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Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II

Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II (國語注音符號第二式), abbreviatd MPS II, is a romanization system formerly used in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was created to replace the complex tonal-spelling Gwoyeu Romatzyh, and to co-exist with the popular Wade-Giles (romanization) and Zhuyin (non-romanization).

Table of contents
1 History
2 Features
3 Punctuation
4 External links

History

Based on the earlier and complex Gwoyeu Romatzyh, the tentative version of MPS II was released on May 10, 1984 by the Ministry of Education. After two years of feedback from the general public, the official version was established on January 28, 1986. To distinguish Zhuyin from the Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II ("Mandarin Zhuyin Symbols II"), the first Zhuyin is officially called "Mandarin Phonetic Symbols I" (國語注音符號第一式).

Despite its official status for over two decades until it was replaced by Tongyong Pinyin in 2000, MPS II existed only in some governmental publications (such as travel brochures and dictionaries). However, MPS II was not used for the official Romanized names of Taiwanese places. It never gained the same status as its Wade-Giles. In mainstream overseas communities, it is virtually unused and unheard of.

Features

Tonal spelling of Gwoyeu Romatzyh is eliminated, and syllables of all tones are spelled identical (as in Gwoyeu Romatzyh's tone one). And the four diacritics representing the tones are identical to Pinyin's. An example of MPS II: "國語注音符號第二式" is written as guó-yǔ jù-yīn fú-hàu dì-èr shr̀. Compare with pinyin, which writes it as guóyǔ zhùyīn fúhào dìèr shì.

Punctuation

Spacess are generally used in place of hyphens, except in personal names, which use hyphens in between the syllables of the given names.

External links