Taiwanese Southern Min Recommended Characters

Taiwanese Southern Min Recommended Characters is a set of three lists of Taiwanese Hokkien characters, numbering 700 in total, which were published by the Taiwan Ministry of Education between 2007 and 2009 [1][2][3][4][5] recommending which Chinese characters to use when writing Taiwanese Hokkien with Chinese characters.[6]

Taiwanese Southern Min Recommended Characters
Traditional Chinese臺灣閩南語推薦
Transcriptions
Southern Min
Hokkien POJTâi-ôan Bân-lâm-gí Thui-chiàn Iōng-jī
Tâi-lôTâi-uân Bân-lâm-gí Thui-tsiàn Iōng-jī

Categories of characters

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  • Root characters (本字): Characters closest in meaning and pronunciation to ancient definitions from rime dictionaries such as Fanqie, for example 山 mountain, 水 water, 天 heaven. Some Taiwanese Hokkien characters are consistent with ancient Chinese, for example 箸 ("chopsticks"; 筷子 in Standard Mandarin), 行 ("walk", 走 in Standard Mandarin) and 食 ("eat", 吃 in Standard Mandarin).
  • Semantic reading characters (訓用字): If the root character is uncertain, then use the Standard Mandarin Vernacular Chinese equivalent that is closest in pronunciation and meaning to the Taiwanese Hokkien morpheme, for example 戇 (gōng), 挖 (óo/ué).
  • Phonetic borrowing characters (借音字): If the root character is uncertain and there are no close equivalent morphemes in Standard Mandarin, characters with similar sounds that have gained widespread acceptance in literature can be used, for example 嘛 (mā, "also"), 佳哉 (ka-tsài, "fortunately"), 磅空 (pōng-khang, "tunnel").
  • Orthodox characters (傳統習用字): Some morphemes have root characters, however there are also a large number of semantic reading characters or phonetic borrowing characters that are more commonly used, resulting in the root characters becoming obscure and rare. In this case, the more commonly used characters should be used rather than the orthodox characters, for example 你 (lí, "you"; equivalent root character 汝), 人 (lâng, "person"; equivalent root character 儂).
  • Combined sound characters (合音字): As a result of a lack of consensus among writers regarding word use, some monosyllable Taiwanese Hokkien morphemes are still written with equivalent polysyllable phrases, for example 落去 (lueh), 佗位 (tueh), 昨昏 (tsa̋ng), 啥人 (siáng). However, some common homophonous characters have become widely adopted over the bisyllabic equivalent, for example 阮 (originally 我人), 莫 (originally 毋愛), 袂 (originally 無會).

Examples

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Taiwanese Hokkien character Tâi-lô reading English translation Standard Mandarin equivalent
i third-person pronoun 他 / 她 / 牠 / 它
hōo give, passive voice marker 給、被
ioh guess 猜測
sńg merriment 玩樂
tàn throw 丟擲
no, not
khùn sleep 睡覺
suí beautiful, handsome 美麗的、英俊的
se̍h spin, orbit 轉動、繞行
phâng serve with both hands 端(手)
kiánn son 兒子
bih hide 躲藏
au cup 杯子
thâi slaughter 宰殺
tsiu eye 眼睛
tshiâu adjustment 調整
lòng strike 撞擊
huah shout, roar 喊、吼
khiā stand 站立
kâng identical 相同的
tsē / tsuē numerous 眾多的
sak push
khioh pick up 撿拾
khǹg put 放置
hioh / heh / hennh rest 休息
tsiok very 非常地
bái ugly 醜陋的
siû swim 游泳
pa̍k bound 綑綁
gia̍h hold, lift, carry 拿、舉、抬
ak pour 澆(水)
tuà reside 居住
tsông run 奔跑
tshun remainder 剩餘
tshiànn hire 聘用
giú pull 拉、扯
lim drink 飲用
hia there 那裡

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "臺灣閩南語推薦用字".
  2. ^ "臺灣閩南語推薦用字(第1批)" (PDF). Internet Archive copy
  3. ^ "臺灣閩南語推薦用字(第2批)" (PDF). Internet Archive copy
  4. ^ "臺灣閩南語推薦用字(第3批)" (PDF). Internet Archive copy
  5. ^ 閩南用字終於統一! 教育部「雄雄」公布推薦用字
  6. ^ 教育部台灣閩南語推薦用字的比較分析 Comparative Analysis of The Taiwanese Southern-Min “thui-tsiàn-iōng-jī” (Recommended Words) of The Ministry of Education http://www.airitilibrary.com/Publication/alDetailedMesh?docid=U0045-2903201313494836