THE ROMANIZED AMOY ALPHABET

There is no alphabet in the Chinese language. Each written word or character is

represented by a dot, a line, a stroke or a combination of several strokes.

For those who are willing to speak the Chinese language, this system of
Romanization is introduced.

Below are the 23 letters of the Roman Alphabet which are used in the Romanized
Amoy System:
a, b, ch, chh, e, g, h, I, j, k, kh, m, n, ng, l, o, o , p, ph, s, t, th, u

VOWELS : a, e, i, o, o , u

Vowel Sounds in English words

a alm, ask, arm, ax, farm, palm
e egg, beg, bet, leg, ten, wed
i bit, it, itch, bricks, fix sit
o boat, bold, cold, fold, so, go
o all, caught, law, lawn, pawn
u blue, book, do rude, sue, truth

DIPHTHONGS

ai au ian in oa oe
am eng iang io oai ong
an ia iau iong oan ui
ang iam im iu oang un

Sounds in English words Diphthongs

Diphthongs Sounds in English words
ai I, eye, ice, size, sly in in, fin, kin, tin, sin, pin, win
am am, balm, gram io yoyo, yoga, yoghurt
an an, ban, can, fan iong Young (family name)
ang rang, sang, tongue iu ewe, few, new, shoe, you
au about, how, house, out oa was, waffle, wart
eng engrave, engross oai swipe, white, why
ia yacht, Yak, yarn oan one, oneness, oneself
iam yam, jump oang wangle, Wang (family name)
ian Christian, guardian oe wage, wake, way, weight
iang young ong gong, long, song, wrong
iau Yao (family name) ui we, weak, will, quill
im dim, him, swim un moon, noon, soon, spoon
CONSONANTS: b, ch, chh, g, h, j, k, kh, l, m, n, ng, p, ph, s, t, and th
 The 17 consonants are used as Initial Sounds while only 7 are used as
Final Sounds.

Initial Sounds

1. Unaspirated or Ingressive Consonants

The unaspirated oncsonants ch, k, p and t are “hard” consonants. They
are used as in Filipino.
ch as in tsinelas p as in piso
k as in kilay t as in tinapay

When followed by a vowel, the sound of the vowel is shorter compared to

that of the consonant. The ch sound is produced with the tongue pushing the
back of the upper teeth and the lips are slightly spread.

cha che chi cho cho chu

ka ke ki ko ko ku
pa pe pi po to pu
ta te ti to to tu

2. The Consonant h
In Romanized Amoy, the consonant h is used as in English.

ha he hi ho ho hu

It is never silent like the h in the English words heir, honest, hour, and honor.

Unaspirated consonants + h = Aspirated consonants

ch + h becomes chh
k + h becomes kh
p + h becomes ph
t + h becomes th

3. Aspirated or Egressive Consonants

The aspirated consonants chh, kh, ph, and th are “soft” consonants. They
are sed as in English.

chh as in church ph as in pink

kh as in kind th as in ten
 When followed by a vowel, the sound of the vowel is pronounced longer
than the consonant. Aspirated means much air is expelled from the mouth
when it is spoken.

chha chhe chhi chho chho chhu

kah khe khi kho kho khu
pha phe phi pho pho phu
tha the thi tho tho thu

English words with unaspirated and aspirated final sounds.

This will help us distinguish between the chi and the chhi sounds

Lip positions:

In bats, lips are slight spread.

In batch, lips are slightly rounded.

bats batch mats much

cats catch pants punch
eats each pits pitch
hats hatch sweets switch
its itch wits witch

4. The half-vowels m, n, and ng

m, n, and ng are called half-vowels because they function as vowels and
also as consonants.

Like vowels, m, n, and ng can be used alone.

m̄ means “no” or “do not”
n^ g means “yellow”

As consonants, they are used as in English:

ma me mi mo mo mu
na ne ni no no
nga nge ngi ngo

5. Consonants j and l

Consonant j is pronounced as a sof “d” sound. The tip of the tongue must
touch the upper teeth ridge as in:
kin - á - jì t, jì t - tha^ u, kiá n - ji^ , lá h – jit, kha – jiah, jì t – kì
 Consonant l is pronounced as “d” by speakers from some parts of
Chinkang and Choanchiu.

However, in Romanized Amoy, the consonant l is more of an “l” sound

than a “d” sound.

