Pinyin: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Romanization scheme for Standard Chinese}} |
{{Short description|Romanization scheme for Standard Chinese}} |
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{{Other uses}} |
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{{Multiple issues| |
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{{Cleanup|reason=indiscriminate examples, inconsistent use of terminology and concepts|date=December 2023}} |
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{{Original research|date=December 2023}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}} |
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}} |
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{{Use American English|date=November 2023}} |
{{Use American English|date=November 2023}} |
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{{Other uses}} |
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{{Infobox romanization |
{{Infobox romanization |
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| name |
| name = Hanyu Pinyin |
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| altname = {{zhi|s=汉语拼音|t=漢語拼音}} |
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| languages = [[Standard Chinese]] |
| languages = [[Standard Chinese]] |
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| date |
| date = 1950s |
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| time |
| time = {{ubli| {{flagicon|PRC}} [[China]] {{nwr|(from 1958)}} | {{flagicon|SGP}} [[Singapore]] {{nwr|(from 1980)}} | {{flagicon|UN}} [[United Nations]] {{nwr|(from 1982)}} | {{flagicon|TW}} [[Taiwan]] {{nwr|(from 2009)}}}} |
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| romanised-from = [[Chinese characters]] |
| romanised-from = [[Chinese characters]] |
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| engvar=us |
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}} |
}} |
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{{Infobox Chinese |
{{Infobox Chinese |
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| title = Pinyin |
| title = Pinyin |
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| piccap = Table of Hanyu Pinyin syllables, with initials (top) and finals (bottom) |
| piccap = Table of Hanyu Pinyin syllables, with initials (top) and finals (bottom) |
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| c |
| c = {{linktext|lang=zh|拼音}} |
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| p |
| p = Pīnyīn |
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| tp |
| tp = Pin-yin |
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| w = {{tone superscript|Pʻin1-yin1}} |
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| w = P{{wg-apos}}in<sup>1</sup>-yin<sup>1</sup> |
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| mi |
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|p|in|1|.|yin|1}} |
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| poj |
| poj = pheng-im |
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| Tailo = phing-im |
| Tailo = phing-im |
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| bpmf = ㄆㄧㄣ ㄧㄣ<!--Do not remove |
| bpmf = ㄆㄧㄣ ㄧㄣ<!-- Do not remove bopomofo for political reasons. Many readers from Taiwan are less comfortable with or are unable to read Hanyu Pinyin. See WP:ACCESSIBILITY. --> |
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| h |
| h = pin<sup>24</sup> im<sup>24</sup> |
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| y |
| y = Pingyām |
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| ci |
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|p|ing|3|-|j|am|1}} |
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| j |
| j = ping3 jam1 |
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| sl |
| sl = Ping<sup>3</sup>yam<sup>1°</sup> |
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| gd |
| gd = Ping<sup>3</sup>yem<sup>1</sup> |
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| wuu |
| wuu = phin<sup>平</sup> in<sup>平</sup> |
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| altname = Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet |
| altname = Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet |
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| s2 |
| s2 = {{linktext|汉语|拼音|方案}} |
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| t2 |
| t2 = {{linktext|漢語|拼音|方案}} |
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| p2 |
| p2 = Hànyǔ Pīnyīn Fāng'àn |
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| mi2 |
| mi2 = {{IPAc-cmn|h|an|4|.|yu|3|-|p|in|1|.|yin|1|-|f|ang|1|.|an|4}} |
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| w2 = {{tone superscript|Han4-yü3 Pʻin1-yin1 Fang1-an4}} |
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| w2 = Han<sup>4</sup>-yü<sup>3</sup> P{{wg-apos}}in<sup>1</sup>-yin<sup>1</sup> Fang<sup>1</sup>-an<sup>4</sup> |
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| bpmf2 |
| bpmf2 = ㄏㄢˋ ㄩˇ ㄆㄧㄣ ㄧㄣ ㄈㄤ ㄢˋ |
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| h2 |
| h2 = hon<sup>55</sup> ngi<sup>24</sup> pin<sup>24</sup> im<sup>24</sup> fong<sup>24</sup> on<sup>55</sup> |
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| poj2 |
| poj2 = hàn-gú pheng-im hong-àn |
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| Tailo2 |
| Tailo2 = hàn-gú phing-im hong-àn |
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| y2 |
| y2 = Honyúh Pingyām Fōng'on |
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| ci2 |
| ci2 = {{IPA-yue|hɔ̄ːn.y̬ː pʰēŋ.jɐ́m fɔ́ːŋ.ɔ̄ːn|}} |
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| j2 = hon3 jyu5 ping3 jam1 fong1 on3 |
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| j2 = Hon3jyu5 Ping3jam1 Fong1on3 |
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| sl2 |
| sl2 = Hon<sup>3</sup>yue<sup>5</sup> Ping<sup>3</sup>yam<sup>1°</sup> Fong<sup>1°</sup>on<sup>3</sup> |
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| gd2 |
| gd2 = Hon<sup>3</sup>yu<sup>5</sup> Ping<sup>3</sup>yem<sup>1</sup> Fong<sup>1</sup>on<sup>3</sup> |
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| wuu2 |
| wuu2 = hoe<sup>去</sup> nyiu<sup>上</sup> phin<sup>平</sup> in<sup>平</sup> faon<sup>平</sup> oe<sup>去</sup> |
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|order=st |
| order = st |
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| gr = Pinin |
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| gr2 = Hannyeu Pinin Fangann |
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| tp2 = Hàn-yǔ Pin-yin Fang-àn |
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| l = spelled sounds |
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| l2 = scheme of spelled Han language sounds |
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}} |
}} |
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{{RCL}} |
{{RCL}} |
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'''Hanyu Pinyin''', |
'''Hanyu Pinyin''', or simply '''pinyin''', is the most common [[romanization]] system for [[Standard Chinese]]. In official documents, it is referred to as the '''Chinese Phonetic Alphabet'''.<ref>{{Cite book |date=23 February 2001 |publisher=National Language Commission |isbn=978-7-801-26789-4 |script-title=zh:GF 3006-2001 汉语拼音方案的通用键盘表示规范 |trans-title=Standard for the Scheme of Chinese Phonetic Alphabet Input with Universal Keyboard |language=zh}}</ref><ref name="gbt16159">{{Citation |date=29 June 2012 |trans-title=The basic rules of Chinese phonetic alphabet orthography |script-title=zh:GB/T 16159 汉语拼音正词法基本原则 |publisher=National Language Commission |language=zh}}</ref> It is the official system used in China, Singapore, Taiwan, and by the [[United Nations]]. Its use has become common when transliterating Standard Chinese mostly regardless of region, though it is less ubiquitous in Taiwan. It is used to teach Standard Chinese, normally written with [[Chinese characters]], to students already familiar with the [[Latin alphabet]]. The system makes use of [[diacritics]] to indicate the four [[tone (linguistics)|tones]] found in Standard Chinese, though these are often omitted in various contexts, such as when spelling [[Chinese names]] in non-Chinese texts, or when writing non-Chinese words in Chinese-language texts. Pinyin is also used by various [[Chinese input methods for computers|input methods on computers]] and to [[lexicographic ordering|categorize entries]] in some [[Chinese dictionaries]]. {{zhp|p=Hànyǔ|s=汉语|t=漢語}} literally means '[[Han Chinese|Han]] language'—meaning, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin'' literally means 'spelled sounds'.<ref>The online version of the canonical{{clarify|post-text="According to which group?"|date=May 2016}} ''Guoyu Cidian'' ({{zhi|t=國語辭典}} defines this term as 'a system of symbols for notation of the sounds of words, rather than for their meanings, that is sufficient to accurately record some language'. See [http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/newDict/dict.sh?cond=++%AB%F7%AD%B5&pieceLen=50&fld=1&cat=&ukey=2123466121&serial=1&recNo=2&op=f&imgFont=1 this entry online].{{dead link|date=March 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} Retrieved 14 September 2012.</ref> |
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Hanyu Pinyin was developed in the 1950s by a group led by Chinese linguists including [[Wang Li (linguist)|Wang Li]], [[Lu Zhiwei]], [[Li Jinxi]], |
