The creation of Taiwanese characters flourishes: character unification takes center stage

Many advertisements are filmed in Taiwanese, but did you know the characters "拍謝 (Sorry)" used in subtitles are Taiwanese “Martian” script? So-called Martian script is the common nickname for the unconventional representation of Chinese characters found online. In fact, Taiwanese has its own Romanized alphabet system. With the hope of unifying the writing style of Taiwanese, the Ministry of Education has released a list of Chinese characters which it recommends for writing common words in Taiwanese.

The main dilemma Taiwanese characters currently face is the low usage rate and public incomprehension. Additionally, the government has yet to establish a special affairs council for Taiwanese like the Council of Indigenous Peoples or the Hakka Affairs Council. Only once this is implemented can a comprehensive plan for the preservation and promotion of the Taiwanese language be formulated.

以下為中文對照

台文字創作興盛 文字整合成關鍵

許多廣告拍攝時使用台語，但你知道字幕裡的「拍謝」，使用的是台語火星文嗎，台語其實擁有專屬的文字與羅馬拼音，簡稱台文字，教育部也統整了臺灣閩南語推薦用字表，希望統一台語的書寫方式。

目前台文字面臨的困境，除了使用率不高，民眾看不懂，也需要政府比照原住民與客家委員會，成立專門的台語委員會，全面性規劃台語的保存與推廣，讓更多人看見台文字。

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