华裔文：HWAYIH WOEN
欢迎光临
A Brief Welcome
HOW TO USE THIS WEBSITE
An Online Reference Tool
As the title suggests, this website is a comprehensive resource on how to use Chinese characters to write the English language. The user, from the outset, must clearly understand this point because the layman's stereotypical misunderstanding conflates this system with the construction of an entirely new and bona fide language. That is to say, the content of this online reference is not a constructed language in the tradition of, for example, Volapük, Esperanto, or Ido. Rather, what is presented here is strictly an orthographic system, one that will enable the knowledgeable user to read a string of Chinese characters and read aloud a perfectly formulated spoken English sentence on the basis of what is functionally—though not technically—a one-to-one graphical-spoken correspondence.
The full spectrum of this system exists as a series of interlocking intersections across multiple linguistic and orthographic concepts; however, full and immediate functionality only requires the student to learn the content contained within the "Phonetic Characters" chart (see Regarding Phonetic Characters below for further details). Therefore, for those seeking to immediately begin studying the system for the purpose of achieving base-level functionality as soon as possible, skipping directly to the "Regarding Phonetic Characters" section while disregarding any other expository material is certainly an option. Precisely speaking, this “base-level” functionality—the exclusive use and implementation of the content in the "Phonetic Characters" chart—is what is known as the "Junior Script," according to the internal nomenclature of this system. For an immediate step-by-step guide to learning the Hwayih Woen Junior Script, please refer to the Hwayih Woen Junior Script Worktext.
However, should the reader intend to progress into the “Senior Script”—the full implementation of all the design layers inherent to the system—this website firmly recommends a thorough review of the Hwayih Woen whitepaper, which is included in the third appendix to the Hwayih Woen edition of McGuffey's 1st Eclectic Reader—a publication that is also made available on this website (see Regarding Logograms below for further details).
Regarding Phonetic Characters (i.e. Junior Script)
Everyone knows that English has 26 letters; however, hardly any native anglophone knows that the language itself contains 48 sounds, divided across 3 broad subcategories. Hwayih Woen assigns 48 unique Chinese characters to represent these 48 English sounds on a strict 1:1 sound-to-symbol ratio with no exceptions. These characters as a group form the majuscule (i.e. "upper case") forms of the Hwayih Woen Phonetic Characters. Additionally, Hwayih Woen also assigns a parallel set of 48 symbols adapted from the Jèw-yeān Foó-hòw（注音符号）system, which in turn form the miniscule (i.e. "lower case") forms of the Hwayih Woen Phonetic Characters. This enables the user to phonetically represent on paper any English word, and—by logical extension—any English sentence. As was already previously mentioned above, this practice of writing out English words and sentences on the basis of sound instead of spelling is called the "Junior Script," and is the natural starting place to begin learning the Hwayih Woen system.
This website lists out, free of charge, all 48 phonetic characters grouped within their respective subcategories to facilitate easily repeatable reference look-up. However, for those individuals who have zero prior experience with Chinese characters and/or find the complexity of the 48 Phonetic Characters to be too overwhelming, this website is pleased to provide a full and comprehensive worktext that demonstrates the tangibility of each Phonetic Character stroke-by-stroke in a way that ensures reliable retention.
Please click below for further details.
Regarding Logograms (i.e. Senior Script)
Chinese characters are infamous throughout the entire world because they represent meaning instead of sound. The only other orthography to accomplish this feat was Egyptian Hieroglyphics, and to the Western imagination, the notion of learning a script completely divorced from any kind of alphabet is terrifyingly overwhelming, not least of which is due to the thousands upon thousands of unique "pictures" that one must memorize in order to be functionally literate even at the most basic level. This is usually where students of Hwayih Woen arrive at a plateau of sorts in their studies. After mastering the Junior Script, the elation of being able to write entire documents in Chinese characters starts to gradually ameliorate, because the student turns to a piece of formally published documentation in characters and realizes that he still has no way to decipher the meaning. This is where the Hwayih Woen Senior Script enters the picture.
Crudely defined, the Senior Script is simply the practice of using Chinese logograms (i.e. "characters") on the basis of their meaning to represent English words on paper. Within this framework, a student's transition from Junior Script proficiency to Senior Script proficiency is one that can occur gradually without sacrificing any degree of language functionality; however, the order that governs which logograms students ought to sequentially prioritize is not necessarily intuitive. To that end, Sinology Unbound is pleased to provide a full Hwayih Woen Senior Script translation of McGuffey's First Eclectic Reader. By utilizing this text, the question of which logograms to learn next will always be abundantly clear.
Please click below for further details.
常见问题
FAQs