View source for Social:Bàng-uâ-cê

{{short description|Romanization system of the Fuzhou dialect of Eastern Min}}
{{Infobox writing system
|name        = Bàng-uâ-cê
|altname     = 
|type        = Latin alphabet
|typedesc    = (modified)
|time        = late 19th century – ?
|languages   = [[Social:Fuzhou dialect|Fuzhou dialect]] of the Eastern Min language 
|creator     = Moses Clark White, Robert Samuel Maclay, Caleb Cook Baldwin, Robert Stewart
|fam1        = 
|children    = [[Social:Hinghwa Romanized|Hinghwa Romanized]], [[Social:Kienning Colloquial Romanized|Kienning Colloquial Romanized]]
|sample      = Exodus in Foochow.gif|alt=A sample of Bàng-uâ-cê text
|imagesize   = 250px
|caption     = The Book of Exodus in Bàng-uâ-cê, published by the British and Foreign Bible Society
|footnotes   = 
|note        =
}}
{{RCL}}
{{Special characters}}
'''Bàng-uâ-cê''' (abbr. '''BUC'''; {{lang-zh|t=平話字}}) or '''Fuzhou romanization''' ({{lang|zh-hant|福州話羅馬字}}), is a Latin alphabet for the [[Social:Fuzhou dialect|Fuzhou dialect]] of [[Social:Eastern Min|Eastern Min]] adopted in the middle of the 19th century by Western missionaries. It had varied at different times, and became standardized in the 1890s. Bàng-uâ-cê was mainly used inside of church circles, and was taught in some mission schools in Fuzhou.<ref>{{Cite news |script-title=zh:福州女校三鼎甲 |language=zh |url-status= |script-work=zh:福州晚报}}{{deadlink|date=September 2023}}</ref> However, unlike its counterpart [[Social:Pe̍h-ōe-jī|Pe̍h-ōe-jī]] for [[Social:Hokkien|Hokkien]], even in its prime days Bàng-uâ-cê was by no means universally understood by Christians.<ref>R. S. Maclay, C. C. Baldwin, Samuel H. Leger: Dictionary of the Foochow Dialect, 1929</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Adam eng-fch dic.jpg|thumb|''An English-Chinese Dictionary of the Foochow Dialect'', 2nd Edition, published in 1905]]
[[File:Dictionary of foochow h.jpg|thumb|''Dictionary of the Foochow dialect'', 3rd Edition, published in 1929]]
[[File:Foochow prayer.jpg|thumb|Hand-written note in Bàng-uâ-cê, ca. 1910. It reads: "...You are our dwelling place. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. And we are thankful, because Jesus died for us, resurrected, and enabled us to live in the life full of abundance. He helps us conform to the image of the Lord, and be patient and serve Him with all our heart. He teaches us to willingly forgive people..."]]
After Fuzhou became one of the five Chinese treaty ports opened by the Treaty of Nanjing at the end of First Opium War (from 1839 to 1842), many Western missionaries arrived in the city. Faced with widespread illiteracy, they developed Latin alphabets for the [[Social:Fuzhou dialect|Fuzhou dialect]].

The first attempt in romanizing the Fuzhou dialect was made by the American Methodist M. C. White, who borrowed a system of orthography known as the System of Sir William Jones. In this system, 14 initials were designed exactly according to their voicing and aspiration. {{angle bracket|p}}, {{angle bracket|t}}, {{angle bracket|k}} and {{angle bracket|ch}} stand for {{IPA|[p]}}, {{IPA|[t]}}, {{IPA|[k]}} and {{IPA|[ts]}}; while the Greek spiritus lenis {{angle bracket|᾿}} were affixed to the above initials to represent their aspirated counterparts. Besides the default five vowels of Latin alphabet, four diacritic-marked letters {{angle bracket|è}}, {{angle bracket|ë}}, {{angle bracket|ò}} and {{angle bracket|ü}} were also introduced, representing {{IPA|[ɛ]}}, {{IPA|[ø]}}, {{IPA|[ɔ]}}, and {{IPA|[y]}}, respectively. This system is described at length in White's linguistic work ''The Chinese Language Spoken at Fuh Chau''.

