- Modern Literal Taiwanese
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Modern Literal Taiwanese (MLT), also known as Modern Taiwanese Language (MTL), is an orthography in the Latin alphabet for Taiwanese based on the Taiwanese Modern Spelling System (TMSS). MLT is able to use the ASCII character set to indicate the proper variation of pitch without any subsidiary scripts or diacritic symbols.
Contents
Phonology
Consonants[1] Alveolar Palato-alveolar Bilabial Alveolar Velar Glottal Stop voiceless unaspirated p t k ' ([ʔ]) aspirated ph th kh voiced unaspirated b g Affricate voiceless unaspirated z c aspirated zh ch voiced unaspirated j Fricative voiceless unaspirated s s aspirated h Nasal voiced unaspiration m/v n ng/v Lateral voiced unaspiration l Vowels[2] Front Central Back Close i u Close-mid e ø(2) Mid ø(1) Open-mid o Open a MLT Examples
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
MLT English Lienhabkog seakaix jinkhoaan soangieen Te id tiaau
Langlaang svilai zuxiuu, zai zungiaam kab khoanli siong itlut pengterng. Yn huoiuo lysexng kab liongsym, peng irnie hviati koanhe ee cviasiin hoxsiong tuiethai.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
MLT greetings
MLT Translation Remarks Ciaqpar`boe? Greetings. ("Have you eaten?") Sitlea! Sorry for my impoliteness! (lit., "Disrespect") Goar thviaf bøo. I don't understand. (lit., "I hear not") Piexnsor ti tøfui? Where's the bathroom? (lit., "bathroom is where?") Loflat! Kafmsia! Thank you Ho taf `laq! Cheers! (lit., Let it [the cup/glass] be dry [empty]!) Lie karm korng Engguo? Do you speak English? Siensvy korng, hagsefng tiaxmtiam thviaf. The teacher talks, the students quietly listen. 
listen (help·info)Kin'afjit hit'ee zabor-gyn'ar laai goarn taw khvoax goar. Today that girl came to my house to see me. listen (help·info)Kin'axm larn beq khix Suxliim Iaxchi'ar. Tonight, we want to go to Shilin Night Market. The current system
The MLT alphabet adopts the Latin alphabet of 26 letters to express the basic sounds of Taiwanese:
- a b c ch e f g h i j k kh l m n ng ø o p ph q r s t th u v y z zh
A MLT word, like each English word, can be formed by only one syllable or several syllables, with the two syllables being the most typical. Each syllable in MLT follows either one of the two underlying patterns (phonemes inside the bracket [] are optional):
- [Consonant] + [front nasal-sound] + vowel + [tone indicator]
- [Consonant] + vowel + [tone indicator] + [rear nasal-sound]
Consonants
- Bilabial: b, p, ph, m
- Alveolar: t, th, n, l
- Velar: g, k, kh, h
- Palatal: c, ch, s, j
- Dental: z, zh, s, j
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
- Front Nasal (indicator only, must be followed by a vowel): v
- Rear Nasal: m, n, ng
The nasals 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 finals h and q stand for a glottal stop of high and low tone, respectively.)
TMSS originally prescribed two special characters: the Greek letter ν and an o crossed by a backslash. These were replaced with the Latin letter v and number 0, respectively. Because mixing numbers into words is problematic for spell checkers, 0 was subsequently replaced by ø. However, ø is not part of the ASCII character set. To avoid the use of "ø", Modern Taiwanese Language (MTL) replaces it with a "Q" in smaller font and replaces øe with oe (the distinction between these two sounds is blurred in common usage).
Tones
Not only consonants and vowel sounds, but also tones are represented by letters in the MLT system. Certain letters have no sound of their own and are merely used as tone indicators. Others letters represent vowels or vowel combinations which have certain tones. For example, "f", "r", and "x" are tone indicators only, and have no sound of their own in MLT. "Af" represents the "a" sound with a "high" tone, "ar" represents the same vowel sound but with a "shouting" tone, "ax" is the "a" sound with the low falling tone. A "y" or "w" indicates a high tone "i" and "u", respectively, while certain diphthongs, such as "ie" and "uo", are treated as "shouting" tones. The basic tone is represented by a normal, simple vowel (or voiced consonant—e.g. the nasals, "m" or "ng") without any special spelling modification.
