Pe̍h-ōe-jī

Pe̍h-ōe-jī Church Romanization
A sample of pe̍h-ōe-jī text
Type	Latin alphabet (modified)
Spoken languages	Southern Min Amoy Taiwanese
Created by	Walter Henry Medhurst Elihu Doty John Van Nest Talmage
Time period	1830s–present
Child systems	TLPA Tâi-lô
Note: This page may contain special characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols.

Pe̍h-ōe-jī (pronounced [peʔ˩ ue˩ dzi˨] ( listen), abbreviated POJ, literally vernacular writing, also known as Church Romanization) is an orthography used to write variants of Southern Min, a Chinese language or dialect, particularly Taiwanese and Amoy Hokkien. Developed by Western missionaries working among the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia in the 19th century and refined by missionaries working in Xiamen and Tainan, it uses a modified Latin alphabet and some diacritics to represent the spoken language. After initial success in Fujian, POJ became most widespread in Taiwan, and in the mid-20th century there were over 100,000 people literate in POJ. A large amount of printed material, religious and secular, has been produced in the script, including Taiwan's first newspaper, the Taiwan Church News.

The orthography was suppressed during the Japanese era in Taiwan (1895–1945), and faced further countermeasures during the Kuomintang martial law period (1947–1987). In Fujian, use declined after the establishment of the People's Republic of China (1949) and in the early 21st century the system was not in general use there. Use of pe̍h-ōe-jī is now restricted to some Taiwanese Christians, non-native learners of the language, and native-speaker enthusiasts in Taiwan. Full native computer support was developed in 2004, and users can now call on fonts, input methods, and extensive online dictionaries. Rival writing systems have been developed over time, and there is ongoing debate within the Taiwanese mother tongue movement as to which system should be used. Versions of pe̍h-ōe-jī have been devised for other languages, including Hakka and Teochew.

Name

Pe̍h-ōe-jī
Traditional Chinese	白話字
Simplified Chinese	白话字
Hokkien POJ	Pe̍h-ōe-jī
Literal meaning	Vernacular writing
Transcriptions Gan - Romanization Pha̍k-oa-chhi Hakka - Romanization Pha̍k-fa-sṳ Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Báihuà zì Min - Hokkien POJ Pe̍h-ōe-jī - Min-dong BUC Bàng-uâ-cê - Teochew Peng'im Pêh-uē-jī

The name pe̍h-ōe-jī (simplified Chinese: 白话字; traditional Chinese: 白話字) means "vernacular writing", that is, written characters representing everyday spoken language.^[1] Though the name vernacular writing could be applied to many kinds of writing, romanized and character-based, the term pe̍h-ōe-jī is commonly restricted to the Southern Min romanization system developed by Presbyterian missionaries in the 19th century.^[2] The missionaries who invented and refined the system didn't use the name pe̍h-ōe-jī, however, instead using various terms such as "Romanised Amoy Vernacular" and "Romanised Amoy Colloquial".^[1] The origins of the system and its extensive use in the Christian community has led to it being known by some modern-day writers as "Church Romanization" (simplified Chinese: 教会罗马字; traditional Chinese: 教會羅馬字; pinyin: Jiàohuì Luōmǎzì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kàu-hōe Lô-má-jī); often abbreviated in POJ itself to "Kàu-lô" (simplified Chinese: 教罗; traditional Chinese: 教羅; pinyin: Jiàoluō).^[3] There is some debate as to whether "pe̍h-ōe-jī" or "Church Romanization" is the more appropriate name. Objections raised to "pe̍h-ōe-jī" include that the surface meaning of the word itself is more generic than one specific system, and that both literary and colloquial register Southern Min appear in the system (meaning that describing it as "vernacular" writing might be inaccurate).^[1] Opposition to the name "Church Romanization" is based on the identification with the church, as the writing is used by a wider community than just Christians, and for secular as well as sacred writing.^[4] One commentator observes that POJ "today is largely disassociated from its former religious purposes".^[5] The term "romanization" is also disliked by some, who see it as belittling the status of pe̍h-ōe-jī by identifying it as a supplementary phonetic system, rather than a fully-fledged orthography.^[4] Sources disagree on which represents the more commonly used name of the two.^[3][4]

History

Pe̍h-ōe-jī inscription at a church in Tâi-lâm commemorating Thomas Barclay

The history of Peh-oe-ji has been heavily influenced by official attitudes towards the Southern Min vernaculars and the Christian organisations that propagated it. Early documents point to the purpose of the creation of POJ as being pedagogical in nature, closely allied to educating Christian converts.^[6]

Early development

The first people to use a romanized script to write Southern Min were Spanish missionaries in Manila in the 16th century.^[2] However, it was used mainly as a teaching aid for Spanish learners of the language, and seems not to have had any influence on the development of pe̍h-ōe-jī.^[7] In the early 19th century, China was closed to Christian missionaries, who instead proselytized to overseas Chinese communities in South East Asia.^[8] The earliest origins of the system are found in a small vocabulary first printed in 1820 by Walter Henry Medhurst,^[9][10] who went on to publish the Dictionary of the Hok-këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language, According to the Reading and Colloquial Idioms in 1832.^[9] This dictionary represents the first major reference work in POJ, although the romanization within was quite different from the modern system, and has been dubbed Early Church Romanization by one scholar of the subject.^[3] Medhurst, who was stationed in Malacca, was influenced by Robert Morrison's romanization of Mandarin Chinese, but had to innovate in several areas to reflect major differences between Mandarin and Southern Min.^[11] Several important developments occurred in Medhurst's work, especially the application of consistent tone markings (influenced by contemporary linguistic studies of Sanskrit, which was becoming of more mainstream interest to Western scholars).^[12] Medhurst was convinced that accurate representation and reproduction of the tonal structure of Southern Min was vital to comprehension:

Respecting these tones of the Chinese language, some difference of opinion has been obtained, and while some have considered them of first importance, others have paid them little or no intention. The author inclines decidedly to the former opinion; having found, from uniform experience, that without strict attention to tones, it is impossible for a person to make himself understood in Hok-këèn.

