Wu Chinese has four major schools of romanization.
The most popular school, Common Wu Pinyin (), was developed by amateur language clubs and local learners. There are two competing schemes; both adhere to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and are very similar to each other. The initial scheme was "Wu Chinese Society pinyin" (, developed around 2005), and it formed the basis of "Wugniu pinyin" (, around 2016). Wu Chinese Society pinyin in general does not mark tones. – Wu chinese (Tones) The name Wugniu comes from the Shanghainese pronunciation of . Either of them is the default romanization scheme in most learning materials.
The second and historical school is the missionary school (see :zh:吴语拉丁化方案). This school of English-based Latin orthographies was developed by Western missionaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and used to write Bible translations and other educational texts. A representative romanization from this school is the Edkins romanization of Shanghainese.
Another school is the Latin Phonetic Method (, French-Wu or Fawu []). Its use is in decline. It utilizes the similarities between French and Wu phonetics and thus adheres to both IPA and French orthography. It was developed in 2001 by a Shanghai-born surgeon living in Lyon, France.
The final, and least used school, is developed by modifying Hanyu pinyin as sanctioned by the State Council. It is the only school developed by professional linguists, mostly working in state-administered universities. While more than 20 competing schemes within this school have been published since the 1980s, the most notable one is the Shanghainese Pinyin (, often shortened to Qian's Pin []), developed by Qian Nairong in 2006. This school is often used in formally published dictionaries and textbooks compiled by Qian and others.
Comparison chart All examples are given in Shanghainese and Suzhounese.
Initials
IPARomanization schemes Characters Wu Chinese Society Wugniu French-Wu Qian's Pinyin p p p b ph ph ph p b b b bh m m m mh 'm m mh m f f f f v v v fh v v vh v/ˀvəɲ⁵³/ t t t d th th th t d d d dh n n n nh, -n 'n n nh ng ny gn gn nh 'ny gn kn n l l l lh 'l l lh l ts tz z tsh ts c s s s s z z z sh 'z z zh sh乳（杭州）/ˀzʉ⁵³/ c c c j ch ch ch q j j dj jh sh sh x x zh zh j xh k k k g kh kh kh k g g g gh ng ng ng nhg-, -ng ng ng nk ng h h h h gh / w / y gh / w / y r /w / y hh/wh/yh rh h /ˀɦɛ⁵³/ -/u/i -/u/i -/u/i -/w/y
Finals Shanghainese IPASuzhounese IPARomanization schemes Characters Wu Chinese Society Wugniu French-Wu Qian's Pinyin a a a a ua ua ua ua ia ia ia ia o o au o io io iau io()() y y y y- (ɿ)() yu yu y y i i i i u u u u ou ou u u iu iu ü (y)u ae ae e ae e e e e uae uae ue ue ue ue ue ue iae iae au au o ao iau iau io iao eu eu oe ou ieu ieu ioe iou ie ie i i oe oe eu oe uoe uoe ueu uoe ioe ioe ieu ioe an an aen an uan uan uaen uan ian ian iaen ian aon aon an ang uaon uaon uan uang iaon iaon ian iang on on on ong ion ion ion iong en en en eng uen uen uen ueng in in in in iuin iun ün (y)un aeh aeq aq ak uaeh uaeq uaq uak iaeh iaeq iaq iak iuaeh iuaeq uiq yuik ah aq aq ak uah uaq uaq uak iah iaq iaq iak eh eq eq ek ueh ueq ueq uek ih iq iq ik iuih iuq uiq yuik oh oq oq ok ioh ioq ioq iok r er er er m m m m n n n n ng ng ng ng
Tones Shanghainese IPASuzhounese IPAWenzhounese IPA Romanization schemes CharactersWu Chinese Society Wugniu French-Wu Qian's Pinyin˥˧(53)˥(44)˧(33) 1 1 / ˦(22)or˩˩˧(113)˨˨˦(223)˨˧(23) 1 2 / ˦˧˦(434)or˨˨˥(334) ˥˩(51)˧˥(35) 2 3 -h ˨˩˧(213)or˩˩˧(113)-˧˥(35) 2 4 -h ˨˨˥(334)˥˨˦(523)˥˨(42) 3 5 -r ˩˩˧(113)˨˧˩(231)˨˧(23) 3 6 -r ˥(55)˥˧(43)˨˩˧(213) 4 7 -q ˩˨(12)˨˧(23)˨˩˧(213) 4 8 -q
See also Wiktionary: Entry Guidelines for Northern Wu
References