Here is the context: the pronunciation of “yuan” (or, on its own, üan) changed over time and now there are two mainstream pronunciations (both in IPA and X-SAMPA):
- yɛn / yEn (Contemporary)
- yan ~ yæn / yan ~ y{n (Official, old-fashioned)
Both pronunciations are important as 1. both are still in use; 2. the second reading is more common in old songs and opera; 3. yɛn rhymes with iɛn (pinyin ian/yan) while yæn rhymes with an and ʊan (pinyin uan/wan), but iɛn does not rhyme with an and ʊan.
However, when using ROSE, POPY and Mai, the synthesis of yuan is less than perfect. The automatic pronunciation given is y:{n, but the actual result is yɛn, and when yEn is keyed in, the result sounds like neither.
中文省流：
普通话中“娟圈轩冤”的韵母有两个读音，一个是yɛn / yEn（主流），一个是yan ~ yæn / yan ~ y{n（官方普通话考试推荐读音，较老派）。第二个读音在老歌以及戏曲中较为常见，同时因为这个音可以同时跟ian，以及an和uan押韵但ian不能跟an和uan押韵，有必要将这两个音分开来，将yɛn / yEn作为首选项，同时提供手动打出yan ~ yæn / yan ~ y{n并能够正确合成的可能。但是我在用ROSE、POPY和Mai的时候拼音打yuan给的音标是y:{n，但是读音是yɛn（现代主流的那个），而手动打yEn则无法正确合成。希望可以在以后版本中修复这个问题。