Philip Melzer
Chair, Pinyin Task Group
Library of Congress
pmel@loc.gov
phone: (202) 707-7961
fax: (202) 707-2824
In order to provide better service to library users, the Library of Congress is moving to adopt the pinyin system of romanization of Chinese. That system has already been the standard for the United States Government for more than two decades; it is also the standard used by the United Nations and most of the world's media.
As a first step in changing to a new romanization system for Chinese, the Library circulated draft Chinese romanization guidelines for comment. Many thoughtful comments were received, from inside the Library, as well as from American institutions and several national libraries. Now, having taken those comments into consideration, the new guidelines will be issued as part of the ALA-LC romanization tables.
The new romanization guidelines for Chinese are based on the pinyin system. These guidelines are intended to serve the bibliographic and information needs of the Library, as well as the interests of the wider library community. They are intended to be clear and unambiguous; to be easy for library users to learn and to follow; to lend themselves to the greatest possible consistency of application; and to best facilitate eventual conversion from the current Wade-Giles system.
The date of implementation of the new standard ("Day 1") has not yet been determined. The new guidelines are being issued in advance of Day 1 and the conversion of files to facilitate planning for those events.
The new guidelines are based on Han yu pin yin fang an, the Chinese text which constitutes the foundation of pinyin romanization. As with other romanization schemes, Chinese romanization procedures have been adapted for use in American libraries. Tone marks will not be given. To promote consistency of practice, words of non-Chinese origin will always be romanized systematically.
Individual syllables will continue to be romanized separately, except in the cases of personal names, geographic locations, and certain proper nouns. These exceptions will be familiar to Library users, since those syllables that were hyphenated in Wade-Giles will now be joined in pinyin. The names of geographic locations will generally be joined, following the guidance of the Board on Geographic Names (BGN). (As is the case now, systematically romanized forms may differ from the form used as access points.)
Separation of syllables was felt to be an approach that can be conveniently and consistently applied to the full range of Chinese texts. It will help assure that converted LC records will maintain their consistency with those found on both utilities by allowing OCLC to continue to separate individual syllables with a space, while also making it possible for RLIN to maintain its practice of inserting a joining character between certain syllables. The separation of syllables should also facilitate international exchange of Chinese bibliographic data in the future.
Non-numerical dates will continue to be romanized as separate syllables, except in the case of reign periods that are also the names of emperors. In those latter instances, the syllables of the name of the reign period will be connected, in the same manner as the name of the emperor.
An apostrophe will be inserted between joined syllables in several clearly defined instances for the sake of clarification. This standard Chinese romanization practice will be especially helpful to the many users who are without access to vernacular text.
Romanization of Chinese will be based upon standard national Chinese pronunciation. Procedures are provided for determining standard pronunciation. One source is prescribed for making semantic distinctions. To determine contemporary pronunciation, however, the guidelines suggest that one may consult one of several recently published standard dictionaries, or a more specialized dictionary when romanizing specialized texts. The list of standard dictionaries was suggested by the National Library of China. One is advised to use judgment in selecting the appropriate reference source, depending upon the situation.
Procedures for punctuation will not change from Wade-Giles practice. Capitalization practice will also remain the same, except that the first letter of each separately written word of a geographic name, including generic terms for jurisdictions and topographic features, will now be capitalized, following BGN practice.
The number of special characters used in pinyin romanization will be reduced to only two: the apostrophe and the dieresis (umlaut). Each will be employed only infrequently. The apostrophe, used in those rare instances when joined syllables need to be clarified, can be found on all standard keyboards. The dieresis, required only to distinguish between the sounds lu and l, nu and n, will also be used infrequently.
A correspondence table is included in order to show the usual relationship between Wade-Giles and pinyin romanizations. Chinese is a dynamic language, and dictionaries frequently indicate different ranges of possible sounds for Chinese characters. Therefore, the correspondence table is not intended to be prescriptive or comprehensive, but is merely provided to help library users make the transition to the new system of romanization.
