Talk:Kinmen/FAQ


 * Q: Should "Jinmen" have its own article?
 * A: No. Kinmen is a postal romanization of the Chinese name 金門. This transliteration system was developed in the 1890s. It is based on pronunciation in Southern Mandarin, a dialect spoken in the Lower Yangtze region, including the city of Nanjing. The spelling Kinmen is often used in material published by the Taiwanese government.


 * "Jinmen" is a transliteration of the same characters made using the pinyin system. Pinyin spelling reflects pronunciation in putonghua, a standardized form of the Northern Mandarin dialect spoken in Beijing and other northern cities. Schools in China have taught pupils Northern Mandarin pronunciation since the 1930s. Pinyin was adopted by China in 1958 and internationally in 1979. Taiwanese schools also teach Northern Mandarin pronunciation, called Guoyu in Taiwan. The government adopted pinyin in 2009.


 * An article called Jinmen would essentially duplicate this article.