View source for Pe̍h-ōe-jī

{{About|the Hokkien romanisation system|other uses of these hanzi|白話字 (disambiguation){{!}}白話字}}
{{Infobox writing system
|name        = ''Pe̍h-ōe-jī''
|altname     = <small>Church Romanization</small>
|type        = [[Latin script]]
|typedesc    = (modified)
|time        = since the 1830s
|languages   = [[Southern Min]]
:[[Amoy dialect|Amoy]]
:[[Taiwanese Hokkien|Taiwanese]]
|creator     = [[Walter Henry Medhurst]]<br/>[[Elihu Doty]]<br/>[[John Van Nest Talmage]]
|children    = [[Taiwanese Language Phonetic Alphabet|TLPA]]<br/>[[Taiwanese Romanization System]]
|sample      = POJ text sample.svg|alt=A sample of POJ text
|imagesize   = 250px
|caption     = A sample of ''pe̍h-ōe-jī'' text
|footnotes   = 
|note        =
| fam1 = [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]
| fam2 = [[Proto-Sinaitic]]
| fam3 = [[Phoenician alphabet]]
| fam4 = [[Greek alphabet]]
| fam5 = [[Latin script|Latin alphabet]]
}}
'''''Pe̍h-ōe-jī''''' ({{IPA-taiwan|peʔ˩ u̯e˩ d͡ʑi˨|lang|Peh-oe-ji.ogg}}, abbreviated '''POJ''', literally ''vernacular writing'', also known as '''Church Romanization''') is an [[orthography]] used to write variants of [[Southern Min]] Chinese, particularly [[Taiwanese Hokkien]] and [[Amoy dialect|Amoy Hokkien]]. Developed by Western [[missionary|missionaries]] working among the [[Chinese emigration|Chinese diaspora]] in [[Southeast Asia]] in the 19th century and refined by missionaries working in [[Xiamen]] and [[Tainan]], it uses a modified [[Latin alphabet]] and some [[diacritic]]s to represent the spoken language. After initial success in [[Fujian]], POJ became most widespread in [[Taiwan]] and, in the mid-20th century, there were over 100,000 people literate in POJ. A large amount of printed material, religious and secular, has been produced in the script, including [[Taiwan]]'s first newspaper, the ''[[Taiwan Church News]]''.

Other related scripts include '''[[Pha̍k-oa-chhi romanization|Pha̍k-oa-chhi]]''' for [[Gan Chinese|Gan]], '''[[Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]]''' for [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]], '''[[Hainan Romanized|Bǽh-oe-tu]]''' for [[Hainanese]], '''[[Foochow Romanized|Bàng-uâ-cê]]''' for [[Fuzhou dialect|Foochow]], and '''Pêh-uē-jī''' for [[Teochew dialect|Teochew]].

During [[Taiwan under Japanese rule]] (1895–1945), the use of Pe̍h-ōe-jī was suppressed and it faced further countermeasures during the [[Kuomintang]] [[Martial law in Taiwan|martial law period]] (1947–1987). In Fujian, use declined after the establishment of the [[People's Republic of China]] (1949) and in the early 21st century the system was not in general use there. Taiwanese [[Christians]], non-native learners of Southern Min, and native-speaker enthusiasts in Taiwan are among those that continue to use ''Pe̍h-ōe-jī''. Full native computer support was developed in 2004, and users can now call on [[font]]s, [[input method]]s, and extensive online dictionaries. Rival writing systems have evolved, and there is ongoing debate within the [[Taiwanese mother tongue movement]] as to which system should be used. Versions of ''pe̍h-ōe-jī'' have been devised for other [[Varieties of Chinese|Chinese varieties]], including [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]] and [[Teochew dialect|Teochew Southern Min]].

In the 2006, the [[Taiwanese Romanization System]] was developed based on ''pe̍h-ōe-jī'' for official use to write Hokkien phonetically.

==Name==
{{Infobox Chinese
|collapse=no
|t=白話字
|s=白话字
|l=Vernacular writing
|showflag=poj
|poj=Pe̍h-ōe-jī
|tl=Pe̍h-uē-jī
|bp=Béhwêzzî
|p=Báihuà zì
|buc=Bàh-uâ-cê
|teo=Pêh-uē-jī
|hain=Bǽh-oe-tu
|h=Pha̍k-fa-sṳ
|gan=Pha̍k-oa-chhi
|wuu=Poe<sup>平</sup> ho<sup>入</sup> zî<sup>平</sup>
|j=baak<sup>6</sup> wa<sup>2</sup> zi<sup>6</sup>
|y=baahk wá jih
|altname=Church Romanization
}}
The name ''pe̍h-ōe-jī'' ({{zh|t=白話字|p=Báihuà zì}}) means "vernacular writing", written characters representing everyday spoken language.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=90}} The name ''vernacular writing'' could be applied to many kinds of writing, romanized and character-based, but the term ''pe̍h-ōe-jī'' is commonly restricted to the [[Southern Min]] romanization system developed by [[Presbyterian]] missionaries in the 19th century.{{sfnp|Klöter|2002|p=1}}

The missionaries who invented and refined the system used, instead of the name ''pe̍h-ōe-jī'', various other terms, such as "Romanized [[Xiamen|Amoy]] Vernacular" and "Romanized Amoy Colloquial."{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=90}} The origins of the system and its extensive use in the Christian community have led to it being known by some modern writers as "Church Romanization" ({{zh|t=教會羅馬字|p=Jiàohuì Luōmǎzì|poj=Kàu-hōe Lô-má-jī|labels=no}}) and is often abbreviated in POJ itself to ''Kàu-lô''. ({{zh|t=教羅|p=Jiàoluō|labels=no}}){{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=89}} There is some debate on whether "pe̍h-ōe-jī" or "Church Romanization" is the more appropriate name.

Objections to "pe̍h-ōe-jī" are that it can refer to more than one system and that both [[literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters|literary and colloquial register]] Southern Min appear in the system and so describing it as "vernacular" writing might be inaccurate.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=90}} Objections to "Church Romanization" are that some non-Christians and some secular writing use it.{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=13}} One commentator observes that POJ "today is largely disassociated from its former religious purposes."{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=248}} The term "romanization" is also disliked by some, who see it as belittling the status of ''pe̍h-ōe-jī'' by identifying it as a supplementary phonetic system instead of a fully-fledged orthography.{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=13}} Sources disagree on which of the two is more commonly used.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=89}}{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=13}}

==History==
[[File:Pa-khek-le Kau-hoe.jpg|thumb|right|300px|alt=POJ inscription|''Pe̍h-ōe-jī'' inscription at a church in [[Tainan]] (Tâi-lâm) commemorating [[Thomas Barclay (missionary)|Thomas Barclay]]]]
The history of Peh-oe-ji has been heavily influenced by official attitudes towards the Southern Min vernaculars and the Christian organizations that propagated it. Early documents point to the purpose of the creation of POJ as being pedagogical in nature, closely allied to educating [[Christianity in China|Christian converts]].{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=92}}

===Early development===
The first people to use a romanized script to write Southern Min were Spanish missionaries in [[Manila]] in the 16th century.{{sfnp|Klöter|2002|p=1}} However, it was used mainly as a teaching aid for Spanish learners of Southern Min, and seems not to have had any influence on the development of ''pe̍h-ōe-jī''.{{sfnp|Klöter|2002|p=2}} In the early 19th century, China was closed to [[Christian missionaries]], who instead proselytized to [[overseas Chinese]] communities in [[South East Asia]].{{sfnp|Heylen|2001|p=139}} The earliest origins of the system are found in a small vocabulary first printed in 1820 by [[Walter Henry Medhurst]],{{sfnp|Heylen|2001|p=142}}{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=14}} who went on to publish the ''Dictionary of the Hok-këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language, According to the Reading and Colloquial Idioms'' in 1832.{{sfnp|Heylen|2001|p=142}}

This dictionary represents the first major reference work in POJ, although the romanization within was quite different from the modern system, and has been dubbed ''Early Church Romanization'' by one scholar of the subject.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=89}} Medhurst, who was stationed in [[Malacca]], was influenced by [[Robert Morrison (missionary)|Robert Morrison's]] romanization of [[Mandarin Chinese]], but had to innovate in several areas to reflect major differences between Mandarin and Southern Min.{{sfnp|Heylen|2001|p=144}} Several important developments occurred in Medhurst's work, especially the application of consistent tone markings (influenced by contemporary linguistic studies of [[Sanskrit]], which was becoming of more mainstream interest to Western scholars).{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=109}} Medhurst was convinced that accurate representation and reproduction of the tonal structure of Southern Min was vital to comprehension:
{{blockquote|Respecting these tones of the Chinese language, some difference of opinion has been obtained, and while some have considered them of first importance, others have paid them little or no intention. The author inclines decidedly to the former opinion; having found, from uniform experience, that without strict attention to tones, it is impossible for a person to make himself understood in Hok-këèn.|W. H. Medhurst{{sfnp|Medhurst|1832|p=viii}} }}
[[File:Doty frontispiece.png|thumb|alt=Frontispiece of the Anglo Chinese Manual|right|200px|Frontispiece of Doty's ''Anglo Chinese Manual of the Amoy Dialect'' (1853)]]
The system expounded by Medhurst influenced later dictionary compilers with regard to tonal notation and initials, but both his complicated vowel system and his emphasis on the literary register of Southern Min were dropped by later writers.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=110}}{{sfnp|Heylen|2001|p=145}} Following on from Medhurst's work, [[Samuel Wells Williams]] became the chief proponent of major changes in the orthography devised by Morrison and adapted by Medhurst. Through personal communication and letters and articles printed in ''The Chinese Repository'' a consensus was arrived at for the new version of POJ, although Williams' suggestions were largely not followed.{{sfnp|Heylen|2001|p=149}}

The first major work to represent this new orthography was [[Elihu Doty]]'s ''Anglo-Chinese Manual with Romanized Colloquial in the Amoy Dialect'',{{sfnp|Heylen|2001|p=149}} published in 1853. The manual can therefore be regarded as the first presentation of a pre-modern POJ, a significant step onwards from Medhurst's orthography and different from today's system in only a few details.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=111}} From this point on various authors adjusted some of the consonants and vowels, but the system of tone marks from Doty's ''Manual'' survives intact in modern POJ.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|pp=111, 116}} [[John Van Nest Talmage]] has traditionally been regarded as the founder of POJ among the community which uses the orthography, although it now seems that he was an early promoter of the system, rather than its inventor.{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=14}}{{sfnp|Heylen|2001|p=149}}