Romanization
Q| Wulumuqi not Urumchi إ Haerbin Shi not Harbin ۥ[ Zhijiage not Chicago F Dongjing not Tokyo
Separation of Character Romanizations
Mps Ming Qing xiao shuo bi jiao yan jiu թMLֺq Li Bai he ta de shi ge åPDk Xizang xian dao mi fa a_ƻP|oi Di zhen wen hua yu she hui fa zhan ӰȦL] Shang wu yin shu guan
]s Sun Zhongshan ڶ Ouyang Xiu f Huineng J Nikesen LW Wumingshi sj Zhongshan da xue ڥ Huian xian sheng
l Yangzi Jiang s{ Guangzhou Shi w Anhui Sheng ì Niuyue Shi ̫nñڦ۪v{ Gannan Zangzu Zizhizhou
{ Jidu tu 䫰 Tongcheng pai n Maonan zu H Meiguo ren Ȯa Kejia hua
w Chang'an Shi not Changan Shi w Yan'an Shi not Yanan Shi ie Zhang, Zhan'gang not Zhang, Zhangang
Capitalization
1. Capitalize the first word of a proper noun.
2. Capitalize the first word of a corporate name. Capitalize the first word of the name of a corporate subdivision appearing in conjunction with the name of the larger body only when the subdivision is used in headings.
3. Capitalize each separately written word of a geographical name. Capitalize the first word of the names of a dynasty.
4. Capitalize the first word of the title of a book, periodical, or series.
Punctuation
1. Transcribe a centered point ( þ ) indicating coordinate words as a comma. Represent a centered point indicating a space by a space.
D Suo'er Bailou zdDMDJ Licha M Nikexun zQDҰʡD li xiang, lao dong, xing fu
2. Transcribe brackets or angle brackets used in the manner of quotation marks ('...') as quotation marks.
Dates
1. Romanize non-numerical dates as separated syllables, except for reign periods that are also the names of emperors. For example:
v [1889] Guangxu ji chou [1889] M15~ [1889] Qing Guangxu 15 nian [1889] ŹtAf [1555] Jiajing yi mao [1555] 79 [1990] Min guo 79 [1990] dw 3 [1936] Kang de 3 [1936] v 1 [1868] Mingzhi 1 [1868] @EEK~ [1998] yi jiu jiu ba nian [1998] @EEs~ [1990] yi jiu jiu ling nian [1990]
SPECIAL CHARACTERS IN ROMANIZATION
Special Character Name USMARC hexadecimal code ' apostrophe 27 ¨ umlaut E8
CORRESPONDENCE OF WADE-GILES TO PINYIN
The table below presents Wade-Giles syllabic readings found in Di ming Han zi yi yin biao aW~rĶ (1971) and the ALA-LC romanization tables (1997), and Pinyin equivalents based on sounds and romanizations found in Xian dai Han yu ci dian {N~y (1983). It is provided as a device to show the usual relationship between Wade-Giles and pinyin romanizations. This list is not exhaustive but presents most of the Wade-Giles romanizations that are likely to be found in older cataloging records. Similarly, the syllables which are possible using the Pinyin system of romanization are not limited to those contained in this list.
(Editor's Note: The following table is best viewed with Internet Explorer. It seems that Netscape browser does not display correctly some diacritics.)