Hanyu Pinyin was developed in the 1950s by a group led by Chinese linguists including [[Wang Li (linguist)|Wang Li]], [[Lu Zhiwei]], [[Li Jinxi]], [[Luo Changpei]]<ref name="pinyin_history" /> and [[Zhou Youguang]],<ref name="fox">{{Cite news |last=Fox |first=Margalit |date=14 January 2017 |title=Zhou Youguang, Who Made Writing Chinese as Simple as ABC, Dies at 111 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/14/world/asia/zhou-youguang-who-made-writing-chinese-as-simple-as-abc-dies-at-111.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref> who has been called the "father of pinyin". They based their work in part on earlier [[Romanization of Chinese|romanization systems]]. The system was originally promulgated at the Fifth Session of the [[First National People's Congress]] in 1958, and has seen several rounds of revisions since.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2008-02-11 |title=Pinyin celebrates 50th birthday |url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/news/242463.htm |access-date=2008-09-20 |publisher=[[Xinhua News Agency]]}}</ref> The [[International Organization for Standardization]] propagated Hanyu Pinyin as [[ISO 7098]] in 1982,<ref name="ISO1982">{{Cite web |title=ISO 7098:1982 – Documentation – Romanization of Chinese |url=http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_ics/catalogue_detail_ics.htm?csnumber=13682 |access-date=2009-03-01}}</ref> and the United Nations began using it in 1986.<ref name=fox/> Attempts to make Hanyu Pinyin the standard in Taiwan occurred in 2002 and 2009; the system has been official since the latter attempt.<ref name="pinyin_tt">{{Cite news |last=Shih |first=Hsiu-Chuan |date=2008-09-18 |title=Hanyu Pinyin to be standard system in 2009 |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/09/18/2003423528 |work=[[Taipei Times]] |page=2}}</ref><ref name="pinyin_cp">{{Cite news |date=2008-09-18 |title=Government to improve English-friendly environment |url=http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national%20news/2008/09/18/175155/Gov%27t-to.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919054355/http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national%20news/2008/09/18/175155/Gov%27t%2Dto.htm |archive-date=19 September 2008 |work=[[The China Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Copper |first=John F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LkDxBQAAQBAJ&q=%22hanyu+pinyin%22+taiwan&pg=PR15 |title=Historical Dictionary of Taiwan |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-442-24307-1}}</ref> |
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The |
The pronunciation and spelling of Chinese words are generally given in terms of [[initial (linguistics)|initials]] and [[final (linguistics)|finals]], which represent the language's ''segmental phonemic'' portion, rather than letter by letter. Initials are initial consonants, whereas finals are all possible combinations of medials ([[semivowels]] coming before the vowel), a [[syllable nucleus|nucleus]] vowel, and [[syllable coda|coda]] (final vowel or consonant). |
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== History == |
== History == |
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=== Background === |
=== Background === |
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[[Matteo Ricci]], a [[Jesuit]] missionary in China, wrote the first book that used the Latin alphabet to write Chinese, entitled ''Xizi Qiji'' ({{zhi|t=西字奇蹟|l=Miracle of Western Letters}}) |
[[Matteo Ricci]], a [[Jesuit]] missionary in China, wrote the first book that used the Latin alphabet to write Chinese, entitled ''Xizi Qiji'' ({{zhi|t=西字奇蹟|l=Miracle of Western Letters}}) and published in Beijing in 1605.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sin |first=Kiong Wong |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMapiPYFvc8C&q=Matteo+Ricci+Xizi+Qiji&pg=PA72 |title=Confucianism, Chinese History and Society |publisher=World Scientific |year=2012 |isbn=978-9-814-37447-7 |page=72 |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref> Twenty years later, fellow Jesuit [[Nicolas Trigault]] published {{zhi|p=Xīrú ěrmù zī|t=西儒耳目資|l=Aid to the Eyes and Ears of Western Literati}}) in Hangzhou.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brockey |first=Liam Matthew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOGSvo4VMPkC&q=Matteo+Ricci+Xizi+Qiji&pg=PA261 |title=Journey to the East: The Jesuit Mission to China, 1579–1724 |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-674-02881-4 |page=261 |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref> Neither book had any influence among the contemporary Chinese literati, and the romanizations they introduced primarily were useful for Westerners.<ref name="Joseph">{{Cite book |last1=Chan |first1=Wing-tsit |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXEWsXaMJZYC&q=Matteo+Ricci+Xizi+Qiji&pg=PA302 |title=Sources of Chinese Tradition |last2=Adler |first2=Joseph |year=2013 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-51799-7 |pages=303–304 |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref> |
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During the late Qing, the reformer Song Shu (1862–1910) proposed that China adopt a phonetic writing system. A student of the scholars [[Yu Yue]] and [[Zhang Taiyan]], Song had observed the effect of the ''[[kana]]'' syllabaries and Western learning during his visits to Japan.{{which |
During the late Qing, the reformer Song Shu (1862–1910) proposed that China adopt a phonetic writing system. A student of the scholars [[Yu Yue]] and [[Zhang Taiyan]], Song had observed the effect of the ''[[kana]]'' syllabaries and Western learning during his visits to Japan.{{which|date=October 2020}} While Song did not himself propose a transliteration system for Chinese, his discussion ultimately led to a proliferation of proposed schemes.<ref name="Joseph" /> The [[Wade–Giles]] system was produced by [[Thomas Francis Wade|Thomas Wade]] in 1859, and further improved by [[Herbert Giles]], presented in the 1892 ''[[A Chinese–English Dictionary|Chinese–English Dictionary]]''. It was popular, and was used in English-language publications outside China until 1979.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ao |first=Benjamin |year=1997 |title=History and Prospect of Chinese Romanization |url=http://www.white-clouds.com/iclc/cliej/cl4ao.htm |journal=Chinese Librarianship: An International Electronic Journal |volume=4}}</ref> In 1943, the US military tapped [[Yale University]] to develop [[Yale romanization of Mandarin|another romanization system for Mandarin Chinese]] intended for pilots flying over China—much more than previous systems, the result appears very similar to modern Hanyu Pinyin. |
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===Development=== |
===Development=== |
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Hanyu Pinyin was designed by a group of mostly Chinese linguists, including [[Wang Li (linguist)|Wang Li]], [[Lu Zhiwei]], [[Li Jinxi]], |
Hanyu Pinyin was designed by a group of mostly Chinese linguists, including [[Wang Li (linguist)|Wang Li]], [[Lu Zhiwei]], [[Li Jinxi]], [[Luo Changpei]],<ref name="pinyin_history">{{Cite web |date=2006-12-05 |title=The Development of the Hanyu Pinyin System |url=http://wen.org.cn/modules/article/view.article.php/92 |author=Chinese Language and Writing Network |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=人文与社会 |language=zh }}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> as well as [[Zhou Youguang]] who was an economist,<ref name="fox" /> as part of a Chinese government project in the 1950s. Zhou, often called "the father of pinyin",<ref name=fox/><ref>{{Cite web |date=26 March 2009 |title=Father of pinyin |url=http://www.china.org.cn/books&magazines/2009-03/26/content_17504026.htm |access-date=12 July 2009 |website=[[China Daily]]}} Reprinted in part as {{Cite news |title=Father of Pinyin |first=Alan |last=Simon |agency=Xinhua |newspaper=[[China Daily#Asia Weekly|China Daily Asia Weekly]] |location=Hong Kong |date=21–27 Jan 2011 |page=20 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dwyer |first=Colin |date=14 January 2017 |title=Obituary: Zhou Youguang, Architect Of A Bridge Between Languages, Dies At 111 |work=NPR |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/14/509820277/zhou-youguang-architect-of-a-bridge-between-languages-dies-at-111 |access-date=2018-12-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Branigan |first=Tania |date=2008-02-21 |title=Sound Principles |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/21/china |access-date=2008-09-20}}</ref> worked as a banker in New York when he decided to return to China to help rebuild the country after the People's Republic was established. Initially, [[Mao Zedong]] considered the development of a new writing system for Chinese that only used the Latin alphabet, but during his first official visit to the Soviet Union in 1949, [[Joseph Stalin]] convinced him to maintain the existing system.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Hessler |first=Peter |date=8 February 2004 |title=Oracle Bones |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/02/16/oracle-bones |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=17 March 2022}}</ref> Zhou became an economics professor in Shanghai, and when the [[Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China|Ministry of Education]] created the Committee for the Reform of the Chinese Written Language in 1955, Premier [[Zhou Enlai]] assigned him the task of developing a new romanization system{{Dubious|date=August 2023}}, despite the fact that he was not a linguist by trade.<ref name=fox/> |
