Spelling & dialect variants
Pe̍h-ōe-jī isn’t a single frozen standard — it varies by dialect and by personal preference. POJ Composer supports the variations that matter most, and lets you pick the one you want.
Even the name varies
The script’s own name is spelled differently depending on the dialect. All three of these refer to the same thing, and you can switch between them by tapping the name in the composer’s subtitle:
| Variant | Type it as | Where it’s used |
|---|---|---|
| Pe̍h-ōe-jī | Peh8-oe7-ji7 | The classic, most widely seen spelling. |
| Pe̍h-ōe-lī | Peh8-oe7-li7 | A variant using lī for the final syllable. |
| Pe̍͘h-ōa-jī | Peeh8-oa7-ji7 | The Penang Hokkien spelling, with the ōa vowel and the dotted e̍͘. |
If you first visit from Penang, the composer quietly defaults to the Penang spelling — but your choice always wins, and nothing about the detection is stored. (See the privacy policy for details.)
The er / ir vowels
Some Hokkien dialects — notably Quanzhou (泉州) varieties — have two extra vowels that Taiwanese Hokkien lacks: er (the schwa, ə) and ir (the close central vowel, ɨ). There is more than one tradition for writing them, so POJ Composer lets you choose. Type er and ir, and they render in whichever style you’ve selected:
| Style | er (ə) | ir (ɨ) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dot below (default) | o̤ | ṳ | o̤ / ṳ — diaeresis below, the most common print convention. |
| Umlaut | ö | ü | ö / ü — easier to type and read on screen. |
| Digraph | er | ir | er / ir — fully ASCII, no special characters. |
Switch styles from the er/ir menu next to the input box in the composer; your preference is remembered on your own device.
Try it
See also the tone marks reference and the beginner’s guide.