Gwoyeu Romatzyh

Gwoyeu Romatzyh
Comparison between Gwoyeu Romatzyh (top) and pinyin (bottom) for Gwoyeu Romatzyh's official name 國音字母第二式 ('Second Pattern of the National Alphabet'; middle)
Script type	Alphabet romanization
Creator	National Languages Committee Yuen Ren Chao Lin Yutang Li Jinxi Qian Xuantong Wang Yi (汪怡)
Created	1925–1926
Official script	Republic of China (1928–1986)
Languages	Standard Chinese
Traditional Chinese	國語羅馬字
Simplified Chinese	国语罗马字
Literal meaning	National language romanization
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guóyǔ Luómǎzì Bopomofo ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄩˇ ㄌㄨㄛˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄗˋ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Gwoyeu Romatzyh Wade–Giles Kuo2-yü3 Lo2-ma3-tzu4 Tongyong Pinyin Guó-yǔ Luó-mǎ-zìh Yale Romanization Gwóyǔ Lwómǎdz̀ IPA [kwǒỳ lwǒmàtsɹ̩̂] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Gwokyu Lòhmáhjih IPA [kʷɔ̄ːk jȳː lɔ̀ː mɐ̬ tɕìː] Jyutping Gwok3 jyu3 Lo4 ma5 zi6 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Kok-gí Lô-má-jī

Gwoyeu Romatzyh^[a] (GR) is a system for writing Standard Chinese using the Latin alphabet. It was primarily conceived by Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982), who led a group of linguists on the National Languages Committee in refining the system between 1925 and 1926. In September 1928, it was adopted by the Republic of China as the national romanization system for Standard Chinese.^[1] GR indicates the four tones of Standard Chinese by varying the spelling of syllables, a method originally proposed by team member Lin Yutang (1895–1976). Distinct sets of spellings are assigned to syllables in GR according to particular rules. This differs from approaches used by other systems to denote tones, like the numerals used by the earlier Wade–Giles system, or the diacritics used by the later Hanyu Pinyin system.

Despite support from linguists both in China and overseas—including some early proponents who hoped it would eventually replace Chinese characters altogether—GR never achieved widespread use among the Chinese public, who generally lacked interest in the system or viewed it with hostility due to its complex spelling rules. In places where GR had gained traction, it was eventually replaced—largely by Hanyu Pinyin (or simply "pinyin"), which became the international standard during the 1980s, and itself follows principles originally introduce by GR. Widespread adoption of the system was also hindered by its narrow calibration to the Beijing dialect, during a period when China lacked the strong central government needed to impose use of a national spoken language.

From 1942 to 2000, a small number of reference works published in Hong Kong and overseas also used the system, and Chao would use it throughout his later linguistics work, including in his most influential publications. Chao said that tonal spelling could possibly aid students of Chinese learning to articulate tones.^[2] However, later study comparing the tonal accuracy of students reading aloud from either Gwoyeu Romatzyh or pinyin has not substantiated Chao's hypothesis.^[3]

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