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Hanyu Pinyin incorporated different aspects from existing systems, including ''[[Gwoyeu Romatzyh]]'' from 1928, ''[[Latinxua Sin Wenz]]'' from 1931, and the [[diacritics]] from [[bopomofo]].<ref>Rohsenow, John S. 1989. Fifty years of script and written language reform in the PRC: the genesis of the language law of 2001. In Zhou Minglang and Sun Hongkai, eds. ''Language Policy in the People's Republic of China: Theory and Practice Since 1949'', p. 23</ref> |
Hanyu Pinyin incorporated different aspects from existing systems, including ''[[Gwoyeu Romatzyh]]'' from 1928, ''[[Latinxua Sin Wenz]]'' from 1931, and the [[diacritics]] from [[bopomofo]].<ref>Rohsenow, John S. 1989. Fifty years of script and written language reform in the PRC: the genesis of the language law of 2001. In Zhou Minglang and Sun Hongkai, eds. ''Language Policy in the People's Republic of China: Theory and Practice Since 1949'', p. 23</ref> "I'm not the father of pinyin", Zhou said years later; "I'm the son of pinyin. It's [the result of] a long tradition from the later years of the Qing dynasty down to today. But we restudied the problem and revisited it and made it more perfect."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Branigan |first=Tania |date=2008-02-21 |title=Sound principles |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/21/china}}</ref> |
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An initial draft was authored in January 1956 by [[Ye Laishi]], Lu Zhiwei and Zhou Youguang.<ref name="Ma">{{ |
An initial draft was authored in January 1956 by [[Ye Laishi]], Lu Zhiwei and Zhou Youguang.<ref name="Ma">{{Cite journal | url=https://wenku.baidu.com/view/ad7d021ea0c7aa00b52acfc789eb172ded639985.html?_wkts_=1693343320562 | script-journal=zh:语文建设 | year=2018 | issue=7| script-title=zh:汉语拼音方案》研制历程及当代发展——兼谈普通话的推广| access-date=2023-08-29 |language=zh }}</ref> A revised Pinyin scheme was proposed by Wang Li, Lu Zhiwei and Li Jinxi, and became the main focus of discussion among the group of Chinese linguists in June 1956, forming the basis of Pinyin standard later after incorporating a wide range of feedback and further revisions.<ref name="pinyin_history" /><ref name="Ma" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wang|first=Jun|author-mask=Wang Jun (王均) |year=1995 |script-title=zh:当代中國的文字改革 |trans-title=Writing System Reform in Contemporary China |language=zh |location=Beijing |publisher=Contemporary Chinese Publishing House |isbn=978-7-800-92298-5}}</ref> The first edition of Hanyu Pinyin was approved and officially adopted at the Fifth Session of the [[1st National People's Congress]] on 11 February 1958. It was then introduced to primary schools as a way to teach Standard Chinese pronunciation and used to improve the literacy rate among adults.<ref name="Asiaone">{{Cite news|title=Hanyu Pinyin system turns 50|newspaper=[[Straits Times]]|date=2008-02-11|url=http://www.asiaone.com/News/The%2BStraits%2BTimes/Story/A1Story20080211-48960.html|access-date=2008-09-20}}</ref> |
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During the height of the Cold War the use of pinyin system over the [[Yale romanization of Mandarin|Yale romanization]] outside of China was regarded as a political statement or identification with the |
During the height of the Cold War the use of pinyin system over the [[Yale romanization of Mandarin|Yale romanization]] outside of China was regarded as a political statement or identification with the mainland Chinese government.<ref>{{Cite conference |
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| last = Wiedenhof |
| last = Wiedenhof |
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| first = Jeroen |
| first = Jeroen |
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| title = Purpose and effect in the transcription of Mandarin |
| title = Purpose and effect in the transcription of Mandarin |
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| |
| conference = Proceedings of the International Conference on Chinese Studies 2004 漢學研究國際學術研討會論文集 |
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| pages = 387–402 |
| pages = 387–402 |
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| publisher = [[National Yunlin University of Science and Technology]] |
| publisher = [[National Yunlin University of Science and Technology]] |
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| year = 2004 |
| year = 2004 |
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| url = http://www.wiedenhof.nl/ul/tk/pbl/articles/purp&eff.pdf |
| url = http://www.wiedenhof.nl/ul/tk/pbl/articles/purp&eff.pdf |
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| archive-url = https:// |
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130602161106/http://www.wiedenhof.nl/ul/tk/pbl/articles/purp&eff.pdf |
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| archive-date = |
| archive-date = 2 June 2013 |
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| isbn = 9860040117 |
| isbn = 9860040117 |
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| access-date = 2009-07-18 |
| access-date = 2009-07-18 |
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| quote = In the Cold War era, the use of this system outside China was typically regarded as a political statement, or a deliberate identification with the Chinese communist regime. (p390) |
| quote = In the Cold War era, the use of this system outside China was typically regarded as a political statement, or a deliberate identification with the Chinese communist regime. (p390) |
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| conference = |
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| url-status = live |
| url-status = live |
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}}</ref> Beginning in the early 1980s, Western publications addressing |
}}</ref> Beginning in the early 1980s, Western publications addressing mainland China began using the Hanyu Pinyin romanization system instead of earlier romanization systems;<ref>Terry, Edith. ''How Asia Got Rich: Japan, China and the Asian Miracle''. [[M.E. Sharpe]], 2002. [https://archive.org/details/howasiagotrichja0000terr/page/632 <!-- quote="Japanese names" surname. --> 632]. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] on August 7, 2011. {{ISBN|0-7656-0356-X}}, 9780765603562.</ref> this change followed the [[Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations|normalization of diplomatic relations]] between the United States and the PRC in 1979.<ref>Terry, Edith. ''How Asia Got Rich: Japan, China and the Asian Miracle''. [[M.E. Sharpe]], 2002. [https://archive.org/details/howasiagotrichja0000terr/page/632 <!-- quote="Chinese word order in names but also the". --> 633]. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] on August 7, 2011. {{ISBN|0-7656-0356-X}}, 9780765603562.</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/04/archives/times-due-to-revise-its-chinese-spelling-adoption-of-new-system.html Times due to revise its Chinese spelling], New York Times February 4, 1979 page 10</ref> In 2001, the PRC Government issued the ''National Common Language Law'', providing a legal basis for applying pinyin.<ref name="Asiaone"/> The current specification of the orthographic rules is laid down in the National Standard GB/T 16159–2012.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.moe.gov.cn/ewebeditor/uploadfile/2012/08/21/20120821100233165.pdf|title=GB/T 16159-2012|access-date=17 February 2020}}</ref> |
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==Syllables== |
== Syllables == |
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Unlike European languages, clusters of |
Unlike European languages, clusters of letters—initials ({{zhi|s=声母|t=聲母|p=shēngmǔ}}) and finals ({{zhi|s=韵母|t=韻母|p=yùnmǔ}})—and not consonant and vowel letters, form the basic units in traditional (and most other phonetic systems used to describe the Han language). Every Mandarin syllable can be spelled with exactly one initial followed by one final, except for the special syllable ''er'' or when a trailing ''-r'' is considered part of a syllable (a phenomenon known as [[erhua]]). The latter case, though a common practice in some sub-dialects, is rarely used in official publications. |
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Even though most initials contain a consonant, finals are not always simple vowels, especially in compound finals ({{ |
Even though most initials contain a consonant, finals are not always simple vowels, especially in compound finals ({{zhi|s=复韵母|t=複韻母|p=fùyùnmǔ}}), i.e. when a "medial" is placed in front of the final. For example, the medials {{IPAblink|i}} and {{IPAblink|u}} are pronounced with such tight openings at the beginning of a final that some native Chinese speakers (especially when singing) pronounce {{zhp|p=yī|c=衣|l=clothes}} officially pronounced {{IPA|/í/}}) as {{IPA|/jí/}} and {{zhp|p=wéi|s=围|t=圍|l=to enclose}}, officially pronounced {{IPA|/uěi/}}) as {{IPA|/wěi/}} or {{IPA|/wuěi/}}. Often these medials are treated as separate from the finals rather than as part of them; this convention is followed in the chart of finals below. |
