Romanized Shaowu (邵武腔羅馬字 Shiau⁶-u² kʻiong¹ lo⁵-ma² tsʻe⁶) is a romanization system for the Shaowu dialect of the Shao–Jiang Min language.

History

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List of Shaowu rimes from the J.E.Walker's syllabary
 
Christian hymns from the "Alphabet of Romanized Shaowu" by Ada Walker

"Romanized Shaowu" was created in the 1880s by Joseph Elkanah Walker and Ada Walker (née Claghorn), who were American missionaries living in Shaowu since 1872 through the 1930s. In 1891, they have translated the Epistle of James into Shaowu using this romanization (as 《使徒雅各書》 Se³-tʻu⁵ Nga²-ko⁴ shṳ¹).[1][2]

System

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Initials

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p /p/ 比 k /k/ 加 t /t/ 知 ts /ts/ 資 ch /tɕ/ 之
pʻ /pʰ/ 拍 kʻ /kʰ/ 氣 tʻ /tʰ/ 他 tsʻ /tsʰ/ 菜 chʻ /tɕʰ/ 車
m /m/ 米 ng /ŋ/ 牙 n /n/ 儀 s /s/ 西 sh /ɕ/ 時
v /ʋ/ 慰 h /x/ 希 l /l/ 利
f /f/ 夫

Rimes

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a /a/ 鴉 ai /ai/ 發 au /au/ 教 an /an/ 爛 ang /aŋ/ 行
ia /ia/ 也 iau /iau/ 腰 iang /iaŋ/ 鏡
ua /ua/ 瓜 uai /uai/ 怪 uan /uan/ 灣
e /ə/ 而 ei /əi/ 雞 eu /əu/ 後 en /ən/ 恩
ue /uə/ 國 uei /uei/ 鬼 uen /uən/ 問
ṳen /yen/ 勸
ṳ /y/ 書 ṳn /yn/ 裙
éi /ɛi/ 水 éu /ɛu/* 口 én /ɛn/ 能
ie /ie/ 月 ien /ien/ 延
o /o/ 惡 oi /oi/ 哀 (ou /ou/ 幼) on /on/ 安 ong /oŋ/ 方
io /io/ 夜 (iou /iou/ 手) iong /ioŋ/ 羊
uo /uo/ 果 uoi /uoi/* 殺 uon /uon/ 官 uong /uoŋ/ 光
i /i/ 衣 in /in/ 因
u /u/ 烏 ung /uŋ/ 翁
iu /iu/* 手 iung /iuŋ/ 用
r /ɯ~ɿ/ 刺
ng /ŋ/ 五

There is some variation in the representation of the finals in works by J.E.Walker. E.g., the letter may be written with the dots above it (as ü).

In modern Shaowu, the palatal sibilants ch /tɕ/, chʻ /tɕʰ/, sh /ɕ/ are only used before /-i-/ and /-y-/. Romanized Shaowu marks the /-i-/ medial somewhat inconsistenly, e.g. 上 /ɕioŋ³⁵/ is written as shong⁶ in the Walker's syllabary, but as shiong⁶ in his translation of the Epistle of James. The word 邵 is written shiau⁶ in the syllabary itself, but as shau on its title.

Tones

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Tones in Romanized Shaowu are marked with superscript numbers after the syllable.

Tone name 陰平
en¹-pʻin⁵
上聲
shiong²-chʻin¹
陰去
en¹-kʻṳ³
入聲
nin⁶-chʻin¹
陽平
iong⁵-pʻin⁵
陽去
iong⁵-kʻṳ³
Tone contour 21 55 213 53 22 35
Romanized Shaowu ¹ ² ³

Correspondence to modern Shaowu

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The original Walker's romanization lacks modern Shaowu finals /ou/ and /iou/, but contains finals iu, uoi, éu, which are absent in modern Shaowu (but may still be preserved in other dialects of Shao-Jiang Min).

The finals eu /əu/, éu /ɛu/, éi /ɛi/ are rearranged in modern Shaowu, with eu /əu/ becoming ou /ou/ (or iou /iou/ after palatal sibilants), éu /ɛu/ becoming eu /əu/, and éi /ɛi/ becoming ei /əi/.

Walker Guangze Shaowu Jiangle
kʻéu² kʻéu² /khɛu⁴⁴/ kʻeu² /kʰəu⁵⁵/ kʻéu² /kʰeu⁵¹/
léu⁵ léu⁵ /lɛu²²/ leu⁵ /ləu²²/ léu⁵ /leu²²/
séu¹ séu¹ /sɛu²¹/ seu¹ /səu²¹/ shéu¹ /ʃeu⁵⁵/
féu⁵ féu⁵ /fɛu²²/ feu⁵ /fəu²²/ féu⁵ /feu²²/
méi⁶ méi⁶ /mɛi⁵⁵/ mei⁶ /məi³⁵/ mo⁴⒝ /mo⁵/
féi⁶ féi⁶ /fɛi⁵⁵/ fei⁶ /fəi³⁵/ fo⁴⒝ /fo⁵/
féi¹ féi¹ /fɛi²¹/ fei¹ /fəi²¹/ fuai¹ /fuæ⁵⁵/
kéi¹ kéi¹ /kɛi²¹/ kei¹ /kəi²¹/ ké¹ /ke⁵⁵/
heu¹ heu¹ /xəu²¹/ hou¹ /xou²¹/ shiu¹ /ʃiu⁵⁵/
kʻeu⁵ kʻeu⁵ /kʰəu²²/ kʻou⁵ /kʰou²²/ kʻiu⁵ /kʰiu²²/
leu⁵ leu⁵ /ləu²²/ lou⁵ /lou²²/ liu⁵ /liu²²/
seu¹ seu¹ /səu²¹/ sou¹ /sou²¹/ siu¹ /siu⁵⁵/
chʻeu² chʻiu² /tɕʰiu⁴⁴/ chʻiou² /tɕʰiou⁵⁵/ chʻiu² /tʃʰiu⁵¹/
sheu⁶ shiu⁶ /ɕiu⁵⁵/ shiou⁶ /ɕiou³⁵/ shiu⁶ /ʃiu²³¹/

The final iu /iu/ merges with /iou/ in modern Shaowu.