—W.H. Medhurst^[13]

Frontispiece of Doty's Anglo Chinese Manual of the Amoy Dialect (1853)

The system expounded by Medhurst influenced later dictionary compilers with regard to tonal notation and initials, but both his complicated vowel system and his emphasis on the literary register of Southern Min were dropped by later writers.^[14][15] Following on from Medhurst's work, Samuel Wells Williams became the chief proponent of major changes in the orthography devised by Morrison and adapted by Medhurst. Through personal communication and letters and articles printed in The Chinese Repository a consensus was arrived at for the new version of POJ, although Williams' suggestions were largely not followed.^[16] The first major work to represent this new orthography was Elihu Doty's Anglo-Chinese Manual with Romanized Colloquial in the Amoy Dialect,^[16] published in 1853. The manual can therefore be regarded as the first presentation of a pre-modern POJ, a significant step onwards from Medhurst's orthography and different from today's system in only a few details.^[17] From this point on various authors adjusted some of the consonants and vowels, but the system of tone marks from Doty's Manual survives intact in modern POJ.^[18] John Van Nest Talmage has traditionally been regarded as the founder of POJ among the community which uses the orthography, although it now seems that he was an early promoter of the system, rather than its inventor.^[10][16]

In 1842 the Treaty of Nanking was concluded, which included among its provisions the creation of treaty ports in which Christian missionaries would be free to preach.^[6] Xiamen (then known as Amoy) was one of these treaty ports, and British, Canadian and American missionaries moved in to start preaching to the local inhabitants. These missionaries, housed in the cantonment of Gulangyu, created reference works and religious tracts, including a bible translation.^[6] Naturally, they based the pronunciation of their romanization on the speech of Xiamen, which became the de facto standard when they eventually moved into other areas of the Hokkien Sprachraum, most notably Taiwan.^[19] The 1858 Treaty of Tianjin officially opened Taiwan to western missionaries, and missionary societies were quick to send men to work in the field, usually after a sojourn in Xiamen to acquire the rudiments of the language.^[19]

Maturity

Khó-sioh lín pún-kok ê jī chin oh, chió chió lâng khòaⁿ ē hiáu-tit. Só͘-í góan ū siat pa̍t-mih ê hoat-tō͘, ēng pe̍h-ōe-jī lâi ìn-chheh, hō͘ lín chèng-lâng khòaⁿ khah khòai bat... Lâng m̄-thang phah-sǹg in-ūi i bat Khóng-chú-jī só͘-í m̄-bián o̍h chit-hō ê jī; iā m̄-thang khòaⁿ-khin i, kóng sī gín-á só͘-tha̍k--ê.

Because the characters in your country are so difficult only a few people are literate. Therefore we have striven to print books in pe̍h-ōe-jī to help you to read... don't think that if you know Chinese characters you needn't learn this script, nor should you regard it as a childish thing.

Thomas Barclay, Tâi-oân-hú-siâⁿ Kàu-hōe-pò, Issue 1

Quanzhou and Zhangzhou are two major varieties of Southern Min, and in Xiamen they combined to form something "not Quan, not Zhang" – i.e. not one or the other, but rather a fusion, which became known as Amoy Dialect or Amoy Chinese.^[20] In Taiwan, with its mixture of migrants from both Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, the linguistic situation was similar; although the resulting blend in the southern city of Tainan differed from the Xiamen blend, it was close enough that the missionaries could ignore the differences and import their system wholesale.^[19] The fact that religious tracts, dictionaries, and teaching guides already existed in the Xiamen tongue meant that the missionaries in Taiwan could begin proselytizing immediately, without the intervening time needed to write those materials.^[21] Missionary opinion was divided on whether POJ was desirable as an end in itself as a full-fledged orthography, or as a means to literacy in Chinese characters. William Campbell described POJ as a step on the road to reading and writing Hanzi, claiming that to promote it as an independent writing system would inflame nationalist passions in China, where Hanzi were considered a sacred part of Chinese culture.^[22] Taking the other side, Thomas Barclay believed that literacy in POJ should be a goal rather than a waypoint:

Soon after my arrival in Formosa I became firmly convinced of three things, and more than fifty years experience has strengthened my conviction. The first was that if you are to have a healthy, living Church it is necessary that all the members, men and women, read the Scriptures for themselves; second, that this end can never be attained by the use of the Chinese character; third, that it can be attained by the use of the alphabetic script, this Romanised Vernacular.

—Thomas Barclay^[23]

A great boon to the promotion of POJ in Taiwan came in 1880 when James Laidlaw Maxwell, a medical missionary based in Tainan, donated a small printing press to the local church,^[24] which Thomas Barclay learned how to operate in 1881 before founding the Presbyterian Church Press in 1884. Subsequently the Taiwan Prefectural City Church News, which first appeared in 1885 and was produced by Barclay's Presbyterian Church of Taiwan Press,^[24] became the first printed newspaper in Taiwan.^[25]

As other authors made their own alterations to the conventions laid down by Medhurst and Doty, pe̍h-ōe-jī evolved and eventually settled into its current form. Ernest Tipson's 1934 pocket dictionary was the first reference work to reflect this modern spelling.^[26] Between Medhurst's dictionary of 1832 and the standardisation of POJ in Tipson's time, there were a number of works published, which can be used to chart the change over time of pe̍h-ōe-jī:^[27]

Evolution of pe̍h-ōe-jī, 1832–1934

IPA	Medhurst 1832[28]	Doty 1853[29]	MacGowan 1869[30]	Douglas 1873[31]	Van Nest Talmage 1894[32]	Warnshuis & De Pree 1911[33]	Campbell 1913[34]	Barclay 1923[35]	Tipson 1934[36]
tɕ	ch	ch	ts	ch	ch	ch	ch	ch	ch
ts	ch	ch	ts	ts	ch	ch	ts	ts	ch
ŋ	gn	ng	ng	ng	ng	ng	ng	ng	ng
ɪɛn/ɛn	ëen	ian	ien	ien	ian	ian	ian	ian	ian
iat̚	ëet	iat	iet	iet	iat	iat	iat	iet	iat
ɪk	ek	iek	ek	ek	ek	ek	ek	ek	ek
iŋ	eng	ieng	eng	eng	eng	eng	eng	eng	eng
ɔ	oe	o͘	o͘	ɵ͘	o͘	o͘	o͘	o͘	o͘
ʰ	’h	’	h	h	h	h	h	h	h

Taiwanese kana used as ruby characters

Competition for POJ was introduced during the colonial era in Taiwan (1895–1945) in the form of Taiwanese kana, a system designed as a teaching aid and pronunciation guide, rather than an independent orthography like POJ.^[37] From the 1930s onwards, with the increasing militarization of Japan and the Kōminka movement encouraging Taiwanese people to "Japanize", there were a raft of measures taken against native languages, including Taiwanese.^[38] While these moves resulted in a suppression of POJ, they were "a logical consequence of increasing the amount of education in Japanese, rather than an explicit attempt to ban a particular Taiwanese orthography in favor of [Taiwanese kana]".^[39] The Second Sino-Japanese War beginning in 1937 brought stricter measures into force, and along with the outlawing of romanized Taiwanese, various publications were prohibited and Confucian-style shobō (Chinese: 書房; pinyin: shūfáng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: su-pâng) – private schools which taught Classical Chinese with literary Southern Min pronunciation – were closed down in 1939.^[40] The Japanese authorities came to perceive POJ as an obstacle to Japanization and also suspected that POJ was being used to hide "concealed codes and secret revolutionary messages".^[41] In the climate of the ongoing war the government banned the Taiwan Church News in 1942 as it was written in POJ.^[42]