In 1842 the [[Treaty of Nanking]] was concluded, which included among its provisions the creation of [[treaty port]]s in which Christian missionaries would be free to preach.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=92}} [[Xiamen]] (then known as Amoy) was one of these treaty ports, and British, Canadian and American missionaries moved in to start preaching to the local inhabitants. These missionaries, housed in the cantonment of [[Gulangyu Island|Gulangyu]], created reference works and religious tracts, including a [[bible translation]].{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=92}} Naturally, they based the pronunciation of their romanization on the speech of Xiamen, which became the de facto standard when they eventually moved into other areas of the Hokkien [[Sprachraum]], most notably Taiwan.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=93}} The 1858 [[Treaty of Tianjin]] officially opened Taiwan to western missionaries, and missionary societies were quick to send men to work in the field, usually after a sojourn in Xiamen to acquire the rudiments of the language.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=93}}

===Maturity===
{{Quote box
 | quote  = Khó-sioh lín pún-kok ê jī chin oh, chió chió lâng khòaⁿ ē hiáu-tit. Só͘-í góan ū siat pa̍t-mih ê hoat-tō͘, ēng pe̍h-ōe-jī lâi ìn-chheh, hō͘ lín chèng-lâng khòaⁿ khah khòai bat... Lâng m̄-thang phah-sǹg in-ūi i bat Khóng-chú-jī só͘-í m̄-bián o̍h chit-hō ê jī; iā m̄-thang khòaⁿ-khin i, kóng sī gín-á só͘-tha̍k--ê.
<p>Because the characters in your country are so difficult only a few people are literate. Therefore we have striven to print books in ''pe̍h-ōe-jī'' to help you to read... don't think that if you know [[Chinese characters]] you needn't learn this script, nor should you regard it as a childish thing.
 | source = Thomas Barclay, ''Tâi-oân-hú-siâⁿ Kàu-hōe-pò'', Issue 1
 | width  = 350px
 | align  = right
}}
[[Quanzhou dialect|Quanzhou]] and [[Zhangzhou dialect|Zhangzhou]] are two major varieties of Southern Min, and in Xiamen they combined to form something "not Quan, not Zhang" – i.e. not one or the other, but rather a fusion, which became known as ''Amoy Dialect'' or ''Amoy Chinese''.{{sfnp|Ang|1992|p=2}} In Taiwan, with its mixture of migrants from both Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, the linguistic situation was similar; although the resulting blend in the southern city of [[Tainan]] differed from the Xiamen blend, it was close enough that the missionaries could ignore the differences and import their system wholesale.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=93}}

The fact that religious tracts, dictionaries, and teaching guides already existed in the Xiamen tongue meant that the missionaries in Taiwan could begin proselytizing immediately, without the intervening time needed to write those materials.{{sfnp|Heylen|2001|p=160}}
<!--[[File:thomasbarclaypre1923.jpg|thumb|left|200px|alt=Portrait of Thomas Barclay|Scotsman Thomas Barclay, influential promoter of POJ]]-->
Missionary opinion was divided on whether POJ was desirable as an end in itself as a full-fledged orthography, or as a means to literacy in [[Chinese characters]]. [[William Campbell (missionary)|William Campbell]] described POJ as a step on the road to reading and writing the characters, claiming that to promote it as an independent writing system would inflame nationalist passions in China, where characters were considered a sacred part of Chinese culture.{{sfnp|Klöter|2002|p=13}} Taking the other side, [[Thomas Barclay (missionary)|Thomas Barclay]] believed that literacy in POJ should be a goal rather than a [[wikt:waypoint|waypoint]]:
{{blockquote|Soon after my arrival in Formosa I became firmly convinced of three things, and more than fifty years experience has strengthened my conviction. The first was that if you are to have a healthy, living Church it is necessary that all the members, men and women, read the Scriptures for themselves; second, that this end can never be attained by the use of the Chinese character; third, that it can be attained by the use of the alphabetic script, this Romanised Vernacular.|Thomas Barclay<ref>Quoted in {{harvp|Band|1936|p=67}}</ref>}}
<!--[[File:Kau-hoe-po.png|thumb|right|200px|The front page of the first edition of the ''Taiwan Prefectural City Church News'', later renamed the ''[[Taiwan Church News]]''|alt=Taiwan Church News front page]]-->
A great boon to the promotion of POJ in Taiwan came in 1880 when [[James Laidlaw Maxwell]], a medical missionary based in [[Tainan]], donated a small printing press to the local church,<ref name=TCP>{{cite web|url=http://enews.pctpress.org/about_us.htm|title=Our Story|publisher=Taiwan Church News|accessdate=2009-04-30|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301035437/http://enews.pctpress.org/about_us.htm <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archivedate=2009-03-01}}</ref> which [[Thomas Barclay (missionary)|Thomas Barclay]] learned how to operate in 1881 before founding the Presbyterian Church Press in 1884. Subsequently, the ''[[Taiwan Church News|Taiwan Prefectural City Church News]]'', which first appeared in 1885 and was produced by Barclay's Presbyterian Church of Taiwan Press,<ref name=TCP/> became the first printed newspaper in Taiwan.{{sfnp|Copper|2007|p=240}}

As other authors made their own alterations to the conventions laid down by Medhurst and Doty, ''pe̍h-ōe-jī'' evolved and eventually settled into its current form. [[Ernest Tipson]]'s 1934 pocket dictionary was the first reference work to reflect this modern spelling.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=114}}  Between Medhurst's dictionary of 1832 and the standardization of POJ in Tipson's time, there were a number of works published, which can be used to chart the change over time of ''pe̍h-ōe-jī'':<ref>Adapted from {{harvp|Klöter|2005|pp=113–6}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|+ Evolution of ''pe̍h-ōe-jī'', 1832–1934
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Year
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Author
! colspan="9" scope="col" | Pe̍h-ōe-jī spellings comparison
! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Source
|-
! width=50 scope="col" | {{IPAblink|tɕ}}
! width=50 scope="col" | {{IPAblink|ts}}
! width=50 scope="col" | {{IPAblink|ŋ}} {{IPA|[ŋ]}}
! width=50 scope="col" | {{IPA|[ɪɛn]}}/{{IPA|[ɛn]}}
! width=50 scope="col" | {{IPA|[iɛt̚]}}
! width=50 scope="col" | {{IPA|[ɪk]}}
! width=50 scope="col" | {{IPA|[iŋ]}}
! width=50 scope="col" | {{IPAblink|ɔ}}
! width=50 scope="col" | {{IPAblink|◌ʰ}}
|- align=center
|1832||Medhurst||colspan=2|ch||gn||ëen||ëet||ek||eng||oe||'h
|{{sfnp|Medhurst|1832}}
|-align=center
|1853||Doty||colspan=2|ch||ng||ian||iat||iek||ieng||o͘||'
|{{sfnp|Doty|1853}}
|-align=center
|1869||MacGowan||colspan=2|ts||ng||ien||iet||ek||eng||o͘||h
|{{sfnp|MacGowan|1869}}
|-align=center
|1873||Douglas||ch||ts||ng||ien||iet||ek||eng||ɵ͘||h
|{{sfnp|Douglas|1873}}
|-align=center
|1894||Van Nest Talmage||colspan=2|ch||ng||ian||iat||ek||eng||o͘||h
|{{sfnp|Van Nest Talmage|1894}}
|-align=center
|1911||Warnshuis & de Pree||colspan=2|ch||ng||ian||iat||ek||eng||o͘||h
|{{sfnp|Warnshuis|de Pree|1911}}
|-align=center
|1913||Campbell||ch||ts||ng||ian||iat||ek||eng||o͘||h
|{{sfnp|Campbell|1913}}
|-align=center
|1923||Barclay||ch||ts||ng||ian||iet||ek||eng||o͘||h
|{{sfnp|Barclay|1923}}
|-align=center
|1934||Tipson||colspan=2|ch||ng||ian||iat||ek||eng||o͘||h
|{{sfnp|Tipson|1934}}
|}
[[File:Taiwanese kana.svg|thumb|right|[[Taiwanese kana]] used as [[ruby character]]s|alt=Taiwanese kana]]
Competition for POJ was introduced during the [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Japanese era]] in Taiwan (1895–1945) in the form of [[Taiwanese kana]], a system designed as a teaching aid and pronunciation guide, rather than an independent orthography like POJ.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=136}} From the 1930s onwards, with the increasing militarization of Japan and the [[Taiwan under Japanese rule#Kōminka: "Subjects of the Emperor" (1937-1945)|Kōminka]] movement encouraging Taiwanese people to "[[Japanization|Japanize]]", there were a raft of measures taken against native languages, including Taiwanese.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=153}} While these moves resulted in a suppression of POJ, they were "a logical consequence of increasing the amount of education in Japanese, rather than an explicit attempt to ban a particular Taiwanese orthography in favor of [[Taiwanese kana]]".{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=154}}

The [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] beginning in 1937 brought stricter measures into force, and along with the outlawing of romanized Taiwanese, various publications were prohibited and Confucian-style ''shobō'' ({{zh|t=書房|p=shūfáng|poj=su-pâng}}) – private schools which taught [[Classical Chinese]] with literary Southern Min pronunciation – were closed down in 1939.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=135}} The Japanese authorities came to perceive POJ as an obstacle to Japanization and also suspected that POJ was being used to hide "concealed codes and secret revolutionary messages".{{sfnp|Lin|1999|p=21}} In the climate of the ongoing war the government banned the ''Taiwan Church News'' in 1942 as it was written in POJ.{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=18}}

===After World War II===
[[File:Banning of POJ.gif|thumb|right|A decree (1955) banning Pe̍h-ōe-jī.]]
Initially the [[Kuomintang]] government in Taiwan had a liberal attitude towards "local dialects" (i.e. non-Mandarin varieties of Chinese). The [[National Languages Committee]] produced booklets outlining versions of [[Bopomofo]] for writing the Taiwanese tongue, these being intended for newly arrived government officials from outside Taiwan as well as local Taiwanese.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=231}} The first government action against native languages came in 1953, when the use of Taiwanese or Japanese for instruction was forbidden.{{sfnp|Lin|1999|p=1}} The next move to suppress the movement came in 1955, when the use of POJ for proselytizing was outlawed.{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=18}} At that point in time there were 115,000 people literate in POJ in Taiwan, Fujian, and southeast Asia.{{sfnp|Tiuⁿ|2004|p=7}}

