Taai-oaan (Harnji)

Taai-oaan (Harnji: 臺灣/臺員/臺圓; Taioaan)

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Details

  • The name "Taiwan" is derived from the ethnonym of a tribe in the southwest part of the island.
  • Use of the current Chinese name 臺灣 was formalized as early as 1684 with the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture.
  • However, in Taiwanese, "" is usually read oafn 🔊 (high tone/#1), not oaan 🔊 (curving up tone/#5).
  • Thus it appears that Taioaan is more closely related to historical variants 臺員 and 臺圓, where 員 and 圓 are both properly read as oaan 🔊 (buun readings).
  • You will find other cases where Taiwanese does not quite align with written Harnji: Køelaang, Bafngkaq, Pangkiøo

Example Derived terms