After World War II

Initially the Kuomintang government in Taiwan had a liberal attitude towards "local dialects" (i.e. non-Mandarin varieties of Chinese). The Mandarin Promotion Council produced booklets outlining versions of Mandarin Phonetic Symbols ("Bopomofo") for writing the Taiwanese tongue, these being intended for newly arrived government officials from outside Taiwan as well as local Taiwanese.^[43] The first government action against native languages came in 1953, when the use of Taiwanese or Japanese for instruction was forbidden.^[44] The next move to suppress the movement came in 1955, when the use of POJ for proselytizing was outlawed.^[42] At that point in time there were 115,000 people literate in POJ in Taiwan, Fujian, and southeast Asia.^[45] Two years later, missionaries were banned from using romanized bibles, and the use of "native languages" (i.e. Taiwanese, Hakka, and the Aboriginal languages) in church work became illegal.^[42] The ban on POJ bibles was overturned in 1959, but churches were "encouraged" to use character bibles instead.^[42] Government activities against POJ intensified in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when several publications were banned or seized in an effort to prevent the spread of the romanization. In 1964 use of Taiwanese in schools or official settings was forbidden,^[44] and transgression in schools punished with beatings, fines and humiliation.^[46] The Taiwan Church News (printed in POJ) was banned in 1969, and only allowed to return a year later when the publishers agreed to print it in Chinese characters.^[42][47] In 1974 Bernard L.M. Embree's A Dictionary of Southern Min was banned by the Government Information Office, with a government official saying: "We have no objection to the dictionary being used by foreigners. They could use it in mimeographed form. But we don't want it published as a book and sold publicly because of the Romanization it contains. Chinese should not be learning Chinese through Romanization."^[48] Also in the 1970s, a POJ New Testament translation known as the "Red Cover Bible" was confiscated and banned by the Nationalist regime.^[49] Official moves against native languages continued into the 1980s, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of the Interior decided in 1984 to forbid missionaries to use "local dialects" and romanizations in their work.^[42]

With the ending of martial law in 1987, the restrictions on "local languages" were quietly lifted,^[50] resulting in growing interest in Taiwanese writing during the 1990s.^[51] For the first time since the 1950s, Taiwanese language and literature was discussed and debated openly in newspapers and journals.^[52] There was also support from the then opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party, for writing in the language.^[44] From a total of 26 documented orthographies for Taiwanese in 1987 (including defunct systems), there were a further 38 invented from 1987 to 1999, including 30 different romanizations, six adaptations of Zhuyin fuhao and two Hangul-like systems.^[53] Some commentators believe that the Kuomintang, while steering clear of outright banning of the native language movements after the end of martial law, took a "divide and conquer" approach by promoting Taiwanese Language Phonetic Alphabet (TLPA), an alternative to POJ,^[54] which was at the time the choice of the majority inside the nativization movement.^[55] Native language education has remained a fiercely debated topic in Taiwan into the 21st century, and is the subject of much political wrangling.^[56][57]

Current system

See also: Comparison of Hokkien writing systems and Written Hokkien

Initials[58][59] POJ b ch chh g h j k kh l m n ng p ph s t th IPA b ts tɕ tsʰ tɕʰ g h dz ʑ k kʰ d̠ l m n ŋ p pʰ s ɕ t tʰ Monophthongs POJ a e i o o͘ u aⁿ eⁿ iⁿ oⁿ o͘ⁿ uⁿ IPA a e i o ɔ u ã ẽ ĩ õ ɔ̃ ũ Diphthongs & Triphthongs POJ ai au ia iu io oa oe ui iau oai IPA aɪ aʊ ɪa iu ɪo ua ue ui ɪaʊ uai Coda endings POJ m n ng h p t k IPA m n ŋ ʔ p̚ t̚ k̚

The current system of pe̍h-ōe-jī has been stable since the 1930s, with a few minor exceptions (detailed below).^[60] There is a fair degree of similarity with the Vietnamese orthography Quốc Ngữ, including the b/p/ph distinction and the use of ⟨ơ⟩ in Quốc Ngữ compared with ⟨o͘⟩ in POJ.^[61] POJ uses the following letters and combinations:^[62]

a b ch chh e g h i j k kh l m n ⁿ ng o o͘ p ph s t th u

Chinese phonology traditionally divides syllables in Chinese languages into three parts; firstly the initial, a consonant or consonant blend which appears at the beginning of the syllable, secondly the final, consisting of a medial vowel (optional), a nucleus vowel, and an optional ending; and finally the tone, which is applied to the whole syllable.^[63] In terms of the non-tonal (i.e. phonemic) features, the nucleus vowel is the only required part of a licit consonant in Chinese languages.^[63] Unlike Mandarin but like other southern varieties of Chinese, Taiwanese has final unreleased stops, a feature which has been preserved from Middle Chinese.^[64] There is some debate as to whether these stops are a tonal feature or a phonemic one, with some authorities distinguishing between ⟨-h⟩ as a tonal feature, and ⟨-p⟩, ⟨-t⟩, and ⟨-k⟩ as phonemic features.^[65] Southern Min dialects also have an optional nasal property, which is written with a superscript ⟨ⁿ⟩ and usually identified as being part of the vowel.^[66]

A legitimate syllable in Hokkien takes the form (initial) + (medial vowel) + nucleus + (stop) + tone, where items in parenthesis indicate optional components.^[67]

The initials are:

b ch chh g h j k kh l m n ng

Medial vowels:

i o

Nuclei:

a e i o o͘ u m ng

Stops:

m n ng h p t k

POJ has a limited amount of legitimate syllables, although sources disagree on some particular instances of these syllables. The following table contains all the licit spellings of POJ syllables, based on a number of sources:

