Zhuyin / Bopomofo: Everything you need to know
If you're diving into learning Mandarin, you've probably come across pinyin, the official romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. But did you know that there's another system used in Taiwan called Bopomofo? Let's see what it is, how it works, and whether you should learn it or not.
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What is Bopomofo?
Bopomofo, also known as Zhuyin Fuhao (注音符号/注音符號), is a phonetic alphabet used in Taiwan to teach Mandarin Chinese. Unlike pinyin, which uses the Roman alphabet, Bopomofo uses unique symbols to represent the sounds of Mandarin. The name "Bopomofo" comes from the first four symbols: ㄅ (bo), ㄆ (po), ㄇ (mo), and ㄈ (fo).
Bopomofo consists of a total of 37 symbols that are mostly based on archaic characters or character components. Each symbol represents a different sound as follows (with pinyin equivalent).
Initials (Consonants)
| Bopomofo | ㄅ | ㄆ | ㄇ | ㄈ | ㄉ | ㄊ | ㄋ | ㄌ | ㄍ | ㄎ | ㄏ | ㄐ | ㄑ | ㄒ | ㄓ | ㄔ | ㄕ | ㄖ | ㄗ | ㄘ | ㄙ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pinyin | b | p | m | f | d | t | n | l | g | k | h | j | q | x | zh | ch | sh | r | z | c | s |
Finals (Vowels)
| Bopomofo | ㄚ | ㄛ | ㄜ | ㄝ | ㄞ | ㄟ | ㄠ | ㄡ | ㄢ | ㄣ | ㄤ | ㄥ | ㄦ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pinyin | a | o | e | ie | ai | ei | ao | ou | an | en | ang | eng | er |
Special Sounds
| Bopomofo | ㄧ | ㄨ | ㄩ |
|---|---|---|---|
Pinyin | yi, -i | w, wu, -u | yu, -ü |
Tones are denoted with the following five marks: ˉ ˊ ˇ ˋ ˙. The first tone mark is usually omitted in writing.
Why learn Bopomofo?
Bopomofo was invented in 1913 and became the official transliteration system for Mandarin Chinese in 1928. When pinyin and simplified characters became the new standard in the 1950s, Taiwan was already politically separated from mainland China. As a consequence, Taiwan kept both traditional characters and Bopomofo and still uses them today.
Honestly, learning Bopomofo is not mandatory, even if you live in Taiwan. I have spent quite some time in Taiwan by now and the few times I needed to use Bopomofo were when I wanted to look up Chinese songs at KTV (they usually don't have a pinyin keyboard). Other than that, you only encounter Bopomofo in children's books. Typing traditional characters on a phone or computer is also easily possible with pinyin.
A Taiwanese children's book with Bopomofo next to the characters
The only advantage Bopomofo has over pinyin (for Westerners) is that it avoids confusion by using unique symbols. I remember that I would initially pronounce pinyin as if it was English because the characters looked so familiar to me. Bopomofo does not have this problem because the symbols do not exist in other languages. However, this advantage gets outweighed by the need to learn an additional 37 characters just to read and write Chinese pronunciation.
Bopomofo keyboards
You probably wonder how people in Taiwan type on their phones and computers. Bopomofo can be typed on a regular QWERTY keyboard by assigning the Bopomofo symbols to certain keys. On Taiwanese keyboards the symbols are also printed right next to the Latin characters. Most operating systems make it easy to quickly switch between the Bopomofo and Latin keyboard.
A Taiwanese keyboard with Bopomofo symbols
Closing thoughts
From a Chinese learner's perspective, Taiwan is a curious place, because it seems to do everything differently. Taiwanese use traditional characters and Bopomofo, use different words, and when they use pinyin it's often their own variant. On the one hand, I remember going to Taiwan for the first time after studying Chinese in mainland China and how I got a bit frustrated that I had to relearn so many things. On the other hand, it is really cool that the systems that got replaced in mainland China decades ago are still alive and kicking in Taiwan. So while you don't really need to learn Bopomofo, it definitely ups your street cred in Taiwan.
Until next time, happy learning! 🤓
