(: (Teochew) (Swatow), : or , : or ) is a Teochew language romanization system as a part of Guangdong Romanization published by Guangdong Provincial Education Department in 1960. The tone of this system is based on the Swatow dialect. The system uses the Latin alphabet to transcribe pronunciation and numbers to note tones.

Before that, another system called , which was introduced by the missionaries in 1875, had been widely used. Since Teochew has high phonetic similarity with Hokkien, another Southern Min variety, and can also be used to transcribe Teochew. The name is a transcription of "" using this system.

Contents

Alphabet

This system uses the Latin alphabet, but does not include f, j, q, v, w, x, or y. ê is the letter e with circumflex.

Initials

There are 18 initials. Syllables not starting with consonants are called zero initials.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Initials

! colspan="2" |

!Bilabial

!Alveolar

!Velar

!Glottal

|-

! rowspan="2" |Voiced<small> (no frictions)</small>

!<small>nasal</small>

|m 毛

|n 年

|ng 雅

|

|-

!<small>plosive or lateral</small>

|bh 米

|l 來/內

|gh 鵝/牙

|

|-

! rowspan="2" |Voiceless stops

!<small>aspirated</small>

|p 皮

|t 臺

|k 可

|

|-

!<small>plain</small>

|b 比

|d 都

|g 歌

|

|-

! rowspan="2" |<small>Voiceless affricates</small>

!<small>aspirated</small>

|

|c 菜

|

|

|-

!<small>plain</small>

|

|z 書

|

|

|-

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Fricatives

| rowspan="2" |

|s 士/速

| rowspan="2" |

| rowspan="2" |h 海/系<!--h̃ 園/遠 [h̃ŋ]--><!--all Teochew consonant can be nasalized, no point to specifically emphasis this single one-->

|-

|r 爾

|}

b and g can also be used as ending consonants.

Finals

There are 59 finals :

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin:1em auto 1em auto"

! colspan="4" |Finals of Teochew dialect

|-

| Classes || Open vowel || Mid vowel || Close vowel

|-

| rowspan=10|Open Syllable|| || i 衣 || u 汙

|-

| a 亞 || ia 呀 || ua 娃

|-

| o 窩 || io 腰 ||

|-

| ê 啞 || || uê 鍋

|-

| e 余 || ||

|-

| ai 哀 || || uai 歪

|-

| oi 鞋 || || ui 威

|-

| ao 歐 || ||

|-

| ou 烏 || iou 夭 ||

|-

| || iu 憂 ||

|-

| rowspan=7|Nasal vowel || || in 丸 ||

|-

| an 噯 || ian 營 || uan 鞍

|-

| || ion 羊 ||

|-

| ên 楹 || ||

|-

| en 秧 || ||

|-

| ain 愛 || ||

|-

| oin 閑 || ||

|-

| rowspan=6|Nasal Coda|| || im 音 ||

|-

| am [庵] || iam 淹 || uam 凡

|-

| || ing 因 || ung 溫

|-

| ang 按 || iang 央 || uang 汪

|-

| ong 翁 || iong 雍 ||

|-

| êng 英 || ||

|-

| rowspan=11|Checked tone || || ih 裂 ||

|-

| ah 鴨 || iah 益 || uah 活

|-

| oh 學 || ioh 約 ||

|-

| êh 厄 || ||

|-

| oih 狹 || ||

|-

| || ib 邑 ||

|-

| ab 盒 || iab 壓 || uab 法

|-

| || ig 乙 || ug 熨

|-

| ag [惡]

|-

| Tones || 陰平(dark flat) || 陰上(dark rising) || 陰去(dark departing) || 陰入(dark entering) || 陽平(light flat) || 陽上(light rising) || 陽去(light departing) || 陽入(light entering)

|-

| Tone value || 33 || 52 || 213 || 2 || 55 || 35 ||11 || 4

|-

| Examples || 詩、分 || 死、粉 || 世、訓 || 薛、忽 || 時、雲 || 是、混 || 示、份 || 蝕、佛

|-

| Symbols || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8

|-

| Notations || a || á || à || ah || â || ă || ā || áh

|}

Symbols of tones are notated at the top right of consonants or vowels which have top loudness. For example:

  • 詩 – si<sup>1</sup>
  • 死 – si<sup>2</sup>
  • 世 – si<sup>3</sup>
  • 薛 – sih<sup>4</sup>

Differences in rime

This is a list of differences in rime in dialects of Teochew by regions. Tone in Raoping is almost same as in Swatow. Only general differences are listed, some certain distinctions of certain words are not listed.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin:1em auto 1em auto"

|-

| Swatow || Raoping || Chaozhou || Chenghai || Puning || Jieyang || Chaoyang || Haifeng || Examples

|-

| e || || || || e || || u || i || 餘，許，豬，祠

|-

| oi || || || || ôi || || || ei ||鞋

|-

| uin || || || || ui || ui || uain|| || 跪，櫃

|-

| oin || oin/êng|| || || ain || ain || ain || ain || 閒，殿

|-

| oih || || || || || || || eih ||狹

|-

| iao/iou||iao || iou || iou || io/iao || || || || 搖，要

|-

| io || || ie || ie || io || || || || 腰

|-

| ion || || ien || ien || ion || || || || 羊

|-

| ioh || || ieh || ieh || ioh || || || || 借，惜，藥，石

|-

| am[am] || || || ang[aŋ] || am[am] || || || ||庵

|-

| ab[ap] || || || ag[ak] || ap || || || ||盒

|-

| iam[iam] || || iem[iem] || iang[iaŋ] || iam[iam] || || || ||嚴

|-

| iab[iap] || || ieb[iep] || iag [iak] || iap || || || ||壓

|-

| im[im] || || || ing [iŋ] || im || || || ||音

|-

| ib[ip] || || || ig [ik] || ip || || || ||溼

|-

| ang[aŋ] || || || || ang || || || || 安

|-

| ag [ak] || || || || âk || || || || 達

|-

| iang[iaŋ] || || iêng[ieŋ] || || iang || || || || 仙

|-

| iag [iak] || || iêg[iek] || || iâk || || || || 傑，設

|-

| uang[uaŋ] || || uêng[ueŋ] || || uâng || || || || 全，完，緣，彎

|-

| uag [uak] || || uêg [uek] || || uâk || || || || 粵

|-

| eng [ɯŋ] || eng/ing || || || êng/ung || êng[eŋ] || ing[iŋ] || ng/eng || 斤

|-

| eg [ɯk] || || || || êg [ek] || êg [ek] || ig[ik] || || 乞

|-

| ing[iŋ] || || || || ing || êng[eŋ] || || in[in] || 因

|-

| ung[uŋ] || || || || ung || || || un[un] || 溫

|}

References

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