Re: Extended Bopomofo U+31A0 -U+31BF

From: Kenneth Whistler (kenw@sybase.com)
Date: Tue Dec 14 1999 - 13:12:20 EST


Patrick Andries asked:

>
> As far as I know the extended Bopomofo characters are used in Taiwan to
> transcribe certain local "dialects".

They are intended primarily for the Zhuyinfuhao representation of
Minnan and Hakka. There are many Minnan (= Fujian) speakers on Taiwan,
where that "dialect" is also commonly known as "Taiwanese". It was the
majority dialect on Taiwan before the largescale immigration of various
Mandarin speakers during the Communist revolution. There are also many
Hakka speakers on the island.

> I wondered if anyone knows what the names given to these characters in the
> Unicode 3.0 standard represent.

For exact details, you'll probably need to hear from a Minnan or
Hakka expert from Taiwan.

>
> Are they pinyin transcription of the local names ?

No.

> What does OO (U+31A6) represent as opposed to Bopomofo U (U+3128) ?

I believe it is a higher, closer /o/ sound than open-o, but not a high
or close as /u/. Same thing for EE (U+31A4).

> What are NGG (U+31AD), INNN (U+31B3) ?

I think NGG is a syllabic eng (i.e. a yun, bearing a tone), as opposed
to NG (U+312B), which is an initial eng.

The various forms ending in NN are nasalized or semi-nasalized yun's.

I hope that is of some help. Unfortunately, I don't have any Minnan
reference works with me here.

--Ken

>
> Any help greatly appreciated,
>
> Patrick Andries
>
>
>



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