China: Scripts, Non-Chinese

Abstract

In the 1950s, Chinese linguists began to create scripts for over a dozen of the 55 official ethnic minority groups (shaoshu minzu) that lacked traditional or more recent writing systems. Initially, Cyrillic and roman alphabets were utilized, sometimes in concert with IPA symbols. Ultimately, 13 official scripts using roman letters were adopted, including dialects of Zhuang and Miao. An exception is the new syllabary for a major dialect of Yi in Sichuan, based on traditional logographs. Social and economic pressures in China will be a determining factor in the continued use of both the traditional and new minority scripts.