1986年教育部「修訂」原版「國語羅馬字」，用可棄式聲調符號（–ˊˇˋ）來代替天才語言學家趙元任精心設計的拼調法。
十五年後的 2001年一月筆者在台北市的兩家書店（和平東路師大書局和復興北路的三民書局）調查了市面上到底還有多少種繼續採用原版「國語羅馬字」的字、辭典。結果出乎意料之外，很輕鬆地發現三十一本，此後在住處附近的小書店裡又看到幾本。2001年「國羅」字典還是這麼多，可見許多出版社並沒有拋棄原版「國羅」，標調式羅馬拼音還是相當普遍。
十五年後的 2001年一月筆者在台北市的兩家書店（和平東路師大書局和復興北路的三民書局）調查了市面上到底還有多少種繼續採用原版「國語羅馬字」的字、辭典。結果出乎意料之外，很輕鬆地發現三十一本，此後在住處附近的小書店裡又看到幾本。2001年「國羅」字典還是這麼多，可見許多出版社並沒有拋棄原版「國羅」，標調式羅馬拼音還是相當普遍。
In 1984, one year after Jaw Yuanrenn (Yuen
Ren Chao趙元任) passed away, the Ministry of Education
established a committee to replace a Chinese national treasure, Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh, the only official romanization that spells tones. In 1986, a throwaway tone mark system was adopted instead. Shortly
thereafter, in order to appease a small group of angry local politicians, the MOE gave up on its own "improved" romanization and adopted a third spelling. A few years later, pinyin was adopted to
satisfy yet another set of politicians. Sigh …
In 2001, after witnessing all this political squabbling,
I decided to see if Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh (GR, National Romanization) was still alive. After browsing in three different
bookstores, I was relieved to discover 36 different dictionaries that still
used tonal spelling. Here are my results, including three short samples from a 37th dictionary, the Shinbian Gwoyeu Tsyrdean:
 | ||
| Shinbian Gwoyeu Tsyrdean 新編國語辭典（世一版） |
Below is a list of 36 dictionaries that use Gwoyeu Romatzyh (or Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh, National Romanization):