Licit POJ syllables
Ø	b	ch	chh	g	h	j	k	kh	l	m	n	ng	p	ph	s	t	th
a	ba	cha	chha	ga	ha		ka	kha	la	ma	na	nga	pa	pha	sa	ta	tha
aⁿ		chaⁿ	chhaⁿ		haⁿ		kaⁿ	khaⁿ						phaⁿ	saⁿ	taⁿ	thaⁿ
ah	bah	chah	chahh		hah		kah	khah	lah		nah		pah	phah	sah	tah	thah
					hahⁿ										sahⁿ
ai	bai	chai	chhai	gai	hai		kai	khai	lai	mai	nai	ngai	pai	phai	sai	tai	thai
aiⁿ		chaiⁿ			haiⁿ		kaiⁿ	khaiⁿ						phaiⁿ		taiⁿ
ak	bak	chak	chhak	gak	hak		kak	khak	lak				pak	phak	sak	tak	thak
am		cham	chham	gam	ham		kam	kham	lam						sam	tam	tham
an	ban	chan	chhan	gan	han		kan	khan	lan				pan	phan	san	tan	than
ang	bang	chang	chhang	gang	hang		kang	khang	lang				pang	phang	sang	tang	thang
ap		chap	chhap		hap		kap	khap	lap						sap	tap	thap
at	bat	chat	chhat		hat		kat	khat	lat				pat		sat	tat	that
au	bau	chau	chhau	gau	hau		kau	khau	lau	mau	nau	ngau	pau	phau	sau	tau	thau
			chhauh				kauh		lauh	mauh	nauh			phauh		tauh
e	be	che	chhe	ge	he		ke	khe	le	me	ne	nge	pe	phe	se	te	the
eⁿ		cheⁿ	chheⁿ		heⁿ		keⁿ	kheⁿ					peⁿ	pheⁿ	seⁿ	teⁿ	theⁿ
eh	beh	cheh	chheh		heh		keh	kheh	leh	meh	neh	ngeh	peh		seh	teh	theh
					hehⁿ			khehⁿ
ek	bek	chek	chhek	gek	hek		kek		lek				pek	phek	sek	tek	thek
eng	beng	cheng	chheng	geng	heng		keng	kheng	leng				peng	pheng	seng	teng	theng
i	bi	chi	chhi	gi	hi	ji	ki	khi	li	mi	ni		pi	phi	si	ti	thi
iⁿ		chiⁿ	chhiⁿ		hiⁿ		kiⁿ	khiⁿ							siⁿ	tiⁿ	thiⁿ
ia		chia	chhia	gia	hia	jia	kia	khia		mia	nia	ngia			sia	tia
iaⁿ		chiaⁿ	chhiaⁿ		hiaⁿ		kiaⁿ						piaⁿ		siaⁿ	tiaⁿ	thiaⁿ
iah		chiah	chhiah	giah	hiah		kiah	khiah	liah				piah	phiah	siah	tiah	thiah
					hiahⁿ
			chhiak					khiak					piak	phiak	siak	tiak
iam		chiam	chhiam	giam	hiam	jiam	kiam	khiam	liam						siam	tiam	thiam
ian	bian	chian	chhian	gian	hian	jian	kian	khian	lian				pian	phian	sian	tian	thian
iang		chiang	chhiang	giang	hiang	jiang		khiang	liang				piang	phiang	siang
iap		chiap	chhiap	giap	hiap	jiap	kiap	khiap	liap						siap	tiap	thiap
iat	biat	chiat	chhiat	giat	hiat	jiat	kiat	khiat	liat				piat	phiat	siat	tiat	thiat
iau	biau	chiau	chhiau	giau	hiau	jiau	kiau	khiau	liau	miau	niau	ngiau	piau	phiau	siau	tiau	thiau
iauⁿ
					hiauh			khiauh				ngiauh
	bih	chih	chhih					khih		mih	nih		pih	phih	sih	tih	thih
im		chim	chhim	gim	him	jim	kim	khim	lim						sim	tim	thim
in	bin	chin	chhin	gin	hin	jin	kin	khin	lin				pin	phin	sin	tin	thin
io	bio	chio	chhio	gio	hio	jio	kio	khio	lio				pio	phio	sio	tio	thio
ioh		chioh	chhioh	gioh	hioh		kioh	khioh	lioh						sioh	tioh
iok		chiok	chhiok	giok	hiok	jiok	kiok	khiok	liok						siok	tiok	thiok
iong		chiong	chhiong	giong	hiong	jiong	kiong	khiong	liong						siong	tiong	thiong
ip		chip	chhip		hip	jip	kip	khip	lip						sip
it	bit	chit	chhit		hit	jit	kit	khit					pit	phit	sit	tit
iu	biu	chiu	chhiu	giu	hiu	jiu	kiu	khiu	liu		niu		piu		siu	tiu	thiu
iuⁿ		chiuⁿ	chhiuⁿ		hiuⁿ		kiuⁿ	khiuⁿ							siuⁿ	tiuⁿ
iuhⁿ					hiuhⁿ
m					hm
					hmh
ng		chng	chhng		hng		kng	khng		mng	nng		png		sng	tng	thng
			chhngh		hngh									phngh	sngh
o	bo	cho	chho	go	ho		ko	kho	lo				po	pho	so	to	tho
oⁿ					hoⁿ		koⁿ
o͘	bo͘	cho͘	chho͘	go͘	ho͘		ko͘	kho͘	lo͘	mo͘	no͘	ngo͘	po͘	pho͘	so͘	to͘	tho͘
oa	boa	choa	chhoa	goa	hoa		koa	khoa	loa	moa	noa		poa	phoa	soa	toa	thoa
oaⁿ			chhoaⁿ		hoaⁿ		koaⁿ	khoaⁿ					poaⁿ	phoaⁿ	soaⁿ	toaⁿ	thoaⁿ
oah	boah	choah	chhoah		hoah	joah	koah	khoah	loah				poah	phoah	soah		thoah
oai					hoai		koai	khoai							soai
oaiⁿ		choaiⁿ			hoaiⁿ		koaiⁿ								soaiⁿ
oan	boan	choan	chhoan	goan	hoan		koan	khoan	loan				poan	phoan	soan	toan	thoan
oang			chhoang
oat	boat	choat		goat	hoat		koat	khoat	loat				poat	phoat	soat	toat	thoat
oe	boe	choe	chhoe	goe	hoe	joe	koe	khoe	loe				poe	phoe	soe	toe
oeh	boeh			goeh	hoeh		koeh	khoeh					poeh	phoeh	soeh
oh		choh	chhoh		hoh		koh		loh				poh	phoh	soh	toh	thoh
										mo͘h
ohⁿ					hohⁿ
ok	bok	chok	chhok	gok	hok		kok	khok	lok				pok	phok	sok	tok	thok
om															som	tom
ong	bong	chong	chhong	gong	hong		kong	khong	long				pong	phong	song	tong	thong
u	bu	chu	chhu	gu	hu	ju	ku	khu	lu				pu	phu	su	tu	thu
uh		chuh	chhuh					khuh					puh	phuh		tuh	thuh
ui	bui	chui	chhui	gui	hui		kui	khui	lui	mui			pui	phui	sui	tui	thui
un	bun	chun	chhun	gun	hun	jun	kun	khun	lun				pun	phun	sun	tun	thun
ut	but	chut	chhut		hut		kut	khut	lut				put	phut	sut	tut	thut

Sources: Campbell,[68] Embree,[69] Kì.[70]

Tone markings

Number	Diacritic	Chinese tone name	Example  listen (help·info)
1	none	yinping dark level	kha foot; leg
2	acute	shangsheng rising	chúi water
3	grave	yinqu dark departing	kàu arrive
4	none	yinru dark entering	bah meat
5	circumflex	yangping light level	ông king
7	macron	yangqu light departing	tiōng middle
8	vertical line above	yangru light entering	jo̍ah hot

The five tone markings used in pe̍h-ōe-jī, representing tones 2, 3, 5, 7, and 8

In standard Amoy or Taiwanese Hokkien there are seven distinct tones, which by convention are numbered 1–8, with number 6 omitted (tone 6 used to be a distinct tone, but has long since merged with tone 2).^[71] Tones 1 and 4 are both represented without a diacritic, and can be distinguished from each other by the syllable ending, which is a vowel, ⟨-n⟩, ⟨-m⟩, or ⟨-ng⟩ for tone 1, and ⟨-h⟩, ⟨-k⟩, ⟨-p⟩, and ⟨-t⟩ for tone 4.

