Lessing-Othmer is a romanization of Mandarin Chinese that was introduced by and Dr. , who in 1912 printed their book „Lehrgang der nordchinesischen Umgangssprache“ ("Course in the North Chinese Colloquial Language") through the „Deutsch-Chinesische Druckerei und Verlagsanstalt“ in Qingdao while it was a German colony.
In 1979, the State Council of the People's Republic of China for Romanization ruled that translations of foreign-language publications should utilize Lessing-Othmer romanization in German-speaking countries, and Pinyin in English-speaking countries.Encyclopædia Britannica, 2004 edition, "Pinyin romanization" article
Table The sounds romanized differently from Pinyin are highlighted in blue.
Initial BilabialLabiodentalAlveolarRetroflexAlveolo-palatalVelarVoicelessVoicedVoicelessVoicelessVoicedVoicelessVoicedVoicelessVoicelessNasal m [m]ㄇ m n [n]ㄋ n PlosiveUnaspiratedb [p]ㄅ b d [t]ㄉ d g [k]ㄍ gAspiratedp [pʰ]ㄆ p t [tʰ]ㄊ t k [kʰ]ㄎ kAffricateUnaspirated ds [ts]ㄗ zdsch [ʈʂ]ㄓ zhdj [tɕ]ㄐ jAspirated ts [tsʰ]ㄘ ctsch [ʈʂʰ]ㄔ chtj [tɕʰ]ㄑ qFricative f [f]ㄈ fs [s]ㄙ ssch [ʂ]ㄕ shhs [ɕ]ㄒ xh [x]ㄏ hLiquid l [l]ㄌ l j [ɻ~ʐ]ㄖ r
Finals Coda∅Medial∅ï [ɨ]ㄭ -iö [ɤ]ㄜ ea [a]ㄚ ae [ei]ㄟ eiai [ai]ㄞ aiou [ou]ㄡ ouau [au]ㄠ aoën [ən]ㄣ enan [an]ㄢ anung [ʊŋ]ㄨㄥ ongëng [əŋ]ㄥ engang [aŋ]ㄤ angörl [aɚ]ㄦ eri [i]ㄧ iiä [je]ㄧㄝ ieia [ja]ㄧㄚ ia iu [jou]ㄧㄡ iuiau [jau]ㄧㄠ iaoin [in]ㄧㄣ iniän [jɛn]ㄧㄢ ianiung [jʊŋ]ㄩㄥ ionging [iŋ]ㄧㄥ ingiang [jaŋ]ㄧㄤ iangu [u]ㄨ uo [wo]ㄨㄛ uoua [wa]ㄨㄚ uaui [wei]ㄨㄟ uiuai [wai]ㄨㄞ uai un [wən]ㄨㄣ unuan [wan]ㄨㄢ uan ung [wəŋ]ㄨㄥ uenguang [waŋ]ㄨㄤ uangü [y]ㄩ üüä [ɥe]ㄩㄝ üe ün [yn]ㄩㄣ ünüan [ɥɛn]ㄩㄢ üan
References