What a remarkable guy Lin Yutang was. Besides the dictionary that @yangyangcheng.bsky.social mentions here, he was also the originator of the idea of tonal spelling - varying the spelling of romanized syllables to indicate tone - which became central to the Gwoyeu Romatzyh system.
May 3, 2025 at 11:58 PM
What a remarkable guy Lin Yutang was. Besides the dictionary that @yangyangcheng.bsky.social mentions here, he was also the originator of the idea of tonal spelling - varying the spelling of romanized syllables to indicate tone - which became central to the Gwoyeu Romatzyh system.
Avert discourse by starting a Gwoyeu Romatzyh versus Zhuyin Fuhao melee, got it
January 20, 2024 at 4:12 AM
Avert discourse by starting a Gwoyeu Romatzyh versus Zhuyin Fuhao melee, got it
Oh this takes me back, though I had the misfortune to be assigned the “Chinese Primer” for intro Chinese. Which would have been fine, except I managed to pick up the single used Gwoyeu Romatzyh copy at the bookstore. Everyone else was using Pinyin and I NO IDEA what was happening.
September 25, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Oh this takes me back, though I had the misfortune to be assigned the “Chinese Primer” for intro Chinese. Which would have been fine, except I managed to pick up the single used Gwoyeu Romatzyh copy at the bookstore. Everyone else was using Pinyin and I NO IDEA what was happening.
It could have been worse. Gwoyeu Romatzyh almost caught on for a while
December 5, 2025 at 6:12 PM
It could have been worse. Gwoyeu Romatzyh almost caught on for a while
#OTD 134 years ago, Yuen Ren Chao (1892-1982) was born 🎉 He was an expert on Chinese grammar and phonology and the author of the Gwoyeu Romatzyh, a Latinised spelling system for Standard Chinese. He served as the president of the Linguistic Society of America in 1945.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
November 3, 2025 at 9:02 AM
#OTD 134 years ago, Yuen Ren Chao (1892-1982) was born 🎉 He was an expert on Chinese grammar and phonology and the author of the Gwoyeu Romatzyh, a Latinised spelling system for Standard Chinese. He served as the president of the Linguistic Society of America in 1945.
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
#LinguisticBirthdays #Histlx
become a gwoyeu romatzyh guy just for laughs
June 18, 2025 at 6:30 PM
become a gwoyeu romatzyh guy just for laughs
Chao's translation of Through the Looking Glass which was published in 1969 as Vol. II of his "Readings in Sayable Chinese", with parallel Gwoyeu Romatzyh and hànzì versions, is a pale imitation of what the 1932 edition would have been. The Chinese typography is horrible, bopomofo replacements ugly.
April 29, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Chao's translation of Through the Looking Glass which was published in 1969 as Vol. II of his "Readings in Sayable Chinese", with parallel Gwoyeu Romatzyh and hànzì versions, is a pale imitation of what the 1932 edition would have been. The Chinese typography is horrible, bopomofo replacements ugly.
wish people would stop saying Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den (施氏食獅史) is an argument against writing Chinese in romanization bc its author, Yuen Ren Chao, was an advocate of exactly that! he created Gwoyeu Romatzyh with the intention of it replacing characters!!
March 6, 2025 at 8:54 PM
wish people would stop saying Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den (施氏食獅史) is an argument against writing Chinese in romanization bc its author, Yuen Ren Chao, was an advocate of exactly that! he created Gwoyeu Romatzyh with the intention of it replacing characters!!
What about Goangjou and Beeijing? (in gwoyeu romatzyh because it's fun)
June 26, 2026 at 10:06 AM
What about Goangjou and Beeijing? (in gwoyeu romatzyh because it's fun)
Before anyone wonders about the Mandarin orthography: That's Gwoyeu Romatzyh (GR) 國語羅馬字. People are writing 'loong,' which is super confusing because in GR double vowel evokes 3rd tone, as still seen in 'Shaanxi' and other names...
February 11, 2024 at 11:49 AM
Before anyone wonders about the Mandarin orthography: That's Gwoyeu Romatzyh (GR) 國語羅馬字. People are writing 'loong,' which is super confusing because in GR double vowel evokes 3rd tone, as still seen in 'Shaanxi' and other names...
At first I was like "surely gwoyeu romatzyh should be chaotic evil" but after looking up the systems I was unfamiliar with now I'm not so sure
October 31, 2025 at 8:33 AM
At first I was like "surely gwoyeu romatzyh should be chaotic evil" but after looking up the systems I was unfamiliar with now I'm not so sure
The closest thing to this I'm aware of was a small-scale test a while back where someone taught one group of students with Pinyin and another with Gwoyeu Romatzyh, and found (IIRC) no appreciable difference in their ability to reproduce tones.