Subsequent missionaries, including Robert S. Maclay from American Methodist Episcopal Mission, R. W. Stewart from the Church of England and Charles Hartwell from the American Board Mission, further modified White's system in several ways. The most significant change was made for the plosive consonants, where the spiritus lenis {{angle bracket|᾿}} of the aspirated initials was removed and the letters {{angle bracket|b}}, {{angle bracket|d}} and {{angle bracket|g}} substituted for {{IPA|[p] [t]}} and {{IPA|[k]}}. In the aspect of vowels, {{angle bracket|è}}, {{angle bracket|ë}}, {{angle bracket|ò}} and {{angle bracket|ü}} were replaced by {{angle bracket|a̤}},  {{angle bracket|e̤}},  {{angle bracket|o̤}} and {{angle bracket|ṳ}}.  Since the diacritical marks were all shifted to underneath the vowels, this left room above the vowels which was occupied by the newly introduced [[Social:Tone (linguistics)|tonal]] marks. Thus Bàng-uâ-cê avoids the potentially awkward diacritic stacking seen for instance in the Vietnamese script, where tone and vowel quality marks both sit above the vowel.

== Alphabet ==
The sample characters are taken from the ''Qi Lin Bayin'', a renowned phonology book about the Fuzhou dialect written in the Qing Dynasty. The pronunciations are recorded in standard [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] symbols.

=== Initials ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''BUC'''
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''Sample character'''
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''Pronunciation'''
|-
| '''b'''
| 邊
| {{IPA|/p/}}
|-
| '''p'''
| 波
| {{IPA|/pʰ/}}
|-
| '''m'''
| 蒙
| {{IPA|/m/}}
|-
| '''d'''
| 低
| {{IPA|/t/}}
|-
| '''t'''
| 他
| {{IPA|/tʰ/}}
|-
| '''n'''
| 日
| {{IPA|/n/}}
|-
| '''l'''
| 柳
| {{IPA|/l/}}
|-
| '''g'''
| 求
| {{IPA|/k/}}
|-
| '''k'''
| 氣
| {{IPA|/kʰ/}}
|-
| '''ng'''
| 語
| {{IPA|/ŋ/}}
|-
| '''h'''
| 喜
| {{IPA|/h/}}
|-
| '''c'''
| 爭
| {{IPA|/ts/}}
|-
| '''ch'''
| 出
| {{IPA|/tsʰ/}}
|-
| '''s'''
| 時
| {{IPA|/s/}}
|-
| ''None''
| 鶯
| ''Null Initial''
|}