Two years later, missionaries were banned from using romanized bibles, and the use of "native languages" (i.e. Taiwanese Hakka, Hakka, and the non-Sinitic [[Formosan languages]]) in church work became illegal.{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=18}} The ban on POJ bibles was overturned in 1959, but churches were "encouraged" to use character bibles instead.{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=18}} Government activities against POJ intensified in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when several publications were banned or seized in an effort to prevent the spread of the romanization. In 1964 use of Taiwanese in schools or official settings was forbidden,{{sfnp|Lin|1999|p=1}} and transgression in schools punished with beatings, fines and humiliation.{{sfnp|Sandel|2003|p=533}} The ''Taiwan Church News'' (printed in POJ) was banned in 1969, and only allowed to return a year later when the publishers agreed to print it in [[Chinese characters]].{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=18}}{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=217}}

In 1974, the [[Government Information Office]] banned ''[[#CITEREFEmbree1973|A Dictionary of Southern Min]]'', with a government official saying: "We have no objection to the dictionary being used by foreigners. They could use it in mimeographed form. But we don't want it published as a book and sold publicly because of the Romanization it contains. Chinese should not be learning Chinese through Romanization."<ref>{{Cite news |title=Guide to Dialect Barred in Taiwan: Dictionary Tried to Render Local Chinese Sounds |author= |newspaper= [[New York Times]] |date=September 15, 1974 |at=sec. GN, p. 15 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E02E0DD1E30E234A75756C1A96F9C946590D6CF |accessdate=18 December 2014}}; quoted in {{harvp|Lin|1999|p=22}}</ref> Also in the 1970s, a POJ [[New Testament]] translation known as the "Red Cover Bible" (''Âng-phoê Sèng-keng'') was confiscated and banned by the Nationalist regime.{{sfnp|Iûⁿ|2009|p=24}} Official moves against native languages continued into the 1980s, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of the Interior decided in 1984 to forbid missionaries to use "local dialects" and romanizations in their work.{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=18}}

With the ending of martial law in 1987, the restrictions on "local languages" were quietly lifted,{{sfnp|Sandel|2003|p=530}} resulting in growing interest in Taiwanese writing during the 1990s.{{sfnp|Wu|2007|p=1}} For the first time since the 1950s, Taiwanese language and literature was discussed and debated openly in newspapers and journals.{{sfnp|Wu|2007|p=9}} There was also support from the then opposition party, the [[Democratic Progressive Party]], for writing in the language.{{sfnp|Lin|1999|p=1}} From a total of 26 documented orthographies for Taiwanese in 1987 (including defunct systems), there were a further 38 invented from 1987 to 1999, including 30 different romanizations, six adaptations of ''bopomofo'' and two [[hangul]]-like systems.{{sfnp|Chiung|2005|p=275}} Some commentators believe that the Kuomintang, while steering clear of outright banning of the native language movements after the end of martial law, took a "divide and conquer" approach by promoting [[Taiwanese Language Phonetic Alphabet]] (TLPA), an alternative to POJ,{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=19}} which was at the time the choice of the majority inside the nativization movement.{{sfnp|Chiung|2005|p=273}}

Native language education has remained a fiercely debated topic in Taiwan into the 21st century and is the subject of much political wrangling.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=[[Taipei Times]] |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/02/28/2003437216 |title=Activists demand Hoklo exams |author=Loa Iok-sin |date=2009-02-28 |accessdate=2010-03-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |publisher=[[China Post]] |date=2003-09-25 |url=http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/2003/09/25/41604/Premiers-comments.htm |title=Premier's comments over language status draws anger |accessdate=2010-03-31}}</ref>

==Current system==
{{See also|Comparison of Hokkien writing systems|Written Hokkien}}
The current system of ''pe̍h-ōe-jī'' has been stable since the 1930s, with a few minor exceptions (detailed below).{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=98}} There is a fair degree of similarity with the [[Vietnamese alphabet]], including the {{angle bracket|b/p/ph}} distinction and the use of {{angle bracket|[[ơ]]}} in Vietnamese compared with {{angle bracket|[[o͘]]}} in POJ.{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=15}} POJ uses the following letters and combinations:{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=99}}
{| class=wikitable style="font-size: 1.25em;"
|-align=center
!<small>Capital letters</small>
|A||B||Ch||Chh||E||G||H||I||J||K||Kh||L||M||colspan=2|N||Ng||O||O͘||P||Ph||S||T||Th||U
|-align=center
!<small>Lowercase letters</small>
|a||b||ch||chh||e||g||h||i||j||k||kh||l||m||n||ⁿ||ng||o||o͘||p||ph||s||t||th||u
|}
[[Varieties of Chinese#Phonology|Chinese phonology]] traditionally divides syllables in Chinese into three parts; firstly the ''initial'', a consonant or consonant blend which appears at the beginning of the syllable, secondly the ''final'', consisting of a ''medial vowel'' (optional), a ''nucleus vowel'', and an optional ''ending''; and finally the tone, which is applied to the whole syllable.{{sfnp|Chung|1996|p=78}} In terms of the non-tonal (i.e. phonemic) features, the ''nucleus vowel'' is the only required part of a licit consonant in Chinese varieties.{{sfnp|Chung|1996|p=78}} Unlike Mandarin but like other southern varieties of Chinese, Taiwanese has final [[stop consonant]]s with [[no audible release]], a feature that has been preserved from [[Middle Chinese]].{{sfnp|Norman|1998|p=237}} There is some debate as to whether these stops are a tonal feature or a phonemic one, with some authorities distinguishing between {{angle bracket|-h}} as a tonal feature, and {{angle bracket|-p}}, {{angle bracket|-t}}, and {{angle bracket|-k}} as phonemic features.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=14}} Southern Min dialects also have an optional nasal property, which is written with a superscript {{angle bracket|ⁿ}} and usually identified as being part of the vowel.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=15}}

A legitimate syllable in Hokkien takes the form <code>(initial) + (medial vowel) + nucleus + (stop) + tone</code>, where items in parenthesis indicate optional components.{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|p=109}}

The initials are:{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=30}}
{|class=wikitable
!rowspan=2 colspan=2| !!colspan=2|[[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]!!colspan=2|[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
!colspan=2|[[Alveolo-palatal consonant|Alveolo-palatal]]!!colspan=2|[[Velar consonant|Velar]]!![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
![[Voicelessness|Voiceless]]!![[Voice (phonetics)|Voiced]]!![[Voicelessness|Voiceless]]!![[Voice (phonetics)|Voiced]]
![[Voicelessness|Voiceless]]!![[Voice (phonetics)|Voiced]]!![[Voicelessness|Voiceless]]!![[Voice (phonetics)|Voiced]]
![[Voicelessness|Voiceless]]
|-align=center
!colspan=2|[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| ||[[Bilabial nasal|'''<big>m</big>''' {{IPA|[m]}}]]<br/>ㄇ 毛 (mo͘ )|| ||[[Alveolar nasal|'''<big>n</big>''' {{IPA|[n]}}]]<br/>ㄋ 耐 (nāi)|| ||
| ||[[Velar nasal|'''<big>ng</big>''' {{IPA|[ŋ]}}]]<br/>ㄫ 雅 (ngá)||
|-align=center
!rowspan=2|[[Stop consonant|Stop]]!![[Aspirated consonant|Unaspirated]]
|[[Voiceless bilabial stop|'''<big>p</big>''' {{IPA|[p]}}]]<br/>ㄅ 邊 (pian)
|[[Voiced bilabial stop|'''<big>b</big>''' {{IPA|[b]}}]]<br/>ㆠ 文 (bûn)
|[[Voiceless alveolar stop|'''<big>t</big>''' {{IPA|[t]}}]]<br/>ㄉ 地 (tē)|| || ||
|[[Voiceless velar stop|'''<big>k</big>''' {{IPA|[k]}}]]<br/>ㄍ 求 (kiû)
|[[Voiced velar stop|'''<big>g</big>''' {{IPA|[ɡ]}}]]<br/>ㆣ 語 (gí)||
|-align=center
![[Aspirated consonant|Aspirated]]
|[[Voiceless bilabial stop|'''<big>ph</big>''' {{IPA|[pʰ]}}]]<br/>ㄆ 波 (pho)|| 
|[[Voiceless alveolar stop|'''<big>th</big>''' {{IPA|[tʰ]}}]]<br/>ㄊ 他 (thaⁿ)|| || ||
|[[Voiceless velar stop|'''<big>kh</big>''' {{IPA|[kʰ]}}]]<br/>ㄎ 去 (khì)|| ||
|-align=center
!rowspan=2|[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]!![[Aspirated consonant|Unaspirated]]
| || ||[[Voiceless alveolar affricate|'''<big>ch</big>''' {{IPA|[ts]}}]]<br/>ㄗ 曾 (chan)
|[[Voiced alveolar affricate|'''<big>j</big>''' {{IPA|[dz]}}]]<br/>ㆡ 熱 (joa̍h)
|[[Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate|'''<big>chi</big>''' {{IPA|[tɕ]}}]]<br/>ㄐ 尖 (chiam)
|[[Voiced alveolo-palatal affricate|'''<big>ji</big>''' {{IPA|[dʑ]}}]]<br/>ㆢ 入 (ji̍p)|| || ||
|-align=center
![[Aspirated consonant|Aspirated]]
| || ||[[Voiceless alveolar affricate|'''<big>chh</big>''' {{IPA|[tsʰ]}}]]<br/>ㄘ 出 (chhut)||
|[[Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate|'''<big>chhi</big>''' {{IPA|[tɕʰ]}}]]<br/>ㄑ 手 (chhiú)|| || || ||
|-align=center
!colspan=2|[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| || ||[[Voiceless alveolar fricative#Voiceless alveolar sibilant|'''<big>s</big>''' {{IPA|[s]}}]]<br/>ㄙ 衫 (saⁿ)||
|[[Voiceless alveolo-palatal sibilant|'''<big>si</big>''' {{IPA|[ɕ]}}]]<br/>ㄒ 寫 (siá)|| || ||
|[[Voiceless glottal fricative|'''<big>h</big>''' {{IPA|[h]}}]]<br/>ㄏ 喜 (hí)
|-align=center
!colspan=2|[[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
| || || ||[[Alveolar lateral approximant|'''<big>l</big>''' {{IPA|[l]}}]]<br/>ㄌ 柳 (liú)|| || || || ||
|}
Vowels:{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=33}}
{|
|valign=top|
{|class=wikitable
|+Monophthongs
!rowspan=2| !!colspan=2|[[Front vowel|Front]]!![[Central vowel|Central]]!!colspan=2|[[Back vowel|Back]]
|-align=center
!Simple!![[Nasal vowel|Nasal]]!!Simple!!Simple!![[Nasal vowel|Nasal]]
|-align=center
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|[[Close front unrounded vowel|'''<big>i</big>''' {{IPA|[i]}}]]<br/>ㄧ 衣 (i)
|[[Close front unrounded vowel|'''<big>iⁿ</big>''' {{IPA|[ĩ]}}]]<br/>ㆪ 圓 (îⁿ)||
|[[Close back rounded vowel|'''<big>u</big>''' {{IPA|[u]}}]]<br/>ㄨ 污 (u)
|[[Close back rounded vowel|'''<big>uⁿ</big>''' {{IPA|[ũ]}}]]<br/>ㆫ 張 (tiuⁿ)
|-align=center
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|[[Close-mid front unrounded vowel|'''<big>e</big>''' {{IPA|[e]}}]]<br/>ㆤ 禮 (lé)
|[[Close-mid front unrounded vowel|'''<big>eⁿ</big>''' {{IPA|[ẽ]}}]]<br/>ㆥ  生 (seⁿ)
|[[Mid central vowel|'''<big>o</big>''' {{IPA|[ə]}}]]<br/>ㄜ 高 (ko)
|[[Open-mid back rounded vowel|'''<big>o͘</big>''' {{IPA|[ɔ]}}]]<br/>ㆦ 烏 (o͘ )
|[[Open-mid back rounded vowel|'''<big>oⁿ</big>''' {{IPA|[ɔ̃]}}]]<br/>ㆧ 翁 (oⁿ)
|-align=center
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|[[Open front unrounded vowel|'''<big>a</big>''' {{IPA|[a]}}]]<br/>ㄚ 查 (cha)
|[[Open front unrounded vowel|'''<big>aⁿ</big>''' {{IPA|[ã]}}]]<br/>ㆩ 衫 (saⁿ)|| || ||
|}
|valign=top|
{|class=wikitable
|+Diphthongs & Triphthongs
|-align=center
!rowspan=2|Diphthongs
|'''<big>ai</big>''' {{IPA|[aɪ]}}<br/>ㄞ||'''<big>au</big>''' {{IPA|[aʊ]}}<br/>ㄠ
|'''<big>ia</big>''' {{IPA|[ɪa]}}<br/>ㄧㄚ||'''<big>io</big>''' {{IPA|[ɪo]}}<br/>ㄧㄜ
|-align=center
|'''<big>iu</big>''' {{IPA|[iu]}}<br/>ㄧㄨ||'''<big>oa</big>''' {{IPA|[ua]}}<br/>ㄨㄚ
|'''<big>oe</big>''' {{IPA|[ue]}}<br/>ㄨㆤ||'''<big>ui</big>''' {{IPA|[ui]}}<br/>ㄨㄧ
|-align=center
!Triphthongs
|colspan=2|'''<big>iau</big>''' {{IPA|[ɪaʊ]}}<br/>ㄧㄠ||colspan=2|'''<big>oai</big>''' {{IPA|[uai]}}<br/>ㄨㄞ
|}
|}
Coda endings:
{|
|valign=top|
{|class=wikitable
! !![[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]!![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]!![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-align=center
![[Nasal consonant]]
|[[Bilabial nasal|'''<big>-m</big>''' {{IPA|[m]}}]]<br/>ㆬ||[[Alveolar nasal|'''<big>-n</big>''' {{IPA|[n]}}]]<br/>ㄣ
|[[Velar nasal|'''<big>-ng</big>''' {{IPA|[ŋ]}}]]<br/>ㆭ||
|-align=center
![[Stop consonant]]
|'''<big>-p</big>''' {{IPA|[p̚]}}<br/>ㆴ||'''<big>-t</big>''' {{IPA|[t̚]}}<br/>ㆵ||'''<big>-k</big>''' {{IPA|[k̚]}}<br/>ㆶ||[[Glottal stop|'''<big>-h</big>''' {{IPA|[ʔ]}}]]<br/>ㆷ
|}
|valign=top|
{|class=wikitable
|+[[Syllabic consonant]]
! !![[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]!![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-align=center
![[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|'''<big>m</big>''' {{IPA|[m̩]}}<br/>ㆬ 姆 (ḿ)||'''<big>ng</big>''' {{IPA|[ŋ̍]}}<br/>ㆭ 酸 (sng)
|}
|}

