The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Taiwanese Hokkien (also called Taiwanese) pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. See Taiwanese Hokkien phonology for more detail on the sounds of the language.
Note that English equivalents given in this page may represent only loose approximations to the original. In addition, the Pe̍h-ōe-jī applied in this page is Ernest Tipson 's version , while Chinese Examples are pronounced with literal reading in defauly unless specified.
Consonants
IPA
POJ
TL
Phonetic Symbols
Chinese Example
English approximation
p
p
ㄅ
布 (p òo)
sp an
pʰ
ph
ㄆ
拍 (ph ik)
p an
b
b
明 (b îng)
b oon [a]
m
m-
ㄇ
媽 (m á)
m oon
am , om , im
,
暗 (àm ), 參 (som )[b] , 心 (sim )
rim
h
h
ㄏ
曉 (h iáu)
h it
t
t
ㄉ
端 (t uan)
st op
tʰ
th
ㄊ
透 (th ò)
t op
d
d
來 (d âi)
d am[c] [d]
n
n
ㄋ
泥 (n î)
n oon
-n
ㄣ, ㄢ
因 (in ), 干 (kan )
l
l
ㄌ
來 (l âi)
l eaf[d]
k
k
ㄍ
見 (k iàn)
sk in
kʰ
kh
ㄎ
溪 (kh e)
k in
g
g
義 (g ī)
g ood [a]
ŋ
ng-
吳 (ng ôo)
sing er
eng , ang , ong
ing , ang , ong , eng [e]
ㄥ, ㄤ,
櫻 (ing ), 幫 (pang ), 王 (ông )
song
tɕ
chi[f]
tsi
ㄐ
精 (tsi ng)
like itch y, pronounced further forward toward the teeth (palatalized ).[g]
tɕʰ
chhi[f]
tshi
ㄑ
七 (tshi t)
like ch eap, pronounced more forward, toward the teeth (palatalized ).[g]
ȵ
gni
耳 (gní )[e]
like oni on
ɕ
si
ㄒ
審 (sí m)
like sh eep, pronounced more forward, toward the teeth (palatalized ).[g]
dʑ
ji
日 (ji̍ t)
like j eep, pronounced further forward toward the teeth (palatalized ).[h]
ʑ
like z ip, pronounced further forward toward the teeth (palatalized ).[i]
ts
ch
ts
ㄗ
走 (ts óo)
roughly like seats [f]
tsʰ
chh
tsh
ㄘ
菜 (tsh ài)
ts unami (with t pronounced)[f]
s
s
ㄙ
三 (s am)
s ame
dz
j
熱 (j ua̍h)
Broad Cockney : d ay[h]
z
z oo.[i]
Syllabic consonants
m̩
-m
姆 (ḿ )
rhythm
ŋ̍
-ng
光 (kng )
song [j]
Stop consonant finals
p̚
-p
◌ ㄅ
合 (ha̍p )
like sip , but no audible release
t̚
-t
◌ ㄉ
七 (tshit )
like sit , but no audible release
k̚
-k
◌ ㄍ
角 (kak )
like sick , but no audible release
ʔ
-h
◌ ㄏ
桌 (toh )
uh -oh
Vowels
IPA
POJ
TL
Phonetic Symbols
Chinese Example
English approximation
a
a
ㄚ
鴨 (a h)
California : ha t
ɛ
ee / e k / e ng
ㄝ
家 (kee )[e]
be t
e
e
家 (ke )
enPR : da y
ɘ
er
ㄜ
火 (hér )[k]
New Zealand : bi t
ə
o
or
高 (kor )[l]
a bout
o
o
ㄛ
高 (ko )[m]
sno w
ɔ
o͘[n]
oo
烏 (oo )
though t
o ng, o m,
o p, o k
, ,
ㄅ , ㄍ
福 (ho k)
i
i
ㄧ[o]
一 (i t)
see
ɨ
ir
豬 (tir )[p] [k]
roughly like glasse s; sometimes pronounced as /ɯ / as goo se (California )
u
u
ㄨ
武 (bú )
shoe
Semivowels
i
i a, i o
ㄧ[o]
頁 (i a̍h)
y es[q]
u
o a, o e
u a, u e
ㄨ
灣 (u an)
w ater
Diphthongs
ai
ai
ㄞ
愛 (ài )
figh t[q]
au
au
ㄠ
交 (kau )
ou t; also transcribed as /aʊ /
iu
iu
ㄧㄨ
手 (tshiú )
roughly like dew
ui
ui
ㄨㄧ
水 (tsúi )
roughly like we
iɛ
ia n
ㄧㄢ
電 (tiā n)
ye s [r] [s]
ia t
ㄧㄚㄉ
結 (kia t)
iə
e ng
i ng
ㄧㄥ
英 (i ng)
eo n[t] [u]
e k
i k
ㄧㄍ
色 (si k)
ɘe
ere
ㄜ
雞 (kere )[p]
[v]
Nasal vowels
ã
an
ann
衫 (sann )
roughly like wan t; nasalized [a ]
ẽ
en
enn
青 (tsenn )
roughly like san e; nasalized [e ]
ĩ
in
inn
[o]
圓 (înn )
roughly like bin ; nasalized [i ]
ɔ̃
on
onn
否 (hónn )
French: son ; nasalized [ɔ ]
ãĩ
ain
ainn
關 (kuainn )
roughly like fin e; nasalized [ai]
ãũ
aun
aunn
喓 (iaunn )
roughly like groun d; nasalized [au]
ĩũ
iun
iunn
羊 (iûnn )
roughly like Eun ice; nasalized [iu]
Note: ◌n in POJ is sometimes written as [◌N] when superscript "n" is not supported.
