中文姓名拼音: 威妥瑪拼音 (WG) vs 漢語拼音 (Pinyin) vs 國語羅馬字 (GR)

台灣人姓名最常見的羅馬拼音法有三種: 威妥瑪拼音Wade-Giles (WG), 國語羅馬字Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh (Gwoyeu Romatzyh, GR) 和 漢語拼音Hanyu Pinyin (HP). WG 是最古老的一種，已經有150年的歷史，同時也是缺點最多的一種中文拼音法。天才語言學家 Chao Yuen Ren 趙元任（中國語言學之父）90年前所開發的 GR 國語羅馬字（由中華民國大學部頒佈為「國音字母第二式」）徹徹底底地解決了這些問題，聲調也都用字母來標。然而十年前由中國政府正式公佈的漢語拼音使用一般鍵盤無法輸入的附加符號，使得國語羅馬字原本區分得很清楚的姓名，像{盧 Lu, 魯 Luu, 陸 Luh}, 全部混在一起，沒有學過中文的外國人無法辨認：{盧魯陸驢呂律 = Lu}.

GL-7 National Romanization (Gwoyeu Romatzyh/Luomaatzyh): Summary) 國語羅馬字總表

[Updated on January 8th, 2015]
Please reread the first six postings before reading this summary:

#1: http://wenhua-jiaoliu.blogspot.tw/2014/03/gr-1-tonal-spelling-for-mandarin.html
...
#6: http://wenhua-jiaoliu.blogspot.tw/2014/03/gl-6-gwoyeu-row-iu-finals-iu.html

Using Medials to Spell 2nd and 3rd Tone Mandarin Syllables (Gwoyeu Romatzyh)

GL-6 Gwoyeu Row -iu- Finals 國語羅馬字 ㄩ 行韻母的標調法

 

In Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh (Gwoyeu Romatzyh, National Romanization), the high front rounded vowel (/y/ in IPA), is shown as two letters: iu. All 1st, 2nd and 3rd tone row -iu- finals show tone by changing the first letter of the medial vowel (i, y, e = 1st, 2nd, 3rd tone), rather than adding a letter, so they are printed in green. 4th tone finals show tone by adding one more letter at the end, so they are written in red.

國語羅馬字 ㄩ 行韻母大部分都是靠介音的改拼來標調 (iu, yu, eu = 一、二、三聲), 因此印成綠色。四聲韻母一律在末尾加字母，因此拼成紅色。

GL-5 Gwoyeu Row -u- Finals 國語羅馬字 ㄨ 行韻母的標調法

In Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh (Gwoyeu Romatzyh, National Romanization), most row -u- finals show tone by changing the medial vowel (u, w, o = 1st, 2nd, 3rd tone), rather than adding a letter so they are printed in green. 

Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh -u- Row Finals (How to Show Tones) 國語羅馬字 -u- 行韻母的標調法

國語羅馬字 ㄨ 行韻母大部分都是靠韻母的改拼來標調 (u、w、o = 一、二、三聲), 因此印成綠色。

GL-4 Gwoyeu Row -i- Finals 國語羅馬字 ㄧ 行韻母的標調法

In Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh (Gwoyeu Romatzyh, National Romanization), most row -i- finals show tone by changing the medial vowel (i, y, e = 1st, 2nd, 3rd tone), so they are printed in green (environmentally friendly :-). There are a few special cases, however. For example, the medial vowel in解can not be changed to -e- because jee = 者 (zhě in HP), so the last letter is doubled: 解 = jiee is the correct spelling (jiě in Hanyu Pinyin, HP).

國語羅馬字 ㄧ 行韻母大部分都是靠韻母的改拼來標調 (i、y、e = 一、二、三聲), 因此印成綠色（比較環保哦！），不過有幾個特殊例子。譬如說，『解』的介音 -i- 不能改拼成 -e- （這樣會產生jee = 『者』，漢語拼音 = zhě )，只好在尾音 -e 之後加個 e：解 = jiee 才是正確拼法 (漢語拼音 = jiě)

Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh -i- Row Finals (How to Show Tones) 國語羅馬字 -i- 行韻母的標調法

GL-3 National Romanization-- Keep, Change, Add! 國語羅馬字：留、改、加！

Variations of the base form (initial, medial and final) of National Romanization are used to spell the four tones of mandarin Chinese. Words spelled in National Romanization (Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh) have distinctive shapes which are easy to recognize. This is especially helpful for foreigners struggling to learn the four tones of Mandarin Chinese. 國語羅馬字靠基本形式（聲母、介音、韻母）的不同拼法來表示漢語的四聲。『留、改、加』這三個原則使『國羅』拼出來的字，個個有其獨特風貌、易於辨認。對於外國人學習國語的聲調非常有幫助。

1 Keep留: Keep the unchanged base form; Use it to spell most first tone words and all second tone words starting with m-, n-, l- or r. 保留基本形式，用來拼寫一般陰平（一聲）字及ㄇㄋㄌㄖ開頭的陽平（二聲）字

GL-2 Using Medial vowels to Spell Tones 用介音的拼法表示聲調

1. 
   

