Taiwanese Mandarin (Chinese: 台灣國語; pinyin: Táiwān Guóyŭ; also 台灣華語, Táiwān Huáyŭ) is the dialect of Mandarin Chinese spoken on Taiwan.
The official Standard Mandarin of the Republic of China, known in Taiwan as Guóyǔ (國語), is based on the phonology of the Beijing dialect and the grammar of Vernacular Chinese is almost identical to the standard of Mandarin used in the People's Republic of China, known in mainland China as Pŭtōnghuà (普通話); the differences between the two are mainly due to the separation of the two sides since 1949. However, Mandarin as spoken informally in Taiwan has some notable differences in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation with Standard Mandarin, which have arisen by virtue of contact with native Taiwanese speakers.
Usage
In 1945 when the island of Taiwan came under the control of the Republic of China Kuomintang, Mandarin was introduced as the official language and made compulsory in schools. (Before 1945, Japanese was the official language and taught in schools.) Since then, Mandarin has been established as a lingua franca among the various groups in Taiwan: the majority Taiwanese-speaking Hoklo, the Hakka who have their own spoken language, Mainlanders whose native tongue may be any Chinese variant in mainland China, and the aboriginals who speak aboriginal languages.
Until the 1980s the Kuomintang administration heavily promoted the use of Standard Mandarin and discouraged the use of Taiwanese and other vernaculars, even portraying them as inferior. Mandarin was the only sanctioned language for use in the media. This produced a backlash in the 1990s. Although some more extreme supporters of Taiwan independence tend to be opposed to standard Mandarin in favor of Taiwanese, efforts to replace standard Mandarin either with Taiwanese or with a multi-lingual standard have remained stalled. Today, Mandarin is taught by immersion starting in elementary school. After the second grade, the entire educational system is in Mandarin, except for local language classes that have been taught for a few hours each week starting in the mid-1990s.
Taiwanese Mandarin, like Singlish, is spoken at different levels according to the social class and situation of the speakers. Formal occasions call for the acrotectal level of Guoyu, which in practice differs little from Putonghua. Less formal situations often result in the basilect, which has more uniquely Taiwanese features. Bilingual Taiwanese speakers often code-switch between Mandarin and Taiwanese, sometimes in the same sentence.
Mandarin is spoken fluently by almost the entire Taiwanese population, except for some elderly people who were educated under Japanese rule. In the capital Taipei, where there is a high concentration of Mainlanders whose native language is not Taiwanese, Mandarin is used in greater frequency than in southern Taiwan and more rural areas where there are fewer Mainlanders.
Differences from Standard Mandarin
Pronunciation
There are two categories of pronunciation differences. The first is of characters that have an official pronunciation that differs from Putonghua (this mainly means a difference in tone rather than phoneme). The second is more general, with differences being unofficial and arising through the influence of Taiwanese on Guoyu.
Variant official pronunciations
There are a few differences in official pronunciations, mainly in tone, between Guoyu and Putonghua. A full list is available at http://www.zhongwen.com/x/guopu.htm.
Taiwanese-influenced
In acrolectal Taiwanese Mandarin:
- the retroflex sounds (ch, zh, sh, r) from Putonghua are softened considerably
- the Beijing retroflex "r" ending is very rarely heard
- the pinyin feng is pronounced as fong
In basilectal Taiwanese Mandarin, sounds that do not occur in Taiwanese are replaced by sounds from that language. These variations from Standard Mandarin are similar to the Mandarin spoken in southern China. Using the Hanyu Pinyin system, the following sound changes take place (going from Putonghua to Taiwanese Mandarin followed with an example):
- f- becomes hu- (fan – huan)
- -ie, ye becomes ei (tie – tei)
- chi (stand-alone) becomes tu (chi – tu)
- ch- becomes c- (chuan – cuan)
- r- becomes l- (ren - len)
- zh-, zhi becomes z-, zi (zhao – zao)
- sh-, shi becomes s-, si (shuo – suo)
Grammar
The Putonghua construct 有…沒有 (have or not have) is not separated in Taiwanese Mandarin 有沒有.
For example – 你有汽車沒有? (Do you have a car or not?) is not often found in Taiwanese Mandarin, where the preferred usage would be 你有沒有汽車? (Do you have or not have a car?, which is also valid in Putonghua).
有 is additionally used as a past tense marker, often taking the place of 了. A Taiwanese would say 你有吃嗎? Whereas the prefered Putonghua is 你吃了嗎? This is due to the influence of Taiwanese grammar which uses 有 in a similar fashion.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary differences can be divided into four categories – loan words, technological words, idioms, and words specific to living in Taiwan. Because of the limited transfer of information between mainland China and Taiwan after the Chinese civil war, many things that were invented after this split have different names in Guoyu and Putonghua.
Loan words
- The term "machi" (麻吉 Pinyin: májí) is a transliteration of the English term "match", and is used to describe items or people which complement each other.
- Note: 麻吉 has become popular in the PRC as well.
- The English term "hamburger" has been adopted in many Chinese speaking communities. In Taiwan, the preferred transliteration is 漢堡 (Pinyin: hànbăo) rather than 漢堡包 (Pinyin: hànbăobāo).
- The terms "agōng" and "amà" are more commonly heard than the standard Mandarin 爺爺 yéye (paternal grandfather), 外公 wàigōng (maternal grandfather), 奶奶 năinai (paternal grandmother) and 外婆 wàipó (maternal grandmother).