POJ has a limited amount of legitimate syllables, although sources disagree on some particular instances of these syllables. The following table contains all the licit spellings of POJ syllables, based on a number of sources:

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="padding:none; width:100%;"
|-
!colspan="20" style="background:lightblue;"| Licit POJ syllables
|-
|
{|class=wikitable
!width=50| !!width=50|∅!!width=50|b!!width=50|ch!!width=50|chh!!width=50|g!!width=50|h!!width=50|j!!width=50|k!!width=50|kh
!width=50|l!!width=50|m!!width=50|n!!width=50|ng!!width=50|p!!width=50|ph!!width=50|s!!width=50|t!!width=50|th!!width=50|
|-
!a
|a||ba||cha||chha||ga||ha|| ||ka||kha||la||ma||na||nga||pa||pha||sa||ta||tha
!a
|-
!aⁿ
|aⁿ|| ||chaⁿ||chhaⁿ|| ||haⁿ|| ||kaⁿ||khaⁿ|| || || || || ||phaⁿ||saⁿ||taⁿ||thaⁿ
!aⁿ
|-
!ah
|ah||bah||chah||chhah|| ||hah|| ||kah||khah||lah|| ||nah||||pah||phah||sah||tah||thah
!ah
|-
!ahⁿ
| || || || || ||hahⁿ|| || || || || || || || || ||sahⁿ|| ||
!ahⁿ
|-
!ai
|ai||bai||chai||chhai||gai||hai|| ||kai||khai||lai||mai||nai||ngai||pai||phai||sai||tai||thai
!ai
|-
!aiⁿ
|aiⁿ|| ||chaiⁿ|| ||||haiⁿ|| ||kaiⁿ||khaiⁿ|| || || || || ||phaiⁿ|| ||taiⁿ||
!aiⁿ
|-
!ak
|ak||bak||chak||chhak||gak||hak|| ||kak||khak||lak|| || || ||pak||phak||sak||tak||thak
!ak
|-
!am
|am|| ||cham||chham||gam||ham|| ||kam||kham||lam|| || || || || ||sam||tam||tham
!am
|-
!an
|an||ban||chan||chhan||gan||han|| ||kan||khan||lan|| || || ||pan||phan||san||tan||than
!an
|-
!ang
|ang||bang||chang||chhang||gang||hang||||kang||khang||lang|| || || ||pang||phang||sang||tang||thang
!ang
|-
!ap
|ap|| ||chap||chhap|| ||hap|| ||kap||khap||lap|| || || || || ||sap||tap||thap
!ap
|-
!at
|at||bat||chat||chhat|| ||hat|| ||kat||khat||lat|| || || ||pat|| ||sat||tat||that
!at
|-
!au
|au||bau||chau||chhau||gau||hau|| ||kau||khau||lau||mau||nau||ngau||pau||phau||sau||tau||thau
!au
|-
!auh
| || || ||chhauh|| || || ||kauh|| ||lauh||mauh||nauh|| || ||phauh|| ||tauh||
!auh
|-
!e
|e||be||che||chhe||ge||he|| ||ke||khe||le||me||ne||nge||pe||phe||se||te||the
!e
|-
!eⁿ
|eⁿ|| ||cheⁿ||chheⁿ|| ||heⁿ|| ||keⁿ||kheⁿ|| || || || ||peⁿ||pheⁿ||seⁿ||teⁿ||theⁿ
!eⁿ
|-
!eh
|eh||beh||cheh||chheh|| ||heh|| ||keh||kheh||leh||meh||neh||ngeh||peh|| ||{{not a typo|seh}}||teh||{{not a typo|theh}}
!eh
|-
!ehⁿ
| || || || || ||hehⁿ|| || ||khehⁿ|| || || || || || || || || 
!ehⁿ
|-
!ek
|ek||bek||chek||chhek||gek||hek|| ||kek|| ||lek|| || || ||pek||phek||sek||tek||thek
!ek
|-
!eng
|eng||{{not a typo|beng}}||cheng||chheng||geng||heng|| ||keng||kheng||leng|| || || ||peng||pheng||seng||teng||theng
!eng
|-
!i
|i||bi||chi||chhi||gi||hi||ji||ki||khi||li||mi||ni|| ||pi||phi||si||ti||thi
!i
|-
!iⁿ
|iⁿ|| ||chiⁿ||chhiⁿ|| ||hiⁿ|| ||kiⁿ||khiⁿ|| || || || || || ||siⁿ||tiⁿ||thiⁿ
!iⁿ
|-
!ia
|ia|| ||chia||chhia||gia||hia||jia||kia||khia|| ||mia||nia||ngia|| || ||sia||tia||
!ia
|-
!iaⁿ
|iaⁿ|| ||chiaⁿ||chhiaⁿ|| ||hiaⁿ|| ||kiaⁿ|| || || || || ||piaⁿ|| ||siaⁿ||tiaⁿ||thiaⁿ
!iaⁿ
|-
!iah
|iah|| ||chiah||chhiah||giah||hiah|| ||kiah||khiah||liah|| || || ||piah||phiah||siah||tiah||thiah
!iah
|-
!iahⁿ
| || || || || ||hiahⁿ|| || || || || || || || || || || ||
!iahⁿ
|-
!iak
| || || ||chhiak|| || || || ||khiak|| || || || ||piak||phiak||siak||tiak||
!iak
|-
!iam
|iam|| ||chiam||chhiam||giam||hiam||jiam||kiam||khiam||liam|| || || || || ||siam||tiam||thiam
!iam
|-
!ian
|ian||bian||chian||chhian||gian||hian||jian||kian||khian||lian|| || || ||pian||phian||sian||tian||thian
!ian
|-
!iang
|iang|| ||chiang||chhiang||giang||hiang||jiang|| ||khiang||liang|| || || ||piang||phiang||siang|| ||
!iang
|-
!iap
|iap|| ||chiap||chhiap||giap||hiap||jiap||kiap||khiap||liap|| || || || || ||siap||tiap||thiap
!iap
|-
!iat
|iat||biat||chiat||chhiat||giat||hiat||jiat||kiat||khiat||liat|| || || ||piat||phiat||siat||tiat||thiat
!iat
|-
!iau
|iau||biau||chiau||chhiau||giau||hiau||jiau||kiau||khiau||liau||miau||niau||ngiau||piau||phiau||siau||tiau||thiau
!iau
|-
!iauⁿ
|iauⁿ|| || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||
!iauⁿ 
|-
!iauh
| || || || || ||hiauh|| || ||khiauh|| || || ||ngiauh|| || || || ||
!iauh
|-
!ih
| ||bih||chih||chhih|| || || || ||khih|| ||mih||nih|| ||pih||phih||sih||tih||thih
!ih
|-
!im
|im|| ||chim||chhim||gim||him||jim||kim||khim ||lim|| || || || || ||sim||tim||thim
!im
|-
!in
|in||bin||chin||chhin||gin||hin||jin||kin||khin||lin|| || || ||pin||phin||sin||tin||thin
!in
|-
!io
|io||bio||chio||chhio||gio||hio||jio||kio||khio||lio|| || || ||pio||phio||sio||tio||thio
!io
|-
!ioh
|ioh|| ||chioh||chhioh||gioh||hioh|| ||kioh||khioh||lioh|| || || || || ||sioh||tioh||
!ioh
|-
!iok
|iok|| ||chiok||chhiok||giok||hiok||jiok||kiok||khiok||liok|| || || || || ||siok||tiok||thiok
!iok
|-
!iong
|iong|| ||chiong||chhiong||giong||hiong||jiong||kiong||khiong||liong|| || || || || ||siong||tiong||thiong
!iong
|-
!ip
|ip|| ||chip||chhip|| ||hip||jip||kip||khip||lip|| || || || || ||sip|| ||
!ip
|-
!it
|it||bit||chit||chhit|| ||hit||jit||kit||khit|| || || || ||pit||phit||sit||tit||
!it
|-
!iu
