Changes

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.

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.

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.

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. It is also often used in Chinese colleges and universities to transition students to English.

[[Category:China]]

[[Category:China]]

[[Category:Writing systems]]

[[Category:Writing systems]]