隔音符號

See also: 隔音符号

Chinese

		to separate; to stand or lie between; to divide to separate; to stand or lie between; to divide; to cut off	sound; noise; news	mark; symbol; sign mark; symbol; sign; insignia
trad. (隔音符號)		隔	音	符號
simp. (隔音符号)		隔	音	符号

Examples
西安 (Xī’ān, “Xi'an”) (before a syllable beginning with an a) 海鷗 / 海鸥 (hǎi’ōu, “seagull”) (before a syllable beginning with an o) 天鵝 / 天鹅 (tiān’é, “swan”) (before a syllable beginning with an e) 第二 (dì-èr, “second”) (apostrophe omitted due to use of hyphen) 濟南 / 济南 (Jǐnán, “Jinan”) (written as Jinan (no apostrophe); not written as "Ji'nan")

Etymology

First used in the draft of the Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet (漢語拼音方案) published in February 1956 by the Committee for the Reform of the Chinese Written Language (中國文字改革委員會).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): géyīn fúhào

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄜˊ ㄧㄣ ㄈㄨˊ ㄏㄠˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gaak³ jam¹ fu⁴ hou^6-2 / gaak³ jam¹ fu⁴ hou⁶

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: géyīn fúhào
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄜˊ ㄧㄣ ㄈㄨˊ ㄏㄠˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: géyin fúhào
    • Wade–Giles: ko²-yin¹ fu²-hao⁴
    • Yale: gé-yīn fú-hàu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gerin fwuhaw
    • Palladius: гэинь фухао (gɛinʹ fuxao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɤ³⁵ in⁵⁵ fu³⁵ xɑʊ̯⁵¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: géyīnfúhàor
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄜˊ ㄧㄣ ㄈㄨˊ ㄏㄠˋㄦ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: géyinfúhàor
    • Wade–Giles: ko²-yin¹-fu²-hao⁴-ʼrh
    • Yale: gé-yīn-fú-hàur
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gerinfwuhawl
    • Palladius: гэиньфухаор (gɛinʹfuxaor)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɤ³⁵ in⁵⁵ fu³⁵ xaʊ̯ɻʷ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gaak³ jam¹ fu⁴ hou^6-2 / gaak³ jam¹ fu⁴ hou⁶
    • Yale: gaak yām fùh hóu / gaak yām fùh houh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gaak⁸ jam¹ fu⁴ hou^6-2 / gaak⁸ jam¹ fu⁴ hou⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: gag³ yem¹ fu⁴ hou^6-2 / gag³ yem¹ fu⁴ hou⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaːk̚³ jɐm⁵⁵ fuː²¹ hou̯²²⁻³⁵/, /kaːk̚³ jɐm⁵⁵ fuː²¹ hou̯²²/

Noun

隔音符號

1. apostrophe used to divide syllables within a word to avoid ambiguity in various alphabetic systems used in China; in pinyin, to be used between two syllables (unless a hyphen is being used) whenever the second syllable begins with an a, o or e (regardless of whether any ambiguity exists) and not in any other circumstance

   • a，o，e開頭的音節連接在其它音節後面的時候，如果音節的界限發生混淆，用隔音符號（’）隔開，例如：pi’ao（皮襖）。 [MSC, trad.]
     a，o，e开头的音节连接在其它音节后面的时候，如果音节的界限发生混淆，用隔音符号（’）隔开，例如：pi’ao（皮袄）。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1958, 汉语拼音方案 (Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet), section 5

     a, o, e kāitóu de yīnjié liánjiē zài qítā yīnjié hòumiàn de shíhou, rúguǒ yīnjié de jièxiàn fāshēng hùnxiáo, yòng géyīn fúhào (’) gékāi, lìrú: pi’ ao (pí'ǎo). [Pinyin]

     [In Hanyu Pinyin], when a syllable beginning in a, o or e is preceded by another syllable, if the division between the syllables is unclear, use the syllable-dividing apostrophe (’) to divide [the syllables]. For example: pi’ao 皮襖／皮袄 (pí'ǎo).

   • 壯文的多音詞主要是根據聲韻結構和聲調符號來識別音節……當據此仍不好區分音節時，就得利用隔音符號“’”來劃分 [MSC, trad.]
     壮文的多音词主要是根据声韵结构和声调符号来识别音节……当据此仍不好区分音节时，就得利用隔音符号“’”来划分 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1981, 壮文方案（修订案）

     Zhuàngwén de duōyīncí zhǔyào shì gēnjù shēngyùn jiégòu hé shēngdiào fúhào lái shíbié yīnjié...... Dāng jù cǐ réng bùhǎo qūfēn yīnjié shí, jiù děi lìyòng géyīn fúhào “’” lái huàfēn [Pinyin]

     In Zhuang, syllables in multisyllabic words are distinguished according to the syllable structure and tone symbols... When the syllables still cannot be distinguished accordingly, an apostrophe "'" needs to be used to divide the syllables

Synonyms

• (obsolete) 界音符號／界音符号 (jièyīn fúhào)

See also

• 撇號／撇号 (piěhào)
• 聲調符號／声调符号 (shēngdiào fúhào)

Further reading

• Apostrophes in Hanyu Pinyin: when and where to use them, Pīnyīn.info