The basic form of National Romanization usually represents Mandarin first tone
國語羅馬字的基本形式通常代表國語的一聲（陰平）：

千	川	圈
chian	chuan	chiuan

Mandarin second and third tone can be shown by changing the spelling of the medial vowel
國語的二、三聲（陽平、上聲）可以用介音拼法的變化來表示：

GL-1 Tonal Spelling for Mandarin Chinese: An introduction 拼調式羅馬拼音入門

Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh (GL for short; also called National Romanization, or Gwoyeu Romatzyh [GR]) is a national treasure, an ideal romanization for people beginning to learn Mandarin Chinese tones. It is highly recommended for teaching simple Chinese conversation to foreign friends. 國語羅馬字是國寶級羅馬拼音，是初次學習國語四聲（普通話四聲）的外國人一套理想羅馬拼音法，教外國朋友初級會話也非常值得採用。

GL uses special spellings to show the four tones of Mandarin Chinese. In order to understand why these spellings are used, one must have a basic understanding of the structure of Chinese syllables. 國語羅馬字用特殊拼法來標國語的四聲。欲了解國羅的拼法，對漢語的音節結構必須有初步的認識。

Each Chinese character usually represents one syllable. Chinese syllables can be made of three parts: An initial (= a consonant), a medial (= a semi-vowel) and a final (= a vowel, sometimes followed by -n or -ng). 通常每個漢字代表一個音節，而漢語的音節有三個成分：聲母（開頭的子音/輔音）、介音（半母音/元音）、韻母（主要母音/元音，有時候末尾還接 -n 或 -ng。

Chart 1, Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh Initials: Note that group 4 is *always* followed by -i or -iu, but group 5 is *never* followed by -i or -iu, so using "j, ch and sh" for both will never cause confusion.

Interact with Penpals-1 (Forums)

The Students of the World website provides forums where people can interact. Use these forums to create a good feeling with possible penpals. Respond to people's questions, offer sympathy and (sometimes) talk about yourself.

1) Here is are some discussions from a forum about dolphins, for example:

Michelle says that she "has loved dolphins ever since [she] saw one at a water park." Rebekah answers that she has just finished reading a book about dolphins (people can ask her about the name of the book). She says that they remind her of people and asks Michelle what they remind her of. Maybe you can add your own opinion here.

2) Nova, who is from Bangladesh, say that she has eight dolphins! Her English is not perfect (she doesn't use plurals and her sentences are very short), but that's OK. Nobody criticizes her English (you don't need to worry, either: just say interesting things). Kamen, from China, says that she is lucky, and asks her two excellent questions. Rachael and Ge Wenfan say something a little boring.

Penpal from South America-2 (Argentina)

Argentina is a large country in South America. Argentina produces excellent beef (they eat grass, so they are healthier than American cattle, which usually eat corn). What else is Argentina famous for? Get a penpal from Argentina and find out!

1) Log onto the Students of the World website. Scroll down to South America (near the end).

2) Click on Argentina:

Argentina currently has almost 1000 people looking for penpals, so it should be easy to find yourself a friend.

Today, one of the top listing is Florencia. Wait a minute! It's all in Spanish!!! I can't read Spanish! No problem, Google Translate can help us.

Paste Florencia's self-introduction on the left.

Mr Google is very smart (it's so quick and efficient that it's almost frightening). "Spanish - detected" means that Mr Google immediately knows that this is in Spanish. On the right hand side, you can see Mr Google's translation (It is surprisingly accurate):

Florencia indicates that she also speaks English, so you can write to her in English:

Click on Florencia's [My Page] button to learn more about her:

Penpal from South America-1 (Brazil)

Penpals from areas where they speak English (Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and the USA) usually write good English. German speakers (Austria, Germany and Switzerland) also tend to write well in English. However, you should not only write to people who write very well in English. Be adventuresome! Try writing to people in South America, for example.

1) Go to the Students of the World website. Scroll down to South America (near the end).

2) Scroll down to South America

Most people in South America speak either Spanish or Portuguese, but many people also understand English. There are several large countries to choose from. Bolivia, Colombia and Venezuela are probably not very good choices because they face many social problems (they might be unsafe). Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay can provide lots of penpals. Check them out!

3) Here are three people from Brazil.

4) Luzirene is a 38-year-old teacher. She first shows us a photo of her family and she includes a selfie on her own page (click on "My Page"). Even though she is an older person, writing to her seems like a safe choice. Of course, we don't really know her real age and her real job; maybe she's not even a woman!

Chinese Names: How to Write Them

People in China, Japan and Korea all write their names with the FAMILY NAME first, followed by their given name. Here are some very famous people whose names are always written with the family name first:

1) The Tang Dynasty poet 李白LI Bai (Some people write Li Po). Nobody ever calls him "白李!"

