Syllables in Mandarin Chinese (國語 in Taiwan，普通話 in the rest of China) are traditionally split into two parts: initial and final (聲母 + 韻母). Finals can be subdivided into medial, main vowel, final consonant and tone:
initial | final | |||
initial | medial | V+[C] | Tone | |
聲母 | 介音 | 韻尾 | 聲調 | |
蔣 | ㄐ | ㄧ | ㄤ | ˇ |
C = consonant (= con [with] + son [sound] + ant)
V = vowel
屈 ﹦ㄑ + ㄩ
Ch + iu = Chiu (Qu1)
徐 ﹦ㄒ + ㄩ + ˊ
Sh + yu = Shyu (Xu2)
許﹦ㄒ + ㄩ + ˇ
Sh + eu = Sheu (Xu3)
Notice how GR (Gwoyeu Romatzyh / Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh 國語羅馬字) very cleverly shows 1st, 2nd and 3rd tone ㄩ (iu) by changing the 1st letter of the medial: iu, yu, eu. The second half of each letter shape matches the tone mark! People who have not studied phonology (音系學) and most foreign students of Chinese have trouble understanding why GR is superior to other romanizations.
One reason is that using GR spelling overcomes the ambiguity of toneless Hanyu Pinyin used in most Western media. Several years ago, a Taiwan English newspaper published a puzzling story that said Chang Hsiaoyen 張小燕 (Zhang Xiaoyan in Hanyu Pinyin) represented Taiwan at an ASEAN meeting. This was very surprising because I know that Zhang Xiaoyan is a very popular, but politically unsophisticated TV hostess. Why on earth would the Ministry of Foreign Affairs send a TV star to an international government meeting? After thinking about it for a few minutes, I realized that leaving out the tone mark caused a misunderstanding. The MOFA must have sent 章孝嚴 (one of Chiang Ching-Kuo's sons) to the meeting (Jang Shiawyan in GR spelling), not 張小燕 (Jang Sheauyann in GR spelling). The Hanyu Pinyin spelling of both names is exactly the same. Leaving out the tone mark is foolish.