Walker Guangze Shaowu Jiangle
shiu² shiu² /ɕiu⁴⁴/ shiou² /ɕiou⁵⁵/ shiu² /ʃiu⁵¹/
chiu¹ chiu¹ /tɕiu²¹/ chiou¹ /tɕiou²¹/ chiu¹ /tʃiu⁵⁵/
chʻiu³ chʻiu³ /tɕʰiu³⁵/ chʻiou³ /tɕʰiou²¹³/ chʻiu³ /tʃʰiu³²⁴/
iu² iu²⒝ /iu⁵³/ iou² /iou⁵⁵/ iu² /iu⁵¹/
iu⁵ iu⁵ /iu²²/ iou⁵ /iou²²/ iu⁵ /iu²²/

Finals uoi /uoi/, uei /uei/, uon /uon/ lose their medial /-u-/ after labial and dental initials to become /-oi, -ɛi, -on/.

Walker Guangze Shaowu Jiangle
fuei⁵ féi⁵ /fɛi²²/ féi⁵ /fɛi²²/ fi⁵ /fi²²/
luei⁵ léi⁵ /lɛi²²/ léi⁵ /lɛi²²/ lṳ⁵ /ly²²/
suei² shṳ² /ɕy⁴⁴/ séi² /sɛi⁵⁵/ shṳ² /ʃy⁵¹/
suoi⁴ soi⁴ /sɔi⁵³/ soi⁴ /soi⁵³/ sho⁴ /ʃo⁵¹/
suoi¹ soi¹ /sɔi²¹/ soi¹ /soi²¹/ shuai¹ /ʃuæ⁵⁵/
suoi³ soi³ /sɔi³⁵/ soi³ /soi²¹³/ sai³ /sæ³²⁴/
luon⁶ lon⁶ /lɔn⁵⁵/ lon⁶ /lon³⁵/ luén⁶ /luɛ̃²³¹/
滿 muon² mon²⒝ /mɔn⁵³/ mon² /mon⁵⁵/ muén² /muɛ̃⁵¹/
fuon¹ fon¹ /fɔn²¹/ fon¹ /fon²¹/ fuén¹ /fuɛ̃⁵⁵/

The final r in the Walker's romanization is analyzed as /ɯ/ (or /ɿ/ after sibilants) in modern Shaowu, but it may merge with other finals in some specific contexts.

Walker Guangze Shaowu Jiangle
tsʻr³ tsʻr³ /tsʰɿ³⁵/ tsʻr³ /tsʰɿ²¹³/ tsʻr³ /tsʰɿ³²⁴/
sr¹ sr¹ /sɿ²¹/ sr¹ /sɿ²¹/ sr¹ /sɿ⁵⁵/
kʻr² kʻi² /kʰi⁴⁴/ kʻr² /kʰɯ⁵⁵/ kʻi² /kʰi⁵¹/
tr⁴ ti⁴ /ti⁵³/ tr⁴ /tɯ⁵³/ ti⁴ /ti²¹/
é²⒝ /ɛ⁵³/ /ə⁵⁵/ /ø⁵¹/
r⁵ é⁵ /ɛ²²/ e⁵ /ə²²/ e⁵ /ø²²/

Most of the tsʻ /tsʰ/ initials have merged with /tʰ/ in modern Shaowu, only occasionally being preserved in literary readings.

Walker Guangze Shaowu Jiangle
tsʻuei⁶ tʻéi⁶ /tʰɛi⁵⁵/ tʻéi⁶ /tʰɛi³⁵/ tsʻui⁶ /tsʰui²³¹/
tsʻṳ² tʻṳ² /tʰy⁴⁴/ tʻṳ² /tʰy⁵⁵/ tsʻṳ² /tsʰy⁵¹/
tsʻéu³ tʻéu³ /tʰɛu⁴⁴/ tʻeu³ /tʰəu²¹³/ tsʻéu³ /tsʰeu³²⁴/
tsʻe⁶ tʻé⁶ /tʰɛ⁵⁵/ tʻe⁶ /tʰə³⁵/ sr⁶ /sɿ²³¹/

References

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  1. ^ Kwok, Bit-Chee (2007-01-24). "Phonological Changes of the Shaowu Dialect in the past 100 years, with Special Reference to Shauu Kʻiong Loma Tʻse". Bulletin of Chinese Linguistics. 2 (1): 17–46. doi:10.1163/2405478X-90000026. ISSN 1933-6985.
  2. ^ Ngai, Sing Sing (2021). A grammar of Shaowu: a Sinitic language of northwestern Fujian. Sinitic languages of China. Boston: Walter de Gruyter, Inc. ISBN 978-1-5015-1772-3. OCLC 1085147757.