Zhuyin, also known as Bopomofo, is a phonetic transcription system used to represent the pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese. It is the preferred system in Taiwan, where it is still widely used in early education, dictionaries, and keyboards. It is not used in mainland China, where Pinyin is the standard romanization system.
Origin and structure
Zhuyin was developed in early 20th-century China as part of an educational reform to improve literacy. Its popular name "Bopomofo" comes from the first four symbols of the system: ㄅ, ㄆ, ㄇ and ㄈ.
The system consists of 37 phonetic symbols representing the initials and finals of Chinese syllables (21 initials and 16 finals). These can be combined to form all standard Mandarin syllables. Special diacritical marks are also used to indicate tones, as shown below. You can see the full correspondence between Zhuyin and Pinyin here:
| Zhuyin to Pinyin equivalence table | ||
|---|---|---|
| zhuyin | pinyin | example |
| ㄅ | b | 八 (ㄅㄚ) |
| ㄆ | p | 杷 (ㄆㄚˊ) |
| ㄇ | m | 馬 (ㄇㄚˇ) |
| ㄈ | f | 法 (ㄈㄚˋ) |
| ㄉ | d | 地 (ㄉㄧˋ) |
| ㄊ | t | 提 (ㄊㄧˊ) |
| ㄋ | n | 你 (ㄋㄧˇ) |
| ㄌ | l | 利 (ㄌㄧˋ) |
| ㄍ | g | 告 (ㄍㄠˋ) |
| ㄎ | k | 考 (ㄎㄠˇ) |
| ㄏ | h | 好 (ㄏㄠˇ) |
| ㄐ | j | 叫 (ㄐㄧㄠˋ) |
| ㄑ | q | 巧 (ㄑㄧㄠˇ) |
| ㄒ | x | 小 (ㄒㄧㄠˇ) |
| ㄓ | zh | 主 (ㄓㄨˇ) |
| ㄔ | ch | 出 (ㄔㄨ) |
| ㄕ | sh | 束 (ㄕㄨˋ) |
| ㄖ | r | 入 (ㄖㄨˋ) |
| ㄗ | z | 在 (ㄗㄞˋ) |
| ㄘ | c | 才 (ㄘㄞˊ) |
| ㄙ | s | 塞 (ㄙㄞ) |
| ㄧ | i | 逆 (ㄋㄧˋ) |
| ㄨ | u | 努 (ㄋㄨˇ) |
| ㄩ | ü | 女 (ㄋㄩˇ) |
| ㄚ | a | 大 (ㄉㄚˋ) |
| ㄛ | o | 多 (ㄉㄨㄛ) |
| ㄜ | e | 得 (ㄉㄜˊ) |
| ㄝ | ê | 爹 (ㄉㄧㄝ) |
| ㄞ | ai | 晒 (ㄕㄞˋ) |
| ㄟ | ei | 誰 (ㄕㄟˊ) |
| ㄠ | ao | 少 (ㄕㄠˇ) |
| ㄡ | ou | 收 (ㄕㄡ) |
| ㄢ | an | 山 (ㄕㄢ) |
| ㄣ | en | 申 (ㄕㄣ) |
| ㄤ | ang | 上 (ㄕㄤˋ) |
| ㄥ | eng | 生 (ㄕㄥ) |
| ㄦ | er | 而 (ㄦˊ) |
| Special or extended Zhuyin symbols | |
|---|---|
| symbol | name |
| ㄪ | V |
| ㄫ | Ng |
| ㄬ | Gn |
| ㆠ | Bu |
| ㆦ | Oo |
| ㆬ | Im |
| ㆲ | Ong |
| ㆡ | Zi |
| ㆧ | Onn |
| ㆭ | Ngg |
| ㆳ | Innn |
| ㆢ | Ji |
| ㆨ | Ir |
| ㆮ | Ainn |
| ㆴ | P Final |
| ㆣ | Gu |
| ㆩ | Ann |
| ㆯ | Aunn |
| ㆵ | T Final |
| ㆤ | Ee |
| ㆪ | Inn |
| ㆰ | Am |
| ㆶ | K Final |
| ㆥ | Enn |
| ㆫ | Unn |
| ㆱ | Om |
| ㆷ | H Final |
| Tone marks in Zhuyin | |
|---|---|
| symbol | tone |
| ˉ | First tone * |
| ˊ | Second tone |
| ˇ | Third tone |
| ˋ | Fourth tone |
| ˙ | Neutral tone |
* Although the first tone has a mark (ˉ), it is commonly omitted in modern texts.
How is it used?
Zhuyin combines these symbols to form full Mandarin syllables, just like Pinyin. For example, the greeting 你好 [nǐ hǎo] is written in Zhuyin as: ㄋㄧˇ ㄏㄠˇ. While its visual appearance is very different from Pinyin, its function is the same: to show how Chinese characters are pronounced.
Zhuyin vs. Pinyin
The main difference is visual: Pinyin uses the Latin alphabet, while Zhuyin uses a unique phonetic script. In Taiwan, children first learn Zhuyin before Chinese characters. Both systems are accurate and useful, and the choice between them depends on context and personal preference.
Can I use Zhuyin in the app?
By default, the app uses the Pinyin system with tone marks. However, you can change the transcription method from the Settings section of the app. Available modes are:
• Pinyin with tone marks: nǐ hǎo
• Pinyin with tone numbers: ni3 hao3
• Pinyin without tones: ni hao
• Zhuyin: ㄋㄧˇ ㄏㄠˇ
Note that the Zhuyin mode is not compatible with the “Pick the tone” and “Type the Pinyin” games, nor with the lessons. In those cases, the system will continue to use Pinyin with tone marks.