||
===Initials=== |
=== Initials === |
||
The conventional [[lexicographical order]] derived from [[bopomofo]] is: |
The conventional [[lexicographical order]] derived from [[bopomofo]] is: |
||
{|cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" |
{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#cfc" | b p m f |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#ccf" | d t n l |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#fcc" | g k h |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#fcf" | j q x |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#ffc" | zh ch sh r |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#cff" | z c s |
||
|} |
|} |
||
In each cell below, the pinyin letters assigned to each initial are accompanied by their phonetic realizations in brackets, notated according to the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]]. |
In each cell below, the pinyin letters assigned to each initial are accompanied by their phonetic realizations in brackets, notated according to the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]]. |
||
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center;border:none |
{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center;border:none" |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! style="background:none;border:none" colspan=2 | |
! style="background:none;border:none" colspan="2" | |
||
![[Labial consonant|Labial]] |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]] |
||
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] |
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] |
||
![[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]] |
! [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]] |
||
![[ |
! [[Alveolar-palatal consonant|Alveolar-palatal]] |
||
![[Velar consonant|Velar]] |
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]] |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!rowspan=2| [[Plosive consonant|Plosive]] |
! rowspan="2"| [[Plosive consonant|Plosive]] |
||
! |
! [[Tenuis consonant|unaspirated]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#cfc" | [[Voiceless bilabial plosive|b {{IPA|[p]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#ccf" | [[Voiceless alveolar plosive|d {{IPA|[t]|cat=no}}]] |
||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#fcc" | [[Voiceless velar plosive|g {{IPA|[k]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! |
![[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#cfc" | [[Voiceless bilabial plosive|p {{IPA|[pʰ]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#ccf" | [[Voiceless alveolar plosive|t {{IPA|[tʰ]|cat=no}}]] |
||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#fcc" | [[Voiceless velar plosive|k {{IPA|[kʰ]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!colspan=2| [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] |
! colspan="2"| [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#cfc" | [[Bilabial nasal|m {{IPA|[m]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#ccf" | [[Alveolar nasal|n {{IPA|[n]|cat=no}}]] |
||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!rowspan=2|[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]] |
! rowspan="2" | [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]] |
||
! |
! [[Tenuis consonant|unaspirated]] |
||
| |
| |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#cff" | [[Voiceless alveolar affricate|z {{IPA|[ts]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#ffc" | [[Voiceless retroflex affricate|zh {{IPA|[ʈʂ]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#fcf" | [[Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate|j {{IPA|[tɕ]|cat=no}}]] |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! |
! [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] |
||
| |
| |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#cff" | [[Voiceless alveolar affricate|c {{IPA|[tsʰ]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#ffc" | [[Voiceless retroflex affricate|ch {{IPA|[ʈʂʰ]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#fcf" | [[Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate|q {{IPA|[tɕʰ]|cat=no}}]] |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!colspan=2|[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]] |
! colspan="2" | [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#cfc" | [[Voiceless labiodental fricative|f {{IPA|[f]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#cff" | [[Voiceless alveolar sibilant|s {{IPA|[s]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#ffc" | [[Voiceless retroflex sibilant|sh {{IPA|[ʂ]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#fcf" | [[Voiceless alveolo-palatal sibilant|x {{IPA|[ɕ]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#fcc" | [[Voiceless velar fricative|h {{IPA|[x]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!colspan=2|[[Liquid consonant|Liquid]] |
! colspan="2" | [[Liquid consonant|Liquid]] |
||
| |
| |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#ccf" | [[Alveolar lateral approximant|l {{IPA|[l]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|style="background: |
| style="background:#ffc" | r [[Voiced retroflex approximant| {{IPA|[ɻ]|cat=no}}]]~[[Voiced retroflex fricative|{{IPA|[ʐ]|cat=no}}]] |
||
| |
| |
||
| |
| |
||
|- style="border-top:dashed" |
|- style="border-top:dashed" |
||
!colspan=2|[[Semivowel]] |
! colspan="2" | [[Semivowel]] |
||
|colspan=5| |
| colspan="5" | y [[Palatal approximant| {{IPA|[j]|cat=no}}]], [[Labialized palatal approximant| {{IPA|[ɥ]|cat=no}}]] and w [[Labio-velar approximant| {{IPA|[w]|cat=no}}]] |
||
|} |
|} |
||
{| class="wikitable |
{| class="wikitable" |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!Pinyin||[[help:IPA|IPA]]||Description<ref>{{ |
! Pinyin || [[help:IPA|IPA]] || Description<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hua.umf.maine.edu/Chinese/topics/pinyin/pinyin.html|title=Pinyin / Ting - The Chinese Experience|first=Marilyn|last=Shea|publisher=|website=hua.umf.maine.edu|access-date=21 December 2010|archive-date=12 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612080715/http://hua.umf.maine.edu/Chinese/topics/pinyin/pinyin.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#cfc" |
||
||''b''|| {{IPAblink|p}}|| Unaspirated ''p'', like in English s<u>p</u>ark. |
|| ''b'' || {{IPAblink|p}} || Unaspirated ''p'', like in English s<u>p</u>ark. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#cfc" |
||
||''p''|| {{IPAblink|pʰ}}|| Strongly aspirated ''p'', like in English <u>p</u>ay. |
|| ''p'' || {{IPAblink|pʰ}} || Strongly aspirated ''p'', like in English <u>p</u>ay. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#cfc" |
||
||''m''|| {{IPAblink|m}}|| Like the ''m'' in English <u>m</u>ay. |
|| ''m'' || {{IPAblink|m}} || Like the ''m'' in English <u>m</u>ay. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#cfc" |
||
||''f''|| {{IPAblink|f}}|| Like the ''f'' in English <u>f</u>air. |
|| ''f'' || {{IPAblink|f}} || Like the ''f'' in English <u>f</u>air. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#ccf" |
||
||''d''|| {{IPAblink|t}}|| Unaspirated ''t'', like in English s<u>t</u>op. |
|| ''d'' || {{IPAblink|t}} || Unaspirated ''t'', like in English s<u>t</u>op. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#ccf" |
||
||''t''|| {{IPAblink|tʰ}}|| Strongly aspirated ''t'', like in English <u>t</u>ake. |
|| ''t'' || {{IPAblink|tʰ}} || Strongly aspirated ''t'', like in English <u>t</u>ake. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#ccf" |
||
||''n''|| {{IPAblink|n}}|| Like the ''n'' in English <u>n</u>ay. |
|| ''n'' || {{IPAblink|n}} || Like the ''n'' in English <u>n</u>ay. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#ccf" |
||
||''l''|| {{IPAblink|l}}|| Like the ''l'' in English <u>l</u>ay. |
|| ''l'' || {{IPAblink|l}}[[Allophone|~]]{{IPAblink|ɾ}}{{efn|name=taiwan|for [[Taiwanese Mandarin|Taipei Mandarin]]}} || Like the ''l'' in English <u>l</u>ay. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#fcc" |
||
||''g''|| {{IPAblink|k}}|| Unaspirated ''k'', like in English s<u>k</u>ill. |
|| ''g'' || {{IPAblink|k}} || Unaspirated ''k'', like in English s<u>k</u>ill. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#fcc" |
||
||''k''|| {{IPAblink|kʰ}}|| Strongly aspirated ''k'', like in English <u>k</u>iss. |
|| ''k'' || {{IPAblink|kʰ}} || Strongly aspirated ''k'', like in English <u>k</u>iss. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#fcc" |
||
||''h''|| {{IPAblink|x}} |
|| ''h'' || {{IPAblink|x}}~{{IPA blink|h}}{{efn|name=taiwan}} || Varies between the ''h'' in English <u>h</u>at, and the ''ch'' in Scottish English lo<u>ch</u>. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#fcf" |
||
||''j''|| {{IPAblink|tɕ}}|| |
|| ''j'' || {{IPAblink|tɕ}} || Alveolar-palatal, unaspirated. No direct equivalent in English, but similar to the ''ch'' in English chur<u>ch</u>yard. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#fcf" |
||
||''q''|| {{IPAblink|tɕʰ}}|| |
|| ''q'' || {{IPAblink|tɕʰ}} || Alveolar-palatal, aspirated. No direct equivalent in English, but similar to the ''ch'' in English pun<u>ch</u>y. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#fcf" |
||
||''x''|| {{IPAblink|ɕ}} || Alveolo-palatal, unaspirated. No direct equivalent in English, but similar to the ''sh'' in English pu<u>sh</u>. |