=== Finals ===

==== Finals without codas ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''BUC'''
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''Sample character'''
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''Traditional pronunciation'''
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''Modern pronunciation'''
|-
| '''a'''
| 嘉
| {{IPA|/a/}}
| {{IPA|/a/}}
|-
| '''ia'''
| 奇
| {{IPA|/ia/}}
| {{IPA|/ia/}}
|-
| '''ua'''
| 花
| {{IPA|/ua/}}
| {{IPA|/ua/}}
|-
| '''a̤'''
| 西
| {{IPA|/ɛ/}}
| {{IPA|/e/}} or {{IPA|/a/}}
|-
| '''ie'''
| 雞
| {{IPA|/ie/}}
| {{IPA|/ie/}}
|-
| '''o̤'''
| 歌
| {{IPA|/ɔ/}}
| {{IPA|/o/}} or {{IPA|/ɔ/}}
|-
| '''io'''
| 橋
| {{IPA|/io/}}
| {{IPA|/yo/}}
|-
| '''uo'''
| 過
| {{IPA|/uo/}}
| {{IPA|/uo/}}
|-
| '''e̤ / ae̤'''
| 初
| {{IPA|/ø/}} or {{IPA|/aø/}}
| {{IPA|/ø/}} or {{IPA|/ɔ/}}
|-
| '''au'''
| 郊
| {{IPA|/au/}}
| {{IPA|/au/}}
|-
| '''eu / aiu'''
| 溝
| {{IPA|/eu/}} or {{IPA|/aiu/}}
| {{IPA|/eu/}} or {{IPA|/au/}}
|-
| '''ieu'''
| 燒
| {{IPA|/ieu/}}
| {{IPA|/iu/}}
|-
| '''iu / eu'''
| 秋
| {{IPA|/iu/}} or {{IPA|/eu/}}
| {{IPA|/iu/}}
|-
| '''oi / o̤i'''
| 催
| {{IPA|/oi/}} or {{IPA|/ɔi/}}
| {{IPA|/øy/}} or {{IPA|/ɔy/}}
|-
| '''ai'''
| 開
| {{IPA|/ai/}}
| {{IPA|/ai/}}
|-
| '''uai'''
| 歪
| {{IPA|/uai/}}
| {{IPA|/uai/}}
|-
| '''uoi'''
| 杯
| {{IPA|/uoi/}}
| {{IPA|/ui/}}
|-
| '''ui / oi'''
| 輝
| {{IPA|/ui/}} or {{IPA|/oi/}}
| {{IPA|/ui/}}
|-
| '''i / e'''
| 之
| {{IPA|/i/}} or {{IPA| /ei/}}
| {{IPA|/i/}} or {{IPA|/ɛi/}}
|-
| '''u / o'''
| 孤
| {{IPA|/u/}} or {{IPA| /ou/}}
| {{IPA|/u/}} or {{IPA| /ɔu/}}
|-
| '''u<nowiki />̤ / e̤u<nowiki />̤'''
| 須
| {{IPA|/y/}} or {{IPA| /øy/}}
| {{IPA|/y/}} or {{IPA| /œy/}}
|}

==== Finals with coda {{IPA|[ʔ]}} ====
{| class="wikitable"
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''BUC'''
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''Traditional pronunciation'''
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''Modern pronunciation'''
|-
| '''ah'''
| {{IPA|/aʔ/}}
| {{IPA|/aʔ/}}
|-
| '''iah'''
| {{IPA|/iaʔ/}}
| {{IPA|/iaʔ/}}
|-
| '''uah'''
| {{IPA|/uaʔ/}}
| {{IPA|/uaʔ/}}
|-
| '''a̤h'''
| {{IPA|/ɛʔ/}}
| {{IPA|/eʔ/}}
|-
| '''ieh'''
| {{IPA|/ieʔ/}}
| {{IPA|/ieʔ/}}
|-
| '''o̤h'''
| {{IPA|/ɔʔ/}}
| {{IPA|/oʔ/}} or {{IPA|/ɔʔ/}}
|-
| '''ioh'''
| {{IPA|/ioʔ/}}
| {{IPA|/yoʔ/}}
|-
| '''uoh'''
| {{IPA|/uoʔ/}}
| {{IPA|/uoʔ/}}
|-
| '''e̤h'''
| {{IPA|/øʔ/}}
| {{IPA|/øʔ/}}
|}

