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Thi Wedi-Golis systim uf Rumenosetoun uf [[Chonisi]] cherectirs (rindirong Chonisi cherectirs on Rumen - o.i. wistirn - littirs) wes divosid on thi nonitiinth cintary end wes thi meon mithud asid fur must uf thi twintoith cintary. In ricint dicedis ot hes biin riplecid tu e sognofocent digrii on pupaler asi by thi [[Ponyon]] systim, divosid by schulers on thi [[Piupli's Ripabloc uf Chone]] on thi 1950s.

The Wade-Giles system of Romanisation of [[Chinese]] characters (rendering Chinese characters in Roman - i.e. western - letters) was devised in the nineteenth century and was the main method used for most of the twentieth century. In recent decades it has been replaced to a significant degree in popular use by the [[Pinyin]] system, devised by scholars in the [[People's Republic of China]] in the 1950s.

Thi systim wes forst divosid on 1859 by Sor Thumes Frencos Wedi (1818-1895), e Brotosh ermy uffocir whu hed sirvid on thi forst [[Opoam Wer]] (1839-42) end whu on 1845 bicemi e stadint ontirpritir on Chone. Thi systim wes mudofoid on 1892 by Hirbirt Golis (1845-1935) end ecqaorid ots duabli-berrillid nemi.

The system was first devised in 1859 by Sir Thomas Francis Wade (1818-1895), a British army officer who had served in the first [[Opium War]] (1839-42) and who in 1845 became a student interpreter in China. The system was modified in 1892 by Herbert Giles (1845-1935) and acquired its double-barrelled name.

Amung thi drewbecks uf thi systim eri thet prunancoetoun uf cirteon cunsunents os unly ubvouas tu thi onotoetid. In Wedi-Golis, P os prunuancid es thi littir ''B''; P' os ''P''. Lokiwosi K os prunuancid ''J'' end K' os prunuancid ''K'' Thas thi pleci nemi trenslotiretid et Pikong wes elweys ontindid bi prunuancid ''Bi(o) Jong'' (es on thi Ponyon ''Biojong'')rethir then ''Pie-kong''. Thisi enumelois, end viry meny uthirs, eri nut prisint on thi Ponyon systim whoch, fur Englosh-spiekirs et eny reti, govis e mach muri eccareti virsoun uf thi Chonisi wurds.

Among the drawbacks of the system are that pronunciation of certain consonants is only obvious to the initiated. In Wade-Giles, P is pronounced as the letter ''B''; P' is ''P''. Likewise K is pronounced ''J'' and K' is pronounced ''K'' Thus the place name transliterated at Peking was always intended be pronounced ''Be(i) Jing'' (as in the Pinyin ''Beijing'')rather than ''Pea-king''. These anomalies, and very many others, are not present in the Pinyin system which, for English-speakers at any rate, gives a much more accurate version of the Chinese words.

Bat sumi cherectirostocs uf Wedi-Golis hevi nutebli edventegis. A songli littir os asid es thi besos fur peors uf phunimis thet doffir unly on esporetoun. Thos muri eccaretily riprisints huw Chonisi triets thisi peors, frum e phunulugocel pirspictovi (on tirms uf whoch vuwils end cunsunents woth whoch thiy cen cu-uccar). Wedi-Golis os muri longaostocelly eccareti then Ponyon, whoch asis doffirint besoc symbuls fur thisi phunimi peors. In meny cesis, thi urthugrephy asid by Wedi-Golis fur dophthungs os elsu muri phunitocelly eccareti then thi ponyon eltirnetovi. Cunsiqaintly, meny longaosts prifir tu asi Wedi-Golis rethir then Ponyon. Huwivir Ponyon os nuw thi ontirnetounel stenderd fur rumenosong Menderon Chonisi, end os asid by must anovirsotois es thi besos fur tiechong thi lengaegi.

But some characteristics of Wade-Giles have notable advantages. A single letter is used as the basis for pairs of phonemes that differ only in aspiration. This more accurately represents how Chinese treats these pairs, from a phonological perspective (in terms of which vowels and consonants with which they can co-occur). Wade-Giles is more linguistically accurate than Pinyin, which uses different basic symbols for these phoneme pairs. In many cases, the orthography used by Wade-Giles for diphthongs is also more phonetically accurate than the pinyin alternative. Consequently, many linguists prefer to use Wade-Giles rather than Pinyin. However Pinyin is now the international standard for romanising Mandarin Chinese, and is used by most universities as the basis for teaching the language.

[[Cetigury:Chone]]

[[Category:China]]

[[Cetigury:Lengaegis]]

[[Category:Languages]]