|| ''x'' || {{IPAblink|ɕ}} || Alveolo-palatal, unaspirated. No direct equivalent in English, but similar to the ''sh'' in English pu<u>sh</u>. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#ffc" |
||
||''zh''|| {{IPAblink|ʈʂ}}|| Retroflex, unaspirated. |
|| ''zh'' || {{IPAblink|ʈʂ}}~{{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}}{{efn|name=taiwan}} || Retroflex, unaspirated. Like ''j'' in English <u>j</u>ack. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#ffc" |
||
||''ch''|| {{IPAblink|ʈʂʰ}}|| Retroflex, aspirated. |
|| ''ch'' || {{IPAblink|ʈʂʰ}}~{{IPAblink|ʃ}}{{efn|name=taiwan}} || Retroflex, aspirated. Like ''ch'' in English chur<u>ch</u>. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#ffc" |
||
||''sh''|| {{IPAblink|ʂ}}|| Retroflex, unaspirated. |
|| ''sh'' || {{IPAblink|ʂ}}~{{IPAblink|ɹ̠̊˔}}{{efn|name=taiwan}} || Retroflex, unaspirated. Like ''sh'' in <u>sh</u>irt. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#ffc" |
||
||''r''|| [{{IPA link|ɻ}}~{{IPA link|ʐ}}] || Retroflex. No direct equivalent in English, but varies between the |
|| ''r'' || [{{IPA link|ɻ}}~{{IPA link|ʐ}}]~{{IPAblink|ɹ}}{{efn|name=taiwan}} || Retroflex. No direct equivalent in English, but varies between the ''r'' in English <u>r</u>educe and the ''s'' in English mea<u>s</u>ure. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#cff" |
||
||''z''|| {{IPAblink|ts}}|| Unaspirated. Like the ''zz'' in English pi<u>zz</u>a. |
|| ''z'' || {{IPAblink|ts}} || Unaspirated. Like the ''zz'' in English pi<u>zz</u>a. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#cff" |
||
||''c''|| {{IPAblink|tsʰ}}|| Aspirated. Like the ''ts'' in English |
|| ''c'' || {{IPAblink|tsʰ}} || Aspirated. Like the ''ts'' in English ba<u>ts</u>. |
||
|-style="background: |
|- style="background:#cff" |
||
||''s''|| {{IPAblink|s}}|| Like the ''s'' in English <u>s</u>ay. |
|| ''s'' || {{IPAblink|s}} || Like the ''s'' in English <u>s</u>ay. |
||
|- |
|- |
||
||''w''{{efn|name=semivowel}}|| {{IPAblink|w}} ||Like the ''w'' in English <u>w</u>ater. |
|| ''w''{{efn|name=semivowel}} || {{IPAblink|w}} ||Like the ''w'' in English <u>w</u>ater. |
||
|- |
|- |
||
||''y''{{efn|name=semivowel|''Y'' and ''w'' are equivalent to the [[semivowel]] medials ''i, u'', and ''ü'' (see below). They are spelled differently when there is no initial consonant in order to mark a new syllable: ''fanguan'' is ''fan-guan'', while ''fangwan'' is ''fang-wan'' (and equivalent to ''*fang-uan)''. With this convention, an apostrophe only needs to be used to mark an initial ''a, e'', or ''o: Xi'an'' (two syllables: {{IPA|[ɕi.an]}}) vs. ''xian'' (one syllable: {{IPA|[ɕi̯ɛn]}}). In addition, ''y'' and ''w'' are added to fully vocalic ''i, u'', and ''ü'' when these occur without an initial consonant, so that they are written ''yi, wu'', and ''yu''. Some Mandarin speakers do pronounce a {{IPA|[j]}} or {{IPA|[w]}} sound at the beginning of such words—that is, ''yi'' {{IPA|[i]}} or {{IPA|[ji]}}, ''wu'' {{IPA|[u]}} or {{IPA|[wu]}}, ''yu'' {{IPA|[y]}} or {{IPA|[ɥy]}},—so this is an intuitive convention. See below for a few finals which are abbreviated after a consonant plus ''w/u'' or ''y/i'' medial: ''wen'' → C+''un'', ''wei'' → C+''ui'', ''weng'' → C+''ong'', and ''you'' → Q+''iu''.}}|| {{IPAblink|j}}, {{IPAblink|ɥ}} || Either like the ''y'' in English <u>y</u>es—or when followed by a ''u'', see below. |
|| ''y''{{efn|name=semivowel|''Y'' and ''w'' are equivalent to the [[semivowel]] medials ''i, u'', and ''ü'' (see below). They are spelled differently when there is no initial consonant in order to mark a new syllable: ''fanguan'' is ''fan-guan'', while ''fangwan'' is ''fang-wan'' (and equivalent to ''*fang-uan)''. With this convention, an apostrophe only needs to be used to mark an initial ''a, e'', or ''o: Xi'an'' (two syllables: {{IPA|[ɕi.an]}}) vs. ''xian'' (one syllable: {{IPA|[ɕi̯ɛn]}}). In addition, ''y'' and ''w'' are added to fully vocalic ''i, u'', and ''ü'' when these occur without an initial consonant, so that they are written ''yi, wu'', and ''yu''. Some Mandarin speakers do pronounce a {{IPA|[j]}} or {{IPA|[w]}} sound at the beginning of such words—that is, ''yi'' {{IPA|[i]}} or {{IPA|[ji]}}, ''wu'' {{IPA|[u]}} or {{IPA|[wu]}}, ''yu'' {{IPA|[y]}} or {{IPA|[ɥy]}},—so this is an intuitive convention. See below for a few finals which are abbreviated after a consonant plus ''w/u'' or ''y/i'' medial: ''wen'' → C+''un'', ''wei'' → C+''ui'', ''weng'' → C+''ong'', and ''you'' → Q+''iu''.}} || {{IPAblink|j}}, {{IPAblink|ɥ}} || Either like the ''y'' in English <u>y</u>es—or when followed by a ''u'', see below. |
||
|} |
|} |
||
===Finals=== |
=== Finals === |
||
{{mandarin vowels}} |
{{mandarin vowels}} |
||
In each cell below, the first line indicates [[International Phonetic Alphabet |
In each cell below, the first line indicates the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA) transcription, the second indicates pinyin for a standalone (no-initial) form, and the third indicates pinyin for a combination with an initial. Other than finals modified by an ''-r'', which are omitted, the following is an exhaustive table of all possible finals. |
||
The only syllable-final consonants in Standard Chinese are ''-n'', ''-ng'', and ''-r'', the last of which is attached as a grammatical [[suffix]]. |
The only syllable-final consonants in Standard Chinese are ''-n'', ''-ng'', and ''-r'', the last of which is attached as a grammatical [[suffix]]. A Chinese syllable ending with any other consonant either is from a non-Mandarin language (a southern Chinese language such as [[Cantonese]], reflecting [[Old Chinese phonology#Tones and final consonants|final consonants in Old Chinese]]), or indicates the use of a non-pinyin romanization system, such as one that uses final consonants to indicate tones. <!-- /əɻ/ 而爾耳 is missing --> |
||
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center |
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!colspan=2 rowspan=2| |
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | |
||
!colspan= |
! colspan=16 | [[Syllable#Chinese model|Rime]] |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!∅!!-e/-o!!-a!!-ei!!-ai!!-ou!!-ao!!-en!!-an!!-eng!!-ang!!er |
! ∅ !! colspan="2" | -e/-o/-ê !! -a !! -ei !! -ai !! -ou !! -ao !! -en !! -an !! -eng !! -ang !! er |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!rowspan=4|Medial |
! rowspan="4" | [[Syllable#Chinese model|Medial]] |
||
!∅ |
! ∅ |
||
|{{IPA|[ɨ]}}<br><br>-i||{{IPA|[ɤ]}}<br>e<br>-e||{{IPA|[a]}}<br>a<br>-a |
| {{IPA|[ɨ]}}<br><br>-i || {{IPA|[ɤ]}}<br>e<br>-e || {{IPA|[ɛ]}}<br>ê<br>-ê || {{IPA|[a]}}<br>a<br>-a |
||
|{{IPA|[ei̯]}}<br>ei<br>-ei||{{IPA|[ai̯]}}<br>ai<br>-ai |
| {{IPA|[ei̯]}}<br>ei<br>-ei || {{IPA|[ai̯]}}<br>ai<br>-ai |
||
|{{IPA|[ou̯]}}<br>ou<br>-ou||{{IPA|[au̯]}}<br>ao<br>-ao |
| {{IPA|[ou̯]}}<br>ou<br>-ou || {{IPA|[au̯]}}<br>ao<br>-ao |
||
|{{IPA|[ən]}}<br>en<br>-en||{{IPA|[an]}}<br>an<br>-an |
| {{IPA|[ən]}}<br>en<br>-en || {{IPA|[an]}}<br>an<br>-an |
||
|{{IPA|[əŋ]}}<br>eng<br>-eng||{{IPA|[aŋ]}}<br>ang<br>-ang |
| {{IPA|[əŋ]}}<br>eng<br>-eng || {{IPA|[aŋ]}}<br>ang<br>-ang |
||
|{{IPA|[ɚ]}}<br>er<br> |
| {{IPA|[ɚ]}}<br>er<br> |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!y-<br>-i- |
! y-<br>-i- |
||
|{{IPA|[i]}}<br>yi<br>-i||{{IPA|[je]}}<br>ye<br>-ie||{{IPA|[ja]}}<br>ya<br>-ia |
| {{IPA|[i]}}<br>yi<br>-i || colspan="2" | {{IPA|[je]}}<br>ye<br>-ie || {{IPA|[ja]}}<br>ya<br>-ia |
||
| || |
| || |
||
|{{IPA|[jou̯]}}<br>you<br>-iu||{{IPA|[jau̯]}}<br>yao<br>-iao |
| {{IPA|[jou̯]}}<br>you<br>-iu || {{IPA|[jau̯]}}<br>yao<br>-iao |
||
|{{IPA|[in]}}<br>yin<br>-in||{{IPA|[jɛn]}}<br>yan<br>-ian |
| {{IPA|[in]}}<br>yin<br>-in || {{IPA|[jɛn]}}<br>yan<br>-ian |
||
|{{IPA|[iŋ]}}<br>ying<br>-ing||{{IPA|[jaŋ]}}<br>yang<br>-iang |
| {{IPA|[iŋ]}}<br>ying<br>-ing || {{IPA|[jaŋ]}}<br>yang<br>-iang |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!w-<br>-u- |
! w-<br>-u- |
||
|{{IPA|[u]}}<br>wu<br>-u||{{IPA|[wo]}}<br>wo<br>-uo ||{{IPA|[wa]}}<br>wa<br>-ua |
| {{IPA|[u]}}<br>wu<br>-u || colspan="2" | {{IPA|[wo]}}<br>wo<br>-uo || {{IPA|[wa]}}<br>wa<br>-ua |
||
|{{IPA|[wei̯]}}<br>wei<br>-ui||{{IPA|[wai̯]}}<br>wai<br>-uai |
| {{IPA|[wei̯]}}<br>wei<br>-ui || {{IPA|[wai̯]}}<br>wai<br>-uai |
||
| || |
| || |
||
|{{IPA|[wən]}}<br>wen<br>-un||{{IPA|[wan]}}<br>wan<br>-uan |
| {{IPA|[wən]}}<br>wen<br>-un || {{IPA|[wan]}}<br>wan<br>-uan |
||
|{{IPA|[wəŋ~ʊŋ]}}<br>weng<br>-ong||{{IPA|[waŋ]}}<br>wang<br>-uang |
| {{IPA|[wəŋ~ʊŋ]}}<br>weng<br>-ong || {{IPA|[waŋ]}}<br>wang<br>-uang |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!yu-<br>-ü- |
! yu-<br>-ü- |
||
|{{IPA|[y]}}<br>yu<br>-ü |
| {{IPA|[y]}}<br>yu<br>-ü || colspan="2" | {{IPA|[ɥe]}}<br>yue<br>-üe || |
||
| || |
| || |
||
| || |
| || |
||
|{{IPA|[yn]}}<br>yun<br>-ün||{{IPA|[ɥɛn]}}<br>yuan<br>-üan |
| {{IPA|[yn]}}<br>yun<br>-ün || {{IPA|[ɥɛn]}}<br>yuan<br>-üan |
||
|{{IPA|[jʊŋ]}}<br>yong<br>-iong|| |
| {{IPA|[jʊŋ]}}<br>yong<br>-iong || |
||
| |
| |
||
|} |
|} |
||
Technically, ''i, u, ü'' without a following vowel are finals, not medials, and therefore take the tone marks, but they are more concisely displayed as above. In addition, ''ê'' {{IPA|[ɛ]}} ({{ |
