# Romanized Shaowu

Romanized Shaowu (邵武腔羅馬字 Shiau⁶-u² kʻiong¹ lo⁵-ma² tsʻe⁶) is a romanization system for the Shaowu dialect of the Shao–Jiang Min language.

## History

"Romanized Shaowu" was created in the 1880s by Joseph Elkanah Walker and Ada Walker (née Claghorn), who were American missionaries living in Shaowu since 1872 through the 1930s. In 1891, they have translated the Epistle of James into Shaowu using this romanization (as 《使徒雅各書》 Se³-tʻu⁵ Nga²-ko⁴ shṳ¹).

## System
### Initials

| p /p/ 比 | k /k/ 加 | t /t/ 知 | ts /ts/ 資 | ch /tɕ/ 之 |
| pʻ /pʰ/ 拍 | kʻ /kʰ/ 氣 | tʻ /tʰ/ 他 | tsʻ /tsʰ/ 菜 | chʻ /tɕʰ/ 車 |
| m /m/ 米 | ng /ŋ/ 牙 | n /n/ 儀 | s /s/ 西 | sh /ɕ/ 時 |
| v /ʋ/ 慰 | h /x/ 希 | l /l/ 利 | | |
| f /f/ 夫 | | | | |

### Rimes

| a /a/ 鴉 | ai /ai/ 發 | au /au/ 教 | an /an/ 爛 | ang /aŋ/ 行 |
| ia /ia/ 也 | | iau /iau/ 腰 | | iang /iaŋ/ 鏡 |
| ua /ua/ 瓜 | uai /uai/ 怪 | | uan /uan/ 灣 | |
| e /ə/ 而 | ei /əi/ 雞 | eu /əu/ 後 | en /ən/ 恩 | |
| ue /uə/ 國 | uei /uei/ 鬼 | | uen /uən/ 問 | |
| | | | ṳen /yen/ 勸 | |
| ṳ /y/ 書 | | | ṳn /yn/ 裙 | |
| | éi /ɛi/ 水 | éu /ɛu/* 口 | én /ɛn/ 能 | |
| ie /ie/ 月 | | | ien /ien/ 延 | |
| o /o/ 惡 | oi /oi/ 哀 | (ou /ou/ 幼) | on /on/ 安 | ong /oŋ/ 方 |
| io /io/ 夜 | | (iou /iou/ 手) | | iong /ioŋ/ 羊 |
| uo /uo/ 果 | uoi /uoi/* 殺 | | uon /uon/ 官 | uong /uoŋ/ 光 |
| i /i/ 衣 | | | in /in/ 因 | |
| u /u/ 烏 | | | | ung /uŋ/ 翁 |
| iu /iu/* 手 | | | | iung /iuŋ/ 用 |
| r /ɯ~ɿ/ 刺 | | | | |
| ng /ŋ/ 五 | | | | |
There is some variation in the representation of the finals in works by J.E.Walker. E.g., the letter ṳ may be written with the dots above it (as ü).
In modern Shaowu, the palatal sibilants ch /tɕ/, chʻ /tɕʰ/, sh /ɕ/ are only used before /-i-/ and /-y-/. Romanized Shaowu marks the /-i-/ medial somewhat inconsistenly, e.g. 上 /ɕioŋ³⁵/ is written as shong⁶ in the Walker's syllabary, but as shiong⁶ in his translation of the Epistle of James. The word 邵 is written shiau⁶ in the syllabary itself, but as shau on its title.

