Tongyong Pinyin

Tongyong Pinyin is a romanization of Mandarin Chinese, or a way to write Mandarin in the Roman alphabet, that was invented in Taiwan. It was created by the Taiwanese to oppose Hanyu Pinyin, which is the official romanization of Mandarin in Mainland China, the UN, and most other international organizations, because many Taiwanese do not want to use a writing system created by the Chinese Communist Party. In 2002, it became the official romanization in Taiwan, even though no one was forced to use it. However, in 2009, Taiwan replaced Tongyong with Hanyu as the island's official romanization. While Taipei mostly uses Hanyu spelling today, many cities, particularly in southern Taiwan, still use many different romanizations, including Tongyong spelling, and it can still be seen in many places.

Tongyong Pinyin vs. Hanyu Pinyin

Most Tongyong spellings of Chinese syllables are the same as Hanyu spellings. However, one major difference is that Tongyong does not use letters 'x' and 'q', which are both used in Hanyu. Below is a chart that compares syllables in Hanyu to those in Tongyong. Below is not an exhaustive list, but a list that show major differences between the two systems.

Hanyu Pinyin	Tongyong Pinyin
xi	si
xiu	siou
xing	sing
xu	syu
xue	syue
xuan	syuan
xun	syun
xiong	syong
qi	ci
qiu	ciou
qing	cing
qu	cyu
que	cyue
quan	cyuan
qun	cyun
qiong	cyong
wen	wun
si	sih
ci	cih
zi	zih
shi	shih
chi	chih
zhi	jhih
zhao	jhao
zhong	jhong
jiu	jiou
gui	guei
feng	fong
weng	wong
shui	shuei
chui	chuei
zhui	jhuei
ri	rih
rui	ruei

Below are examples of sentences written in Chinese characters, Hanyu Pinyin, and Tongyong Pinyin with English translations.

Chinese characters	你是中国人吗？
Hanyu	Nǐ shì Zhōngguó rén ma?
Tongyong	Nǐ shìh Jhongguó rén ma?
English	Are you Chinese?

Chinese characters	你在四川的时候，你喜欢吃什么菜？
Hanyu	Nǐ zài Sìchuān de shíhòu, nǐ xǐhuān chī shénme cài?
Tongyong	Nǐ zài Sìhchuān de shíhhòu, nǐ sǐhuan chih shénme cài?
English	What food do you like to eat when you are in Sichuan?

Chinese characters	回族人不可以喝酒吃猪肉。
Hanyu	Huízú rén bù kěyǐ hējiǔ chī zhūròu.
Tongyong	Hueízú rén bù kěyǐ hejioǔ chih jhūròu.
English	Hui people cannot drink alcohol or eat pork.

Chinese characters	瑞天文要去日本温泉。
Hanyu	Ruì Tiānwén yào qù Rìběn wēnquán.
Tongyong	Rueì Tiānwún yào cyù Rìhběn wuncyuán.
English	Rui Tianwen is going to the Japanese hot springs.

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