Was Taipei ever referred to as Taipeh under the Japanese?
See confusing photo:
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different romanization probably, little standardization that time.
(this one probably: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Chinese#Wade-Giles)
in German we still call it Taipeh and Peking, didn’t know it was a thing in English.
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Is this a propaganda photo about how much better things looked when they were running things?
北 was an “entering tone syllable” 入聲字 in Middle Chinese, meaning it had a stop final, in this case, -k. The -h, I guess, reflects a weakening of that -k to a glottal stop. It is as we all know gone completely in modern Beijing Mandarin.
The correct way to spell Taipei in Taigi is Tāi-pak. The Japanese called it Taihoku.
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Hence my consternation. Also it couldn’t be written by a German as it has the word street just before it.
Everything’s always better when the Japanese are in charge.
… if you survive.
It probably goes to show the I could care less about Romanization attitude was well established on the island even back in the Japanese era…
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It is a 19th c. Romanization of some kind of Mandarin (southern type).
Could it have been made in Hong Kong say, thus leading to the use of a non-Japanese Romanization?
Your definition of Mandarin seems to be pretty broad. Even if that’s the case, the question would be why? Why would someone make a postcard in Japan ruled Taiwan using a non-Japanese and non-local Romanization?
The top write 台北榮町通り. I doubt it was made in Hong Kong.
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If I wind up with large portions of redevelopment zone. I’m rebuilding a neo-japanese neighbourhood.
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You think? Mandarin here used in the sense of 官話, which until the Taiping rebellion retained some southern traits.
My guess: postal romanization. Used in the late Qing treaty ports, which included some places in Taiwan before it was ceded to Japan. Postal romanization is not simply a representation of the Mandarin of the time, but I think it is in this case.
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That might be the case, although I seem to recall most postal codes for Taiwan was Formosa even after WW2, and well into KMT occupation.
Not sure about the cities though.
Maybe the postcard publisher was just sticking with an old habit.
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Boom. This is it.
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