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Writing Systems Technical Resources

Unicode Status for Bopomofo

In The Unicode Standard, Bopomofo implementation is discussed in Chapter 18: East Asia.

Bopomofo was first encoded in The Unicode Standard version 1.0. The script is now encoded in the following blocks:

BlocksCharacter RangeAdded in Unicode VersionDocumentation
Bopomofo3100..312F1.0U3100.pdf
Bopomofo Extended31A0..31BF3.0U31A0.pdf
Spacing Modifier Letters02EA..02EB1.0U02B0.pdf

Subsequent to version 1.1, the following characters have been added to Bopomofo:

CharactersUnicode VersionDocumentation
312D5.1n3179.pdf, L2/06-338
312E10.0L2/15-265
312F11.0L2/16-106
31A0..31B73.0WG2 n1713r, L2/98-090
31B8..31BA6.0n3246.pdf, L2/07-215
31BBpendingWG2 N4980, L2/18-255

Documentation refers to ISO Working Group and Unicode proposals

A number of proposals for its inclusion were submitted to the Unicode Technical Committee and WG2:

  • 1998-03-19 Proposal to add 24 extended Bopomofo and 2 modifier letters for Minnan and Hakka languages in ISO/IEC 10646-1 — TCA (WG2 N1713 (not online), L2/98-090 (not online))

  • 2006-10-19 Proposal to encode one Bopomofo character in the UCS — Michael Everson (Yè Mìháo), H. W. Ho, Andrew West (Wèi An) (WG2 N3179, L2/06-338)

  • 2007-04-20 Proposal to encode two Bopomofo characters in UCS — TCA (WG2 N3246, L2/07-215)

  • 2009-01-25 Proposal to encode three Bopomofo letters for Hmu and Ge — Andrew West (WG2 N3570, L2/09-049)

  • 2014-08-01 BOPOMOFO LETTER I — Taiwan MOE / Ken Lunde (WG2 N4609, L2/14-189)

  • 2016-04-21 Proposal to encode one Bopomofo letter — Andrew West (WG2 N4717, L2/16-106)

    • UTC #147 Minutes (L2/16-121) (See C.16 for decision and action items)

  • 2017-08-10 About script names in the code charts — Eduardo Marin Silva (L2/17-293)

    • Recommendations to UTC #153 October 2017 on Script Proposals (L2/17-384) (See point 1.)

    • UTC #153 Minutes (L2/17-362) (See B.14 for decision and action items)

  • 2018-01-08 Proposal to define Standardized Variation Sequences for BOPOMOFO LETTER I — Eiso Chan, Selena Wei (L2/18-020)

    • UTC #154 Minutes (L2/18-007) (See B.4.5 for decision and action items)

  • 2018-01-24 Comments on L2/18-020 Proposal to define Standardized Variation Sequences for BOPOMOFO LETTER I — Liang Hai (L2/18-052)

  • 2018-06-13 Proposal to Fix Glyphs in Bopomofo Extended Block and Encode one Bopomofo Letter — TCA / Bobby Tung, But Ko, Selena Wei (WG2 N4980, L2/18-255)

    • UTC #156 Minutes (L2/18-183) (See C.21 for decision and action items)

  • 2019-04-08 Preliminary proposal to encode four extended Bopomofo letters for Cantonese in BMP — Eiso Chan (L2/19-100)

    • Recommendations to UTC #159 April-May 2019 on Script Proposals (L2/19-173) (See point 18.)

  • 2019-05-02 Proposal to encode Cantonese Bopomofo Characters — Ben Yang, Eiso Chan (L2/19-177)

    • UTC #159 Minutes (L2/19-122) (See C.17.1 for decision and action items. Note this was discussed twice in the meeting. There were actions during the second discussion.)

  • 2019-06-14 A Proposal to Add Description For Bopomofo Usage to Four Combining Characters, and to Encode Two Bopomofo Combining Tone Marks — TCA / Bobby Tung, Selena Wei (WG2 N5088R, L2/19-222)

  • 2020-07-21 UTC #164 ucd-dev ad hoc feedback & recommendations, F5 Bopomofo Tone Marks — Markus Scherer, et al (L2/20-175)

    • Recommendations to UTC #166 January 2021 on Script Proposals (L2/21-016) (See point 21.)

  • 2022-01-21 Change of Vertical_Orientation property for Bopomofo Tone Marks — Ken Whistler, Deborah Anderson (L2/22-037)

    • Recommendations to UTC #170 January 2022 on Script Proposals (L2/22-023) (See point 22.)

    • UTC #170 Minutes (L2/22-016) (See D.1 SECTION 22 for decision and action items)