Chinese —Pinyin

Adapted from a presentation by Haiwang YuanAssociate Professor, University Libraries

Adjunct Instructor, Department of Modern Languages

Hanyu Pinyin (Chinese Phonetics) Pinyin ( 拼音 ), literally “spell the sound,” is the

standard romanization scheme for Chinese characters ( 汉字 )

Adopted in 1958 by mainland China Used by all major world media and Chinese sc

hools Beginning from October 1, 2000, the Library of

Congress and other U.S. libraries joined the international community in using Pinyin to catalog their Chinese materials

Why Pinyin?

A pronunciation tool for domestic and foreign learners of Chinese which, unlike many other languages in the world, is a non-alphabet language

Assist in popularizing standard Chinese, known as Putonghua or Mandarin, among Chinese who speak a variety of dialects, such as Cantonese

Index tool, such as library catalogs and dictionaries One method for Computer input of Chinese characte

rs Standardized translation of Chinese names in the no

n-Chinese media (e.g. Beijing for 北京； Haiwang Yuan for 袁海旺）

Why Pinyin (continued)

Before Pinyin, there was the Zhuyin system: ㄣㄆㄇㄈㄌㄊㄋㄞ used to indicate the pronunciation

More difficult to learn than b p m f d t n l, which are familiar to foreign learners, but avoids the pronunciation pitfalls inherent in Pinyin.

Zhuyin is still used in Taiwan, though Pinyin is now increasingly found alongside Zhuyin in textbooks

Pinyin, though not perfect (e.g. j, q, x), is widely accepted. It has become essential to learning and using Chinese

Learning Pinyin

Each Chinese character is a single syllable A syllable has three components:

Initial (consonant): b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, z, c, s, zh, ch, sh

Final (vowel) that usually follows the initials: a, o, e, i, u, ü (simple) or eng, ong, ing, etc. (compound)

Tone (four distinct and one neutral) Chinese has around 400 syllables; tones serve to multi

ply the number of possible pronunciations More homophonic words - words having the same sou

nd but expressing different meanings Traditionally, Pinyin has 21 initials and 35 finals

Learning Pinyin - Initials

23 initials

Row 1 b p m f

Row 2 d t n l

Row 3 g k h -

Row 4 j q x -

Row 5 z c s -

Row 6 zh ch sh r

Row 7 y w

Learning Pinyin - Finals 24 finals (vowels):

- (i-) (u-) (ü-)

a ia (ya) ua (wa) -

o - uo (wo) -

e ie (ye) - üe (yue)

ai - uai (wai) -

ei - ui (wei) -

ao iao (yao) - -

ou iu (you) - -

an ian (yan) uan (wan) üan (yuan)

en in (yin) un (wen) ün (yun)

ang iang (yang) uang (wang) -

eng ing (ying) ueng (weng) -

ong iong (yong) - -

er - - -

Pinyin Table 1　 a o e i er ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong

　 a o e 　 er ai ei ao ou an en ang eng 　

b ba bo 　 　 　 bai bei bao 　 ban ben bang beng 　

p pa po 　 　 　 pai pei pao pou pan pen pang peng 　

m ma mo me 　 　 mai mei mao mou man men mang meng 　

f fa fo 　 　 　 　 fei 　 fou fan fen fang feng 　

d da 　 de 　 　 dai dei dao dou dan den dang deng dong

t ta 　 te 　 　 tai 　 tao tou tan 　 tang teng tong

n na 　 ne 　 　 nai nei nao nou nan nen nang neng nong

l la 　 le 　 　 lai lei lao lou lan 　 lang leng long

g ga 　 ge 　 　 gai gei gao gou gan gen gang geng gong

k ka 　 ke 　 　 kai kei kao kou kan ken kang keng kong

h ha 　 he 　 　 hai hei hao hou han hen hang heng hong

z za 　 ze zi 　 zai zei zao zou zan zen zang zeng zong

c ca 　 ce ci 　 cai 　 cao cou can cen cang ceng cong

s sa 　 se si 　 sai 　 sao sou san sen sang seng song

zh zha 　 zhe zhi 　 zhai zhei zhao zhou zhan zhen zhang zheng zhong

ch cha 　 che chi 　 chai 　 chao chou chan chen chang cheng chong

sh sha 　 she shi 　 shai shei shao shou shan shen shang sheng 　

r 　 　 re ri 　 　 　 rao rou ran ren rang reng rong

Pinyin Table 2　 i ia iao ie iu ian in iang ing iong

　 yi ya yao ye you yan yin yang ying yong

b bi 　 biao bie 　 bian bin 　 bing 　

p pi 　 piao pie 　 pian pin 　 ping 　

m mi 　 miao mie miu mian min 　 ming 　

f 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　

d di 　 diao die diu dian 　 　 ding 　

t ti 　 tiao tie 　 tian 　 　 ting 　

n ni 　 niao nie niu nian nin niang ning 　

l li lia liao lie liu lian lin liang ling 　

g 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　

j ji jia jiao jie jiu jian jin jiang jing jiong

q qi qia qiao qie qiu qian qin qiang qing qiong

x xi xia xiao xie xiu xian xin xiang xing xiong

Pinyin Table 3　 u ua uo uai ui uan un uang ü üe üan ün

　 wu wa wo wai wei wan wen wang yu yue yuan yun

b bu 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　

p pu 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　

m mu 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　

f fu 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　

d du 　 duo 　 dui duan dun 　 　 　 　 　

t tu 　 tuo 　 tui tuan tun 　 　 　 　 　

n nu 　 nuo 　 　 nuan 　 　 nü nüe 　 　

l lu 　 luo 　 　 luan lun 　 lü lüe 　 　

g gu gua guo guai gui guan gun guang 　 　 　 　

k ku kua kuo kuai kui kuan kun kuang 　 　 　 　

h hu hua huo huai hui huan hun huang 　 　 　 　

z zu 　 zuo 　 zui zuan zun 　 　 　 　 　

c cu 　 cuo 　 cui cuan cun 　 　 　 　 　

s su 　 suo 　 sui suan sun 　 　 　 　 　

zh zhu zhua zhuo zhuai zhui zhuan zhun zhuang 　 　 　 　

ch chu chua chuo chuai chui chuan chun chuang 　 　 　 　

sh shu shua shuo shuai shui shuan shun shuang 　 　 　 　

r ru rua ruo 　 rui ruan run 　 　 　 　 　

j 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 jü jüe jüan jün

q 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 qü qüe qüan qün

x 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 xü xüe xüan xün

Learning Pinyin - Tones The first tone “–” : At the

doctor’s request, say “ah….” The second tone “/”: Express

your disbelief and say “What?” The Third tone “v” : When

waiting for an answer, say “Well?”

The fourth tone “\” : Reject somebody’s request and say categorically “No!”

The neutral tone: Where the voice naturally goes, as in the second part of “ge1ge”.

Practice

Mother is riding a horse; the horse is slow; Mother curses the horse.

, ,

Pronunciation Exercises

Part One Listen carefully and circle the word that you hear.

1. Single Words: Initials 2. Single Words: Finals 3. Single Words: Tones (1, 4) 4. Single Words: Tones (2, 3) 5. Single Words: Tones (all) 6. Single Words: Everything 7. Tone Combinations

Part Two Listen carefully and write in the sounds that you hear.

1. Initials and Simple Finals 2. Tones 3. Compound Finals 4. Neutral Tones 5. Monosyllabic Words 6. Bisyllabic Words 7. Combinations

Pronunciation Exercises

Further Information and Practice There are a number of websites to help you l

earn and practice Chinese pronunciation and tones:

www.shufawest.us/language/tonedrill.html

www.wku.edu/~shizhen.gao/Chinese101/pinyin/tones.htm

www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~pinyin/

www.pinyinpractice.com/tones.htm

www.pinyinpractice.com/initials.htm

www.pinyinpractice.com/finals.htm

www.chinese-outpost.com/language/pronunciation/