Pronunciation of some Chinkang and Romanized

English meaning Choanchiu speakers Amoy
you (singular) d í l í
you (plural) d ín l ín
we dá n lá n
wheel du^ n lu^ n
milk gu^ - din gu^ – lin
dragon, zero dě ng lě ng
to drink dim lim

6. Consonants b, g, and s are used as in English

b bo^ none, don not have

beh to want, to ask
g gó a I
gé h - niú moon
s su í beautiful
sì four

Final Sounds

The 7 final sounds are:

1. The three half – vowels m, n, and ng.

The three half – vowels when preceded by vowels and consonants:

Vowel + half - vowel The sound is between

a + m = am lam, sam, chham, iam
a + n = an ban, chhan, ian, chhian
a + ng = ang lang, sang, tang, kang
e + ng = eng seng, keng, cheng, beng
i + m = im kim, sim, thim
i + n = in chin, chin, bin
o + ng = ong bong, long, song
u + n = un kun, chun, hun, thun
Consonant + half - vowel The sound is between
+ = and
+ = and
+ = and
+ = and
+ = and
 h m hm hom hem
ch ng chng chong cheng
chh ng chhng chhong chheng
h ng hng hong heng
k ng kng kong keng
kh ng khng khong kheng
m ng mng mong meng
n ng nng nong neng
p ng png pong peng
ph ng phng phong pheng
s ng sng song seng
t ng tng tong teng
th ng thng thong theng

2. The four consonants h, k, p, and t

The consonants h, k, p and t are used at the end of an Amoy word to mark
a glottal stop. k, p and t are pronounced as in English while the final h sound
s quite unique. In other languages, an h at the end of a word means to
prolong the sound but in Romanized Amoy, the final h means an “abrupt
stop”.

ba + h becomes bah
sa + h becomes sah
ka + h becomes kah
ma + h becomes mah

The 4 final sounds h, k, p and t.

Bah Beh Pah Peh Tah The

Ek Chek Kek Pek Sek Tek
Chip Chip Hip Kip Khip Sip
Chhit Khit Pit Sit Tit Thit
Koan Koeh Soah Soeh Thoa thoeh
Chhak Chhek Khak Khek Phak Phek
Thap Thiap Khap Khiap Siap Liap
Kiat Khiat That Thiat Phiat phoat

CONSONANTS
 Roman Unaspirated Aspirated Pronunciation Guide
Sound
Alphabet used as in Filipino used as in English
 big, boy, buy,
b bi
board, box
ts as in tsiko,
ch chi tsismis, tsikiting,
tsinelas, tsitsaron
cheap, cheese,
chh chhi chest, chip,
church
gasoline, get,
g gi
gift, give, goat
When found at the end
of a work, h is used to
high, heat, hit,
mark the glottal stop as
heavy, house
h hi in the 6th and 7th tones.
it is never
When precede by ch, k,
silent.
p and t, h makes these
consonants aspirated
j ji Pronounced as di
quick, kilay, kio,
k ki kimono, kilikili,
kitsap, kiyosko
kind, king, kiss,
kh khi
kick, kill
May be pronounced as
l li
d for beginners.
When used as a half –
vowel:
1. When written alone,
meek, men,
m̄ , m̄ – thang
m mi miss, much,
no, do not
money
2. When preceeded by h
hm̄ - la^ ng - po^
woman matchmaker
neat, nurses,
n ni
need, new, nets
When used as a half-
When followed when preceded vowel:
by a vowel, it is by a vowel, ng 1. When written alone
read as: ngayon, is like the ng in: n^ g yellow
ng ngi
ngiti, ngipin, wrong, gong, 2. When preceded by
ngongò , ngunit, ring, sing, long, another consonant
nguyà , ngusò song kng bright
mn^ g door
p pi Pilipinas, piso,
 piloto, pilyo, pila
– pila, prito
pink, pen, pick,
ph phi
pack, peace
silly, sister, sip, Is always like s in so or
six, sift sing.
s si
It is never like z or the s
in lose.
ti tigre, tinapay,
t tikoy, tinola, tinta,
tigdas, tiis, tinik
thi ten, teach,
th team, tick, tint,
tip

DRILL ON UNASPIRATED AND ASPIRATED WORDS

Unaspirated Aspirated
ch chá early chhá noisy, to stir fry
cha^ n early chha^ n field, cultivated ground
ch í seed chh í rat
chiú wine chhiú hand
chùi to get drunk chhùi mouth
cho to rent chho coarse

k ka to bite, to add kha feet

kà to teach khà to strike
ió ng-k brave, courageous khong-ká foolish, silly, idiotic
á m m
kan bottle khan to hold while walking
kì mole, to record khì to go
ku^ n skirt khu^ n diligent
kò to watch khò pants

p pá ng to tie, to bind phá ng to spin, to twist, to reel

pe to fly phe blanket
pe^ to crawl, to indemnify phe^ skin
pè to carry on one’s back phè viand
po - le^ glass pho - lŏ ng sea waves
pu^ to broil phu^ to float

t tà n to throw tà n to drive away, to gain

 ta^ ng copper tha^ ng worm
tè to accompany thè to go back
ti^ n rattan thi^ n to fill a container with liquid
tn^ g long (of time or distance) thn^ g sugar
tǹ g to pawn thǹ g to take off, to remove
to^ a sketch, painting tho^ soil

