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Pinyin

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"Double Happiness" Ink and color on silk by the Chinese artist Cui Bo, active during the reign of Shenzong.
"Double Happiness" Ink and color on silk by the Chinese artist Cui Bo, active during the reign of Shenzong.

Note:
Pinyin#Pinyin tone marking

The reading materials of this book are written in bite size for learning easier, can be used for learning Pinyin Chinese* as well as English. (*For learning Hanzi Chinese, please click here.)

  • You can search related topics of this book from the following box, or browse the resources.


The formulation of Pinyin

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Historic background

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Pinyin was officially declared by the government of the People's Republic of China in 1958.

The explanation of Pinyin

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What is Pinyin?

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Pinyin (also called Hanyu Pinyin, Romanized Chinese or Pinyin Chinese) is a type of transliteration for Putonghua - the Standard Chinese language (a tonal language) where tone marks are used to show tones. It is the official form of the Latin alphabet transliteration used for the People's Republic of China and most of the world. And it is the standard form of Chinese Romanization for the United Nations.

Pinyin IPA
a [a]
e [ə]
ê [ɛ]
i [i]
-i (after zh,ch,sh,r) [ʅ]
-i (after z,c,s) [ɿ]
o [o]
u [u]
ü [y]
  • "u" after "j, q, x, y" is pronounced as "ü" (the two dots is omitted in spelling)
  • "e" after "i, u, ü, y" is pronounced as "ê" (the hat "^" is omitted in spelling)
  • "e" before "i" is pronounced as "ê" (the hat "^" is omitted in spelling)
  • "o" before "ng" is pronounced as "u" ("u" is written as "o" in spelling)
b p m f w
d t n l
g k ng h
j q x y
zh ch sh r
z c s

Basic combinations of vowels and consonants

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ai ei ao ou
an en ang eng ong
  • "ei" is pronounced as "êi" ("êi" is written as "ei" in spelling)
  • "ong" is pronounced as "ung" ("ung" is written as "ong" in spelling)

Pronunciation of vowels

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Pinyin IPA Explanation Examples
a [a] as the vowel in father bàba (papa)
e [ə] as the vowel in "stir" gēge (elder brother)
ê [ɛ] as the vowel in "their" xièxie (thank)
i [i] as the vowel in "bit" dìdi (younger brother)
-i (after zh,ch,sh,r) [ʅ] similar to the consonant "r" in "rank", but with the lips spread and with the tongue curled upwards zhīchí (support)
-i (after z,c,s) [ɿ] similar to the consonant in "zoo" zìsī (selfish)
o [o] as the vowel in "law" lǎopo (wife)
u [u] as the vowel in "food" mǔqin (mother)
ü [y] as in German "üben" or French "lune" (To get this sound, say "ee" with rounded lips) lǚyóu (travel), yǔyán* (language)
  • The two dots of ü is omitted after "j, q, x, y".

