A Beginner's Guide to Taiwanese: Difference between revisions

[[File:Lie hør.ogg|thumb|"Hello" in Taiwanese, written '''''[[Lie hør!]]''''']]  

'''''Li<u>e</u> hø<u>r</u>!''''' [[Taioan'oe|Taiwanese]] is a beautiful and musical language spoken in [[Taioaan|Taiwan]] and by Taiwanese people around the world. This '''''Beginner's Guide to Taiwanese''''' will provide you with a brief introduction to the spoken language as well as a writing system called [[Modern Taiwanese Language]] (MTL).  

Most speakers of Taiwanese are not aware that there exist several ways to write it down. MTL and [[Taiwanese Romanization System]] both derive from ''[[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]]'' (POJ), which had over 100,000 users in the mid-20th century. While no single system has been widely adopted (whether romanized or in [[Harnji|Han characters]]), MTL is a very useful tool for learning Taiwanese. Most Taiwanese speakers may not be able to read any of these systems but will understand you better because you used it.

== Phonology ==

We will first introduce all of the phonetic sounds of Taiwanese, using the [[Taiwanese alphabet]]. Some sounds have an approximation in English, while others may be less familiar. In the examples, we have underlined tone indicators that are silent, which we will explain later.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! MTL  !! Approx.  !! Example  !! Meaning || More Examples

| [[p]] || B / cris'''p'''y  || [[papaf|papa<u>f</u>]] || father || [[Taipag]]

| ph  || P (crisp)  || {{x2|pha<u>q</u>|phaq}} || to hit ||

| [[m]] || me  || [[mi]]  || noodle  

| [[b]] || mu'''mb'''le  || [[baq|ba<u>q</u>]] || meat || [[bin]], [[bexbae]]

| [[t]] || D (crisp)  || {{x2|tit|tidtit}} || straight || [[Taioaan]], [[tee]]

| th  || Thomas  || {{x2|the<u>h</u>|theh}} || to take  

| [[n]] || neat  || [[nii]]  || year  

| [[l]] || Lima  || [[laang]]  || person || {{x2|laai}}

| [[k]] || gear  || {{x2|ka<u>f</u>|kaf}} || to add || {{x2|ka'iuu}}, [[kafmsia]]

| kh  || key  || [[khix (toxngsuu)|khi<u>x</u>]] || to go || [[khaothaau]]

| [[h]] || heap  || [[hii]]  || fish  

| [[g]] || ga'''gg'''le  || [[5|go]] || five || [[Gilaan]], [[goar]]

| [[c]](i)  || G  || {{x2|cia<u>f</u>|ciaf}} || here  

| ch(i)  || cheese  || [[chiaf|chia<u>f</u>]] || car  

| [[s]](i)  || she / sea  || [[si (yes)|si]] || yes  

| [[j]](i)  || Z  || [[jit]]  || day || [[Jidpurn]]

| [[z]] || yar'''ds''' || {{x2|ze<u>f</u>|zef}} || this  

| zh  || ca'''ts''' || {{x2|zhai<u>x</u>|zhaix}} || vegetable || [[zheq]]

| s  || Saul  || {{x2|sva<u>f</u>|svaf}} || three ([[3]]) || [[sampafn'ar|samparn]]

| j  || zoo  || [[joah]] || hot  

The ''p'' vs. ''b'' and ''k'' vs. ''g'' may be hard to differentiate at first. They are part of a three-way distinction, going from ''muddy'' to plain to [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]. The muddy ''b'' and ''g'' are voiced, meaning the vocal cords vibrate along with the consonant. The plain ''p'' and ''k'' (and ''t'') are unvoiced, not as aspirated as in English, but do have a distinct click or pop.

Note that ''s'' and ''j'' appear twice: these are slightly different when followed by an ''i'' vs other vowels.

{| class="wikitable"

| [[a]] || {{x2|ka}} || to bite  

| [[i]] || [[hvi|h<u>v</u>i]] || ear  

| [[u]] || {{x2|u}} || to have  

| [[e]] || {{x2|ke}} || low  

| [[o]] || [[lo]] || road  

| [[ø]] || {{x2|hø<u>r</u>|hør}} || good  

| [[m]] || {{x2|m}} || no  

| {{x2|ng}} || {{x2|hng}} || far  

The ''m'' can be both vowel and consonant.

{| class="wikitable"

have a nasal form. A ''v'' is placed in front of the vowel to designate it.  

{| class="wikitable"

Taiwanese has ending nasal vowel sounds using ''m'', ''n'' and ''ng''.  

{| class="wikitable"

A valid syllable only needs to have a vowel. The items in the [[koat'hoo|brackets]] are optional.

speak and hear the [[tones of Taiwanese]] correctly is often difficult for an English speaker since there are no tones in English. With practice you will be able to hear and speak it. Taiwanese has seven tones (Mandarin has four). Again most speakers of Taiwanese are not aware of the different tones but they can all understand it when you pronounce it.

{| class="wikitable"

! # !! Tones !! Description !! MTL !! Example  

| 1 || High || high level tone || [[f]] || [[af]]

| 2 || Shouting || start high, then sharp downward || [[r]] || [[ar]]

| 3 || Low Falling || start mid then downward tone || [[x]] || ax  

| 7 || Basic || mid level tone || default || a

| 8 || Short high || short high tone || ends with h, p, t or k  || [[ab'ar|ah]], ap, at, ak   

| 4 || Short low || short low tone || ends with q, b, d or g || [[ah'ar|aq]], {{x2|ab}}, {{x2|ad}}, {{x2|ag}}

{| class="wikitable"

| Basic || [[si (yes)|si]] || is  

| High || {{x2|hiaf}} || there  

| Shouting || {{x2|zar}} || early  

| Short high || [[ciah]] || to eat  

| Short low || {{x2|phaq}} || to hit  

| Short high || {{x2|hap}} || to close  

| Short low || {{x2|ciab}} || to catch  

| Short high || {{x2|kut}} || slippery  

There are a few special vowels for certain tones. There are five special vowels in the shouting-out tone, plus two special vowels in the high tone. There is also a shortcut for the curving tone of ''ø''.

{| class="wikitable"

| u  || r || uo  || {{x2|kuo}} || (''of time'') long

| i  || f || y  || [[y]] || he / she / it

[[File:Tone Circle.gif|right|frame|Taiwanese tones in isolation, and the changes they undergo when they precede another tone.]]

The basic unit of speech is the syllable, which can change tone depending on where it is spoken in a sentence. If a syllable is spoken in the middle of a word, phrase or sentence, it changes tone according to the Tone Circle diagram. If a syllable is spoken at the end of a phrase or sentence, it does not change tone. Most nouns do not change tone.

Example:

* [[File:Kviaf`sie.ogg]] [[kviaf`sie]] ((v.) ''to freak someone out'') - ''kviaf'' keeps its high tone but ''sie'' is pronounced with a weakened low tone.

* [[File:Kviasie.ogg]] [[kviasie]] ((adj.) ''scared of death'') – ''kviaf'' is pronounced with normal tone change from high to basic while ''sie'' is pronounced as a shouting tone. ''{{w|Kiasi}}'' is Hokkien phrase that describes the attitude of being overly afraid or timid.