Old National Pronunciation

The Old National Pronunciation was similar to the phonology of the Beijing dialect, but with four additional distinctions derived from Middle Chinese that were still maintained in other dialects: • Three more initials, derived from the initials of Middle Chinese: , as two initials, and . • Preservation of the "round-sharp distinction" (). The alveolo-palatal initials of the Beijing dialect (), written in pinyin as j, q and x, originated in a merger between velar initials () and alveolar affricates () before the front vowels and . In the Old National Pronunciation, the former group were treated as palatals, but the latter group remained as alveolars. • A distinction between and . ==Phonetic symbols==

The notation used to indicate the prescribed pronunciation was zhuyin zimu (also known as zhuyin fuhao), as adopted by the Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation. In the following tables, the zhuyin fuhao symbols are shown with equivalents in the IPA and modern pinyin (where applicable). The tone system used at the time was different from the modern version of Bopomofo: the dark level tone was unmarked, and the light level, rising, departing and entering tone each had a single dot marked at the bottom left, top left, top right and bottom right corners respectively, thus resembling the tone-marking system of Middle Chinese to a large degree. Example Therefore, with this in mind, the following example can be derived: • Example (Literary Chinese): 海納百川，有容乃大。 • Bopomofo: ㄏㄞˇ ㄋㄚ・ ㄅㄜ・ ㄔㄨㄢ，ㄧㄡˇ ㄩㄥˊ ㄋㄞˇ ㄉㄚˋ。 • Romanized Bopomofo: hai na pe chuan, iu iong nai da • IPA: • Translation: Using different means to obtain the same result; only those who can be tolerant are great. Mandarin phonology for comparison: • Bopomofo: ㄏㄞˇ ㄋㄚˋ ㄅㄞˇ ㄔㄨㄢ ， ㄧㄡˇ ㄖㄨㄥˊ ㄋㄞˇ ㄉㄚˋ 。 • Pinyin: hǎi nà bǎi chuān ， yǒu róng nǎi dà • IPA: == Notes ==