### Tones

Tones in Romanized Shaowu are marked with superscript numbers after the syllable.
| Tone name | 陰平 en¹-pʻin⁵ | 上聲 shiong²-chʻin¹ | 陰去 en¹-kʻṳ³ | 入聲 nin⁶-chʻin¹ | 陽平 iong⁵-pʻin⁵ | 陽去 iong⁵-kʻṳ³ |
| Tone contour | 21 | 55 | 213 | 53 | 22 | 35 |
| Romanized Shaowu | ¹ | ² | ³ | ⁴ | ⁵ | ⁶ |

## Correspondence to modern Shaowu

The original Walker's romanization lacks modern Shaowu finals /ou/ and /iou/, but contains finals iu, uoi, éu, which are absent in modern Shaowu (but may still be preserved in other dialects of Shao-Jiang Min).
The finals eu /əu/, éu /ɛu/, éi /ɛi/ are rearranged in modern Shaowu, with eu /əu/ becoming ou /ou/ (or iou /iou/ after palatal sibilants), éu /ɛu/ becoming eu /əu/, and éi /ɛi/ becoming ei /əi/.
| | Walker | Guangze | Shaowu | Jiangle |
| 口 | kʻéu² | kʻéu² /khɛu⁴⁴/ | kʻeu² /kʰəu⁵⁵/ | kʻéu² /kʰeu⁵¹/ |
| 樓 | léu⁵ | léu⁵ /lɛu²²/ | leu⁵ /ləu²²/ | léu⁵ /leu²²/ |
| 搜 | séu¹ | séu¹ /sɛu²¹/ | seu¹ /səu²¹/ | shéu¹ /ʃeu⁵⁵/ |
| 浮 | féu⁵ | féu⁵ /fɛu²²/ | feu⁵ /fəu²²/ | féu⁵ /feu²²/ |
| 末 | méi⁶ | méi⁶ /mɛi⁵⁵/ | mei⁶ /məi³⁵/ | mo⁴⒝ /mo⁵/ |
| 活 | féi⁶ | féi⁶ /fɛi⁵⁵/ | fei⁶ /fəi³⁵/ | fo⁴⒝ /fo⁵/ |
| 灰 | féi¹ | féi¹ /fɛi²¹/ | fei¹ /fəi²¹/ | fuai¹ /fuæ⁵⁵/ |
| 雞 | kéi¹ | kéi¹ /kɛi²¹/ | kei¹ /kəi²¹/ | ké¹ /ke⁵⁵/ |
| 休 | heu¹ | heu¹ /xəu²¹/ | hou¹ /xou²¹/ | shiu¹ /ʃiu⁵⁵/ |
| 求 | kʻeu⁵ | kʻeu⁵ /kʰəu²²/ | kʻou⁵ /kʰou²²/ | kʻiu⁵ /kʰiu²²/ |
| 留 | leu⁵ | leu⁵ /ləu²²/ | lou⁵ /lou²²/ | liu⁵ /liu²²/ |
| 修 | seu¹ | seu¹ /səu²¹/ | sou¹ /sou²¹/ | siu¹ /siu⁵⁵/ |
| 醜 | chʻeu² | chʻiu² /tɕʰiu⁴⁴/ | chʻiou² /tɕʰiou⁵⁵/ | chʻiu² /tʃʰiu⁵¹/ |
| 壽 | sheu⁶ | shiu⁶ /ɕiu⁵⁵/ | shiou⁶ /ɕiou³⁵/ | shiu⁶ /ʃiu²³¹/ |
The final iu /iu/ merges with /iou/ in modern Shaowu.
| | Walker | Guangze | Shaowu | Jiangle |
| 手 | shiu² | shiu² /ɕiu⁴⁴/ | shiou² /ɕiou⁵⁵/ | shiu² /ʃiu⁵¹/ |
| 周 | chiu¹ | chiu¹ /tɕiu²¹/ | chiou¹ /tɕiou²¹/ | chiu¹ /tʃiu⁵⁵/ |