Technically, ''i, u, ü'' without a following vowel are finals, not medials, and therefore take the tone marks, but they are more concisely displayed as above. In addition, ''ê'' {{IPA|[ɛ]}} ({{zhi|s=欸|t=誒}}) and syllabic nasals ''m'' ({{zh|c=呒|labels=no}}, {{zhi|c=呣}}), ''n'' ({{zhi|c=嗯|labels=no}}, {{zh|c=唔}}), ''ng'' ({{zhi|c=嗯}}, {{zhi|c=𠮾}}) are used as [[interjection]]s or in [[neologism]]s; for example, pinyin defines the names of several pinyin letters using ''-ê'' finals. |
||
According to ''Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet'', ''ng'' can be abbreviated with |
According to the ''Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet'', ''ng'' can be abbreviated with the shorthand ''[[ŋ]]''. However, this shorthand is rarely used due to difficulty of entering it on computers. |
||
{| class="wikitable" style=" |
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto" |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! Pinyin || |
! Pinyin || IPA || Form with [[zero initial]] || Explanation |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| ''-i'' || [{{IPA link|ɹ|ɹ̩}}~{{IPA link|z|z̩}}], [{{IPA link|ɻ|ɻ̩}}~{{IPA link|ʐ|ʐ̩}}] || (''N/A'') || ''-i'' is a buzzed continuation of the consonant following ''z-'', ''c-'', ''s-'', ''zh-'', ''ch-'', ''sh-'' or ''r-''. |
| ''-i'' || [{{IPA link|ɹ|ɹ̩}}~{{IPA link|z|z̩}}], [{{IPA link|ɻ|ɻ̩}}~{{IPA link|ʐ|ʐ̩}}] || (''N/A'') || ''-i'' is a buzzed continuation of the consonant following ''z-'', ''c-'', ''s-'', ''zh-'', ''ch-'', ''sh-'' or ''r-''. In all other cases, -i has the sound of ''b'''ee'''''. |
||
(In all other cases, -i has the sound of ''b'''ee'''''; this is listed below.) |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
| ''a'' || {{IPAblink|ä|a}} || '''a''' || like English ''f'''a'''ther'', but a bit more fronted |
| ''a'' || {{IPAblink|ä|a}} || '''a''' || like English ''f'''a'''ther'', but a bit more fronted |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| ''e'' || {{IPA-cmn|ɤ||Close-mid back unrounded vowel.ogg}} || '''e''' || a back, unrounded vowel (similar to English ''d'''uh''''', but not as open). Pronounced as a sequence {{IPA|[ɰɤ]}}. |
| ''e'' || {{IPA-cmn|ɤ||Close-mid back unrounded vowel.ogg}}, {{IPA|[ə]}}{{efn|name=taiwan}} || '''e''' || a back, unrounded vowel (similar to English ''d'''uh''''', but not as open). Pronounced as a sequence {{IPA|[ɰɤ]}}. |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| ''ai'' || {{IPA|[ai̯]}} || '''ai''' || like English '''eye''', but a bit lighter |
| ''ai'' || {{IPA|[ai̯]}} || '''ai''' || like English '''eye''', but a bit lighter |
||
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| ''eng'' || {{IPA|[əŋ]}} || '''eng''' || like ''e'' in ''en'' above but with ''ng'' appended |
| ''eng'' || {{IPA|[əŋ]}} || '''eng''' || like ''e'' in ''en'' above but with ''ng'' appended |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| ''ong'' || {{IPA|[ʊŋ]}} || ''(weng)''|| starts with the vowel sound in ''b'''oo'''k'' and ends with the velar nasal sound in ''si'''ng'''''. Varies between {{IPA|[oŋ]}} and {{IPA|[uŋ]}} depending on the speaker. |
| ''ong'' || {{IPA|[ʊŋ]}}~{{IPA|[o̞ʊŋ]}}{{efn|name=taiwan}} || ''(weng)'' || starts with the vowel sound in ''b'''oo'''k'' and ends with the velar nasal sound in ''si'''ng'''''. Varies between {{IPA|[oŋ]}} and {{IPA|[uŋ]}} depending on the speaker. |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| ''er'' || {{IPA|[aɚ̯]}} || '''er''' || Similar to the sound in ''b'''ar''''' in English. Can also be pronounced {{IPA|[ɚ]}} depending on the speaker. |
| ''er'' || {{IPA|[aɚ̯]}}~{{IPA|[əɹ]}}{{efn|name=taiwan}} || '''er''' || Similar to the sound in ''b'''ar''''' in English. Can also be pronounced {{IPA|[ɚ]}} depending on the speaker. |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="4" | Finals beginning with ''i-'' (''y-'') |
! colspan="4" | Finals beginning with ''i-'' (''y-'') |
||
Line 336: | Line 334: | ||
| ''ua'' || {{IPA|[wa]}} || '''wa''' || as '''''u''''' + '''''a''''' |
| ''ua'' || {{IPA|[wa]}} || '''wa''' || as '''''u''''' + '''''a''''' |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| ''uo''/''o'' || {{IPA|[wo]}}|| '''wo''' || as '''''u''''' + '''''o''''' where the ''o'' (compare with the ''o'' interjection) is pronounced shorter and lighter (spelled as '''''o''''' after ''b'', ''p'', ''m'' or ''f'') |
| ''uo''/''o'' || {{IPA|[wo]}} || '''wo''' || as '''''u''''' + '''''o''''' where the ''o'' (compare with the ''o'' interjection) is pronounced shorter and lighter (spelled as '''''o''''' after ''b'', ''p'', ''m'' or ''f'') |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| ''uai'' || {{IPA|[wai̯]}} || '''wai''' || as '''''u''''' + '''''ai''''', as in English '''''why''''' |
| ''uai'' || {{IPA|[wai̯]}} || '''wai''' || as '''''u''''' + '''''ai''''', as in English '''''why''''' |
||
Line 348: | Line 346: | ||
| ''uang'' || {{IPA|[waŋ]}} || '''wang''' || as '''''u''''' + '''''ang''''' |
| ''uang'' || {{IPA|[waŋ]}} || '''wang''' || as '''''u''''' + '''''ang''''' |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|''(ong)''|| {{IPA|[wəŋ]}} || '''weng''' || as '''''u''''' + '''''eng''''' |
|''(ong)'' || {{IPA|[wəŋ]}} || '''weng''' || as '''''u''''' + '''''eng''''' |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan=4 | Finals beginning with ''ü-'' (''yu-'') |
! colspan=4 | Finals beginning with ''ü-'' (''yu-'') |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| ''ü'' || {{IPA-cmn|y||Close front rounded vowel.ogg}} || '''yu''' || as in German '''''ü'''ber'' or French ''l'''u'''ne'' (pronounced as English '''ee''' with rounded lips; spelled as '''''u''''' after ''j'', ''q'' or ''x'') |
| ''ü'' || {{IPA-cmn|y ||Close front rounded vowel.ogg}} || '''yu''' || as in German '''''ü'''ber'' or French ''l'''u'''ne'' (pronounced as English '''ee''' with rounded lips; spelled as '''''u''''' after ''j'', ''q'' or ''x'') |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| ''üe'' || {{IPA|[ɥe]}} || '''yue''' || as '''''ü''''' + '''''ê''''' where the e (compare with the ''ê'' interjection) is pronounced shorter and lighter (spelled as '''''ue''''' after ''j'', ''q'' or ''x'') |
| ''üe'' || {{IPA|[ɥe]}} || '''yue''' || as '''''ü''''' + '''''ê''''' where the e (compare with the ''ê'' interjection) is pronounced shorter and lighter (spelled as '''''ue''''' after ''j'', ''q'' or ''x'') |
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! colspan="4" | Interjections |
! colspan="4" | Interjections |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| ''ê'' || {{IPAblink|ɛ}} || |
| ''ê'' || {{IPAblink|ɛ}} || '''ê''' || as in ''b'''e'''t'' |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| ''o'' || {{IPAblink|ɔ}} || |
| ''o'' || {{IPAblink|ɔ}} || '''o''' || approximately as in British English '''''o'''ffice''; the lips are much more rounded |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| ''io'' || {{IPA|[jɔ]}} || '''yo''' || as '''''i''''' + '''''o''''' |
| ''io'' || {{IPA|[jɔ]}} || '''yo''' || as '''''i''''' + '''''o''''' |
||
|} |
|} |
||
====The {{ |
==== The {{nowrap|⟨ü⟩}} sound ==== |
||
An [[Umlaut (diacritic)|umlaut]] is added to {{angbr IPA|u}} when it occurs after the initials {{angbr IPA|l}} and {{angbr IPA|n}} when necessary in order to represent the sound [y]. This is necessary in order to distinguish the front high rounded vowel in |
An [[Umlaut (diacritic)|umlaut]] is added to {{angbr IPA|u}} when it occurs after the initials {{angbr IPA|l}} and {{angbr IPA|n}} when necessary in order to represent the sound {{IPA|[y]}}. This is necessary in order to distinguish the front high rounded vowel in {{zhi|p=lü}} (e.g. {{zhi|s=驴|t=驢|l=donkey}}) from the back high rounded vowel in {{zhi|p=lu}} (e.g. {{zhi|s=炉|t=爐|l=oven}}). Tonal markers are placed above the umlaut, as in {{zhi|p=lǘ}}. |
||
However, the ''ü'' is ''not'' used in the other contexts where it could represent a front high rounded vowel, namely after the letters ''j'', ''q'', ''x'', and ''y''. For example, the sound of the word {{ |
However, the ''ü'' is ''not'' used in the other contexts where it could represent a front high rounded vowel, namely after the letters ''j'', ''q'', ''x'', and ''y''. For example, the sound of the word for {{zhl|s=鱼|t=魚|l=fish}} is transcribed in pinyin simply as ''yú'', not as ''yǘ''. This practice is opposed to Wade–Giles, which always uses ''ü'', and [[Tongyong Pinyin]], which always uses ''yu''. Whereas Wade–Giles needs the umlaut to distinguish between ''chü'' (pinyin {{transl|zh|ju}}) and ''chu'' (pinyin ''zhu''), this ambiguity does not arise with pinyin, so the more convenient form ''ju'' is used instead of ''jü''. Genuine ambiguities only happen with ''nu''/''nü'' and ''lu''/''lü'', which are then distinguished by an umlaut. |
||
Many fonts or output methods do not support an umlaut for ''ü'' or cannot place tone marks on top of ''ü''. Likewise, using ''ü'' in input methods is difficult because it is not present as a simple key on many keyboard layouts. For these reasons ''v'' is sometimes used instead by convention. For example, it is common for cellphones to use ''v'' instead of ''ü''. Additionally, some stores in China use ''v'' instead of ''ü'' in the transliteration of their names. The drawback is that there are no tone marks for the letter ''v''. |
Many fonts or output methods do not support an umlaut for ''ü'' or cannot place tone marks on top of ''ü''. Likewise, using ''ü'' in input methods is difficult because it is not present as a simple key on many keyboard layouts. For these reasons ''v'' is sometimes used instead by convention. For example, it is common for cellphones to use ''v'' instead of ''ü''. Additionally, some stores in China use ''v'' instead of ''ü'' in the transliteration of their names. The drawback is that there are no tone marks for the letter ''v''. |