NASALS
A small n written above the line at the end of a syllable indicates that the
whole syllable becomes nasalized.

a - an
e - en
i - in
o - o n
ai - ain
au - aun
ia - ian
iau - iaun
iu - iun
oa - oan
oai - oain

DRILL ON NASALS
1 chi elder sister chin youthful
2 chia to cover chian – geh January
3 chiu consinent chiun itchy
4 hia ant hian brother
5 koa song koan to carry
6 pi grief pin margin
7 si silk sin to bear a child
8 siu to receive siun to think
9 soa sand soan mountain
10 ti pig tin sweet

THE AMOY 7 TONES

Tone Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Mark   ˆ ‛ ΄
lower- upper- lower- upper- upper- lower-
Description upper
departing even even departing entering entering
Pronun low mid- high low flat mid-high mid- low
ciation falling high flat tone tone falling high tone
 tone
with
with
tone tone tone glottal
glottal
stop
stop
Length of
long long short long long short short
Sound
sī si sí sî sì sih sί
kong-si sî thâu-lo• sih-nà sίh-
is/was company to die to resign four lightning pún
si from job
one/ to lose
were in
business

DRILLS ON THE 7 TONES

Tone 1 Tone 2 Tone 3 Tone 4 Tone 5 Tone 6 Tone 7
For words ending in: h
ā a á â à ah ΄ah ΄a
ī i í î ì ih ίh
ū u ú û ù uh ΄h
uh
iā ia iá iâ ià iah ΄
iah
iān ian ián iân iàn iahn i΄ahn
oē oe oé oê oè oeh oeh΄
ūi ui úi ûi ùi uih uίh
for words ending in: k
ōng ong óng ông òng ok όk
ēng eng éng êng èng ek ΄ek
iōng iong ióng iông iòng iok iόk
for words ending in: p
ām am ám âm àm ap ΄ap ΄a
īm im ím îm ìm ip ίp
iām iam iám iâm iàm iap ΄
iap
for words ending in: t
īn in ín în ìn it ίt
ūn un ún ûn ùn ut ΄ut
ān an án ân àn at ΄at
iān ian ián iân iàn iat ΄
iat
DRILL ON Group 1
1 2 3 1 2 3
kān kan kán gūn gun gún
lām lam lám siān sian sián
kōa koa kóa hāng hang háng

DRILL ON Group 2
 4 5 4 5 4 5
ân àn khî khì phiâng phiàng
ûn ùn pûn pùn chiân chiàn
mâ mà sîn sìn thâm thàm

DRILL ON Group 3
-6 7 6 7

ah ΄ah lap l΄ap

΄
beh
beh sip sίp

chih chίh chiap ΄

chiap
h p

chioh chiόh khap ΄

khap

ioh iόh thiap ΄

thiap

hok hόk bat ΄

bat

iok iόk chit chίt

phak ΄
phak t kut ΄
kut
k

sek ΄
sek chat ΄
chhat

thak ΄
thak lut ΄
lut

IDENTIYING THE FIRST 5 TONES

bīn face bín brush

chāu give change
Tone cháu run
Tone 1 (money)
3
hō number hó good
hō• rain hó• tiger
 chhau copy chháu grass
ke home ké fake
chhiam affix signature chhiâm orange
chim kiss Tone chîm crab
Tone 2 sin new 4 sîm God
thau steal tháu head
kim gold kìm stop
Tone
ku turtle kù saw, phrase
5
sai lion, east sài compete
chín young chîn money
chóa paper chôa snake
khíu grasp Tone khiû thrifty
4
kó• drum kô• paste
Tone 3
súi beautiful sûi suspend
chhín awaken chhìn punch, box
khó• bitter khò• pants
páng kidnap Tone pàng release
hûn clouds 5 hûn hate
Tone 4 kiâm salty kiàm sword
bin-thiâu pimples thiàu jump

COMPARING WORDS BETWEEN THE 6th AND 7th TONES

Tone 6 Tone 7
ah duck ΄ah small box
beh want, ask for ΄
beh socks
h
chioh borrow chiόh stone
ioh guess iόh medicine
΄
peh
΄
pak
 peh climb white
pak peel tie
k phak ΄
fall to the ground phak dry under the sun
sek color ΄
sek ripe, cooked
chiap juice ΄
chiap frequent
p
thiap invitation card ΄
thiap pile
bat tried ΄
bat dense, thick
chhat paint chhat ΄ thief
chit weave chίt one
t
kut bones ΄
kut dig
put gather up ΄
put Buddha
sit extinguish sίt wings