|iu||biu||chiu||chhiu||giu||hiu||jiu||kiu||khiu||liu||miu<ref>謬</ref>||niu|| ||piu|| ||siu||tiu||thiu
!iu
|-
!iuⁿ
|iuⁿ|| ||chiuⁿ||chhiuⁿ|| ||hiuⁿ|| ||kiuⁿ||khiuⁿ|| || || || || || ||siuⁿ||tiuⁿ||
!iuⁿ
|-
!iuhⁿ
|iuhⁿ|| || || || ||hiuhⁿ|| || || || || || || || || || || ||
!iuhⁿ
|-
!m
|m|| || || || ||hm|| || || || || || || || || || || ||
!m
|-
!mh
| || || || || ||hmh|| || || || || || || || || || || ||
!mh
|-
!ng
|ng|| ||chng||chhng|| ||hng|| ||kng||khng|| ||mng||nng|| ||png|| ||sng||tng||thng
!ng
|-
!ngh
| || || ||chhngh|| ||hngh|| || || || || || || || ||phngh||sngh|| ||
!ngh
|-
!o
|o||bo||cho||chho||go||ho|| ||ko||kho||lo|| || || ||po||pho||so||to||tho
!o
|-
!oⁿ
|oⁿ|| || || || ||hoⁿ|| ||koⁿ|| || || || || || || || || ||
!oⁿ
|-
!o͘
|o͘ ||bo͘ ||cho͘ ||chho͘ ||go͘ ||ho͘ || ||ko͘ ||kho͘ ||lo͘ ||mo͘ ||no͘ ||ngo͘ ||po͘ ||pho͘ ||so͘ ||to͘ ||tho͘ 
!o͘
|-
!oa
|oa||boa||choa||chhoa||goa||hoa|| ||koa||khoa||loa||moa||noa|| ||poa||phoa||soa||toa||thoa
!oa
|-
!oaⁿ
|oaⁿ|| || ||chhoaⁿ|| ||hoaⁿ|| ||koaⁿ||khoaⁿ|| || || || ||poaⁿ||phoaⁿ||soaⁿ||toaⁿ||thoaⁿ
!oaⁿ
|-
!oah
|oah||boah||choah||chhoah|| ||hoah||joah||koah||khoah||loah|| || || ||poah||phoah||soah|| ||thoah
!oah
|-
!oai
|oai|| || || || ||hoai|| ||koai||khoai|| || || || || || ||soai|| ||
!oai
|-
!oaiⁿ
|oaiⁿ|| ||choaiⁿ|| || ||hoaiⁿ|| ||koaiⁿ|| || || || || || || ||soaiⁿ|| ||
!oaiⁿ
|-
!oan
|oan||boan||choan||chhoan||goan||hoan|| ||koan||khoan||loan|| || || ||poan||phoan||soan||toan||thoan
!oan
|-
!oang
|oang|| || ||chhoang|| ||hoang || || || || || || || || || || || ||
!oang
|-
!oat
|oat||boat||choat|| ||goat||hoat|| ||koat||khoat||loat|| || || ||poat||phoat||soat||toat||thoat
!oat
|-
!oe
|oe||boe||choe||chhoe||goe||hoe||joe||koe||khoe||loe|| || || ||poe||phoe||soe||toe||
!oe
|-
!oeh
|oeh||boeh|| || ||goeh||hoeh|| ||koeh||khoeh|| || || || ||poeh||phoeh||soeh|| ||
!oeh
|-
!oh
|oh|| ||choh||chhoh|| ||hoh|| ||koh|| ||loh|| || || ||poh||phoh||soh||toh||thoh
!oh
|-
!o͘h
| || || || || || || || || || ||mo͘h|| || || || || || ||
!o͘h
|-
!ohⁿ
|ohⁿ|| || || || ||hohⁿ|| || || || || || || || || || || ||
!ohⁿ
|-
!ok
|ok||bok||chok||chhok||gok||hok|| ||kok||khok||lok|| || || ||pok||phok||sok||tok||thok
!ok
|-
!om
|om|| || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||som||tom||
!om
|-
!ong
|ong||bong||chong||chhong||gong||hong|| ||kong||khong||long|| || || ||pong||phong||song||tong||thong
!ong
|-
!u
|u||bu||chu||chhu||gu||hu||ju||ku||khu||lu|| || || ||pu||phu||su||tu||thu
!u
|-
!uh
|uh|| ||chuh||chhuh|| || || || ||khuh|| || || || ||puh||phuh|| ||tuh||thuh
!uh
|-
!ui
|ui||bui||chui||chhui||gui||hui|| ||kui||khui||lui||mui|| || ||pui||phui||sui||tui||thui
!ui
|-
!un
|un||bun||chun||chhun||gun||hun||jun||kun||khun||lun|| || || ||pun||phun||sun||tun||thun
!un
|-
!ut
|ut||but||chut||chhut|| ||hut|| ||kut||khut||lut|| || || ||put||phut||sut||tut||thut
!ut
|-
! !!∅!!b!!ch!!chh!!g!!h!!j!!k!!kh!!l!!m!!n!!ng!!p!!ph!!s!!t!!th!!
|}
|-
|style="padding-left:20px;"|<small>''Sources: Campbell,{{sfnp|Campbell|1913|pp=1–4|ps=: Entries under the initial ''ts'' have been tallied under the modern spelling of ''ch''.}} Embree,{{sfnp|Embree|1973}} Kì.{{sfnp|Kì|2008|pp=4–25}}''</small>
|}

===Tone markings===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin:0 0 10px 10px; float:right;"
|-
!{{abbr|No.|Number}}
![[Diacritic]]
!Chinese [[tone name]]
!Example<br/><small>{{Audio|POJ_tones.ogg|listen}}</small>
|-
|1
|none
|{{linktext|lang=zh-hant|陰平}} (yinping)<br/>''dark level''
|{{linktext|kha}} {{linktext|跤}}<br/>''foot; leg'' 
|-
|2
|[[acute accent|acute]]
|{{linktext|lang=zh|上聲}} ({{linktext|sióng-siaⁿ}})<br/>''rising''
|{{linktext|chúi}} {{linktext|lang=zh|水}}<br/>''water''
|-
|3
|[[grave accent|grave]]
|{{linktext|lang=zh-hant|陰去}} (yinqu)<br/>''dark departing''
|{{linktext|kàu}}<br/>''arrive''
|-
|4
|none
|{{linktext|lang=zh-hant|陰入}} (yinru)<br/>''dark entering''
|bah<br/>''meat''
|-
|5
|[[circumflex]]
|{{linktext|lang=zh-hant|陽平}} (yangping)<br/>''light level''
|{{linktext|ông}} {{linktext|lang=zh|王}}<br/>''king''
|-
|7
|[[Macron (diacritic)|macron]]
|{{linktext|lang=zh-hant|陽去}} (yangqu)<br/>''light departing''
|{{linktext|tiōng}} {{linktext|lang=zh|重}}<br/>''heavy''
|-
|8
|vertical line above
|{{linktext|lang=zh-hant|陽入}} (yangru)<br/>''light entering''
|{{linktext|joa̍h}} {{linktext|lang=zh-hant|熱}}<br/>''hot''
|}
[[File:POJ tone marks.png|thumb|250px|right|The five tone markings used in ''pe̍h-ōe-jī'', representing tones 2, 3, 5, 7, and 8|alt=POJ tone markings]]
In standard Amoy or Taiwanese Hokkien there are seven distinct [[tone (linguistics)|tones]], which by convention are numbered 1–8, with number 6 omitted (tone 6 used to be a distinct tone, but has long since merged with tone 2).{{sfnp|Maryknoll|1984|pp=5–7}} Tones 1 and 4 are both represented without a [[diacritic]], and can be distinguished from each other by the syllable ending, which is a vowel, {{angle bracket|-n}}, {{angle bracket|-m}}, or {{angle bracket|-ng}} for tone 1, and {{angle bracket|-h}}, {{angle bracket|-k}}, {{angle bracket|-p}}, and {{angle bracket|-t}} for tone 4.

