Meyer-Wempe

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Chinese language romanization

Chinese language

Mandarin

For Standard Mandarin
    Hanyu Pinyin (ISO official)
    EFEO
    Gwoyeu Romatzyh
    Latinxua Sinwenz
    Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II
    Chinese Postal Map Romanization
    Tongyong Pinyin
    Wade-Giles
    Yale
    Legge romanization

See also:
   General Chinese (Chao Yuenren)
   Cyrillization
   Xiao'erjing
   Zhuyin
   Romanisation in Singapore

Cantonese

For Standard Cantonese
    Canton
    Hong Kong Government
    Jyutping
    Meyer-Wempe
    Sidney Lau
    S. L. Wong (romanisation)
    Standard Cantonese Pinyin
    Standard Romanization
    Yale

Wu
    Long-short (romanization)

Min Nan
For Taiwanese, Xiamen, and related
    Pe̍h-oē-jī
For Hainanese
    Hainanhua Pinyin Fang'an
For Teochew
    Peng'im

Min Dong

For Fuzhou dialect
    Bàng-uâ-cê

Hakka

For Moiyan dialect
    Kejiahua Pinyin Fang'an
For Siyen dialect
    Phak-fa-s

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The Meyer-Wempe romanization system was developed by two Catholic missionaries in Hong Kong, Bernhard F. Meyer and Theodore F. Wempe, during the 1920s and 1930s for romanizing Standard Cantonese.

[edit] Initials

p
[p]
p'
[pʰ]
m
[m]
f
[f]
t
[t]
t'
[tʰ]
n
[n]
l
[l]
k
[k]
k'
[kʰ]
ng
[ŋ]
h
[h]
ts
[ts]
ts'
[tsʰ]
s
[s]
 
ch
[tɕ]
ch'
[tɕʰ]
sh
[ɕ]
 
kw
[kw]
k'w
[kʰw]
i, y
[j]
oo, w
[w]
  • The distinction between the alveolar sibilants ([ts], [tsʰ], and [s]) and alveolo-palatal sibilants ([tɕ], [tɕʰ], and [ɕ]) has been lost in modern Cantonese, though the distinction still existed at the time this system was devised. See Standard Cantonese for more information.

[edit] Finals

a
[ɑː]
aai
[ɑːi]
aau
[ɑːu]
aam
[ɑːm]
aan
[ɑːn]
aang
[ɑːŋ]
aap
[ɑːp]
aat
[ɑːt]
aak
[ɑːk]
  ai
[ɐi]
au
[ɐu]
am, om
[ɐm]
an
[ɐn]
ang
[ɐŋ]
ap, op
[ɐp]
at
[ɐt]
ak
[ɐk]
e
[ɛː]
ei
[ei]
      eng
[ɛːŋ]
    ek
[ɛːk]
i
[iː]
  iu
[iːu]
im
[iːm]
in
[iːn]
ing
[ɪŋ]
ip
[iːp]
it
[iːt]
ik
[ɪk]
oh
[ɔː]
oi
[ɔːi]
o
[ou]
  on
[ɔːn]
ong
[ɔːŋ]
  ot
[ɔːt]
ok
[ɔːk]
oo
[uː]
ooi
[uːi]
    oon
[uːn]
ung
[ʊŋ]
  oot
[uːt]
uk
[ʊk]
oeh
[œː]
  ui
[ɵy]
  un
[ɵn]
eung
[œːŋ]
  ut
[ɵt]
euk
[œːk]
ue
[yː]
      uen
[yːn]
    uet
[yːt]
 
      m
[m̩]
  ng
[ŋ̩]
     
  • The finals m and ng can only be used as standalone nasal syllables.

[edit] Tones

Unlike most Cantonese romanization systems, Meyer-Wempe indicates the entering tones, for a total of ten tones.

Tone description Example
upper even a
upper rising á
upper going à
middle entering àt
upper even a
upper entering at
low even ā
lower rising ǎ
lower going â
lower entering ât