==== Finals with codas [-ŋ] and [-k] ====
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''BUC'''
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''Sample character'''
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''Traditional pronunciation'''
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''Modern pronunciation'''
|-
| '''ang'''
| 山
| {{IPA|/aŋ/}}
| {{IPA|/aŋ/}}
|-
| '''iang'''
| 聲
| {{IPA|/iaŋ/}}
| {{IPA|/iaŋ/}}
|-
| '''uang'''
| 歡
| {{IPA|/uaŋ/}}
| {{IPA|/uaŋ/}}
|-
| '''ieng'''
| 天
| {{IPA|/ieŋ/}}
| {{IPA|/ieŋ/}}
|-
| '''iong'''
| 香
| {{IPA|/ioŋ/}}
| {{IPA|/yoŋ/}}
|-
| '''uong'''
| 光
| {{IPA|/uoŋ/}}
| {{IPA|/uoŋ/}}
|-
| '''ing / eng'''
| 賓
| {{IPA|/iŋ/}} or {{IPA|/eiŋ/}}
| {{IPA|/iŋ/}} or {{IPA|/ɛiŋ/}}
|-
| '''ung / ong'''
| 春
| {{IPA|/uŋ/}} or {{IPA|/ouŋ/}}
| {{IPA|/uŋ/}} or {{IPA|/ɔuŋ/}}
|-
| '''u<nowiki />̤ng / e̤u<nowiki />̤ng'''
| 銀
| {{IPA|/yŋ/}} or {{IPA|/øyŋ/}}
| {{IPA|/yŋ/}} or {{IPA|/œyŋ/}}
|-
| '''eng / aing'''
| 燈
| {{IPA|/eiŋ/}} or {{IPA|/aiŋ/}}
| {{IPA|/eiŋ/}} or {{IPA|/aiŋ/}}
|-
| '''ong / aung'''
| 釭
| {{IPA|/ouŋ/}} or {{IPA|/auŋ/}}
| {{IPA|/ouŋ/}} or {{IPA|/ɔuŋ/}}
|-
| '''e̤ng / ae̤ng'''
| 東
| {{IPA|/øŋ/}} or {{IPA|/aøŋ/}}
| {{IPA|/øyŋ/}} or {{IPA|/ɔyŋ/}}
|}

=== Tones ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''Name'''
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''[[Social:Tone letter#Numerical values|Tone numeral]]'''
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''BUC symbol'''
| bgcolor="#ABCDEF" |'''Example'''
|-
| Shàngpíng (上平, BUC: Siông-bìng)
| 55
| ◌̆
| 君 '''Gŭng'''
|-
| Shǎngshēng (上聲, BUC: Siōng-siăng)
| 33
| ◌̄
| 滾 '''Gūng'''
|-
| Shàngqù (上去, BUC: Siông-ké̤u<nowiki />̤)
| 213
| ◌́
| 貢 '''Góng'''
|-
| Shàngrù (上入, BUC: Siông-ĭk)
| <u>24</u>
| ◌́
| 谷 '''Gók'''
|-
| Xiàpíng (下平, BUC: Hâ-bìng)
| 53
| ◌̀
| 群 '''Gùng'''
|-
| Xiàqù (下去, BUC: Hâ-ké̤u<nowiki />̤)
| 242
| ◌̂
| 郡 '''Gông'''
|-
| Xiàrù (下入, BUC: Hâ-ĭk)
| 5
| ◌̆
| 掘 '''Gŭk'''
|}

Note that Bàng-uâ-cê uses the breve, not the caron (ˇ), to indicate Yīnpíng and Yángrù tones of Fuzhou dialect.