Pronunciation of consonants

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Pinyin IPA Explanation Examples
b [p] p unaspirated, as in sport Běijīng (capital of China)
p [pʰ] p aspirated, as in port piányi (cheap), piàoliang (beautiful)
m [m] as in English miàntiáo (noodles)
f [f] as in English fācái (get rich)
w [w] as in English wàiguórén (foreigner)
d [t] t unaspirated, as in stand dà (big)
t [tʰ] t aspirated, as in tent tàipíng (peace)
n [n] as in English nánrén (man)
l [l] as in English lǎorén (old man)
g [k] k unaspirated, as in sky guójiā (country)
k [kʰ] k aspirated, as in kit kèrén (guest)
ng [ŋ] as in English ngzi (lunatic), ńg (huh?)
h [x] like the English h if followed by "a"; otherwise it is pronounced more roughly (not unlike the Scots ch) hāhā (sound of laughter), hēshuǐ (drink water)
j [tɕ] like q, but unaspirated. (To get this sound, first take the sound halfway between joke and check, and then slowly pass it backwards along the tongue until it is entirely clear of the tongue tip.) While this exact sound is not used in English, the closest match is the j in ajar, not the s in Asia; this means that "Beijing" is pronounced like "bay-jing", not like "beige-ing". You may simply pronounce it as zh and a Chinese may understand it. jiàotáng (church), jiā (home or family)
q [tɕʰ] like church, but with less of the "ch"/"h" sound; pass it backwards along the tongue until it is free of the tongue tip shēngqì (get angry)
x [ɕ] like sh, but with less of the "s" sound. Take the sound and pass it backwards along the tongue until it is clear of the tongue tip; similar to the final sound in German ich, Portuguese enxada, luxo, xícara, puxa, and to huge or Hugh in some English dialects xiǎohái (child), Xīzàng (Xizang/Tibet)
y [j] as in English yuèliang (moon)
zh [tʂ] ch with no aspiration (take the sound halfway between joke and church and curl it upwards); very similar to merger in American English, but not voiced Zhōngguó (China), zháohuǒ (catch fire)
ch [tʂʰ] as in chin, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to nature in American English, but strongly aspirated chīfàn (have a meal), chǎojià (quarrel)
sh [ʂ] as in shinbone, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to undershirt in American English shāmò (desert), Shànghǎi (city in China)
r [ɻ] similar to the English r in rank, but with the lips spread and with the tongue curled upwards rè (hot), rèqíng (passion)
z [ts] unaspirated c (halfway between beds and bets), (more common example is suds) zǎoshànghǎo (good morning!), qīzi (wife), Zhāng Zǐyí (name of a Chinese actress)
c [tsʰ] like ts, aspirated (more common example is cats) cǎo (grass), cì, time
s [s] as in sun sà (Lhasa, capital of Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region), Sūzhōu (capital of the province of Jiangsu, near Shanghai)
  • Nearly all consonants in Chinese are voiceless.
a e i o u/ü* ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong n ng
a e o ai ei ao ou an en ang n ng
b ba bi bo bu bai bei bao ban ben bang beng
p pa pi po pu pai pei pao pou pan pen pang peng
m ma me mi mo mu mai mei mao mou man men mang meng
f fa fo fu fei fou fan fen fang feng
w wa wo wu wai wei wan wen wang weng
d da de di du dai dei dao dou dan den dang deng dong
t ta te ti tu tai tao tou tan tang teng tong
n na ne ni nu/nü* nai nei nao nou nan nen nang neng nong
l la le li lo lu/lü* lai lei lao lou lan lang leng long
g ga ge gu gai gei gao gou gan gen gang geng gong
k ka ke ku kai kei kao kou kan ken kang keng kong
h ha he hu hai hei hao hou han hen hang heng hong hng
j ji ju*
q qi qu*
x xi xu*
y ya ye yi yo yu* yao you yan yang yong
zh zha zhe zhi zhu zhai zhei zhao zhou zhan zhen zhang zheng zhong
ch cha che chi chu chai chao chou chan chen chang cheng chong
sh sha she shi shu shai shei shao shou shan shen shang sheng
r re ri ru rao rou ran ren rang reng rong
z za ze zi zu zai zei zao zou zan zen zang zeng zong
c ca ce ci cu cai cei cao cou can cen cang ceng cong
s sa se si su sai sao sou san sen sang seng song
bi bie biao bian bin bing
pi pie piao pian pin ping
mi mie miu miao mian min ming
di die diu diao dian ding
ti tie tiao tian ting
ni nie niu niao nian niang nin ning
li lia lie liu liao lian liang lin ling
ji jia jie jiu jiao jian jiang jiong jin jing
qi qia qie qiu qiao qian qiang qiong qin qing
xi xia xie xiu xiao xian xiang xiong xin xing
yi yin ying
du dui duo duan dun
tu tui tuo tuan tun
nu nue nuo nuan
lu lue luo luan lun
gu gua gui guo guai guan guang gun
ku kua kui kuo kuai kuan kuang kun
hu hua hui huo huai huan huang hun
ju* jue juan jun
qu* que quan qun
xu* xue xuan xun
yu* yue yuan yun
zhu zhua zhui zhuo zhuai zhuan zhuang zhun
chu chua zhui chuo chuai chuan chuang chun
shu shua shui shuo shuai shuan shuang shun
ru rui ruo ruan run
zu zui zuo zuan zun
cu cui cuo cuan cun
su sui suo suan sun
  • "u" after "j, q, x, y" is pronounced as "ü" (the two dots is omitted in spelling), but the two dots of "nü" and "lü" cannot be omitted.

There are four tone marks in Pinyin and they are essential to correct pronunciation, written above the main vowel of the syllables of words (See also the Chinese wikibook page on using tones).

Unstressed syllable also called neutral tone which is unmarked, for example yuèliang (moon).

Alternative methods are used when diacritics are not convenient.

We should divide Pinyin text by words and write syllables connectedly, such as "I am a foreigner" should be written as "Wǒ shì wàiguórén" in Pinyin.

Syllable-dividing mark is the mark for dividing syllables, used before the syllables starting with vowels "a", "o", or "e", such as "pí'ǎo".

The application of Pinyin

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For spelling Putonghua

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Chinese is normally written by ideographics. But for non-Chinese-speaking people, it is hard to recognize them. Pinyin can help Chinese learners recognize them more easily. This is a useful way to learn Chinese. Pinyin can also be used in place of Hanzi when Hanzi is not convenient.

There is no particular order to Hanzi as it does not use the Roman alphabet (also called the Latin alphabet, i.e. ABC), so ordering by alphabetical order is inconvenient. There are currently many indexing methods to Hanzi, including character stroke, character radical, Four-Corner System, Zhuyin, Pinyin and etc. The structural problems of Hanzi cause indexing difficulty.