Tones
IPA
POJ
TL
Phonetic Symbols
Chinese Example
Description
Tone number
Kaohsiung
Taipei
Lukang
a--a
後日 (āu--ji̍t)
tone 0
(varying)
˦˦
a
ㄚ
東
tone 1
55
44
33
˥˩
á
ㄚˋ
黨
tone 2
51
53
55
˧˩
à
ㄚ˪
棟
tone 3
31
21
31
˧˨ʔ
a◌
ㄚ◌
督
tone 4
3ʔ
2ʔ
5ʔ
˨˦
â
ㄚˊ
同
tone 5
24
˥˩
ǎ
ㄚˋ
動
tone 6
22
˧˧
ā
ㄚ˫
洞
tone 7
33
31
˦ʔ
a̍◌
ㄚ◌˙
毒
tone 8
5ʔ
4ʔ
35ʔ
˧˥
a̋
引 擎
tone 9
35
Note: ◌ can be any of the four stop consonant finals in Taiwanese as listed in the bottom of the left table.
Notes
^ a b /b / and /g / are sometimes transcribed as /b̃ / and /g̃ / respectively.
^ In Taiwanese Chiang-chiu accent.
^ /d / only appears in Amoy accent .
^ a b /l / and /d / are pronounced as /ɾ / in some accents.
^ a b c [gni], [ee], [ek], [eng], and [ionn] of TL are used in Taiwanese Chiang-chiu accent.
^ a b c d In some POJ variants , /tɕ / [chi] and /ts / [chhi] are written as [tsi] and [ts] respectively.
^ a b c /tɕ /, /tɕʰ /, and /ɕ / are pronounced as /ts /, /tsʰ /, and /s / in some accents.
^ a b /dz / and /dʑ / are used in Taiwanese Choân-chiu accent; they are pronounced as /l / in some sub-accents.
^ a b /z / and /ʑ / is used in Taiwanese Chiang-chiu accent, while /ʑ / is pronounced as /g / in some sub-accents.
^ /ŋ̍ / [-ng] is pronounced as /u i / [ui] (after a nasal consonant) or /ũ ĩ / [uinn] (after non-nasal consonant) mainly in Taiwanese Chiang-chiu accent.
^ a b In Lo̍k-káng Choân-chiu accent
^ /ə / [or] is used in Taiwanese southern accent.
^ /o / [o] is used in Taiwanese northern accent.
^ /ɔ / [o͘] is sometimes be written as [ou] in POJ due to the dot is barely visible for readers.
^ a b c In horizontal writing , it might be written in 90 degrees rotated.
^ a b In Sam-Kiap Choân-chiu accent
^ a b Semivowel /i / can be transcribbed as /ɪ / in [ai ], [i a], [i o], and [i au].
^ [ian] is pronounced as either /iɛn/, /ɛn/, or /en/ depending on accents.
^ [iat] is pronounced as either /iɛt̚/, /ɛt̚/, or /et̚/ depending on accents.
^ [ing] is pronounced as either /iəŋ/ , /iŋ/ or /eŋ/ , depending on accents.
^ [ik] is pronounced as either /iək̚/ , /ik̚/ or /ek̚/ depending on accents.
^ /ɘe / [ere] is alternatively spelled as [oe] while its Phonetic Symbol "ㄜ " is replaced with " " in version of Ngoo Siu Le (吳守禮 ).
References