== Sample text ==
{| border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0
|- bgcolor=#eeeeee
! colspan=2 | Original
! align=middle rowspan=2 | Translation
! align=middle rowspan=2 | Audio
|-
! align=middle | {{transl|cdo|Bàng-uâ-cê|italics=no}}
! align=middle | Characters
|-
| {{transl|cdo|Báe̤k-hŭng gâe̤ng Nĭk-tàu}}{{efn|{{IPA|[pàøʔ.húŋ.kǎøŋ.níʔ.tʰâu]}}}}|| {{lang|cdo-Hant|《北風共日頭》}} || ''The North Wind and the Sun'' || {{Audio|help=no|Cdo_northwind_sun_01.ogg|listen}}
|-
| {{transl|cdo|Ô sŏ̤h huòi, Báe̤k-hŭng gâe̤ng Nĭk-tàu duŏh hī dó̤i căng, káng diê-nè̤ng buōng-sê̤u<nowiki />̤ duâi.}}{{efn|{{IPA|[ǒu.sóʔ.hwôi.pàøʔ.húŋ.kǎøŋ.níʔ.tʰâu.twóʔ.hī.tòi.tsáŋ,kʰàŋ.tjě.nø̂ŋ.pwōŋ.sø̌y.twǎi]}}}} || {{lang|cdo-Hant|有蜀回，北風共日頭著許塊爭，看底儂本事大。}} || Once upon a time, the North Wind and the Sun were disputing which was stronger. || {{Audio|help=no|Cdo_northwind_sun_02.ogg|listen}}
|-
| {{transl|cdo|Căng lì căng kó̤ mò̤ suŏ iàng.}}{{efn|{{IPA|[tsáŋ.lî.tsáŋ.kʰǒ.mô.swó.jâŋ]}}}} || {{lang|cdo-Hant|爭來爭去無輸贏。}} || They disputed on and on without reaching a conclusion. || {{Audio|help=no|Cdo_northwind_sun_03.ogg|listen}}
|-
| {{transl|cdo|Ciā sèng-hâiu, duô lā̤ ô sŏ̤h ciéh nè̤ng giàng lā̤, sĭng lā̤ sê̤u<nowiki />̤ng duŏh sŏ̤h iông gâu-gâu gì duâi-ĭ.}}{{efn|{{IPA|[tsjá.sêiŋ.hǎjǔ,twǒ.lē.ǒu.sóʔ.tsjěʔ.nø̂ŋ.kjâŋ.lē,síŋ.sø̌yŋ.twóʔ.sóʔ.jǒŋ.kǎu.kǎu.kî.twǎi.í]}}}} || {{lang|cdo-Hant|者辰候，墿𡅏有蜀隻儂行𡅏，身𡅏頌著蜀件厚厚其大衣。}} || Just at that moment, there was a man walking along the road, wearing a very heavy coat. || {{Audio|help=no|Cdo_northwind_sun_04.ogg|listen}}
|-
| {{transl|cdo|Ĭ lâng ciéh gōng hō̤, diê-nè̤ng ô buōng-sê̤u<nowiki />̤ sĕng gáe̤ cī ciéh nè̤ng gâe̤ng duâi-ĭ táung lâi gó̤, cêu sáung diê-nè̤ng buōng-sê̤u<nowiki />̤ duâi.}}{{efn|{{IPA|[í.jǎŋ.tsjěʔ.kóuŋ.hó.tjě.nø̂ŋ.ǒu.pwōŋ.sø̌y.séiŋ.kàø.tsī.tsjěʔ.nø̂ŋ.kǎøŋ.twǎi.í.tʰàuŋ.lǎi.kò,tsěu.sàuŋ.tjě.nø̂ŋ.pwōŋ.sø̌y.twǎi]}}}} || {{lang|cdo-Hant|伊兩隻講好，底儂有本事先告玆隻儂共大衣褪唻去，就算底儂本事大。}} || The two agreed that who first succeeded in making this man take his coat off should be considered stronger. || {{Audio|help=no|Cdo_northwind_sun_05.ogg|listen}}
|-
| {{transl|cdo|Dăng nĭ, Báe̤k-hŭng cêu sāi lĭk sī-miâng dék chuŏi, bók-guó ĭ muōng chuŏi dék lê-hâi, cī ciéh lā̤ giàng-duô gì nè̤ng cêu ciŏng hī iông duâi-ĭ muōng bău muōng gīng gó̤.}}{{efn|{{IPA|[táŋ.ní,pàøʔ.húŋ.tsěu.sāi.líʔ.sī.mjǎŋ.tèiʔ.tsʰwói,pòuʔ.kwò.í.mwōŋ.tsʰwói.těiʔ.lěi.hǎi,tsī.tsjěʔ.lē.kjáŋ.twǒ.kî.nø̌ŋ.tsěu.tsjóŋ.hī.jǒŋ.twǎi.í.mwōŋ.páu.mwōŋ.kīŋ.kò]}}}} || {{lang|cdo-Hant|仱呢，北風就使力死命的吹，不過伊罔吹的利害，玆隻𡅏行墿其儂就將許件大衣罔包罔緊去。}} || Then, the North Wind exerted all his strength to blow, but the harder he blew, the tighter that walking man wrapped his coat. || {{Audio|help=no|Cdo_northwind_sun_06.ogg|listen}}