Southern Min dialects undergo considerable [[tone sandhi]], i.e. changes to the tone depending on the position of the syllable in any given sentence or utterance.{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|p=109}} However, like [[pinyin]] for [[Mandarin Chinese]], POJ always marks the citation tone (i.e. the original, pre-sandhi tone) rather than the tone which is actually spoken.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=100}} This means that when reading aloud the reader must adjust the tone markings on the page to account for sandhi. Some textbooks for learners of Southern Min mark both the citation tone and the sandhi tone to assist the learner.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=101}}

There is some debate as to the correct placement of tone marks in the case of [[diphthong]]s and [[triphthong]]s, particularly those which include {{angle bracket|oa}} and {{angle bracket|oe}}.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=102}} Most modern writers follow six rules:{{sfnp|Chang|2001|pp=86–88}}

#If the syllable has one vowel, that vowel should be tone-marked; viz. {{angle bracket|tī}}, {{angle bracket|láng}}, {{angle bracket|chhu̍t}}
#If a diphthong contains {{angle bracket|i}} or {{angle bracket|u}}, the tone mark goes above the ''other'' vowel; viz. {{angle bracket|ia̍h}}, {{angle bracket|kiò}}, {{angle bracket|táu}}
#If a diphthong includes both {{angle bracket|i}} and {{angle bracket|u}}, mark the {{angle bracket|u}}; viz. {{angle bracket|iû}}, {{angle bracket|ùi}}
#If the ''final'' is made up of three or more letters, mark the second vowel (except when rules 2 and 3 apply); viz. {{angle bracket|goán}}, {{angle bracket|oāi}}, {{angle bracket|khiáu}}  <!-- Note: the accent mark location for goan here conflicts with the marking of goan in the section "Audio Samples" below.  It also conflicts with marks in Wiktionary. -->
#If {{angle bracket|o}} occurs with {{angle bracket|a}} or {{angle bracket|e}}, mark the {{angle bracket|o}} (except when rule 4 applies); viz. {{angle bracket|òa}}, {{angle bracket|thóe}}
#If the syllable has no vowel, mark the nasal consonant; viz. {{angle bracket|m̄}}, {{angle bracket|ǹg}}, {{angle bracket|mn̂g}}

===Hyphens===
A single hyphen is used to indicate a compound. What constitutes a compound is controversial, with some authors equating it to a "word" in English, and others not willing to limit it to the English concept of a word.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=102}} Examples from POJ include {{angle bracket|sì-cha̍p}} "forty", {{angle bracket|bé-hì-thôan}} "circus", and {{angle bracket|hôe-ho̍k}} "recover (from illness)". The rule-based sandhi behaviour of tones in compounds has not yet been clearly defined by linguists.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=103}} A double hyphen {{angle bracket|--}} is used when POJ is deployed as an orthography (rather than as a transcription system) to indicate that the following syllable should be pronounced in the neutral tone.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=103–104}} It also marks to the reader that the preceding syllable does not undergo tone sandhi, as it would were the following syllable non-neutral. [[Morpheme]]s following a double hyphen are often (but not always) grammatical function words.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=104}}

=== Audio examples ===
{| border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0
|- style="background:#eee;"
! align=left | POJ
! align=left | Translation
! align=left | Audio File
|-
| {{lang|nan|Sian-siⁿ kóng, ha̍k-seng tiām-tiām thiaⁿ.}} || A teacher/master speaks, students quietly listen. || {{Audio|Taiwanese_Kana_Example.ogg|listen}}
|-
| {{lang|nan|Kin-á-jit hit-ê cha-bó͘ gín-á lâi góan tau khòaⁿ góa.}} || Today that girl came to my house to see me. || {{Audio|Tai JintianDaoJiaKanWo.ogg|listen}}
|-
| {{lang|nan|Thài-khong pêng-iú, lín-hó. Lín chia̍h-pá--bē? Ū-êng, to̍h lâi gún chia chē--ô͘!}} <!-- The double hyphen is correctly a part of the POJ orthography. --> || Space friends, how are you? Have you eaten yet? When you have the time, come on over to eat.|| [https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/assets/audio/golden-record/amoy.au Listen] (from [[NASA]] [[Voyager Golden Record]])
|}

===Regional differences===
In addition to the standard syllables detailed above, there are several regional variations of Hokkien which can be represented with non-standard or semi-standard spellings. In the [[Zhangzhou dialect|Zhangzhou accent]], spoken in [[Zhangzhou]] and parts of Taiwan, particularly the northeastern coast around [[Yilan City]], the final {{angle bracket|ng}} is replaced with {{angle bracket|uiⁿ}}, for example in "egg" {{angle bracket|nuīⁿ}} and "cooked rice" {{angle bracket|pūiⁿ}}.{{sfnp|Chang|2001|p=134}}  The /[[Open-mid front unrounded vowel|ɛ]]/ vowel is written as {{angle bracket|ɛ}} or {{angle bracket|e͘}} (with a dot above right, by analogy with {{angle bracket|o͘}}).

==Texts==
{{Quote box
 | quote  = Goân-khí-thâu Siōng-tè chhòng-chō thiⁿ kap tōe. Tōe sī khang-khang hūn-tūn; chhim-ian ê bin-chiūⁿ o͘-àm; Siōng-tè ê Sîn ūn-tōng tī chúi-bīn. Siōng-tè kóng, Tio̍h ū kng, chiū ū kng. Siōng-tè khòaⁿ kng, sī hó; Siōng-tè chiong kng àm pun-khui. Siōng-tè kiò hit ê kng chòe Ji̍t, kiò àm chòe Mî. Ū ê-hng ū chá-khí ''sī thâu'' chi̍t-ji̍t.
 | source = Genesis 1:1–5{{sfnp|Barclay|Lun|Nĝ|Lu|1933|p=1}}
 | width  = 300px
 | align  = right
}}
Due to POJ's origins in the church, much of the material in the script is religious in nature, including several Bible translations, books of hymns, and guides to morality. The Tainan Church Press, established in 1884, has been printing POJ materials ever since, with periods of quiet when POJ was suppressed in the early 1940s and from around 1955 to 1987. In the period to 1955, over 2.3 million volumes of POJ books were printed,{{sfnp|Tiuⁿ|2004|p=6}} and one study in 2002 catalogued 840 different POJ texts in existence.{{sfnp|Tiuⁿ|2004|p=8}} Besides [[:zh-min-nan:Thâu-ia̍h|a Southern Min version of Wikipedia]] in the orthography,{{sfnp|Iûⁿ|2009|p=23}} there are teaching materials, religious texts, and books about linguistics, medicine and geography.
*Lán ê Kiù-chú Iâ-so͘ Ki-tok ê Sin-iok (1873 translation of the [[New Testament]])
*[[Lāi-goā-kho Khàn-hō͘-ha̍k]], by George Gushue-Taylor, 1917
*''[[#CITEREFDouglas1873|Chinese–English dictionary of the vernacular or spoken language of Amoy]]'', by [[Carstairs Douglas]], 1873
*''Lear Ông'', translation of [[King Lear]] by Tē Hūi-hun

==Computing==
POJ was initially not well supported by word-processing applications due to the special diacritics needed to write it. Support has now improved and there are now sufficient resources to both enter and display POJ correctly. Several [[input method]]s exist to enter [[Unicode]]-compliant POJ, including [[OpenVanilla]] ([[OS X]] and [[Microsoft Windows]]), the [[cross-platform]] Tai-lo Input Method released by the Taiwanese [[Ministry of Education (Republic of China)|Ministry of Education]], and the [[Firefox]] add-on Transliterator, which allows in-browser POJ input.{{sfnp|Iûⁿ|2009|p=29}} When POJ was first used in word-processing applications it was not fully supported by the Unicode standard, thus necessitating work-arounds. One employed was encoding the necessary characters in the "Private Use" section of Unicode, but this required both the writer and the reader to have the correct custom font installed.{{sfnp|Iûⁿ|2009|p=20}} Another solution was to replace troublesome characters with near equivalents, for example substituting {{angle bracket|ä}} for {{angle bracket|ā}} or using a standard {{angle bracket|o}} followed by an [[interpunct]] to represent {{angle bracket|[[o͘]]}}.{{sfnp|Iûⁿ|2009|p=20}} With the introduction into Unicode 4.1.0 of the [[combining character]] {{unichar|358|COMBINING DOT ABOVE RIGHT|cwith=◌}} in 2004, all the necessary characters were present to write regular POJ without the need for workarounds.{{sfnp|Iûⁿ|2009|p=11}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0300.pdf|title=Combining Diacritical Marks|publisher=unicode.org|accessdate=2010-07-29|page=34}}</ref> However, even after the addition of these characters, there are still relatively few fonts which are able to properly render the script, including the combining characters. Some of those which can are [[Charis SIL]], [[DejaVu fonts|DejaVu]], [[Doulos SIL]], [[Linux Libertine]], [[Taigi Unicode]], and [[Source Sans Pro]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://github.com/adobe-fonts/source-sans-pro/releases/tag/3.006R|title=Fonts version 3.006 (OTF, TTF, WOFF, WOFF2, Variable)|publisher=Adobe Systems Incorporated|website=GitHub|accessdate=2010-09-06|date=2010-09-06}}</ref>{{sfnp|Iûⁿ|2009|p=20}}

==Han-Romanization mixed script==
{{Quote box
 | quote  = 翻 tńg 工，我 koh hap i tī Hotel ê 餐廳食西式 ê chái 起，我講 beh tò 去稅厝 ê 所在，i beh 送我去，我 kā 拒絕，mā 無 beh hō͘ i 知我 ê 地址、電話番，講若有緣就會 koh 再相會。I 講人海茫茫，我若無 tī hit 間跳舞、唱歌，i beh 去 toh 位 chhōe--我？「就是 án-ni m̄-chiah 講是緣」，我嘴是 án-ni 應，心肝內知影 kap i 自細漢到這時 ê 牽連、綿纏無 hiah 簡單就煞。
 | source = Sample mixed orthography text{{sfnp|Sidaia|1998|p=264}}
 | width  = 350px
 | align  = right
}}
One of the most popular modern ways of writing Taiwanese is by using a mixed orthography{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=225}} called Hàn-lô{{sfnp|Ota|2005|p=21}} ({{zh|t=漢羅|p=Hàn-Luó|s=汉罗}}; literally ''Chinese-Roman''), and sometimes ''Han-Romanization mixed script'', a style not unlike written [[Japanese writing system|Japanese]] or (historically) [[hanja|Korean]].{{sfnp|Iûⁿ|2009|p=10}} In fact, the term Hàn-lô does not describe one specific system, but covers any kind of writing in Southern Min which features both Chinese characters and romanization.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=225}} That romanization is usually POJ, although recently some texts have begun appearing with [[Taiwanese Romanization System]] (Tâi-lô) spellings too. The problem with using only Chinese characters to write Southern Min is that there are many morphemes (estimated to be around 15 percent of running text){{sfnp|Lin|1999|p=7}} which are not definitively associated with a particular character. Various strategies have been developed to deal with the issue, including creating new characters, allocating Chinese characters used in written Mandarin with similar meanings (but dissimilar etymology) to represent the missing characters, or using romanization for the "missing 15%".{{sfnp|Lin|1999|pp=9–11}} There are two rationales for using mixed orthography writing, with two different aims. The first is to allow native speakers (almost all of whom can already write Chinese characters) to make use of their knowledge of characters, while replacing the missing 15% with romanization.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=225}} The second is to wean character literates off using them gradually, to be replaced eventually by fully romanized text.{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=230}}
Examples of modern texts in Hàn-lô include religious, pedagogical, scholarly, and literary works, such as:
*{{cite book|author=Chang Yu-hong|title=Principles of POJ}}{{sfnp|Chang|2001}}
*{{cite book|title=A-Chhûn|author=Babuja A. Sidaia}}{{sfnp|Sidaia|1998}}

