Qi Lin Bayin - Role in Early Studies of Fuzhou Dialect

Role in Early Studies of Fuzhou Dialect

For centuries, Qī Lín Bāyīn had been utilized by local people as an authoritative reference book of the Foochow pronunciation. Furthermore, it also greatly assisted the earliest Western missionaries in Fuzhou in learning and studying the native language.

M. C. White, a Methodist from the United States, is the first missionary that attempted to romanize Qī Lín Bāyīn, as he specifically pointed out in his work: "... the system of initials and finals used in the 'Book of Eight Tones,' ... would form a complete alphabet for the Fuh Chau dialect. They have been so used by missionaries for writing colloquial phrases, in their private study of the language. Three of the gospels have been written out in this manner by Chinese teachers in the employment of missionaries." M.C. White made a careful analysis of all phonemes and romanized them by using the System of Sir William Jones. The scheme consists of fourteen consonants (null initial excluded) and nine vowels:

1. Consonants

   ch, ch', h, k, k', l, m, n, ng, p, p', s, t, t'

2. Vowels

   a, e, è, ë, i, o, ò, u, ü

William Jones Phonetic Alphabet had varied over time, and became standardized as Foochow Romanized (Bàng-uâ-cê) several decades later.