|-
| {{transl|cdo|Gáu muōi-hâiu, Báe̤k-hŭng mò̤ bâing-huák, cêu cūng-kuāng láe̤k gó̤.}}{{efn|{{IPA|[kàu.mwōi.hǎjǔ,pàøʔ.húŋ.mó.pǎiŋ.hwǎʔ,tsěu.tsūŋ.kʰwāŋ.lǎøʔ.kò]}}}} || {{lang|cdo-Hant|遘尾後，北風無辦法，就總款〇去。}} || At last, the North Wind was at his wits' end, so he gave up. || {{Audio|help=no|Cdo_northwind_sun_07.ogg|listen}}
|-
| {{transl|cdo|Guó nék-òng, Nĭk-tàu chók lì.}}{{efn|{{IPA|[kwò.něiʔ.óuŋ,níʔ.tʰâu.tsʰǒuʔ.lî]}}}} || {{lang|cdo-Hant|過仂暅，日頭出來。}} || After a while, the Sun came out. || {{Audio|help=no|Cdo_northwind_sun_08.ogg|listen}}
|-
| {{transl|cdo|Iĕk-pĕ̤-pĕ̤ sāi sāi lĭk sŏ̤h puŏh, hī ciéh lā̤ giàng-duô gì nè̤ng ché̤u<nowiki />̤k-káik cêu ciŏng hī iông duâi-ĭ táung lŏ̤h lì.}}{{efn|{{IPA|[jéʔ.pʰǿ.pʰǿ.sāi.sāi.líʔ.sóʔ.pʰwóʔ,hī.tsjěʔ.lē.kjâŋ.twǒ.kî.nø̂ŋ.tsʰø̌yʔ.kʰǎiʔ.tsěu.tsjóŋ.hī.jǒŋ.twǎi.í.tʰàuŋ.lóʔ.lî]}}}}  || {{lang|cdo-Hant|熱〇〇使使力蜀曝，許隻𡅏行墿其儂〇刻就將許件大衣褪落來。}}|| He shined out forcibly with a sweltering heat, and immediately that walking man took off his coat. || {{Audio|help=no|Cdo_northwind_sun_09.ogg|listen}}
|-
| {{transl|cdo|Cī-hâ Báe̤k-hŭng cêu nâ diông sìng-nêng, lâng gá nè̤ng diē-sié, gó sê Nĭk-tàu gì buōng-sê̤u<nowiki />̤ duâi.}}{{efn|{{IPA|[tsī.hǎ.pàøʔ.húŋ.tsěu.nǎ.tjǒŋ.sîŋ.něiŋ,lǎŋ.kà.nø̂ŋ.tjē.sjè,kòu.sěi.níʔ.tʰâu.lî.pwōŋ.sø̌y.twǎi]}}}}  || {{lang|cdo-Hant|玆下北風就僅長承認，兩個儂底勢，故是日頭其本事大。}}|| And so the North Wind had no choice but to confess that the Sun was stronger of the two. || {{Audio|help=no|Cdo_northwind_sun_10.ogg|listen}}
|}
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== External links ==
{{InterWiki|code=cdo}}
* Everything You Want To Know About Bàng-uâ-cê (in [[Social:Fuzhou dialect|Foochowese]])
* [https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:32620196 Gô Iók Cŭ]: The Old Testament, in Bàng-uâ-cê. {{in lang|cdo}}
* [https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:32693486 Sĭng Iók Cŭ]: The New Testament, in Bàng-uâ-cê. {{in lang|cdo}}
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=G4sXAAAAYAAJ An English-Chinese Dictionary of the Foochow Dialect], by T. B. Adam, 1905
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228192704/http://www.gnudoyng.net/fuzhou_dialect/romanized.php |date=28 February 2012|title=Learning material of Foochow Romanized}}
* [https://transliterationtools.blogspot.com/2023/11/eastern-min-conversion-tool.html Chinese Character to Eastern Min Transliterator]

[[Category:Romanization of Chinese]]

{{Sourceattribution|Bàng-uâ-cê}}