==Adaptations for other Chinese varieties==
POJ has been adapted for several other [[varieties of Chinese]], with varying degrees of success. For [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]], missionaries and others have produced a Bible translation, hymn book, textbooks, and dictionaries.{{sfnp|Wu|Chen|2004}} Materials produced in the orthography, called [[Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]], include:
*{{cite book|title=Hak-ngi Sṳn-kin, Sin-yuk lau Sṳ-phien: Hien-thoi Thoi-van Hak-ngi Yit-pun (Hakka Bible, New Testament and Psalms: Today's Taiwan Hakka Version)|publisher=Bible Society|year=1993}}
*{{cite book|title=Thai-ka Loi Hok Hak-fa (Everybody Learn Hakka)|isbn=957-638-017-0|author=Phang Tet-siu|year=1994|publisher=Southern Materials Center|location=Taipei}}
*{{cite book|author=Phang Tet-siu|title=Hak-ka-fa Fat-yim Sṳ-tien (Hakka Pronunciation Dictionary)|publisher=Southern Materials Center|location=Taipei|year=1996|isbn=957-638-359-5}}
*{{cite book|title=Hak-ka Sṳn-sṳ (Hakka Hymns)|isbn=957-8349-75-0|year=1999|publisher=PCT Press|place=Tainan}}
A modified version of POJ has also been created for [[Teochew dialect|Teochew]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hailufeng.com/detail/?newsid=23156|script-title=zh:潮州字典-韵母表|publisher=Hailufeng|accessdate=2010-03-10|language=Chinese}}</ref>

==Current status==
[[File:Books which use the Pe̍h-ōe-jī romanisation system for Southern Min-Taiwanese.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Some books which use ''pe̍h-ōe-jī'', including textbooks, dictionaries, a bible, poetry, and academic works|alt=Some POJ books]]
Most native Southern Min speakers in Taiwan are unfamiliar with POJ or any other writing system,{{sfnp|Ota|2005|p=20}} commonly asserting that "Taiwanese has no writing",{{sfnp|Baran|2004|p=35–5}} or, if they are made aware of POJ, considering romanization as the "low" form of writing, in contrast with the "high" form (Chinese characters).{{sfnp|Chiung|2005|p=300}} For those who are introduced to POJ alongside Han-lo and completely Chinese character-based systems, a clear preference has been shown for all-character systems, with all-romanization systems at the bottom of the preference list, likely because of the preexisting familiarity of readers with Chinese characters.{{sfnp|Chiung|2005|p=301}}

POJ remains the Taiwanese orthography "with the richest inventory of written work, including dictionaries, textbooks, literature [...] and other publications in many areas".{{sfnp|Chiung|2005|p=272}} A 1999 estimate put the number of literate POJ users at around 100,000,{{sfnp|Lin|1999|p=17}} and secular organizations have been formed to promote the use of romanization among Taiwanese speakers.{{sfnp|Chiung|2007|p=474}}

Outside Taiwan, POJ is rarely used. For example, in Fujian, [[Xiamen University]] uses a romanization known as [[Bbánlám pìngyīm]], based on [[Pinyin]]. In other areas where Hokkien is spoken, such as [[Singapore]], the [[Speak Mandarin Campaign]] is underway to actively discourage people from speaking Hokkien or other non-Mandarin varieties in favour of switching to Mandarin instead.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSIN366189 |title=Eyeing China, Singapore sees Mandarin as its future |publisher=Reuters |date=2009-09-16 |accessdate=2009-10-31 |last=Wong-Anan |first=Nopporn}}</ref>

In 2006, Taiwan's [[Ministry of Education (Taiwan)|Ministry of Education]] chose an official romanization for use in teaching Southern Min in the state school system.{{sfnp|Tseng|2009|p=2}} POJ was one of the candidate systems, along with [[Daighi tongiong pingim]], but a compromise system, the [[Taiwanese Romanization System]] or ''Tâi-Lô'', was chosen in the end.<ref>{{citation |script-title=zh:閩南語鄉土教學確定採台灣閩南語羅馬字拼音 |trans-title=Southern Min native language teaching to use Taiwan Southern Min Romanization |url=http://blog.udn.com/alexandroslee/471006|publisher=Central News Agency|language=Chinese}}</ref> Tâi-Lô retains most of the orthographic standards of POJ, including the tone marks, while changing the troublesome {{angle bracket|o͘}} character for {{angle bracket|oo}}, swapping {{angle bracket|ts}} for {{angle bracket|ch}}, and replacing {{angle bracket|o}} in [[diphthong]]s with {{angle bracket|u}}.{{sfnp|Tseng|2009|pp=2–5}} Supporters of Taiwanese writing are in general deeply suspicious of government involvement, given the history of official suppression of native languages,{{sfnp|Klöter|2005|p=248}} making it unclear whether Tâi-Lô or POJ will become the dominant system in the future.