Solutions to indexing problems
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Related governments together stipulate a unified Hanzi strokes and radicals standard.

There have been suggestions to use Pinyin as the indexing method. Pinyin adopts internationally used Roman alphabet, makes convenient file order. Pinyin uses phonetic values, avoiding the problem created by the lack of unity between traditional and simplified character strokes.

Technical terms translation

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Technical terms translation problems

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Majority of written language uses Roman alphabet (also called Latin alphabet). Hanzi (also called Chinese character) is not an alphabetic written language and is not convenient for translation, causing a lot of confusion. Technological terms such as Internet can be translated as 互联网 (Hùliánwǎng), 国际互联网 (Guójì Hùliánwǎng), 因特网 (Yīntèwǎng); laser translated as 雷射 (léishè), 镭射 (léishè), 莱塞 (láisài), 激光 (jīguāng). Brand names such as National, Panasonic, Technics are translated as 乐声牌 (Lèshēng-pái), 松下 (Sōng-xià); Sharp is translated as 声宝 (Shēngbǎo), 夏普 (Xiàpǔ); Sony is translated as 新力 (Xīnlì), 索尼 (Suǒní). Place names such as 北京 (Běijīng) is translated as Peking, Beijing; 广州 (Guǎngzhōu) is translated as Canton, Kwangchow, Guangzhou. People names such as the surname 罗 (Luó) is translated as Luo, Lo, Law; 李 (Lǐ) is translated as Lee, Li; Nixon is translated as 尼克逊 (Níkèxùn), 尼克松 (Níkèsōng). The same person can be translated into different names.

Technical terms translation problem solutions
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When translating foreign languages, directly transliterating foreign languages can solve problems. For example, Internet directly translates to the Internet; laser directly translates to the laser; National, Panasonic and Technics directly translate to National, Panasonic and Technics, or as kanji of Japan: 松下 (Sōng-xià). Names of Chinese people, places and technical terms all use Pinyin to transliterate to foreign languages. For example, 北京 (Běijīng) 邓小平 (Dèng Xiǎopíng) and 普通话 (Pǔtōnghuà) use Pinyin to transliterate to Beijing, Deng Xiaoping and Putonghua.

Standardization of person and place names

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Romanization of technical terms and code names

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Romanization

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Romanization, also called Latinization, is the process using Roman alphabet to write a language which is not written originally using Roman alphabet. Such as the Romanized Chinese, that is Hanyu Pinyin.

Romahuà, yě jiàozuò Latinhuà, jiùshì yòng Roma Zìmǔ shūxiě yuánběn bùshì yòng Roma Zìmǔ shūxiě de wénzì. Lìrú Romahuà Zhōngwén, yějiùshì Hànyǔ Pīnyīn.


Learn Chinese

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Pinyin is a tool for learning Mandarin, and is used to explain both the grammar and spoken Mandarin. Books containing both Hanzi and Pinyin are used by learners of Chinese; Pinyin's role in teaching pronunciation is similar to Furigana-based books (with Hiragana letters written above or next to Kanji, directly analogous to Zhuyin) in Japanese or fully vocalised texts in Arabic ("vocalized Arabic").

Pinyin reading materials

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Pinyin/Pinyin Reading Material

Pinyin reading materials are commonly used for learning Chinese.

Hanzi input

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Pinyin input method

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Pinyin input method is a popularly used phonetic input method. To key in Putonghua's pinyin which will automatically convert into Hanzi. For example: "BABA" is for inputting "爸爸".

Resources

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Appendix

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Pinyin Orthography

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Dictionaries

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Pinyin reading matters

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The reading materials of this book can be used for learning Chinese as well as English.

Pinyin tone marking

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ā á ǎ à a = a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 = a ar aa ah 'a *

āi ái ǎi ài = ai air aai aih

ān án ǎn àn = an arn aan ahn

āng áng ǎng àng = ang arng aang ahng

ē é ě è = e er ee eh

- ér ěr èr = - err eer erh

nǖ nǘ nǚ nǜ = nv nvr nvv nvh

lǖ lǘ lǚ lǜ = lv lvr lvv lvh


de = d, dy, or de, can be written distinguishably as follows:

d indicating subordination; suffix indicating an adjective

dy -ly, suffix indicating an adverb

de indicating a verb followed by an adverb or adverb clause; infix indicating be able to


le indicating a past tense; indicating a new situation

bu not, no; non-, un-; be unable to

'g non-specific measure word

'r non-syllabic diminutive suffix; retroflex final

  • * Syllable-dividing mark can be replaced by grave mark (`) when apostrophe (') is used for indicating neutral tone.
  • Alternative methods can be used when diacritics are not convenient.
I This is a Category I Language.