High Tone
A high tone is derived by raising the pitch of the voice to a level somewhat above the basic tone and is normally represented by adding the tone indicator "f" after a vowel, with the exception of the “i” and “u” sounds in a syllable. A high tone "i" and a high tone "u" are denoted by "y" and "w", respectively.
(The high tone would be near the top of one's normal speaking register. It may possibly be compared to the sort of high intonation used by English speakers when imitating a singer warming up with a high but level "mi, mi, mi, mi, mi".)
Shouting-out Tone
A shouting-out [or just "shouting"] tone is derived from shouting out a basic tone, and is normally represented by adding a tone indicator "r" after a vowel. When compound vowels are present in the shouting tone, however, sounds which by the normal rule would otherwise be written (“air”, “ir”, “ur”, “er”, and “aur”) are instead spelled "ae", "ie", "uo", "ea", and "ao", respectively. Exceptions occur when this rule overlaps with other rules. For example, the shouting tone of "lin" is written "lirn", not "lien" (interpreted as a compound vowel in basic tone) even though "lie" is the "shouting" counterpart to "li".
(Note that the so-called "shouting" tone is not literally a shout, but refers to the sort of quick, falling tone used, e.g., in shouting out a single-syllable word. It may be understood by English speakers by comparing the neutral tone in the normal pronunciation of the vowel in the name "Bob" with the quick, falling tone used when shouting the name (or saying the name quietly but with urgency), "Bob!" Similarly, saying "No!" achieves the same quick, downward tone in English.)
Low-falling tone
The low-falling tone is always marked by appending an "x" to the rearmost vowel. (Think of the low, almost guttural tone used in muttering a flat "Huh." or "Hmph." in English.)
Rising tone
The rising tone is denoted according to the following rules:
- Simple vowel: simply repeat the vowel. (E.g., "guu".)
- Compound vowel: repeat the last vowel letter except when it contains an “a”, then just repeat the “a”. (E.g., "zoaa".) In the case of ø, use øo rather than øø.
(Just as an urgent, quick "No!" can provide an example of the "shouting" tone in English, a questioning "No?" may represent the rising tone.)
Short tone
The low stopping tones are indicated by switching the final stops with the high stopping tones' as follows: h->q, t->d, p->b, k->g.
Examples
Examples for the seven tones:
- 1 (High): ty (豬, pig)
- 2 (Shouting-out): bea (馬, horse)
- 3 (Low-falling): pax (豹, leopard)
- 4 (Low stop): aq (鴨, duck)
- 5 (Rising): zoaa (蛇, snake)
- 7 (Basic): chviu (象, elephant)
- 8 (High stop): lok (鹿, deer)
Special Symbols
The apostrophe (', typewriter apostrophe) is used to demarcate syllables when there is ambiguity. A hyphen (-) is used to join two or more isolated words to make a new compound word with its own meaning. When a word contains a grave accent (`), all the syllables after this mark are accented in the low tone (low-falling for the long tones, and low-short for short tones).
