Mangabaka Chinese Romanisation Style

Core Romanisation Style#↑

This style guide defines how to consistently romanise and style Mandarin Chinese titles (manhua) for metadata purposes. The goal is to provide a standard that is easy to read and type while preserving the tonal nature of the language through Hanyu Pinyin.

The Basis#↑

We follow standard Hanyu Pinyin with the following specific enhancements and deviations:

• Tonal Diacritics: We strictly use tone marks (diacritics) for all syllables to ensure accurate identification (e.g., Mā vs Má vs Mǎ vs Mà) ― major deviation.
• Loanword Restoration: Translate clear phonetic loanwords into their English/foreign spelling (e.g., 巴士 / Bāshì → "Bus", 粉丝 / Fěnsī → "Fans") instead of strict pinyin ― major deviation.
• The "Zhi" Separation: The character 之 (Zhī) is treated as a delimiter (colon) when separating a main title from a subtitle.
• Agglutination: We fuse compund words (polysyllabic words) according to standard orthography (e.g., Dàxué and not Dà Xué), but keep grammatical particles separate.

Capitalisation#↑

As we are romanising titles, we use the Chicago Headline Style:

• Capitalise all nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and auxiliary verbs.
• Keep all particles (e.g., de, le, zhe, ma), prepositions (e.g., zài, cóng), and copulas (e.g., shì) in lowercase.

Word Spacing, Fusions, and Hyphenation#↑

Chinese characters (Hanzi) represent syllables, but Pinyin represents words (Ci). We standardise boundaries as follows:

• Compounds: Fuse standard dictionary compounds. If a word is a single concept composed of multiple characters, it is one word (e.g., Péngyǒu for Friend, not Péng Yǒu).
• Names: Surname First (Capitalised) + Given Name (Capitalised and Fused). Unlike Korean, Chinese given names are fused without a hyphen (e.g., Máo Zédōng).
• Erhua (R-coloring): The suffix 儿 (-r) is fused to the preceding syllable (e.g., Huār not Huā Er).
• Separation: Separate words that do not form a tight compound. Subject-Verb-Object structures are always separated.
• Apostrophes: Use an apostrophe strictly to disambiguate syllable boundaries when a syllable starting with a, o, or e follows another syllable (e.g., Xī'ān vs Xiān).

Actual Title Showcasing the Style#↑

重生之黑客系统的逆袭 ～在异世界当骇客，我的粉丝全是僵尸～
Chóngshēng: Hacker Xìtǒng de Nìxí ～Zài Yìshìjiè Dāng Hacker, Wǒ de Fans Quán shì Jiāngshī～

• Loanwords: 黑客 (Hēikè) / 骇客 (Hàikè) → Hacker. 粉丝 (Fěnsī) → Fans.
• Native Nouns: Xìtǒng (System), Yìshìjiè (Otherworld), Jiāngshī (Zombie) are kept in Pinyin as they are standard native/Sino compounds or not direct phonetic loans.
• The "Zhi" Rule: Chóngshēng (Rebirth) is followed by Zhi acting as a separator, so it becomes a colon.
• Particles: de (possessive) is separate and lowercase.
• Prepositions/Copula: zài (at/in) and shì (is) are separate and lowercase.
• Compounds: Nìxí (Counterattack) is fused.

Further Clarification#↑

Loanword Restoration Rule#↑

Chinese often absorbs foreign words phonetically. To improve readability, we restore these to their original foreign counterparts if they are direct phonetic transliterations.

• 巴士 (Bāshì) → Bus
• 沙发 (Shāfā) → Sofa
• 巧克力 (Qiǎokèlì) → Chocolate
• 朋克 (Péngkè) → Punk
• S级 (S-jí) → S-jí (or S-Rank if "Rank" is implied contextually).

The Particle "De" (的 / 地 / 得)#↑

The natural tone particle de is the most common grammatical marker. It is always separated and lowercase.

• 红色跑车 (Hóngsè Pǎochē) → Hóngsè Pǎochē (Red Sports Car - no particle)
• 红色的跑车 (Hóngsè de Pǎochē) → Hóngsè de Pǎochē (Red-colored Sports Car)
• 慢慢地走 (Mànmàn de Zǒu) → Mànmàn de Zǒu (Walk slowly - adverbial marker)
• 跑得快 (Pǎo de Kuài) → Pǎo de Kuài (Run fast - complement marker)

Copula (Is/Am/Are)#↑

The verb shì (是) functions as the copula. While syntactically a verb, for Title Styling purposes to align with our Japanese/Korean guidelines, we treat it as a functional connector.

• Lowercase shì when it acts as a simple distinct equating verb in a title.
• Fuse and Capitalise if it is part of a lexicalised compound (e.g., Wèishénme - Why).

Hyphenation and Special Characters#↑

Personal Names#↑

Surname + Given Name

• 李小龙 → Lǐ Xiǎolóng
• 司马光 → Sīmǎ Guāng (Compound Surname Sima is fused).

Honorifics and Prefixes#↑

Chinese uses prefixes/suffixes for familiarity. Hyphenate these to clarify they are not part of the name proper.

• 老王 (Lǎo Wáng) → Lǎo-Wáng (Old Wang)
• 小猫 (Xiǎo Māo) → Xiǎo-Māo (Little Mao)
• 这里的黎明静悄悄 → Zhèlǐ de Límíng Jìngqiāoqiāo (No honorifics here, just standard fusion).

Numbers and Counters#↑

Use Arabic numerals. Hyphenate the counter.

• 第101次 → Dì 101-cì (The 101st Time)
• 3个人 → 3-gè Rén (3 People)

The Character "Zhī" (之)#↑

As a Separator: If it appears after the initial noun phrase to introduce the subtitle/description, replace it with a Colon (:).

