Zhuyin · ㄅㄆㄇㄈ
The 37 symbols
Zhuyin, also called bopomofo after its first four symbols, is the phonetic alphabet used in Taiwan. Thirty-seven symbols and four tone marks spell every Mandarin syllable, and it is what Taiwanese children read before they read characters.
A syllable is written left to right in up to three parts: an initial, a medial, then a final. The tone mark goes at the end.
Sign in to practise the symbols on a schedule.
Each symbol with the pinyin it stands for, a word it is heard in, and its key on a Taiwan keyboard.
Initials 聲母
The consonant a syllable starts with. Twenty-one of them.
- ㄅ1八bāㄅㄚ
- ㄆq怕pàㄆㄚˋ
- ㄇa買mǎiㄇㄞˇ
- ㄈz飯fànㄈㄢˋ
- ㄉ2到dàoㄉㄠˋ
- ㄊw他tāㄊㄚ
- ㄋs你nǐㄋㄧˇ
- ㄌx來láiㄌㄞˊ
- ㄍe跟gēnㄍㄣ
- ㄎd看kànㄎㄢˋ
- ㄏc好hǎoㄏㄠˇ
- ㄐr家jiāㄐㄧㄚ
- ㄑf七qīㄑㄧ
- ㄒv小xiǎoㄒㄧㄠˇ
- ㄓ5只zhǐㄓˇ
- ㄔt吃chīㄔ
- ㄕg是shìㄕˋ
- ㄖb日rìㄖˋ
- ㄗy字zìㄗˋ
- ㄘh次cìㄘˋ
- ㄙn四sìㄙˋ
After ㄓ ㄔ ㄕ ㄖ ㄗ ㄘ ㄙ there is no vowel symbol at all: 吃 chī is just ㄔ, and the i in pinyin’s chi, zhi, shi, ri, zi, ci and si is the initial held on.
Medials 介音
The glide between an initial and a final. A syllable may have one, or none.
- ㄧu一yīㄧ
Written y- when it starts a syllable: 一 yī.
- ㄨj五wǔㄨˇ
Written w- when it starts a syllable: 五 wǔ.
- ㄩm雨yǔㄩˇ
Written yu- at the start, and bare u after j, q and x: 雨 yǔ, 去 qù.
Finals 韻母
The vowel or vowel-plus-nasal a syllable ends with. ㄦ is a syllable all by itself.
- ㄚ8那nàㄋㄚˋ
- ㄛi我wǒㄨㄛˇ
- ㄜk喝hēㄏㄜ
- ㄝ,也yěㄧㄝˇ
Appears in pinyin as -ie and -üe: 也 yě, 學 xué.
- ㄞ9愛àiㄞˋ
- ㄟo給gěiㄍㄟˇ
Shortened to -ui in pinyin: 對 duì is ㄉㄨㄟˋ.
- ㄠl早zǎoㄗㄠˇ
- ㄡ.都dōuㄉㄡ
Shortened to -iu in pinyin: 六 liù is ㄌㄧㄡˋ.
- ㄢ0三sānㄙㄢ
- ㄣp很hěnㄏㄣˇ
- ㄤ;忙mángㄇㄤˊ
- ㄥ/能néngㄋㄥˊ
Pinyin -ong is ㄨㄥ: 中 zhōng is ㄓㄨㄥ.
- ㄦ-二èrㄦˋ
The tone marks
The first tone has no mark. The other four are written after the symbols, and the neutral dot is written there too.
| Tone | Mark | Example | Key | Play |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First tone | no mark | 媽mā | space | |
| Second tone | ˊ | 麻má | 6 | |
| Third tone | ˇ | 馬mǎ | 3 | |
| Fourth tone | ˋ | 罵mà | 4 | |
| Neutral tone | ˙ | 嗎ma | 7 |
The Taiwan keyboard
Zhuyin is typed on the standard Taiwan layout, one symbol per key. The rows below are that layout: 1 is ㄅ, q is ㄆ, and the space bar commits a first tone.