Bopomofo Converter
How to Use
📖 About This Tool
Bopomofo is a set of phonetic symbols still used in Taiwan, in primary school reading lessons and in dictionary indexes. Many people recognise the symbols but cannot turn a character into them reliably, especially with third tones, erhua or the ü sound. This tool applies the standard pinyin rules automatically, so no chart is needed.
Type the characters, press convert, and the symbols appear. Tones come in three forms: marks, with the light tone marked before the syllable; numbers from one to four, with no number for the light tone; or none at all. Separators also come in three: spaces for setting beside running text, none for a continuous run, and one per line, which turns each character with its pinyin into its own row and works well for flash cards.
Two extra toggles are useful. Showing pinyin alongside lets you study the two systems against each other, and bracketing the symbols makes them easier to pick out when pasted into lesson material. If you already have pinyin and want the symbols, tick the option to treat the input as pinyin.
The side panel counts the characters entered, converted and missed, and a chart of symbols against pinyin stays visible underneath. Results can be copied or exported to CSV. Note that characters with several readings take the common one. Everything runs locally.
Rank follows the order of population recorded in recent national surname surveys, so the top of the list is dominated by a handful of names that together account for a large share of the population, while the tail runs to hundreds of rare ones. Origin notes give the main line of descent, since most surnames trace to a clan, a state, an office or a place, and several have more than one independent origin.
The famous names listed with each surname are a sample rather than a complete register, chosen for recognition. The full list covers the traditional hundred plus surnames together with a wider set of common ones, and ranking data is indicative rather than exact, since counts vary by source and by year. Searching accepts a single character or a whole name, and matching works character by character so a compound surname is handled as well. Results can be copied or exported with the ranking column intact.
✨ Features
- Whole passages: several lines converted character by character.
- Three tone styles: marks, numbers or none.
- Three separators: spaces, none, or one per line.
- Pinyin alongside: output both systems for comparison.
- Reverse use: feed in pinyin and get symbols back.
- Permanent chart: symbols against pinyin on the side.
🚀 How to Use
- Type the characters to convert, several lines if you like.
- Pick a tone style and a separator.
- Press convert and the result appears below.
- Tick pinyin comparison when studying both systems.
- Copy or export CSV when you need to keep it.
⚠️ Notes
- Multiple readings: the common reading is used; check special contexts yourself.
- Light tone: marked before the syllable, and shown as no number in numeric mode.
- Coverage: the pinyin library covers common characters; rare ones are reported as missing.
- Erhua: treated character by character, without connected speech changes.
- Nothing is saved: refreshing clears the results, so export in time.