• System Zhī Wáng → System: Wáng
  As a Possessive: If it appears inside a phrase meaning "of", write as zhī (lowercase).
• Sānfēn zhī Yī (One third) → Sānfēn zhī Yī

Detailed Tables#↑

Common Particles & Functional Words#↑

These words should generally be lowercase and separated.

Suffixes (Treated as Loanwords/Restoration)#↑

LLM Ruleset and Prompts#↑

YAML Ruleset#↑

romanization_style:
  name: "MangaBaka Chinese Romamization Style"
  version: "1.0"
  base_system: "Hanyu Pinyin (ISO 7098)"
  
  tones:
    usage: "obligatory"
    type: "diacritics"
    rule: "Use original dictionary tones (e.g., Nǐ hǎo), do not apply tone sandhi rules."
    neutral_tone: "Do not mark neutral tones (e.g., de, le, zi)."
    vowels: "Use ü for u-umlaut (e.g., nǚ)."

  capitalization: >
    Capitalize all Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, Pronouns, and Auxiliaries.
    Lowercase grammatical particles, prepositions, and copulas (shì, wéi).

  word_segmentation:
    compounds: "Fuse all lexicalized dictionary compounds (e.g., Dàxué, Shénme)."
    phrases: "Separate words that are syntactically distinct (Subject Verb Object)."
    names: "Surname (Cap) + GivenName (Cap+Fused). Example: Lǐ Xiǎolóng."
    erhua: "Fuse the 'r' suffix to the stem (e.g., Huār)."

  special_characters:
    zhi_rule: >
      If '之' functions as a subtitle delimiter, romanize as a colon (:).
      If '之' functions as a possessive/grammatical particle, romanize as 'zhī' (lowercase).
    apostrophe: "Use strictly before a, o, e syllables that follow another syllable (e.g., Xī'ān)."

  loanwords: >
    Restore English spelling ONLY if the Chinese word is a direct phonetic transliteration.
    Examples: Bāshì -> Bus, Fěnsī -> Fans, Jiákè -> Jacket.
    Do not restore semantic translations (e.g., Shǒujī stays Shǒujī, not Mobile).

  particles: >
    Always separate and lowercase: de, le, zhe, guo, ba, ma, ne, bei, gei, zai, he, yu.
    Copulas (shi, wei) are lowercase.

  hyphens: >
    Use hyphens for:
    - Honorific prefixes/suffixes (Lǎo-Wáng, Xiǎo-Lǐ).
    - Arabic numerals + Counters (10-gè, Dì-1-cì).
    
  example_validation:
    input: "重生之在大巴上捡到了神级系统"
    output: "Chóngshēng: Zài Bus shàng Jiǎndàole Shénjí Xìtǒng"
    explanation: "Zhī becomes colon. Dàbā restored to Bus. Zài/shàng are prepositions/locatives (lowercase/separate). Shénjí (God-level) is fused."

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Old Guidelines (Kept temporarily for internal reference. DO NOT USE)#↑

Overview#↑

This public guide explains how Mandarin Chinese titles are romanised and styled for display on MangaBaka. The goal is readable, frontend-friendly Pinyin with clear editorial rules that keep titles consistent across the site.

Canonical system: Hanyu Pinyin with tone marks for display, with editorial fallbacks for clarity.

Title field priorities#↑

• Native Title: the original Chinese characters as shown on the cover or source (Simplified or Traditional).
• Romanized Title: the Pinyin shown to users (with tone marks where applicable).

Pinyin display rules#↑

• Use diacritics (tone marks) for display: e.g., 鹤报刀法，我一刀一个 → Hébào Dāofǎ, Wǒ Yì Dāo Yí Gè.
• Use ü for the vowel ü in display (e.g., nǚ).
• Use an apostrophe to disambiguate syllable boundaries when necessary (Xi'an).
• Capitalize content words in title-style capitalization; keep grammatical particles (de, di, le, zhe, ba, ne, ma, ye) lowercased when they are functional.

之 as subtitle divider#↑

When 之 is used as a subtitle divider, it is romanised as a colon (':'), but when it is used as a possessive, it has to be romanised as zhī.

Loanword Rule#↑

• When a Chinese title clearly uses a loanword and there is a common real-world/English term, prefer the real-world term in the romanisation or as the visible English phrase.

Example: if the title references a specific English concept such as "Rhythm Game," present that term visibly while also keeping pinyin for the native characters.

• Maintain the original Chinese title in the native field.

Names & capitalization#↑

• Follow Chinese name order (surname first) for metadata unless an established English name exists. In that case, include the common English form as an alternative display title.
• Capitalize main content words in display pinyin; keep small grammatical particles lowercased.

Numbers, dates, counters#↑

• Use Arabic numerals for clarity and sorting: 第四部 → Di 4-bù (display may include tone marks where useful).
• Hyphens for counters are acceptable to align with cross-language conventions: Di 3-bù: ....

Quotation & punctuation#↑

• Decorative Chinese quotation marks in the native title are retained in the native field. For pinyin display, use standard ASCII quotes.
• Use apostrophes in pinyin display where they clarify syllable boundaries (e.g., Xī'ān).

Examples#↑

• Native: 鹤报刀法，我一刀一个

Romanization: Hébào Dāofǎ, Wǒ Yì Dāo Yí Gè

• Native: 西安事变

Romanization: Xī'ān Shìbiàn

• Native: 女

Romanization: nǚ

Notes for editors#↑

• Do not adopt publisher romanisation as the default; publishers often use inconsistent romanisations.