==References==
{{RCL}}
;Notes
{{Reflist|25em}}
{{Clear}}
;Bibliography
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book|title=Taiwan Fangyan zhi Lü (A Journey Through Taiwanese Regional Speech)|last=Ang|first=Ui-jin|authorlink=Ang Ui-jin|year=1992|isbn=957-9512-31-0|publisher=Avanguard Publishing|location=Taipei|language=Chinese |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |title=Barclay of Formosa |last=Band |first=Edward |publisher=Christian Literature Society |location=Ginza, Tokyo |year=1936 |oclc=4386066 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite conference |title="Taiwanese don't have written words": Language ideologies and language practice in a Taipei County high school |last=Baran |first=Dominika |conference=2004 International Conference on Taiwanese Romanization |year=2004 |volume=2 |oclc=77082548 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last1=Barclay |first1=Thomas |last2=Lun |first2=Un-jîn |last3=Nĝ |first3=Má-hūi |last4=Lu |first4=Iok-tia |title=Sin-kū-iok ê Sèng-keng |date=1933 |oclc=48696650 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=William |author-link=William Campbell (missionary) |title=A Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular spoken throughout the prefectures of Chin-chiu, Chiang-chiu and Formosa |year=1913 |publisher=Taiwan Church Press |location=Tainan |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000072254844 |oclc=867068660 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=William|author-link=William Campbell (missionary)|title=A Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular|isbn=957-8959-92-3|year=2006|origyear=1913|publisher=PCT Press|location=Tainan}}
*{{cite book |last=Chang  |first=Yu-hong |isbn=9789572053072 |title=Principles of POJ or the Taiwanese Orthography: An Introduction to Its Sound-Symbol Correspondences and Related Issues |publisher=Crane |location=Taipei |year=2001 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|title=Learning Efficiencies for Different Orthographies: A Comparative Study of Han Characters and Vietnamese Romanization.' (PhD dissertation)|last=Chiung|first=Wi-vun Taiffalo|year=2003|publisher=University of Texas at Arlington|url=http://uibun.twl.ncku.edu.tw/chuliau/lunsoat/english/phd/index.htm}}
*{{cite book |last=Chiung |first=Wi-vun Taiffalo |title=Language, Identity and Decolonization |year=2005 |isbn=9789578845855 |publisher=National Cheng Kung University |location=Tainan |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last=Chiung |first=Wi-vun Taiffalo |title=Language, Literature and Reimagined Taiwanese Nation |year=2007 |isbn=9789860097467 |publisher=National Cheng Kung University |location=Tainan |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|last=Chiung|first=Wi-vun Taiffalo|title=Nations, Mother Tongues and Phonemic Writing|year=2011|isbn=978-986-02-7359-5|publisher=National Cheng Kung University|location=Tainan}}
*{{cite book |title=The Segmental Phonology of Southern Min in Taiwan |last=Chung |first=Raung-fu |publisher=Spoken Language Services |location=Taipei |year=1996 |isbn=9789579463461 |oclc=36091818 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last=Copper |first=John F. |title=A Historical Dictionary of Taiwan (Republic of China) |isbn=9780810856004 |year=2007 |edition=2nd |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Lanham, MD |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last=Doty |first=Elihu |author-link=Elihu Doty |title=Anglo Chinese Manual of the Amoy Dialect |year=1853 |publisher=Samuel Wells Williams |location=Guangzhou |oclc=20605114 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last=Douglas |first=Carstairs |author-link=Carstairs Douglas |title=Chinese–English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy |year=1873 |edition=1st 
|publisher = Trübner |publication-place = London |ol = 24969218M |oclc=4820970 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015083430507 |ref=harv}}
**{{cite book |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Barclay (missionary) |title=Supplement to Dictionary of the vernacular or spoken language of Amoy |last=Barclay |year=1923 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015051950106 |location=Shanghai |publisher=The Commercial press, limited |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |title=A Dictionary of Southern Min: based on current usage in Taiwan and checked against the earlier works of Carstairs Douglas, Thomas Barclay, and Ernest Tipson |last=Embree |first=Bernard L. M. |year=1973 |oclc=2491446 |publisher=Hong Kong Language Institute |location=Hong Kong |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |title=Authentic Chinese Christianity, Preludes to Its Development: Nineteenth & Twentieth Centuries |last=Heylen |first=Ann |chapter=Romanizing Taiwanese: Codification and Standardization of Dictionaries in Southern Min (1837–1923) |isbn=9789058671028 |publisher=Leuven University Press |location=Leuven |year=2001 |editor1-last=Ku |editor1-first=Wei-ying |editor2-last=De Ridder |editor2-first=Koen |ref=harv}}
*{{cite web |script-title=zh:台灣福佬話非漢字拼音符號的回顧與分析 |trans-title=Comparison and Analysis of non-Character Transcription Systems for Taiwanese Holo |author=Iûⁿ Ún-giân; Tiuⁿ Ha̍k-khiam |url=http://ws.twl.ncku.edu.tw/hak-chia/i/iunn-ungian/hui-hanji-phengim.htm |publisher=[[National Cheng Kung University]] |location=Tainan |year=1999 |accessdate=2009-12-17 |language=Chinese |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071116162157/http://ws.twl.ncku.edu.tw/hak-chia/i/iunn-ungian/hui-hanji-phengim.htm |archivedate=November 16, 2007 }} 
*{{cite book |title=Processing Techniques for Written Taiwanese – Tone Sandhi and POS Tagging (Doctoral dissertation) |year=2009 |publisher=National Taiwan University |last=Iûⁿ |first=Ún-giân |oclc=367595113 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last=Kì |first=Bō͘-hô |script-title=zh:台語教會羅馬字講義 |trans-title=Notes on Taiwanese Church Romanization |publisher=PCT Press |location=Tainan |isbn=9789866947346 |year=2008 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|last=Klöter|first=Henning|chapter=The History of Peh-oe-ji |script-title=zh:2002台灣羅馬字教學KAP研究國際學術研討會論文集 |trans-title=Proceedings of the 2002 International Conference on Taiwanese Romanization Research |publisher=Taiwanese Romanization Association|location=Taipei|year=2002 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last1=Klöter |first1=Henning |title=Written Taiwanese |date=2005 |publisher=Harrassowitz |location=Wiesbaden |isbn=9783447050937 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite journal |last=Lin |first=Alvin |issue=89 |title=Writing Taiwanese: The Development of Modern Written Taiwanese |journal=Sino-Platonic Papers |url=http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp089_taiwanese.pdf |year=1999 |OCLC=41879041 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last=MacGowan |first=John |year=1869 |title=A Manual of the Amoy Colloquial |publisher=de Souza & Co. |location=Hong Kong |oclc=23927767 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|title=Taiwanese: Book 1|author=Maryknoll Fathers|location=Taichung|publisher=Maryknoll|year=1984|oclc=44137703 |ref={{harvid|Maryknoll|1984}} }}}
*{{cite book |last=Medhurst |first=Walter Henry |author-link=Walter Henry Medhurst |title=Dictionary of the Hok-këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language, According to the Reading and Colloquial Idioms |year=1832 |publisher=East India Press |location=Macau |oclc=5314739 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t7pn9319x |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |title=Chinese |last=Norman |first=Jerry |authorlink=Jerry Norman (sinologist) |year=1998 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521296536 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|title=Taiwanyu Yanjiu Juan|year=2002|isbn=957-801-354-X|publisher=Avanguard Publishing|location=Taipei|author=Ong Iok-tek|author-link=Ong Iok-tek|language=Chinese}}
*{{cite thesis |title=An investigation of written Taiwanese |type=Master's |last=Ota |first=Katsuhiro J. |publisher=University of Hawai'i at Manoa |url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/11520/2/uhm_ma_3246_r.pdf |year=2005 |OCLC=435500061 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |title=The Languages of China |last=Ramsey |first=S. Robert |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=9780691014685 |year=1987 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite journal |title=Linguistic capital in Taiwan: The KMT's Mandarin language policy and its perceived impact on language practices of bilingual Mandarin and Tai-gi speakers |last=Sandel |first=Todd L. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003 |journal=Language in Society |volume=32 |issue=4 |doi=10.1017/S0047404503324030 |jstor=4169285 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last=Sidaia |first=Babuja A. |script-title=zh:A-Chhûn : Babuja A.Sidaia e短篇小說集  |isbn=9789579886161 |publisher=Taili |year=1998 |location=Taipei |language=zh-hant |oclc=815099022 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |title=A Pocket Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular: English-Chinese |last=Tipson |first=Ernest |year=1934 |publisher=Lithographers |location=Singapore |oclc=504142973 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite conference |script-title=zh:白話字kap台語文的現代化 |trans-title=Peh-oe-ji and the Modernization of Written Taiwanese |last=Tiuⁿ |first=Ha̍k-khiam |conference=2004 International Conference on Taiwanese Romanization |year=2004 |volume=1 |language=Chinese |oclc=77082548 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last=Tseng |first=Rui-cheng |title=Taiwan Minnanyu Luomazi Pinyin Fang'an Shiyong Shouce |trans-title=Practical Manual for the Taiwan Southern Min Romanization System |publisher=ROC Ministry of Education |year=2009 |isbn=9789860166378 |url=http://english.moe.gov.tw/public/Attachment/9851214271.pdf |language=Chinese |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |last=Van Nest Talmage |first=John |author-link=John Van Nest Talmage |title=New Dictionary in the Amoy Dialect |year=1894 |oclc=41548900 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |title=Lessons in the Amoy Vernacular |last1=Warnshuis |first1=A. Livingston |last2=de Pree |first2=H.P. |date=1911 |oclc=29903392 |publisher=Chui-keng-tông Press |location=Xiamen |ref=harv}}
*{{cite thesis |title=The Taigi Literature Debates and Related Developments (1987–1996) |type=Master's |last=Wu |first=Chang-neng |publisher=National Chengchi University |location=Taipei |year=2007 |oclc=642745725 |url=http://nccuir.lib.nccu.edu.tw/handle/140.119/34903 |ref=harv}}
*{{cite conference |script-title=zh:客家語羅馬字文獻的版本研究 |trans-title=Books Written in Hakka Romanization |last1=Wu | first1=Guo-sheng |last2=Chen |first2=Yi-hsin |conference=2004 International Conference on Taiwanese Romanization |year=2004 |volume=2 |language=Chinese |oclc=77082548 |ref=harv}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category inline|Pe̍h-ōe-jī}}
{{div col|small=yes|colwidth=30em}}
'''General'''
*{{cite web|title=Tai-gu Bang|url=http://groups.google.com.tw/group/taigu/browse_thread/thread/307245daaa08a82a?pli=1}} – [[Google group]] for Taiwanese language enthusiasts – uses POJ and Chinese characters.
*{{cite web|title=Pe̍h-ōe-jī Unicode Correspondence Table|url=http://tailingua.com/resources/downloads/pojunicode.pdf|year=2009|publisher=Tailingua}} – information on Unicode encodings for POJ text
*{{cite web|title=Taiwanese Romanization Association|url=http://www.tlh.org.tw/}} – group dedicated to the promotion of Taiwanese and Hakka romanization

'''Input methods'''
*{{cite web|url=http://openvanilla.org/|title=Open Vanilla}} – [[open source]] input method for both [[Windows]] and [[Mac OS X]].
*{{cite web|url=http://taigi.fhl.net/TaigiIME/|title=Taigi-Hakka IME}} – Windows-based input method for both Hokkien (with both Pe̍h-ōe-jī and Taiwanese Romanization System input) and Hakka variants.
*{{cite web|url=http://www.edu.tw/pages/detail.aspx?Node=3683&Page=15638&Index=6&WID=c5ad5187-55ef-4811-8219-e946fe04f725|title=Tai-lo Input Method|language=Chinese}} – [[cross-platform]] input method released by Taiwan's Ministry of Education.
*{{cite web|url=http://www.benya.com/transliterator/|title=Transliterator}} – extension for the [[Firefox]] browser which allows POJ input in-browser.

'''POJ-compliant fonts'''
*{{cite web|title=Charis SIL|url=http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=CharisSILFont|publisher=[[SIL International]]}} – [[serif]] font in regular, [[boldface|bold]], [[italic type|italic]], and bold italic.
*{{cite web|url=http://dejavu-fonts.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page|title=DejaVu|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091213050036/http://dejavu-fonts.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page|archivedate=2009-12-13}} – available in serif, [[sans-serif]], and [[monospaced font|monospace]].
*{{cite web|title=Doulos SIL|url=http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=DoulosSILfont|publisher=SIL International}} – [[Times New Roman]]-style serif.
*{{cite web|url=http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=gentium|title=Gentium|publisher=SIL International}} – open source serif.
*{{cite web|url=http://linuxlibertine.sourceforge.net/Libertine-EN.html|title=Linux Libertine}} – [[GPL]] and [[Open Publication License|OPL]]-licensed serif.
*{{cite web|url=http://numbertext.org/linux/|title=Linux Libertine G}} – [[GPL]] and [[Open Publication License|OPL]]-licensed serif.
*{{cite web|title=Taigi Unicode|url=http://www.tailingua.com/resources/downloads/twu3.ttf}} – serif font specifically designed for POJ.

'''Texts and dictionaries'''
{{Interwiki|code=nan}}
*{{cite web|url=http://iug.csie.dahan.edu.tw/iug/ungian/Soannteng/subok/poj.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818124037/http://iug.csie.dahan.edu.tw/iug/Ungian/Soannteng/subok/poj.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2006-08-18|title=Taiwanese bibliography}} – list of books in Taiwanese, including those written in POJ.
*{{cite web|url=http://iug.csie.dahan.edu.tw/memory/TGB/MoWT.asp|title=Memory of Written Taiwanese|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091129090145/http://iug.csie.dahan.edu.tw/Memory/TGB/mowt.asp|archivedate=2009-11-29}} – collection of Taiwanese texts in various orthographies, including many in POJ.
*{{cite web|url=http://210.240.194.97/iug/Ungian/soannteng/chil/Taihoa.asp|title=Tai-Hoa Dictionary}} – dictionary which includes POJ, Taiwanese in Chinese characters, and Mandarin characters. Some English definitions also available.
*{{citation|url=http://www.de-han.org/pehoeji/exhibits/index.htm|title=Exhibits: Taiwanese Romanization Peh-oe-ji}} – sample images of various older POJ texts.
*{{citation|url=http://transliterationisfun.blogspot.com/2016/01/chinese-character-to-southern-min.html|title=Chinese Character to Pe̍h-ōe-jī Online Transliterator|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511120131/https://transliterationisfun.blogspot.com/2016/01/chinese-character-to-southern-min.html|archivedate=2017-05-11|url-status=dead}} - Transliterates Southern Min Characters and Mandarin Characters to POJ. 
{{div col end}}

{{Min Chinese}}
{{Portal bar|China|Taiwan|Singapore|Language}}

{{good article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peh-Oe-Ji}}
[[Category:Latin-script orthographies]]
[[Category:Languages of Taiwan]]
[[Category:Romanization of Chinese]]
[[Category:Southern Min]]
[[Category:Hakka Chinese|Hakka]]
[[Category:Romanization of Hokkien| ]]
[[Category:Hokkien writing system]]

[[hak:Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]]