Southern Min languages undergo considerable tone sandhi, i.e. changes to the tone depending on the position of the syllable in any given sentence or utterance.^[67] However, like Hanyu Pinyin for Mandarin Chinese, POJ always marks the citation tone (i.e. the original, pre-sandhi tone) rather than the tone which is actually spoken.^[72] This means that when reading aloud the reader must adjust the tone markings on the page to account for sandhi. Some textbooks for learners of the language mark both the citation tone and the sandhi tone to assist the learner.^[73]

There is some debate as to the correct placement of tone marks in the case of diphthongs and triphthongs, particularly those which include ⟨oa⟩ and ⟨oe⟩.^[74] Most modern writers follow six rules:^[75]

1. If the syllable has one vowel, that vowel should be tone-marked; viz. ⟨tī⟩, ⟨láng⟩, ⟨chhu̍t⟩
2. If a diphthong contains ⟨i⟩ or ⟨u⟩, the tone mark goes above the other vowel; viz. ⟨ia̍h⟩, ⟨kiò⟩, ⟨táu⟩
3. If a diphthong includes both ⟨i⟩ and ⟨u⟩, mark the ⟨u⟩; viz. ⟨iû⟩, ⟨ùi⟩
4. If the final is made up of three or more letters, mark the second vowel (except when rules 2 and 3 apply); viz. ⟨goán⟩, ⟨oāi⟩, ⟨khiáu⟩
5. If ⟨o⟩ occurs with ⟨a⟩ or ⟨e⟩, mark the ⟨o⟩; viz. ⟨òa⟩, ⟨thóe⟩
6. If the syllable has no vowel, mark the nasal consonant; viz. ⟨m̄⟩, ⟨ǹg⟩, ⟨mn̂g⟩

Hyphens

A single hyphen is used to indicate a compound. What constitutes a compound is controversial, with some authors equating it to a "word" in English, and others not willing to limit it to the English concept of a word.^[74] Examples from POJ include ⟨sì-cha̍p⟩ "forty", ⟨bé-hì-thôan⟩ "circus", and ⟨hôe-ho̍k⟩ "recover (from illness)". The rule-based sandhi behaviour of tones in compounds has not yet been clearly defined by linguists.^[76] A double hyphen is used when POJ is deployed as a full orthography (rather than as a transciption system) to indicate that the following syllable should be pronounced in the neutral tone.^[77] It also marks to the reader that the preceding syllable does not undergo tone sandhi, as it would were the following syllable non-neutral. Morphemes following a double hyphen are often (but not always) grammatical function words.^[78]

Audio examples

POJ	Translation	Audio File
Sian-siⁿ kóng, ha̍k-seng tiām-tiām thiaⁿ.	A teacher/master speaks, students quietly listen.	listen (help·info)
Kin-á-jit hit-ê cha-bó͘ gín-á lâi góan tau khòaⁿ góa.	Today that girl came to my house to see me.	listen (help·info)
Thài-khong pêng-iú, lín-hó. Lín chia̍h-pá—bē? Ū-êng, to̍h lâi gún chia chē—ô͘!	Everyone, what's up? Have you eaten yet? When you have the time, come on over to eat.	Listen (from NASA Voyager Golden Record)

Regional differences

In addition to the standard syllables detailed above, there are several regional variations of Hokkien speech which can be represented with non-standard or semi-standard spellings. In Zhangzhou and parts of Taiwan which are closely related to the Zhangzhou dialect (particularly the northeastern coast around Yilan), the final ng is replaced with uiⁿ, for example in "egg" (nuiⁿ) and "cooked rice" (puiⁿ).^[79]

Texts

Goân-khí-thâu Siōng-tè chhòng-chō thiⁿ kap tōe. Tōe sī khang-khang hūn-tūn; chhim-ian ê bin-chiūⁿ o͘-àm; Siōng-tè ê Sîn ūn-tōng tī chúi-bīn. Siōng-tè kóng, Tio̍h ū kng, chiū ū kng. Siōng-tè khòaⁿ kng, sī hó; Siōng-tè chiong kng àm pun-khui. Siōng-tè kiò hit ê kng chòe Ji̍t, kiò àm chòe Mî. Ū ê-hng ū chá-khí sī thâu chi̍t-ji̍t.

Genesis 1:1–5^[80]

Due to POJ's origins in the church, much of the material in the script is religious in nature, including several Bible translations, books of hymns, and guides to morality. The Tainan Church Press, established in 1884, has been printing POJ materials ever since, with periods of quiet when POJ was suppressed in the early 1940s and from around 1955 to 1987. In the period to 1955, over 2.3 million volumes of POJ books were printed,^[81] and one study in 2002 catalogued 840 different POJ texts in existence.^[82] Besides a Southern Min version of Wikipedia in the orthography,^[83] there are teaching materials, religious texts, and books about linguistics, medicine and geography.

• Lán ê Kiù-chú Iâ-so͘ Ki-tok ê Sin-iok (1873 translation of the New Testament)
• Lāi-goā-kho Khàn-hō͘-ha̍k
• Amoy–English Dictionary
• Lear Ông (translation of King Lear)

Computing

POJ was initially not well supported by word-processing applications due to the special diacritics needed to write it. Support has now improved and there are now sufficient resources to both enter and display POJ correctly. Several input methods exist to enter Unicode-compliant POJ, including OpenVanilla (Mac OS X and Windows), the cross-platform Tai-lo Input Method released by the Taiwanese Ministry of Education, and the Firefox add-on Transliterator, which allows in-browser POJ input.^[84] When POJ was first used in word-processing applications it was not fully supported by the Unicode standard, thus necessitating work-arounds. One employed was encoding the necessary characters in the "Private Use" section of Unicode, but this required both the writer and the reader to have the correct custom font installed.^[49] Another solution was to replace troublesome characters with near equivalents, for example substituting ⟨ä⟩ for ⟨ā⟩ or using a standard ⟨o⟩ followed by an interpunct to represent ⟨o͘⟩.^[49] In 2004 with the introduction into Unicode 4.1.0 of the combining diacritic COMBINING DOT ABOVE RIGHT (U+0358) all the necessary characters were present to write regular POJ without the need for workarounds.^[85][86] However, even after the addition of these characters, there are still relatively few fonts which are able to properly render the script, including the combining diacritics. Some of those which can are Charis SIL, DejaVu, Doulos SIL, Linux Libertine, and Taigi Unicode.^[49]

