Introduction to Taiwanese Vocabulary: Difference between revisions

The modern language that we call '''[[Taioan'oe|Taiwanese]]''' has been passed on for several generations primarily through oral tradition without a standardized writing system. It may be considered a variant of [[Hokkiexn-oe|Hokkien]] brought by [[Høxlør|Hoklo]] settlers from mainland China to the island of Taiwan ([[Formosa]]). The Taiwanese language has captured the history of the island in its borrowing of words from [[Formosan languages]], [[Sepangaa-gie|Spanish]], [[Kextexgie|Dutch]], [[Jidpwn'oe|Japanese]], and [[Engguo|English]].

Modern Taiwanese has words coming from [[Sioxngkor Harnguo|Old Chinese]] (ca. 0 BCE/CE) as well as the [[Toong|Tang Dynasty]] (ca. 618-907). However, it is still not natural for many people to write modern Taiwanese with [[Harnji|Han characters]]. Until the late 19th century, educated Taiwanese speakers wrote mostly in [[Bungieen-buun|Classical Chinese]]. Where Han characters have been used to record spoken Taiwanese, they are not always etymological or genetic; the borrowing of similar-sounding or similar-meaning characters is a common practice. The lack of a written standard and the difficulty in learning the relatively complicated [[Harnji]] posed a great barrier to written record of Taiwanese speech.

A system of writing Taiwanese using Latin characters called [[POJ]], meaning "vernacular writing", was developed in the 19th century. The indigenous [[Taioaan Kitog Tviwlør Kaohoe|Presbyterian Church in Taiwan]] has been active in promoting the language since the late 19th century. In 1945, Professor [[Liim Keahioong]], formerly of the Cheng-Kung University in Taiwan, pioneered a system based on POJ called the Taiwanese Modern Spelling System (TMSS). TMSS has evolved into [[Modern Taiwanese Language]] (MTL), also known as Modern Literal Taiwanese (MLT). This wiki uses MTL to write Taiwanese.