- Some local foods usually are referred to using their Taiwanese names. These include:
| Taiwanese
|
POJ
|
English
|
| 銼冰[1] |
chhoah-peng |
Shaved ice with sliced fresh fruit on top (usually strawberry, kiwi or mango)
|
| 麻糬 |
môa-chî |
glutonous rice cakes (see Mochi)
|
| 蚵仔煎 |
ô-á-chian |
A kind of oyster omelet
|
- List of Taiwanese words commonly found in local Mandarin language newspapers and periodicals
| As seen in two popular newspapers[2]
|
Taiwanese (POJ)
|
Mandarin Equivalent (Pinyin)
|
English
|
| 鴨霸
|
壓霸
|
惡霸
|
a local tyrant; a bully
|
| 甲意
|
合意
|
喜歡
|
to like
|
| 見笑[3]
|
見笑
|
害羞
|
shy; bashful; sense of shame
|
| 摃龜
|
摃龜
|
落空
|
to end up with nothing
|
| 龜毛[4]
|
龜毛
|
不乾脆
|
picky; high-maintenance
|
| Q |
糗
|
軟潤有彈性
(ruǎn rùn yǒu tánxìng)
|
description for food -- soft and pliable (like mochi cakes)
|
| LKK
|
老柝柝
|
老態龍鍾
|
old and senile
|
| 落跑
|
落跑
|
逃跑
|
to run away; to flee; to escape
|
| 趴趴走
|
拋拋走
|
東奔西跑
|
to rush about or around
|
| 歹勢
|
歹勢
|
不好意思
|
I beg your pardon; I am sorry; Excuse me.
|
| 速配
|
四配
|
相配
|
to be well suited to each other
|
| 代誌
|
代誌
|
事情
|
an event; a matter; an affair
|
| 凍未條
|
擋未住
|
1受不了
| (shòu bù liǎo)
|
| 2擋不住
|
| (dǎng bù zhù)
|
|
1can not bear something
| 2compelled to do something
|
|
| 凍蒜
|
當選
|
當選
|
to win an election
|
| 頭殼壞去
|
頭殼歹去
|
腦筋有問題
|
(you have/he has) lost (your/his) mind!
|
| 凸槌
|
脫箠
|
出軌
|
to go off the rails; to go wrong
|
| 運將
|
運將
|
司機
|
driver (of automotive vehicles)
|
| 鬱卒
|
鬱卒
|
悶悶不樂
|
depressed; sulky; unhappy; moody
|
Technical terms
Taiwanese Mandarin (Pinyin)
| Google hits: .tw
|
| Google hits: .cn
|
|
PRC Mandarin (Pinyin)
| Google hits: .tw
|
| Google hits: .cn
|
|
English
|
| 電腦 (diànnǎo)
|
計算機 (jìsuànjī)
|
computer
|
| 光碟 (guāngdié)
|
光盤 (guāngpán)
|
CD-ROM, DVD-ROM
|
| 雷射 (léishè)
|
激光 (jīguāng)
|
Laser
|
| 錄影機 (lùyĭngjī)
|
錄像機 (lùxiàngjī)
|
video recorder
|
| 計程車 (jìchéngchē)
|
出租汽車 (chūzū qìchē)
|
Taxicab
|
| 軟體 (ruǎntǐ)
|
軟件 (ruǎnjiàn)
|
software
|
| 伺服器 (sìfú qì)
|
服務器 (fúwù qì)
|
server
|
| 硬碟 (yìngdié)
|
硬盤 (yìngpán)
|
Hard drive
|
| 螢幕 (yíngmù)
|
顯示器 (xiǎnshìqì)
|
computer monitor
|
| 資料庫 (zīliàokù)
|
數據庫 (shùjùkù)
|
database
|
| 作業系統 (zuòyè xìtǒng)
|
操作系統 (cāozuò xìtǒng)
|
operating system
|
Idioms
Taiwanese Mandarin (Pinyin)
| Google hits: .tw
|
| Google hits: .cn
|
|
PRC Mandarin (Pinyin)
| Google hits: .tw
|
| Google hits: .cn
|
|
English
|
| 一蹴可幾 (yī cù kě jī)
|
一蹴而就 (yī cù ér jiù)
|
to reach a goal in one step
|
Words specific to living in Taiwan
Mandarin
| Google hits: .tw
|
| Google hits: .cn
|
|
Pinyin
|
English
|
| 綁樁
|
bǎngzhuāng |
pork barrel
|
| 便當
|
biàndāng |
a box lunch (from Japanese, bento)
|
| 閣揆[5]
|
gékuí |
the premier
|
| 公車
|
gōngchē |
public bus
|
| 機車
|
jīchē |
motor scooter
|
| 腳踏車
|
jiǎotàchē |
bicycle
|
| 捷運
|
jiéyùn |
MRT (Metropolitan Rapid Transit)
|
| 統一編號[6]
|
tǒngyī biānhào |
the ID number of a corporation
|
| 悠遊卡
|
yōuyóukă |
EasyCard (can be used to pay for buses, MRT, and some public parking)
|
Notes
- ^ Often written using the Mandarin equivalent 刨冰, but pronounced using the Taiwanese word.
- ^ Google hits from the China Times (中時電子報) and Liberty Times (自由時報) are included.
- ^ This can be a tricky one, because 見笑 means "to be laughed at" in Standard Mandarin. Context will tell you which meaning should be inferred.
- ^ Many people in Taiwan will use the Mandarin pronunciation (guī máo).
- ^ The first character 閣 is usually omitted when placed behind the surname. For example, the current premier is Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌). Since his surname is 蘇, he may be referred to in press as 蘇揆.
- ^ Often abbreviated as 統編 (tǒngbiān).
References
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg?lang=en){kind=small}