Han-Romanization mixed script

翻 tńg 工，我 koh hap i tī Hotel ê 餐廳食西式 ê chái 起，我講 beh tò 去稅厝 ê 所在，i beh 送我去，我 kā 拒絕，mā 無 beh hō͘ i 知我 ê 地址、電話番，講若有緣就會 koh 再相會。I 講人海茫茫，我若無 tī hit 間跳舞、唱歌，i beh 去 toh 位 chhōe--我？「就是 án-ni m̄-chiah 講是緣」，我嘴是 án-ni 應，心肝內知影 kap i 自細漢到這時 ê 牽連、綿纏無 hiah 簡單就煞。

Sample mixed orthography text^[87]

One of the most popular modern ways of writing Taiwanese is by using a mixed orthography^[88] called Hàn-lô^[89] (simplified Chinese: 汉罗; traditional Chinese: 漢羅; pinyin: Hàn-Luō; literally Chinese-Roman), and sometimes Han-Romanization mixed script.^[90] In fact, the term Hàn-lô does not describe one specific system, but covers any kind of writing in Southern Min which features both Chinese characters and romanization.^[88] That romanization is usually POJ, although recently some texts have begun appearing with Tâi-lô spellings too. The problem with using only Chinese characters to write Southern Min is that there are many morphemes (estimated to be around 15 percent of running text)^[91] which are not definitively associated with a particular character. Various strategies have been developed to deal with the issue, including creating new characters, allocating Mandarin characters with similar meanings (but dissimilar etymology) to represent the missing characters, or using romanization for the "missing 15%".^[92] There are two rationales for using mixed orthography writing, with two different aims. The first is to allow native speakers (almost all of whom can already write Chinese characters) to make use of their knowledge of characters, while replacing the missing 15% with romanization.^[88] The second is to wean character literates off using them gradually, to be replaced eventually by fully romanized text.^[93] Examples of modern texts in Hàn-lô include religious, pedagogical, scholarly, and literary works, such as:

• Chang Yu-hong. Principles of POJ. 
• Babuja A. Sidaia. A-Chhûn. 

Adaptations for other languages or dialects

POJ has been adapted for several other languages and dialects, with varying degrees of success. For Hakka, missionaries and others have produced a Bible translation, hymn book, textbooks, and dictionaries.^[94] Materials produced in the orthography, called Pha̍k-fa-sṳ, include:

• Hak-ngi Sṳn-kin, Sin-yuk lau Sṳ-phien: Hien-thoi Thoi-van Hak-ngi Yit-pun (Hakka Bible, New Testament and Psalms: Today's Taiwan Hakka Version). Bible Society. 1993. 
• Phang Tet-siu (1994). Thai-ka Loi Hok Hak-fa (Everybody Learn Hakka). Taipei: Southern Materials Center. ISBN 957-638-017-0. 
• Phang Tet-siu (1996). Hak-ka-fa Fat-yim Sṳ-tien (Hakka Pronunciation Dictionary). Taipei: Southern Materials Center. ISBN 957-638-359-5. 
• Hak-ka Sṳn-sṳ (Hakka Hymns). Tainan: PCT Press. 1999. ISBN 957-8349750. 

A modified version of POJ has also been created for Teochew.^[95]

Current status

Some books which use pe̍h-ōe-jī, including textbooks, dictionaries, a bible, poetry, and academic works

Most native Southern Min speakers in Taiwan are unfamiliar with POJ or any other writing system for the language,^[96] commonly asserting that "Taiwanese has no writing",^[97] or, if they are made aware of POJ, considering romanization as the "low" form of writing, in contrast with the "high" form (Chinese characters).^[98] For those who are introduced to POJ alongside Han-lo and completely Chinese character-based systems, a clear preference has been shown for all-character systems, with all-romanization systems at the bottom of the preference list, likely because of the preexisting familiarity of readers with Chinese characters.^[99]

POJ remains the Taiwanese orthography "with the richest inventory of written work, including dictionaries, textbooks, literature [...] and other publications in many areas".^[100] A 1999 estimate put the number of literate POJ users at around 100,000,^[101] and secular organizations have been formed to promote the use of romanization among Taiwanese speakers.^[102]

Outside Taiwan, POJ is rarely used. For example, in Fujian, Xiamen University uses a romanization known as Bbánlám pìngyīm, based on Pinyin. In other areas where Hokkien is spoken, such as Singapore, the Speak Mandarin Campaign is underway to actively discourage people from speaking Hokkien or other Chinese languages in favour of switching to Mandarin instead.^[103]

In 2006, Taiwan's Ministry of Education chose an official romanization for use in teaching the language in the state school system.^[104] POJ was one of the candidate systems, along with Daighi tongiong pingim, but a compromise system, the Taiwanese Romanization System or Tâi-Lô, was chosen in the end.^[105] Tâi-Lô retains most of the orthographic standards of POJ, including the tone marks, while changing the troublesome o͘ character for oo, swapping ts for ch, and replacing o in diphthongs with u.^[106] Supporters of Taiwanese writing are in general deeply suspicious of government involvement, given the history of official suppression of native languages,^[5] making it unclear whether Tâi-Lô or POJ will become the dominant system in the future.