| 臭 | chʻiu³ | chʻiu³ /tɕʰiu³⁵/ | chʻiou³ /tɕʰiou²¹³/ | chʻiu³ /tʃʰiu³²⁴/ |
| 有 | iu² | iu²⒝ /iu⁵³/ | iou² /iou⁵⁵/ | iu² /iu⁵¹/ |
| 由 | iu⁵ | iu⁵ /iu²²/ | iou⁵ /iou²²/ | iu⁵ /iu²²/ |
Finals uoi /uoi/, uei /uei/, uon /uon/ lose their medial /-u-/ after labial and dental initials to become /-oi, -ɛi, -on/.
| | Walker | Guangze | Shaowu | Jiangle |
| 回 | fuei⁵ | féi⁵ /fɛi²²/ | féi⁵ /fɛi²²/ | fi⁵ /fi²²/ |
| 雷 | luei⁵ | léi⁵ /lɛi²²/ | léi⁵ /lɛi²²/ | lṳ⁵ /ly²²/ |
| 水 | suei² | shṳ² /ɕy⁴⁴/ | séi² /sɛi⁵⁵/ | shṳ² /ʃy⁵¹/ |
| 殺 | suoi⁴ | soi⁴ /sɔi⁵³/ | soi⁴ /soi⁵³/ | sho⁴ /ʃo⁵¹/ |
| 衰 | suoi¹ | soi¹ /sɔi²¹/ | soi¹ /soi²¹/ | shuai¹ /ʃuæ⁵⁵/ |
| 賽 | suoi³ | soi³ /sɔi³⁵/ | soi³ /soi²¹³/ | sai³ /sæ³²⁴/ |
| 亂 | luon⁶ | lon⁶ /lɔn⁵⁵/ | lon⁶ /lon³⁵/ | luén⁶ /luɛ̃²³¹/ |
| 滿 | muon² | mon²⒝ /mɔn⁵³/ | mon² /mon⁵⁵/ | muén² /muɛ̃⁵¹/ |
| 歡 | fuon¹ | fon¹ /fɔn²¹/ | fon¹ /fon²¹/ | fuén¹ /fuɛ̃⁵⁵/ |
The final r in the Walker's romanization is analyzed as /ɯ/ (or /ɿ/ after sibilants) in modern Shaowu, but it may merge with other finals in some specific contexts.
| | Walker | Guangze | Shaowu | Jiangle |
| 刺 | tsʻr³ | tsʻr³ /tsʰɿ³⁵/ | tsʻr³ /tsʰɿ²¹³/ | tsʻr³ /tsʰɿ³²⁴/ |
| 撕 | sr¹ | sr¹ /sɿ²¹/ | sr¹ /sɿ²¹/ | sr¹ /sɿ⁵⁵/ |
| 起 | kʻr² | kʻi² /kʰi⁴⁴/ | kʻr² /kʰɯ⁵⁵/ | kʻi² /kʰi⁵¹/ |
| 滴 | tr⁴ | ti⁴ /ti⁵³/ | tr⁴ /tɯ⁵³/ | ti⁴ /ti²¹/ |
| 耳 | r² | é²⒝ /ɛ⁵³/ | e² /ə⁵⁵/ | e² /ø⁵¹/ |
| 兒 | r⁵ | é⁵ /ɛ²²/ | e⁵ /ə²²/ | e⁵ /ø²²/ |
Most of the tsʻ /tsʰ/ initials have merged with tʻ /tʰ/ in modern Shaowu, only occasionally being preserved in literary readings.
| | Walker | Guangze | Shaowu | Jiangle |
| 罪 | tsʻuei⁶ | tʻéi⁶ /tʰɛi⁵⁵/ | tʻéi⁶ /tʰɛi³⁵/ | tsʻui⁶ /tsʰui²³¹/ |
| 取 | tsʻṳ² | tʻṳ² /tʰy⁴⁴/ | tʻṳ² /tʰy⁵⁵/ | tsʻṳ² /tsʰy⁵¹/ |
| 湊 | tsʻéu³ | tʻéu³ /tʰɛu⁴⁴/ | tʻeu³ /tʰəu²¹³/ | tsʻéu³ /tsʰeu³²⁴/ |
| 字 | tsʻe⁶ | tʻé⁶ /tʰɛ⁵⁵/ | tʻe⁶ /tʰə³⁵/ | sr⁶ /sɿ²³¹/ |