||
This also presents a problem in transcribing names for use on passports, affecting people with names that consist of the sound |
This also presents a problem in transcribing names for use on passports, affecting people with names that consist of the sound {{zhi|p=lü}} or {{zhi|p=nü}}, particularly people with the surname {{zhc|c=吕|p=[[Lü (surname)|Lǚ]]}}, a fairly common surname, particularly compared to the surnames {{zhc|c=陆|p=[[Lu (surname 陆)|Lù]]}}, {{zhc|c=鲁|p=[[Lu (surname 鲁)|Lǔ]]}}, {{zhc|c=卢|p=[[Lu (surname 卢)|Lú]]}} and {{zhc|c=路|p=[[Lu (surname 路)|Lù]]}}. Previously, the practice varied among different passport issuing offices, with some transcribing as "LV" and "NV" while others used "LU" and "NU". On 10 July 2012, the [[Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China|Ministry of Public Security]] standardized the practice to use "LYU" and "NYU" in passports.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Huang|first=Rong|script-title=zh:公安部最新规定 护照上的"ü"规范成"YU"|url=http://wx.xinhuanet.com/2012-08/23/c_112822099.htm|access-date=29 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714182037/http://wx.xinhuanet.com/2012-08/23/c_112822099.htm|archive-date=14 July 2014|language=zh}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Li|first=Zhiyan|script-title=zh:"吕"拼音到怎么写? 公安部称应拼写成"LYU"|url=http://news.cnwest.com/content/2012-08/22/content_7093021.htm|access-date=23 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528015235/http://news.cnwest.com/content/2012-08/22/content_7093021.htm|archive-date=28 May 2013|url-status=dead|language=zh}}</ref> |
||
Although ''nüe'' written as ''nue'', and ''lüe'' written as ''lue'' are not ambiguous, ''nue'' or ''lue'' are not correct according to the rules; ''nüe'' and ''lüe'' should be used instead. However, some Chinese input methods support both ''nve''/''lve'' (typing ''v'' for ''ü'') and ''nue''/''lue''. |
Although ''nüe'' written as ''nue'', and ''lüe'' written as ''lue'' are not ambiguous, ''nue'' or ''lue'' are not correct according to the rules; ''nüe'' and ''lüe'' should be used instead. However, some Chinese input methods support both ''nve''/''lve'' (typing ''v'' for ''ü'') and ''nue''/''lue''. |
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==Tones== |
==Tones== |
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[[File:Pinyin Tone Chart.svg|right|thumb|upright=0.55|Relative pitch changes of the four tones]] |
[[File:Pinyin Tone Chart.svg|right|thumb|upright=0.55|Relative pitch changes of the four tones]] |
||
The pinyin system also uses [[ |
The pinyin system also uses four [[diacritic]]s to mark the [[tones of Mandarin]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Qiuying |last2=Andrews |first2=Jean F. |year=2021 |title=Chinese Pinyin: Overview, History and Use in Language Learning for Young Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in China |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/847509 |journal=American Annals of the Deaf |volume=166 |issue=4 |pages=446–461 |doi=10.1353/aad.2021.0038 |pmid=35185033 |s2cid=247010548 |issn=1543-0375}}</ref> In the pinyin system, four main tones of Mandarin are shown by diacritics: ā, á, ǎ, and à.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chang |first=Yufen |date=2018-10-09 |title=How pinyin tone formats and character orthography influence Chinese learners' tone acquisition |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/caslar-2018-0008/html |journal=Chinese as a Second Language Research |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=195–219 |doi=10.1515/caslar-2018-0008 |s2cid=57998920 |issn=2193-2263}}</ref> And there is no symbol or diacritic for the neutral tone: a. The diacritic is placed over the letter that represents the [[syllable nucleus]], unless that letter is missing. Tones are used in Hanyu Pinyin symbols, and they do not appear in Chinese characters. |
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Tones are written on the finals of Chinese pinyin. If the tone mark is written over an ''i'', then macron would be used to replace it, as in |
Tones are written on the finals of Chinese pinyin. If the tone mark is written over an ''i'', then macron would be used to replace it, as in {{transl|zh|yī}}. |
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# The first tone (flat or high-level tone) is represented by a [[Macron (diacritic)|macron]] |
# The first tone (flat or high-level tone) is represented by a [[Macron (diacritic)|macron]] {{angbr|ˉ}} added to the pinyin vowel: |
||
#: |
#:ā ē ê̄ ī ō ū ǖ Ā Ē Ê̄ Ī Ō Ū Ǖ |
||
# The second tone (rising or high-rising tone) is denoted by an [[acute accent]] |
# The second tone (rising or high-rising tone) is denoted by an [[acute accent]] {{angbr|ˊ}}: |
||
#: |
#:á é ế í ó ú ǘ Á É Ế Í Ó Ú Ǘ |
||
# The third tone (falling-rising or low tone) is marked by a [[caron]] |
# The third tone (falling-rising or low tone) is marked by a [[caron]] {{angbr|ˇ}}: |
||
#: |
#:ǎ ě ê̌ ǐ ǒ ǔ ǚ Ǎ Ě Ê̌ Ǐ Ǒ Ǔ Ǚ |
||
# The fourth tone (falling or high-falling tone) is represented by a [[grave accent]] |
# The fourth tone (falling or high-falling tone) is represented by a [[grave accent]] {{angbr|ˋ}}: |
||
#: |
#:à è ề ì ò ù ǜ À È Ề Ì Ò Ù Ǜ |
||
# The fifth tone (neutral tone) is represented by a normal vowel without any accent mark: |
# The fifth tone (neutral tone) is represented by a normal vowel without any accent mark: |
||
#: |
#:a e ê i o u ü A E Ê I O U Ü |
||
In dictionaries, neutral tone may be indicated by a dot preceding the syllable—e.g. {{transl|zh|·ma}}. When a neutral tone syllable has an alternative pronunciation in another tone, a combination of tone marks may be used: {{zhp|p=zhī·dào|c=知道}} may be pronounced either {{zhp|p=zhīdào}} or {{zhp|p=zhīdao}}.<ref>Section 7.3 of the current standard [http://www.moe.gov.cn/ewebeditor/uploadfile/2012/08/21/20120821100233165.pdf GB/T 16159-2012].</ref> |
|||
=== |
=== Numbers === |
||
{{Further|Tone number}} |
|||
Before the advent of computers, many typewriter fonts did not contain vowels with [[Macron (diacritic)|macron]] or [[caron]] diacritics. Tones were thus represented by placing a [[tone number]] at the end of individual syllables. For example, {{zhi|p=tóng}} is written {{zhi|p=tong<sup>2</sup>}}. |
Before the advent of computers, many typewriter fonts did not contain vowels with [[Macron (diacritic)|macron]] or [[caron]] diacritics. Tones were thus represented by placing a [[tone number]] at the end of individual syllables. For example, {{zhi|p=tóng}} is written {{zhi|p=tong<sup>2</sup>}}. |
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The number used for each tone is as the order listed above, except the neutral tone either lacks a number, or is given the |
The number used for each tone is as the order listed above, except the neutral tone either lacks a number, or is given the numeral 0 or 5. |
||
{| class="wikitable |
{| class="wikitable" |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! Tone !! Diacritic !! |
! scope="col" | Tone !! scope="col" | Diacritic !! scope="col" | Numeral !! scope="col" colspan="2" | Example !! scope="col" | [[Help:IPA|IPA]] |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| First || [[Macron (diacritic)|macron]] |
| First || [[Macron (diacritic)|macron]] {{angbr|◌̄}} || 1 || {{langr|zh-Latn-pinyin|mā}} || ma<sup>1</sup> || {{IPA|ma˥}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| Second|| [[acute accent]] ( |
| Second || [[acute accent]] ({{angbr|◌́}} || 2 || | {{langr|zh-Latn-pinyin|má}} || ma<sup>2</sup> || {{IPA|ma˧˥}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| Third || [[caron]] |
| Third || [[caron]] {{angbr|◌̌}} || 3 || {{langr|zh-Latn-pinyin|mǎ}} || ma<sup>3</sup> || {{IPA|ma˨˩˦}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| Fourth || [[grave accent]] |
| Fourth || [[grave accent]] {{angbr|◌̀}} || 4 || {{langr|zh-Latn-pinyin|mà}} || ma<sup>4</sup> || {{IPA|ma˥˩}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[Neutral tone|Neutral]] || |
| scope="col" rowspan="2" | [[Neutral tone|Neutral]] || {{none}} || 5 || ma || rowspan="2" | {{langr|zh-Latn-pinyin|ma}} || ma<sup>5</sup> || rowspan="2" | {{IPA|ma}} |
||
|- |
|||
| [[middle dot]] before syllable {{angbr|·◌}} || 0 || ·ma || ma<sup>0</sup> |
|||
|} |
|} |
||
===Placement and omission=== |
=== Placement and omission === |
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Briefly, |
Briefly, tone marks should always be placed by the order—{{transl|zh|a, o, e, i, u, ü}}, with the only exception being {{transl|zh|iu}}, where the tone mark is placed on the ''u'' instead. Pinyin tone marks appear primarily above the [[syllable nucleus|nucleus of the syllable]], for example as in {{transl|zh|kuài}}, where ''k'' is the initial, ''u'' the medial, ''a'' the nucleus, and ''i'' the coda. The exception is syllabic nasals like {{IPA|/m/}}, where the nucleus of the syllable is a consonant, the diacritic will be carried by a written dummy vowel. |
||
When the nucleus is {{ |
