑はじかみ (kioⁿ)	ioh [ioʔ] 借か (chioh)						iong [ioŋ] 恭きょう (kiong)	iok [iok̚] 鞠きく (kiok)
		Close	iu [iu] 鳩ばと (khiu)	iuⁿ [ĩũ] 幼よう (iùⁿ)
	Forward	Closing	oi [oi] 雞 (koi)	oiⁿ [õĩ] 間あいだ (koiⁿ)	oih [oiʔ] 夾 (koih)
	Back		ou [ou] 孤こ (kou)	ouⁿ [õũ] 虎とら (hóuⁿ)
	Forward	Opening	ua [ua] 柯 (kua)	uaⁿ [ũã] 官かん (kuaⁿ)	uah [uaʔ] 割わり (kuah)		uam [uam] 凡 (huâm)	uap [uap̚] 法ほう (huap)	uan [uan] 關せき (kuan)	uat [uat̚] 決けつ (kuat)	uang [uaŋ] 光ひかり (kuang)	uak [uak̚] 廓くるわ (kuak)
			ue [ue] 瓜ふり (kue)	ueⁿ [ũẽ] 果はて (kúeⁿ)	ueh [ueʔ] 郭かく (kueh)	uehⁿ [uẽʔ] 襪 (gu̍ehⁿ)			uen [uen] 關せき (kuen)	uet [uet̚] 決けつ (kuet)	ueng [ueŋ] 榮さかえ (ueng)	uek [uek̚] 獲え (hu̍ek)
		Close	ui [ui] 規ぶんまわし (kui)	uiⁿ [ũĩ] 跪 (kũiⁿ)
Triphthongs	Backward	Close-up	iau [iau] 驕おご (kiau)	iauⁿ [ĩãũ] 掀 (hiauⁿ)	iauh [iauʔ] 躍おど (iauh)	iauhⁿ [iãuʔ] 躍おど (iauhⁿ)
			iou [iou] 驕おご (kiou)	iouⁿ [ĩõũ] 掀 (hiouⁿ)	iouh [iouʔ] 躍おど (iouh)	iouhⁿ [iõuʔ] 躍おど (iouhⁿ)
	Forward		uai [uai] 乖 (kuai)	uaiⁿ [ũãĩ] 檨 (suāiⁿ)		uaihⁿ [uãiʔ] 轉てん (ua̍ihⁿ)
Syllabic consonant					ngh [ŋʔ] 夗 (n̍gh)		m [m] 唔 (m̃)				ng [ŋ] 黃き (n̂g)
											hng [ŋ̊ŋ̍] 園えん (hn̂g)
Generally found in Swatow dialect   Generally found in Teochew dialect   Generally found in Kityang dialect

Nowadays, in most cities in Chaoshan, alveolar codas (-n/-t) have largely shifted to velar codas (-ng/-k); therefore, they are not found in the Peng'im system which was developed later in the 1960s. However, these codas are still present among native speakers particularly in few border townships like Fenghuang (鳳凰ほうおう), Sanrao (三さん饒にょう), and Nan'ao.

Tones

There are eight tones in Teochew and are indicated as below,

Number	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Chinese Tone names (modern)	Dark-level 陰平かげひら (Im-phêⁿ)	Dark-rising 陰かげ上じょう (Im-siãng)	Dark-departing 陰かげ去さ (Im-khṳ̀)	Dark-entering 陰かげ入いれ (Im-ji̍p)	Light-level 陽平ようへい (Iôⁿ-phêⁿ)	Light-rising 陽ひ上じょう (Iôⁿ-siãng)	Light-departing 陽ひ去さ (Iôⁿ-khṳ̀)	Light-entering 陽ひ入いれ (Iôⁿ-ji̍p)
Chinese Tone names (alternative)	Upper-even 上平かみひら (Chiẽⁿ-phêⁿ)	Upper-high 上上じょうじょう (Chiẽⁿ-siãng)	Upper-going 上うえ去さ (Chiẽⁿ-khṳ̀)	Upper-entering 上うえ入いれ (Chiẽⁿ-ji̍p)	Lower-even 下平しもだいら (Ẽ-phêⁿ)	Lower-high 下上しもかみ (Ẽ-siãng)	Lower-going 下した去さ (Ẽ-khṳ̀)	Lower-entering 下しも入いれ (Ẽ-ji̍p)
Chinese Tone names (traditional)	Upper-level 上平かみひら (Chiẽⁿ-phêⁿ)	Rising 上聲じょうせい (Siãng-siaⁿ)	Upper-departing 上うえ去さ (Chiẽⁿ-khṳ̀)	Upper-entering 上うえ入いれ (Chiẽⁿ-ji̍p)	Lower-level 下平しもだいら (Ẽ-phêⁿ)	Lower-departing 下した去さ (Ẽ-khṳ̀)	Departing 去聲きょしょう (Khṳ̀-siaⁿ)	Lower-entering 下しも入いれ (Ẽ-ji̍p)
Pitches	˧ (33)	˥˨ (52)	˨˩˧ (213)	˨ (2)	˥ (55)	˧˥ (35)	˩ (11)	˦ (4)
Tone types	Mid level	High falling	Low dipping	Low stop	Top level	High rising	Bottom level	High stop
Diacritics	none	Acute accent	Grave accent	none	Circumflex	Tilde	Macron	Overstroke
Example	hun 分ぶん	hún 粉こな	hùn 訓くん	hut 忽ゆるがせ	hûn 雲くも	hũn 混こん	hūn 份	hu̍t 佛ふつ
Sandhi	1	6	2 or 5	8	7 or 3	3 or 7	7 or 3	4

Both the first and the fourth tones are unmarked but can be differenced by their coda-endings; those with the first tone end with an open vowel which could be either simple or nasalised, or end in a nasal consonant such as -m, -n, -ng, while those with the fourth tone end with a stop consonant such as -p, -t, -k, and -h.

Teochew features tone sandhi where for any compound that contains more than one word (a syllable), sandhi rules apply to all words except the last one in each phrase. For example, in the Swatow dialect, Tiê-chiu Pe̍h-ūe-jī would be pronounced as Tiē-chiu Peh-ùe-jī, where all words in the compound (linked by a hyphen) undergo tone sandhi except for the final word in each compound: chiu and jī. The tones markings of each word do not actually change to indicate tone sandhi and are written with their original tone markings.