Wade-Giles Pinyin a a ai ai an an ang ang ao ao cha zha ch`a cha chai zhai ch`ai chai chan zhan ch`an chan chang zhang ch`ang chang chao zhao ch`ao chao che zhe ch`e che chen zhen ch`en chen cheng zheng ch`eng cheng chi ji ch`i qi chia jia ch`ia qia chiang jiang ch`iang qiang chiao jiao ch`iao qiao chieh jie ch`ieh qie chien jian ch`ien qian chih zhi ch`ih chi chin jin ch`in qin ching jing ch`ing qing chiu jiu ch`iu qiu chiung jiong ch`iung qiong cho zhuo ch`o chuo chou zhou ch`ou chou chu zhu ch`u chu chü ju ch`ü qu chua zhua chuai zhuai ch`uai chuai chuan zhuan ch`uan chuan chüan juan ch`üan quan chuang zhuang ch`uang chuang chüeh jue ch`eh que chui zhui ch`ui chui chun zhun ch`un chun chün jun ch`ün qun chung zhong ch`ung chong en en erh er fa fa fan fan fang fang fei fei fen fen feng feng fo fo fou fou fu fu ha ha hai hai han han hang hang hao hao hei hei hen hen heng heng ho he hou hou hsi xi hsia xia hsiang xiang hsiao xiao hsieh xie hsien xian hsin xin hsing hsiu xiu hsiung xiong hsü xu hsüan xuan hsüeh xue hsün xun hu hu hua hua huai huai huan huan huang huang hui hui hun hun hung hong huo huo i yi jan ran jang rang jao rao je re jen ren jeng reng jih ri jo ruo jou rou ju ru juan ruan jui rui jun run jung rong ka ga k`a ka kai gai k`ai kai kan gan k`an kan kang gang k`ang kang kao gao k`ao kao ken gen k`en ken keng geng k`eng keng ko ge k`o ke kou gou k`ou kou ku gu k`u ku kua gua k`ua kua kuai guai k`uai kuai kuan guan k`uan kuan kuang guang k`uang kuang kuei gui k`uei kui kun gun k`un kun kung gong k`ung kong kuo guo k`uo kuo la la lai lai lan lan lang lang lao lao le le lei lei leng leng li li liang liang liao liao lieh lie lien lian lin lin ling ling liu liu lo luo lou lou lu lu lü lü lüan luan lüeh lue lun lun lung long ma ma mai mai man man mang mang mao mao mei mei men men meng meng mi mi mian mian miao miao mieh mie min min ming ming miu miu mo mo mou mou mu mu na na nai nai nan nan nang nang nao nao nei nei nen nen neng neng ni ni niang niang niao niao nieh nie nien nian nin nin ning ning niu niu no nuo nou nou nu nu nü nü nuan nuan nüeh nue nung nong o e ou ou pa ba p`a pa pai bai p`ai pai pan ban p`an pan pang bang p`ang pang pao bao p`ao pao pei bei p`ei pei pen ben p`en pen peng beng p`eng peng pi bi p`i pi piao biao p`iao piao pieh bie p`ieh pie pien bian p`ien pian pin bin p`in pin ping bing p`ing ping po bo p`o po p`ou pou pu bu p`u pu sa sa sai sai san san sang sang sao sao se se sen sen seng seng sha sha shai shai shan shan shang shang shao shao she she shen shen sheng sheng shih shi shou shou shu shu shua shua shuai shuai shuan shuan shuang shuang shui shui shun shun shuo shuo so suo sou sou ssu si su su suan suan sui sui sun sun sung song ta da t`a ta tai dai t`ai tai tan dan t`an tan tang dang t`ang tang tao dao t`ao tao te de t`e te teng deng t`eng teng ti di t`i ti tiao diao t`iao tiao tieh die t`ieh tie tien dian t`ien tian ting ding t`ing ting tiu diu to duo t`o tuo tou dou t`ou tou tu du t`u tu tuan duan t`uan tuan tui dui t`ui tui tun dun t`un tun tung dong t`ung tong tsa za ts`a ca tsai zai ts`ai cai tsan zan ts`an can tsang zang ts`ang cang tsao zao ts`ao cao tse ze ts`e ce tsei zei tsen zen ts`en cen tseng zeng ts`eng ceng tso zuo ts`o cuo tsou zou ts`ou cou tsu zu ts`u cu tsuan zuan ts`uan cuan tsui zui ts`ui cui tsun zun ts`un cun tsung zong ts`ung cong tzu zi tz`u ci wa wa wai wai wan wan wang wang wei wei wen wen weng weng wo wo wu wu ya ya yai yai yang yang yao yao yeh ye yen yan yin yin ying ying yo yo yu you yü yu yüan yuan yüeh yue yün yun yung yong
* Here, for your information, is an advance copy of the new romanization guidelines for Chinese, based on the pinyin system. The guidelines will be officially issued by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office of the Library of Congress at a later time. The effective date for these new guidelines has not yet been determined. A complete copy of the guidelines (including Chinese characters) will be faxed upon request.