Comparison chart
Vowels IPA a ap at ak aʔ ã ɔ ɔk ɔ̃ ə o e ẽ i ɪɛn iŋ Pe̍h-ōe-jī a ap at ak ah aⁿ o͘ ok oⁿ o o e eⁿ i ian eng Revised TLPA a ap at ak ah aN oo ok ooN o o e eN i ian ing TLPA a ap at ak ah ann oo ok oonn o o e enn i ian ing BP a ap at ak ah na oo ok noo o o e ne i ian ing MLT a ab/ap ad/at ag/ak aq/ah va o og/ok vo ø ø e ve i ien eng DT a āp/ap āt/at āk/ak āh/ah ann/aⁿ o ok onn/oⁿ or or e enn/eⁿ i ian/en ing Taiwanese kana アア アプ アツ アク アア アア オオ オク オオ オオ ヲヲ エエ エエ イイ イエヌ イエン Extended bopomofo ㄚ ㄚㆴ ㄚㆵ ㄚㆶ ㄚㆷ ㆩ ㆦ ㆦㆶ ㆧ ㄜ ㄛ ㆤ ㆥ ㄧ ㄧㄢ ㄧㄥ Tâi-lô a ap at ak ah ann oo͘ ok onn o o e enn i ian ing Example (traditional Chinese) 亞
洲壓
力警
察沃
水牛
肉三
十烏
色中
國澳
洲澳
洲下
晡醫
學鉛
筆英
國Example (simplified Chinese) 亚
洲压
力警
察沃
水牛
肉三
十烏
色中
国澳
洲澳
洲下
晡医
学铅
笔英
国Vowels IPA ɪk ĩ ai aĩ au am ɔm m̩ ɔŋ ŋ̍ u ua ue uai uan ɨ (i)ũ Pe̍h-ōe-jī ek iⁿ ai aiⁿ au am om m ong ng u oa oe oai oan i (i)uⁿ Revised TLPA ik iN ai aiN au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan ir (i)uN TLPA ik inn ai ainn au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan ir (i)unn BP ik ni ai nai au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan i n(i)u MLT eg/ek vi ai vai au am om m ong ng u oa oe oai oan i v(i)u DT ik inn/iⁿ ai ainn/aiⁿ au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan i (i)unn/uⁿ Taiwanese kana イエク イイ アイ アイ アウ アム オム ム オン ン ウウ ヲア ヲエ ヲアイ ヲアヌ ウウ ウウ Extended bopomofo ㄧㆶ ㆪ ㄞ ㆮ ㆯ ㆰ ㆱ ㆬ ㆲ ㆭ ㄨ ㄨㄚ ㄨㆤ ㄨㄞ ㄨㄢ ㆨ ㆫ Tâi-lô ik inn ai ainn au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan i iunn Example (traditional Chinese) 翻
譯病
院愛
情歐
洲暗
時阿
姆王
梨黃
色有
無歌
曲講
話奇
怪人
員豬
肉舀
水Example (simplified Chinese) 翻
译病
院爱
情欧
洲暗
时阿
姆王
梨黄
色有
无歌
曲讲
话奇
怪人
员猪
肉舀
水Consonants IPA p b pʰ m t tʰ n nŋ l k ɡ kʰ h tɕi ʑi tɕʰi ɕi ts dz tsʰ s Pe̍h-ōe-jī p b ph m t th n nng l k g kh h chi ji chhi si ch j chh s Revised TLPA p b ph m t th n nng l k g kh h zi ji ci si z j c s TLPA p b ph m t th n nng l k g kh h zi ji ci si z j c s BP b bb p bb d t n lng l g gg k h zi li ci si z l c s MLT p b ph m t th n nng l k g kh h ci ji chi si z j zh s DT b bh p m d t n nng l g gh k h zi r ci si z r c s Taiwanese kana パア バア パ̣ア マア タア タ̣ア ナア ヌン ラア カア ガア カ̣ア ハア チイ ジイ チ̣イ シイ サア ザア サ̣ア サア Extended bopomofo ㄅ ㆠ ㄆ ㄇ ㄉ ㄊ ㄋ ㄋㆭ ㄌ ㄍ ㆣ ㄎ ㄏ ㄐ ㆢ ㄑ ㄒ ㄗ ㆡ ㄘ ㄙ Tâi-lô p b ph m t th n nng l k g kh h tsi ji tshi si ts j tsh s Example (traditional Chinese) 報
紙閩
南普
通請
問豬
肉普
通過
年雞
卵樂
觀價
值牛
奶客
廳煩
惱支
持漢
字支
持是
否報
紙熱
天參
加司
法Example (simplified Chinese) 报
纸闽
南普
通请
问猪
肉普
通过
年鸡
卵乐
观价
值牛
奶客
厅烦
恼支
持汉
字支
持是
否报
纸热
天参
加司
法Tones Tone name Yin level
陰平Yin rising
陰上Yin departing
