中华新韵到底是怎么一回事？

A Brief Discussion on the Sixteen Rhymes, Zhuyin, and Pinyin

Zhuyin (Bopomofo)

Zhuyin, formerly known as the “Zhuyin Alphabet,” was developed to annotate the pronunciation of Chinese characters. In essence, Zhuyin serves to mark the rhymes of Chinese characters. It was first established in 1913 by the “Chinese Pronunciation Unification Society” and formally published by the Beiyang government’s Ministry of Education in 1918, consisting of 39 symbols. In 1920, the alphabet was revised to include an additional symbol “ㄜ,” making a total of 40 symbols. These are:

  • Initials (Shengmu): ㄅㄆㄇㄈㄪㄉㄊㄋㄌㄍㄎㄫㄏㄐㄑㄬㄒㄓㄔㄕㄖㄗㄘㄙ
  • Medials (Jiemu): ㄧㄨㄩ
  • Finals (Yunmu): ㄚㄛㄜㄝㄞㄟㄠㄡㄢㄣㄤㄥㄦ

Initially, the system followed the pronunciation standard set by the “Pronunciation Unification Society,” which included symbols for sounds like “v,” “Ng,” and “Gn.” Later, these symbols were discarded in favor of the Beijing dialect, with the aforementioned sounds only used for dialect annotation. In modern Standard Chinese, Zhuyin is commonly used with 37 symbols: 21 initials and 16 finals:

  • Initials: ㄅㄆㄇㄈㄉㄊㄋㄌㄍㄎㄏㄐㄑㄒㄓㄔㄕㄖㄗㄘㄙ
  • Medials: ㄧㄨㄩ
  • Finals: ㄚㄛㄜㄝㄞㄟㄠㄡㄢㄣㄤㄥㄦ

Zhuyin (Bopomofo) and Pinyin Correspondence Table

Note: The letters ㄧ, ㄨ, and ㄩ are considered medials and can serve both as finals and initials. According to the Chinese Pinyin Scheme, syllables beginning with the vowels a, o, e, i, u, and ü are written with “y” or “w” as needed, which means that “y” and “w” in Pinyin are not considered initials.

Pinyin Finals

To summarize, both Zhuyin and Pinyin systems can be viewed as having 16 basic finals:

  • Zhuyin: ㄚ, ㄛ, ㄜ, ㄝ, ㄞ, ㄟ, ㄠ, ㄡ, ㄢ, ㄣ, ㄤ, ㄥ, ㄦ, ㄨ, ㄩ
  • Pinyin: a, o, e, ê, ai, ei, ao, ou, an, en, ang, eng, er, i, u, ü

These are simple, easy-to-read sounds such as: ā, wō, ē, yē, āi, ēi, áo, ōu, ān, ēn, áng, ēng, ér, yī, wū, yū.

The Eighteen Rhymes of China

On October 10, 1941, the Republic of China’s National Government issued a list of eighteen rhymes. From the table, we can see that sixteen of these rhymes align with the sixteen basic rhymes outlined above.

The eighteen rhymes are formed from these sixteen basic rhymes plus other compound finals. Two additional rhymes are introduced: the five “ㄭ” sounds and the “十八东” (shí bā dōng) with the finals “ㄨㄥ” (wēng) and “ㄩㄥ” (yūng).

The “ㄭ” symbol (帀) was added in 1932 during a meeting to compile the Guoyin Changyong Zihui (Commonly Used Chinese Pronunciation Dictionary) to make annotation easier.

This symbol serves as a placeholder for omitted finals (known as “zero finals” or “empty finals”), often used with sounds like “ㄓ” (zhī), “ㄔ” (chī), and others when they occur in isolation. The “十八东” refers to the compound finals “ong” (ㄨㄥ) and “iong” (ㄩㄥ), representing the “yong” sound.

The New Chinese Rhyme System

The New Chinese Rhyme system was introduced by the China Poetry Association in May 2005 and consists of fourteen rhymes.

After understanding the previous eighteen rhymes, we can easily see how the New Rhymes differ.

The New Rhyme system combines the “three ge” rhymes into the “two bo” group, meaning that the finals “e” and “o” are considered the same. It also merges the “十八东” rhymes into the “十一庚” group, combining “eng” and “ong.” Furthermore, the “六儿” (liu er) and “十一鱼” (shi yi yu) rhymes are merged into the “十二齐” group, with “i,” “er,” and “ü” now counted as the same rhyme.

After this consolidation, the New Rhyme system appears simpler and more streamlined. However, because many similar-sounding rhymes are now used interchangeably, there are fewer distinctions in terms of poetic form. This has led to a gradual divergence from traditional poetry. To truly master the art of classical poetry, one must understand these 16 basic rhymes, distinguish between the 21 compound finals, and pay attention to proper meter and rhythm in poetic composition. Without such attention to detail, it becomes increasingly difficult to produce poetry that adheres to traditional standards.