References

Chinese romanization
Mandarin for Standard Chinese     Hanyu Pinyin (ISO standard)     EFEO     Gwoyeu Romatzyh         Spelling conventions     Latinxua Sin Wenz     Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II     Chinese Postal Map Romanization     Tongyong Pinyin     Wade–Giles     Yale     Legge romanization     Simplified Wade     Comparison chart for Sichuanese Mandarin     Sichuanese Pinyin     Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz
Yue for Cantonese     Guangdong Romanization     Hong Kong Government     Jyutping     Meyer-Wempe     Sidney Lau     S. L. Wong (phonetic symbols)     S. L. Wong (romanisation)     Cantonese Pinyin     Standard Romanization     Yale     Barnett–Chao
Wu for Shanghai and Suzhou dialects     Long-short for Wenzhounese     Wenzhounese romanisation
Min Nan for Taiwanese, Amoy, and related     Pe̍h-ōe-jī     Bbínpīn Hōngàn     Daighi tongiong pingim     Modern Literal Taiwanese     Phofsit Daibuun     Tâi-lô     TLPA for Hainanese     Hainanhua Pinyin Fang'an for Teochew     Peng'im
Min Dong for Fuzhou dialect     Foochow Romanized
Hakka for Moiyan dialect     Kejiahua Pinyin Fang'an For Siyen dialect     Pha̍k-fa-sṳ     TLPA
Gan for Nanchang dialect     Pha̍k-oa-chhi
See also:    General Chinese    Cyrillization    Xiao'erjing    'Phags-pa script    Bopomofo    Taiwanese kana    Romanisation in Singapore    Romanisation in the ROC
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Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 90.
2. ^ ^{a b} Klöter, The History of Peh-oe-ji, p. 1.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 89.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Chang, Principles of POJ, p. 13.
5. ^ ^{a b} Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 248.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 92.
7. ^ Klöter, The History of Peh-oe-ji, p. 2.
8. ^ Heylen, Romanizing Taiwanese, p. 139.
9. ^ ^{a b} Heylen, Romanizing Taiwanese, p. 142.
10. ^ ^{a b} Chang, Principles of POJ, p. 14.
11. ^ Heylen, Romanizing Taiwanese, p. 144.
12. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 109.
13. ^ Medhurst, Dictionary of the Hok-këèn Dialect, p. viii.
14. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 110.
15. ^ Heylen, Romanizing Taiwanese, p. 145.
16. ^ ^{a b c} Heylen, Romanizing Taiwanese, p. 149.
17. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 111.
18. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, pp. 111, 116.
19. ^ ^{a b c} Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 93.
20. ^ Ang, A Journey Through Taiwanese Regional Speech, p. 2.
21. ^ Heylen, Romanizing Taiwanese, p. 160.
22. ^ Klöter, The History of Peh-oe-ji, p. 13.
23. ^ Quoted in Band, Barclay of Formosa, p. 67.
24. ^ ^{a b} "Our Story". Taiwan Church News. http://enews.pctpress.org/about_us.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-30. ^{[dead link]}
25. ^ Copper, Historical Dictionary of Taiwan, p. 240.
26. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 114.
27. ^ Adapted from Klöter, Written Taiwanese, pp. 113–6.
28. ^ Medhurst. Dictionary of the Hok-këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language, According to the Reading and Colloquial Idioms. 
29. ^ Doty. Anglo Chinese Manual of the Amoy Dialect. 
30. ^ MacGowan. A Manual of the Amoy Colloquial. 
31. ^ Douglas. Chinese English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken of Amoy. 
32. ^ Van Nest Talmage. New Dictionary of the Amoy Dialect. 
33. ^ Warnshuis; de Pree. Lessons in the Amoy Vernacular. 
34. ^ Campbell. A Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular Spoken Throughout the Prefectures of Chin-chiu, Chiang-chiu and Formosa (Taiwan). 
35. ^ Barclay. Supplement to Douglas' Amoy–English Dictionary. 
36. ^ Tipson. A Pocket Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular: English-Chinese. 
37. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 136.
38. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 153.
39. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 154.
40. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 135.
41. ^ Lin, Writing Taiwanese, p. 21
42. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Chang, Principles of POJ, p.18.
43. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 231.
44. ^ ^{a b c} Lin, Writing Taiwanese, p. 1.
45. ^ Tiuⁿ, Peh-oe-ji and the Modernization of Written Taiwanese, p. 7.
46. ^ Sandel, Linguistic Capital in Taiwan, p. 533.
47. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 217.
48. ^ "Guide to Dialect Barred in Taiwan: Dictionary Tried to Render Local Chinese Sounds". New York Times. September 15, 1974. 
49. ^ ^{a b c d} Iuⁿ, Processing Techniques for Written Taiwanese, p. 24
50. ^ Sandel, Linguistic Capital in Taiwan p. 530.
51. ^ Wu, The Taigi Literature Debates, p.1.
52. ^ Wu, The Taigi Literature Debates, p.9.
53. ^ Chiung, Language, Identity and Decolonization, p. 275.
54. ^ Chang, Principles of POJ, p. 19.
55. ^ Chiung, Language, Identity and Decolonization, p. 273.
56. ^ Loa Iok-sin (2009-02-28), Activists demand Hoklo exams, Taipei Times, http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/02/28/2003437216, retrieved 2010-03-31 
57. ^ Premier's comments over language status draws anger, China Post, http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/2003/09/25/41604/Premiers-comments.htm, retrieved 2010-03-31 
58. ^ Chang, Principles of POJ, p. 30.
59. ^ Chang, Principles of POJ, p. 33.
60. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 98.
61. ^ Chang, Principles of POJ, p. 15.
62. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 99.
63. ^ ^{a b} Chung, Segmental Phonology, p. 78.
64. ^ Norman, Chinese, p. 237.
65. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 14.
66. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 15.
67. ^ ^{a b} Ramsey, The Languages of China, p. 109.
68. ^ Campbell, A Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular, pp. 1–4. Entries under the initial ts have been tallied under the modern spelling of ch.
69. ^ Embree, A Dictionary of Southern Min
70. ^ Kì, Notes on Taiwanese Church Romanization, pp. 4–25.
71. ^ Maryknoll, Taiwanese: Book 1, pp. 5–7.
72. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 100.
73. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 101.
74. ^ ^{a b} Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 102.
75. ^ Chang, Principles of POJ, pp. 86–88.
76. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 103.
77. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, pp. 103–104.
78. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 104.
79. ^ Chang, Principles of POJ, p. 134.
80. ^ Sin Kū Iok ê Sèng-keng, p. 1.
81. ^ Tiuⁿ, Peh-oe-ji and the Modernization of Written Taiwanese, p. 6.
82. ^ Tiuⁿ, Peh-oe-ji and the Modernization of Written Taiwanese, p. 8.
83. ^ Iunn, Processing Techniques, p. 23.
84. ^ Iunn, Processing Techniques for Written Taiwanese, p. 29
85. ^ Iunn, Processing Techniques for Written Taiwanese, p. 11
86. ^ "Combining Diacritical Marks". unicode.org. p. 34. http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0300.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-29. 
87. ^ Babuja A. Sidaia A-Chhûn, pp. 264.
88. ^ ^{a b c} Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 225.
89. ^ Ota, An investigation of written Taiwanese, p. 21.
90. ^ Iunn, Processing Techniques for Written Taiwanese, p. 10.
91. ^ Lin, Writing Taiwanese, p. 7.
92. ^ Lin, Writing Taiwanese, p. 9–11.
93. ^ Klöter, Written Taiwanese, p. 230.
94. ^ Wu and Chen, Books Written in Hakka Romanization.
95. ^ "潮州字典-韵母表" (in Chinese). Hailufeng. http://hailufeng.com/detail/?newsid=23156. Retrieved 2010-03-10. 
96. ^ Ota, An investigation of written Taiwanese, p. 20.
97. ^ Baran, Taiwanese don't have written words, p. 35–5.
98. ^ Chiung, Language, Identity and Decolonization, p.300.
99. ^ Chiung, Language, Identity and Decolonization, p.301.
100. ^ Chiung, Language, Identity and Decolonization, p. 272.
101. ^ Lin, Writing Taiwanese, p. 17.
102. ^ Chiung, Language, Literature, and Reimagined Taiwanese Nation, p. 474.
103. ^ Wong-Anan, Noppom (2009-09-16). "Eyeing China, Singapore sees Mandarin as its future". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSIN366189. Retrieved 2009-10-31. 
104. ^ Tseng, Practical Manual p. 2.
105. ^ (in Chinese) 閩南語鄉土教學確定採台灣閩南語羅馬字拼音 (Southern Min native language teaching to use Taiwan Southern Min Romanization), Central News Agency, http://blog.udn.com/alexandroslee/471006 
106. ^ Tseng, Practical Manual, pp. 2–5.

