Modern Literal Taiwanese

Modern Literal Taiwanese (MLT), also known as Modern Taiwanese Language (MTL), Hiexntai-buun (現代文) (HTB; short for Hiexntai Bunsuhoad (現代文書法)), is a writing system in the Latin alphabet for Taiwanese. MLT is able to use the ASCII character set to indicate the proper variation of pitch without subsidiary scripts or diacritic symbols. See A Beginner's Guide to Taiwanese to get started.

MLT Examples

Ciaqpar`bøe?

Greetings. (lit., "Have you eaten?")

Piexnsor ti tøfui?

Where's the bathroom? (lit., "bathroom is where?")

Kin'axm larn beq khix Suxliim Iaxchi'ar.

Tonight, we are going to Shilin Night Market.

Current system

The MTL alphabet adopts the English alphabet of 26 letters, plus ø, to express the basic sounds of Taiwanese. Here are the basic sounds:

• a b c ch e f g h i j k kh l m n ng o ø p ph q r s t th u v y z zh

A word can be formed by only one syllable or several syllables, with two syllables being the most typical. Each syllable in MLT follows either one of the two underlying patterns (parts inside the brackets are optional):

• [consonant] + [nasalizer] + vowel + [tone indicator]
• [consonant] + vowel + [tone indicator] + [nasal final consonant]

Consonants

• Bilabial: p, ph, m, b
• Alveolar: t, th, n, l
• Velar: k, kh, h, g
• Palatal: c, ch, s, j (followed by vowel "i")
• Dental: z, zh, s, j (not followed by vowel "i")

The convention of using "h" to denote aspirated consonants is similar to the way superscript "h" is used in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). It is also similar to the way the apostrophe is used in Wade-Giles.

Vowels

• Simple: a, i, u, e, o, ø, m, ng
• Compound: ai, au, ia, iu, iø, iau, ui, oa, oe, øe, oai
• Special high tone (1st tone of i, u): y, w
• Special shouting-out tone (2nd tone of ai, i, u, e, au): ae, ie, uo, ea, ao
• Nasal vowel (indicator followed by a vowel): v

The nasal final consonants m, n, and ng can be appended to any of the vowels and some of the diphthongs. In addition, m and ng can function as independent syllables by themselves.

The stops h/q, k/g, p/b and t/d can appear as the last letter in a syllable, in which case they are pronounced as unreleased stops. (The final consonants h and q stand for a glottal stop of high and low tone, respectively.)

Originally two special characters were used: the Greek nu (letter) and an o crossed by a backslash. These were replaced with the Latin letter v and number 0, respectively, to use the ASCII encoding.

Tones

The Tones of Taiwanese are encoded by appending and modifying spellings with attention to the rules of the MLT system. The basic tone has no modification.

High Tone

A high tone is derived from raising a basic tone, and is represented by adding a tone indicator "f" after a vowel, except "i" and "u", in a syllable. The high tone of "i" and "u" are "y" and "w" respectively. Note that the tone indicator "f" is a silent letter.

Shouting-out Tone

A shouting-out tone is derived from shouting out a basic tone, and is represented by adding a tone indicator "r" after a vowel. Exceptions "ai", "i", "u", "e", and "au", in a syllable, for which "ae", "ie", "uo", "ea", and "ao" are substituted, respectively.

Low-falling Tone

The low-falling tone is always marked by appending an "x" to the rearmost vowel.

Rising Tone

For the rising tone:

• Simple vowel: simply repeat the vowel.
• Compound vowel: repeat the last vowel letter except:
  • if it contains an a, then repeat a.
  • for ø, use øo instead of øø.

Short Tone

Short tones are indicated by substituting the final stops as follows: h->q, t->d, p->b, k->g.

Rare shouting tone

This tone has largely merged with the shouting-out tone. It is used in rare instances such as the triplet "aarng'ang'aang", meaning "extraordinarily red".

Examples

Animals as examples for the seven tones:

• say (1: High)
• chviu (7: Basic)
• pax (3: Low-falling)
• hor (2: Shouting-out)
• hiim (5: Rising)
• lok (8: High stop)
• piq (4: Low stop)

Special Symbols

The apostrophe ('; sefngji-huhø) is used to demarcate syllables when there is ambiguity. A hyphen (-; lien'oeh / lien'uih) is used to join two, or more isolated words to make a new compound word with its own meaning.

All the syllables after a backquote (`) are spoken in a weaker tone -- either a low-falling tone or a low stop. Tone sandhi is not applied to the preceding syllable.

History of MLT

The Pe̍h-ōe-jī (POJ) system, introduced in the 19th century, provides a basis for the phonetic transcription of Taiwanese using the Latin alphabet and developed a significant user base. However this user base declined during Japanese rule, when the use of POJ was suppressed in preference to katakana, and during the Kuomintang era of martial law, during which Standard Mandarin was promoted.

In 1943, four classmates in Tainan 2nd Middle School, began collecting Taiwanese words using a spelling system that would become the Taiwanese Modern Spelling System (TMSS). Having learned POJ at a young age, Liim Keahioong developed TMSS to avoid the diacritic markings of POJ and the difficulty of inputting Chinese characters with the technology available. TMSS served as the basis for Modern Literal Taiwanese (MLT), which Dr. Liim first made public in the United States in 1986. MLT is currently being used by the Washington DC Taiwanese School.

See Also/Zhamkhør

• Taiwanese-English dictionaries
• MTL Toolbox
• WDCTS

References

• Liim Keahioong (1990). Textbook of Modern Literal Taiwanese. Tainan, Taiwan: Ta-hsia Press.