陰去Yin entering
陰入Yang level
陽平Yang rising
陽上Yang departing
陽去Yang entering
陽入IPA a˥ a˥˧ a˨˩ ap˩
at˩
ak˩
aʔ˩a˧˥ a˥˧ a˧ ap˥
at˥
ak˥
aʔ˥a˥˥ a˨ Pe̍h-ōe-jī a á à ap
at
ak
ahâ á ā a̍p
a̍t
a̍k
a̍h--a Revised
TLPA
TLPAa1 a2 a3 ap4
at4
ak4
ah4a5 a2 (6=2) a7 ap8
at8
ak8
ah8a9 a0 BP ā ǎ à āp
āt
āk
āhá ǎ â áp
át
ák
áhMLT af ar ax ab
ad
ag
aqaa aar a ap
at
ak
ah~a DT a à â āp
āt
āk
āhǎ ä ā ap
at
ak
ahá å Taiwanese kana
(normal vowels)アア アア 
アア 
アプ 
アツ
アク
アアアア 
アア アア 
アプ 
アツ
アク
アアTaiwanese kana
(nasal vowels)アア 
アア 
アア 
アプ 
アツ
アク
アアアア 
アア アア 
アプ 
アツ
アク
アアZhuyin ㄚ ㄚˋ ㄚᒻ ㄚㆴ
ㄚㆵ
ㄚㆶ
ㄚㆷㄚˊ ㄚˋ ㄚ⊦ ㄚㆴ̇
ㄚㆵ̇
ㄚㆶ̇
ㄚㆷ̇Tâi-lô a á à ah â á ā a̍h Example
(traditional Chinese)公司 報紙 興趣 血壓
警察
中國
牛肉人員 草地 配合
法律
文學
歇熱社子 進去 Example
(simplified Chinese)公司 报纸 兴趣 血压
警察
中国
牛肉人员 草地 配合
法律
文学
歇热社子 進去 - Note: The bopomofo extended characters in the zhuyin row require a UTF-8 font capable of displaying Unicode values 31A0–31B7 (ex. Code2000 true type font).
History of MLT
The Pe̍h-ōe-jī (POJ) system, introduced in the 19th century, provides a basis for phonetic transcription of the Taiwanese language using the Latin alphabet. It initially developed a significant user base, but the number of users declined during the period of Japanese colonization of Taiwan, when the use of POJ was suppressed in preference to katakana, and also during the Kuomintang era of martial law, during which Mandarin was promoted.
Prof. Liim Keahioong, formerly of the National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan, pioneered the Taiwanese Modern Spelling System (TMSS) in 1943, with the intent to avoid the diacritical markings of POJ as well as the cumbersome difficulty of inputting Chinese characters with the available technology. TMSS served as the basis for Modern Literal Taiwanese (MLT), also known as Modern Taiwanese Language (MTL). [3] Other variants of MLT exist, such as Phofsit Daibuun and Simplified MLT (SMLT).[4]
Notes and references
- ^ IPA: Pulmonic
- ^ IPA: Vowels
- ^ Lin, A. (1999). "Writing Taiwanese: The Development of Modern Written Taiwanese". Sino-Platonic Papers 89.
- ^ (Chinese) Simplified Modern Literal Taiwanese(簡式台語現代文)-SMLT Homepage [1], Sep. 30th, 2009.
External links
- 21st Century Taiwanese Language & Art Web - website run by Prof. Liim Keahioong, EDUTECH Foundation, Tainan, Taiwan
- Hydonsingore ee Hunhoarloo - a blog written in MLT
- Modern Taiwanese Language Association
- SMLT Homepage(簡式台語現代文) (Chinese)
Categories:- Languages of Taiwan
- Chinese romanization
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