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• Baran, Dominika (2004). ""Taiwanese don't have written words": Language ideologies and language practice in a Taipei County high school". Conference Proceedings – 2004 International Conference on Taiwanese Romanization. 2. OCLC 77082548. 
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• Copper, John F. (2007). A Historical Dictionary of Taiwan (Republic of China) (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5600-4. 
• Doty, Elihu (1853). Anglo Chinese Manual of the Amoy Dialect. Guangzhou: Samuel Wells Williams. OCLC 20605114. 
• Douglas, Carstairs; Barclay, Thomas (1990) [1923]. Chinese–English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy. Taipei: Southern Materials Center. ISBN 957-9482-32-2. 
• Embree, Bernard L.M. (1973). A Dictionary of Southern Min. OCLC 2491446. 
• Heylen, Ann (2001). "Romanizing Taiwanese: Codification and Standardization of Dictionaries in Southern Min (1837–1923)". In Ku Weit Ying; De Ridder, Koen. Authentic Chinese Christianity, Preludes to Its Development: Nineteenth & Twentieth Centuries. Leuven: Leuven University Press. ISBN 978-9058671028. 
• Iûⁿ Ún-giân; Tiuⁿ Ha̍k-khiam (1999). "台灣福佬話非漢字拼音符號的回顧與分析 (Comparison and Analysis of non-Character Transcription Systems for Taiwanese Holo)" (in Chinese). Tainan: National Cheng Kung University. http://ws.twl.ncku.edu.tw/hak-chia/i/iunn-ungian/hui-hanji-phengim.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-17. ^{[dead link]}
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• Norman, Jerry (1998). Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-29653-6. 
• Ong Iok-tek (2002) (in Chinese). Taiwanyu Yanjiu Juan. Taipei: Avanguard Publishing. ISBN 957-801-354-X. 
• Ota, Katsuhiro J (2005). An investigation of written Taiwanese (Master's thesis). University of Hawai'i at Manoa. OCLC 435500061. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/11520/2/uhm_ma_3246_r.pdf. 
• Ramsey, S. Robert (1987). The Chinese Language. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-01468-5. 
• Sandel, Todd L. (2003). "Linguistic capital in Taiwan: The KMT's Mandarin language policy and its perceived impact on language practices of bilingual Mandarin and Tai-gi speakers". Language in Society (Cambridge University Press) 32 (4). ISSN 0047-4045. 
• Sidaia, Babuja A. (1998) (in Hàn-lô Taiwanese). A-Chhûn. Taipei: Taili. ISBN 957-98861-6-4. 
• Tipson, Ernest (1934). A Pocket Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular: English-Chinese. Singapore: Lithographers. OCLC 504142973. 
• Tiuⁿ Ha̍k-khiam (2004). "白話字kap台語文的現代化 (Peh-oe-ji and the Modernization of Written Taiwanese)" (in Han-lo Taiwanese). Conference Proceedings – 2004 International Conference on Taiwanese Romanization. 1. OCLC 77082548. 
• Tseng Rui-cheng (2009) (in Chinese). Taiwan Minnanyu Luomazi Pinyin Fang'an Shiyong Shouce (Practical Manual for the Taiwan Southern Min Romanization System). ROC Ministry of Education. ISBN 978-986-01-6637-8. http://english.moe.gov.tw/public/Attachment/9851214271.pdf. 
• Van Nest Talmage, John (1894). New Dictionary in the Amoy Dialect. OCLC 41548900. 
• Warnshuis, A. Livingston; de Pree, H.P. (1911). Lessons in the Amoy Vernacular. Xiamen: Chui-keng-tông Press. OCLC 29903392. 
• Wu Chang-neng (2007). The Taigi Literature Debates and Related Developments (1987–1996) (Master's thesis). Taipei: National Chengchi University. OCLC 642745725. 
• Wu Guo-sheng; Chen Yi-hsin (2004). "客家語羅馬字文獻的版本研究 (Books Written in Hakka Romanization)" (in Chinese). Conference Proceedings – 2004 International Conference on Taiwanese Romanization. 2. OCLC 77082548. 

External links

General

• "Tai-gu Bang". http://groups.google.com.tw/group/taigu/browse_thread/thread/307245daaa08a82a?pli=1.  – Google group for Taiwanese language enthusiasts – uses POJ and Chinese characters.
• "Pe̍h-ōe-jī Unicode Correspondence Table". Tailingua. 2009. http://tailingua.com/resources/downloads/pojunicode.pdf.  – information on Unicode encodings for POJ text
• "Taiwanese Romanization Association". http://www.tlh.org.tw/.  – group dedicated to the promotion of Taiwanese and Hakka romanization

Input methods

• "Open Vanilla". http://openvanilla.org/.  – open source input method for both Windows and Mac OS X.
• "Taigi-Hakka IME". http://taigi.fhl.net/TaigiIME/.  – Windows-based input method for both Hokkien and Hakka variants.
• "Tai-lo Input Method" (in Chinese). http://www.edu.tw/mandr/content.aspx?site_content_sn=3847.  – cross-platform input method released by Taiwan's Ministry of Education.
• "Transliterator". http://www.benya.com/transliterator/.  – extension for the Firefox browser which allows POJ input in-browser.

POJ-compliant fonts

• "Charis SIL". SIL International. http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=CharisSILFont.  – serif font in regular, bold, italic, and bold italic.
• "DejaVu". http://dejavu-fonts.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page.  – available in serif, sans-serif, and monospace.
• "Doulos SIL". SIL International. http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=DoulosSILfont.  – Times New Roman-style serif.
• "Gentium". SIL International. http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=gentium.  – open source serif.
• "Linux Libertine". http://linuxlibertine.sourceforge.net/Libertine-EN.html.  – GPL and OPL-licensed serif.
• "Taigi Unicode". http://www.tailingua.com/resources/downloads/twu3.ttf.  – serif font specifically designed for POJ.

Texts and dictionaries

• "Taiwanese bibliography". http://iug.csie.dahan.edu.tw/iug/ungian/Soannteng/subok/poj.htm.  – list of books in Taiwanese, including those written in POJ.
• "Memory of Written Taiwanese". http://iug.csie.dahan.edu.tw/memory/TGB/MoWT.asp.  – collection of Taiwanese texts in various orthographies, including many in POJ.
• "Tai-Hoa Dictionary". http://203.64.42.21/iug/Ungian/SoannTeng/chil/Taihoa.asp.  – dictionary which includes POJ, Taiwanese in Chinese characters, and Mandarin characters. Some English definitions also available.
• Exhibits: Taiwanese Romanization Peh-oe-ji, http://www.de-han.org/pehoeji/exhibits/index.htm  – sample images of various older POJ texts.