Public domain image of Li Bai

2) The founder of modern Japan, 福澤 諭吉 Fukuzawa Yukichi (If you don't know him, you should find out, Wikipedia: English, Chinese). In Japan, Mr Fukuzawa is highly respected. That's why his name appears on Japanese 10,000 Yen notes:

Fukuzawa Yukichi appears on Japanese money: CC BY Fer1997

3) Korean actor and pop star 李敏鎬 이민호 Lee Min-ho. He never calls himself Min-ho Lee .

'Lee Min Ho crop' CC BY LGEPR

If you spell the two characters (for most people) of your Chinese given name in small letters (lower case) and your family name in CAPITALS, most Western people will not confuse your family name and your given name. They will understand which is which.

Foreign Friends? Be Careful! The Ann Murphy Story

Writing letters to people in other countries (penpals), is a good way to practice English and learn about the outside world. However, you should always be careful. Don't immediately give people your phone number, Facebook contact, address etc. Be friendly and helpful, but check out the stories that people tell you. Some people are very good liars.

A beautiful 18-year-old girl who only "wants to be your friend" might be hiding her real reasons: she wants your money, she wants a visa to come to your country. Maybe she is really a man!

A man who falls in love with you, is very nice to your family and gives you expensive presents might already be married. He wants you to be his third wife (but you don't need to know that right now)!

The Ann Murphy Story
A lonely Irish nurse called Ann Murphy met Nezar Hindawi, a charming man from Jordan. When she was six months pregnant with his child, he asked her to come to Israel to get married.

Unattributed news photo (fair use assumed)

自我介紹 About You

每天在 Students of the World（世界同學網站）找筆友的人不下幾百個，而且登廣告的空間有限（"250 characters" = 250個字母、標點符號、空白）所以要寫特別一點（幽默、創意等）才會引人注意.

譬如說家裡養貓可以說成：

“I have a cute black cat. At night, he likes to chase mice. This is not cute."（很正確，但有一點枯燥）

或許可以這樣寫：

“There's a monster with sharp claws under my bed。He likes to kill mice”（較有創意）

自我介紹也可以談一下的話題：

First Penpal Letter 給外國筆友的第一封信

給外國筆友的第一封信

Hello, [對方名字]!

My name is [自己的英文外號]. I am a {high school/college} student in [在哪裡就學：northern Taiwan (Taiwan is an island off the coast of China)]. I have been studying English for [多少年, 如 "four years" 最好全拼]. [寫日期，譬如：March, 2014] is the first time I have ever written penpal letters to foreigners. I am very excited.

注意：一般英漢字典對ever的解說不對，ever不是“曾經”的意思，正確的解說是：“過去、現在、未來的任何時候”【ever = at any time: past, present and future】 在這裡ever用來強調：“從來都沒有寫過這種信件”。

Penpals

Students of the World is a very good free website to help you find foreign penpals. Don't be afraid. Find a few penpals to practice English with. Here are some interesting countries to try. People in Northern Europe probably write good English, but people in other countries also have interesting things to say:

Western Europe

BEL = 3905 Belgium
DNK = 1150 Denmark
FIN = 2573 Finland
FRA = 85373 France
FRO = 14 Faroe Islands
GBR = 22190 Great Britain
GER = 4102 Germany
GIB = 18 Gibraltar
GRL = 14 Greenland
IRL = 3201 Ireland
ISL = 88 Iceland
ITA = 7364 Italy
JER = 46 Jersey & Guernsey
LIE = 3 Liechtenstein
LUX = 84 Luxembourg
MAN = 47 Isle of Man
MCO = 19 Monaco
NED = 1465 Netherlands
NOR = 556 Norway
PRT = 669 Portugal
SMR = 6 San Marino
SUI = 1097 Switzerland
SWE = 2466 Sweden
VAT = 15 Vatican

Eastern Europe

HUN = 1376 Hungary
POL = 4333 Poland
RUS = 3776 Russia

West Asia

ISR = 282 Israel

East Asia

IND = 2363 India
JAP = 2845 Japan
KOR = 65212 Korea
PHL = 939 Philippines
SGP = 855 Singapore
SRI = 5465 Sri Lanka
TAI = 5689 Taiwan
THA = 4731 Thailand

North America

ALA = 1253 Alaska (USA)
BER = 19 Bermuda
CAN = 9901 Canada
USA = 93097 USA

Africa

BFS = 12187 Burkina Faso
LSO = 15 Lesotho
SAF = 1352 South Africa

South America & Oceania

AUS = 9508 Australia
FLK = 8 Falkland Islands
GUM = 15 Guam
HAW = 749 Hawaii (USA)
NZL = 2283 New Zealand
URU = 127 Uruguay
VEN = 217 Venezuela

Things to Talk About

Cultural exchange 文化交流 = learning about other people's culture and telling them about your own culture 學習別人的文化、分享自己的文化

This blog has two basic purposes: 這個部落格主要有兩種目標：

1) To suggest possible topics for writing or conversation 提供寫作、對談的話題

2) How to meet foreign friends 如何認識外國朋友