September 19, 2023 at 1:05 PM
The closest thing to this I'm aware of was a small-scale test a while back where someone taught one group of students with Pinyin and another with Gwoyeu Romatzyh, and found (IIRC) no appreciable difference in their ability to reproduce tones.
I got this box of delicious pineapple cake 鳳梨酥 from beautiful Taiwan and spotted another instance of #Gwoyeu Romatzyh in the wild: Jiunn Meei 俊美 (Jùnměi), whereby double represents the 4th tone and double represents the 3rd tone 🤩😋
April 17, 2024 at 9:12 AM
I got this box of delicious pineapple cake 鳳梨酥 from beautiful Taiwan and spotted another instance of #Gwoyeu Romatzyh in the wild: Jiunn Meei 俊美 (Jùnměi), whereby double represents the 4th tone and double represents the 3rd tone 🤩😋
Oh goddammit it's parseable as valid Gwoyeu Romatzyh (if there were a syllable 'ká') and now that's not ever getting out of my head either
January 12, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Oh goddammit it's parseable as valid Gwoyeu Romatzyh (if there were a syllable 'ká') and now that's not ever getting out of my head either
6/ The preface notes that, at the time of writing in 1961, there are three systems of standard Chinese romanization in use: Wade (aka Wade-Giles), Inland Mission, and National Language (aka Gwoyeu Romatzyh). Hanyu Pinyin is of course not mentioned, since this is an ROC government publication.
July 24, 2025 at 5:21 AM
6/ The preface notes that, at the time of writing in 1961, there are three systems of standard Chinese romanization in use: Wade (aka Wade-Giles), Inland Mission, and National Language (aka Gwoyeu Romatzyh). Hanyu Pinyin is of course not mentioned, since this is an ROC government publication.
(Y.R. Chao also invented Gwoyeu Romatzyh 國語羅馬字, which still has adherents who claim that the tonal spelling helps learners. Seems like it would, but what little data there is says otherwise IIRC; Hanyu Pinyin is the only sensible option even if it’s not the best for learners)
June 19, 2025 at 2:55 PM
(Y.R. Chao also invented Gwoyeu Romatzyh 國語羅馬字, which still has adherents who claim that the tonal spelling helps learners. Seems like it would, but what little data there is says otherwise IIRC; Hanyu Pinyin is the only sensible option even if it’s not the best for learners)
Oh, nice - this is a much clearer version than the other typeset images I've seen. I think you're right about it being from the Looking Glass translation -- I've only seen the Gwoyeu Romatzyh version in 'Sayable Chinese,' but the invented characters had to come from somewhere.
April 29, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Oh, nice - this is a much clearer version than the other typeset images I've seen. I think you're right about it being from the Looking Glass translation -- I've only seen the Gwoyeu Romatzyh version in 'Sayable Chinese,' but the invented characters had to come from somewhere.
Gwoyeu Romatzyh or bust
November 4, 2023 at 1:54 PM
Gwoyeu Romatzyh or bust
“Gwoyeu Romatzyh? Oh, you mean the IDIOT BABY system for POO-BUTTS, the one that transliterates only ONE language at a time?”
September 19, 2023 at 2:43 PM
“Gwoyeu Romatzyh? Oh, you mean the IDIOT BABY system for POO-BUTTS, the one that transliterates only ONE language at a time?”
Gwoyeu Romatzyh supremacy (note: I do not speak any Chinese, just a distant admirer)
February 10, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Gwoyeu Romatzyh supremacy (note: I do not speak any Chinese, just a distant admirer)
Yes OF COURSE i did a detour through the Wikipedia article for Gwoyeu Romatzyh just for one word in the alt-text
April 26, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Yes OF COURSE i did a detour through the Wikipedia article for Gwoyeu Romatzyh just for one word in the alt-text
this, of course, infuriates a Gwoyeu Romatzyh holdout in the Penghu Islands, who then starts a millenarian cult for its propagation. his descendents successfully establish an imperial regime in Beijing 200 years later
November 28, 2023 at 7:20 PM
this, of course, infuriates a Gwoyeu Romatzyh holdout in the Penghu Islands, who then starts a millenarian cult for its propagation. his descendents successfully establish an imperial regime in Beijing 200 years later