When the nucleus is {{IPAslink|ə}} (written ''e'' or ''o''), and there is both a medial and a coda, the nucleus may be dropped from writing. In this case, when the coda is a consonant ''n'' or ''ng'', the only vowel left is the medial ''i, u'', or ''ü'', and so this takes the diacritic. However, when the coda is a vowel, it is the coda rather than the medial which takes the diacritic in the absence of a written nucleus. This occurs with syllables ending in {{transl|zh|-ui}} (from {{transl|zh|wei}}: {{transl|zh|wèi}} → {{transl|zh|-uì}}) and in {{transl|zh|-iu}} (from {{transl|zh|you}}: {{transl|zh|yòu}} → {{transl|zh|-iù}}). That is, in the absence of a written nucleus the finals have priority for receiving the tone marker, as long as they are vowels: if not, the medial takes the diacritic. |
||
An algorithm to find the correct vowel letter (when there is more than one) is as follows: |
An algorithm to find the correct vowel letter (when there is more than one) is as follows: |
||
# If there is an ''a'' or an ''e'', it will take the tone mark |
# If there is an ''a'' or an ''e'', it will take the tone mark |
||
# If there is an |
# If there is an {{transl|zh|ou}}, then the ''o'' takes the tone mark |
||
# Otherwise, the second vowel takes the tone mark |
# Otherwise, the second vowel takes the tone mark |
||
Worded differently, |
Worded differently, |
||
# If there is an ''a, e'', or ''o'', it will take the tone mark; in the case of |
# If there is an ''a, e'', or ''o'', it will take the tone mark; in the case of {{transl|zh|ao}}, the mark goes on the ''a'' |
||
# Otherwise, the vowels are |
# Otherwise, the vowels are {{transl|zh|-iu}}' or {{transl|zh|-ui}}, in which case the second vowel takes the tone mark |
||
The above can be summarized as the following table. The vowel letter taking the tone mark is indicated by the fourth-tone mark. |
The above can be summarized as the following table. The vowel letter taking the tone mark is indicated by the fourth-tone mark. |
||
{| class="wikitable center" |
|||
|+ {{nowrap|Placement of the tone mark in Pinyin}} |
|+ {{nowrap|Placement of the tone mark in Pinyin}} |
||
! !! -a !! -e !! -i !! -o !! -u |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
! a- |
|||
! !!-a!!-e!!-i!!-o!!-u |
|||
| || || {{transl|zh|ài}} || {{transl|zh|ào}} || |
|||
|- |
|||
!a- |
|||
| || ||ài||ào|| |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
!e- |
! e- |
||
| || || |
| || || {{transl|zh|èi}} || || |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!i- |
! i- |
||
|ià, iào||iè|| ||iò||iù |
| {{transl|zh|ià}}, {{transl|zh|iào}} || {{transl|zh|iè}} || || {{transl|zh|iò}} || {{transl|zh|iù}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!o- |
! o- |
||
| || || || ||òu |
| || || || || {{transl|zh|òu}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!u- |
! u- |
||
|uà, uài||uè||uì|| |
| {{transl|zh|uà}}, {{transl|zh|uài}} || {{transl|zh|uè}} || {{transl|zh|uì}} || {{transl|zh|uò}} || |
||
|- |
|- |
||
!ü- |
! ü- |
||
|(üà)||üè|| || || |
| (üà) || üè || || || |
||
|} |
|} |
||
===Tone colors=== |
=== Tone colors === |
||
In addition to numbers and diacritics, color has been suggested as a means to carry tone information, mostly as a visual aid for learning. There are a number of different color schemes in use, with that by |
In addition to numbers and diacritics, color has been suggested as a means to carry tone information, mostly as a visual aid for learning. There are a number of different color schemes in use, with that by Nathan Dummitt being one of the first. |
||
{| class="wikitable sortable" |
{| class="wikitable sortable" |
||
Line 463: | Line 462: | ||
! Scheme !! Tone 1 !! Tone 2 !! Tone 3 !! Tone 4 !! Neutral tone |
! Scheme !! Tone 1 !! Tone 2 !! Tone 3 !! Tone 4 !! Neutral tone |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| Dummitt<ref>{{ |
| Dummitt<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dummitt |first1=Nathan |title=Chinese Through Tone & Color |year=2008 |publisher=Hippocrene Books |isbn=978-0-781-81204-7}}</ref> || <span style="color:red">red</span> || <span style="color:orange">orange</span> || <span style="color:green">green</span> || <span style="color:blue">blue</span> || <span style="color:inherit">default</span> |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| MDBG || <span style="color: |
| MDBG || <span style="color:red">red</span> || <span style="color:orange">orange</span> || <span style="color:green">green</span> || <span style="color:blue">blue</span> || <span style="color:black">black</span> |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| Unimelb{{efn|group=color|name=FootnoteApproximateColors|These colors are only approximate. The precise color values used by Dummitt, the MDBG Chinese Online Dictionary, Hanping, and Pleco are taken from Laowai's blog [http://laowaichinese.net/tone-colors-and-what-pleco-did-with-them.htm ''Tone Colors and What Pleco Did with Them''].}} || <span style="color:blue |
| Unimelb{{efn|group=color|name=FootnoteApproximateColors|These colors are only approximate. The precise color values used by Dummitt, the MDBG Chinese Online Dictionary, Hanping, and Pleco are taken from Laowai's blog [http://laowaichinese.net/tone-colors-and-what-pleco-did-with-them.htm ''Tone Colors and What Pleco Did with Them''].}} || <span style="color:blue">blue</span> || <span style="color:green">green</span> || <span style="color:purple">purple</span> || <span style="color:red">red</span> || <span style="color:grey">grey</span> |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| Hanping<ref>{{ |
| Hanping<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hanpingchinese.com/2013/01/hanping-chinese-dictionary-pro-3-2-11-released/ |title=Hanping Chinese Dictionary Pro 3.2.11 released! |date=2013-01-10 |access-date=2020-11-26}}</ref> || <span style="color:blue">blue</span> || <span style="color:green">green</span> || <span style="color:orange">orange</span> || <span style="color:red">red</span> || <span style="color:grey">grey</span> |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| Pleco || <span style="color:rgb(227,0,0) |
| Pleco || <span style="color:rgb(227,0,0)">red</span> || <span style="color:green">green</span> || <span style="color:blue">blue</span> || <span style="color:purple">purple</span> || <span style="color:grey">grey</span> |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| Thomas{{efn|group=color|name=FootnoteApproximateColors}} || <span style="color:green |
| Thomas{{efn|group=color|name=FootnoteApproximateColors}} || <span style="color:green">green</span> || <span style="color:blue">blue</span> || <span style="color:red">red</span> || <span style="color:black">black</span> || <span style="color:gray">grey</span> |
||
|} |
|} |
||
{{notelist|group=color}} |
{{notelist|group=color}} |
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===Tone sandhi=== |
=== Tone sandhi === |
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[[Tone sandhi]] is not ordinarily reflected in pinyin spelling. |
[[Tone sandhi]] is not ordinarily reflected in pinyin spelling. |
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{{notelist}} |
{{notelist}} |
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==Spacing, capitalization, and punctuation== |
== Spacing, capitalization, and punctuation == |
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Standard Chinese has many [[polysyllabic]] words. Like in other writing systems using the Latin alphabet, spacing in pinyin is |
Standard Chinese has many [[polysyllabic]] words. Like in other writing systems using the Latin alphabet, spacing in pinyin is officially based on word boundaries. However, there are often ambiguities in partitioning a word. ''The Basic Rules of the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet Orthography'' were put into effect in 1988 by the National Educational and National Language commissions.<ref name="ortho">{{Cite web |date=10 April 2014 |title=Basic Rules of the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet Orthography |url=http://jwc.qchm.edu.cn/33/e0/c735a13280/page.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819085754/http://jwc.qchm.edu.cn/33/e0/c735a13280/page.htm |archive-date=19 August 2014 |access-date=11 August 2014 |website=Qingdao Vocational and Technical College of Hotel Management |language=zh}}</ref> These rules became a [[guobiao|GB]] recommendation in 1996,<ref name="ortho" /><ref>{{Cite web |script-title=zh:拼音正词法基本规则 |url=http://pinyin.info/rules/pinyinrules_simp.html |via=pinyin.info}}</ref> and were last updated in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 July 2012 |title=Release of the National Standard ''Basic Rules of the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet Orthography'' |url=http://www.edu.cn/yu_wen_dong_tai_480/20120720/t20120720_812395.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728193928/http://www.edu.cn/yu_wen_dong_tai_480/20120720/t20120720_812395.shtml |archive-date=28 July 2014 |access-date=11 August 2014 |website=China Education and Research Network |language=zh}}</ref> |
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==Comparison with other orthographies== |
== Comparison with other orthographies == |
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Pinyin superseded older |
Pinyin superseded older romanization systems such as Wade–Giles and [[postal romanization]], and replaced bopomofo as the method of Chinese phonetic instruction in [[mainland China]]. The ISO adopted pinyin as the standard romanization for modern Chinese in 1982 (ISO 7098:1982, superseded by ISO 7098:2015). The [[United Nations]] followed suit in 1986.<ref name=fox/><ref name="lin">{{Cite news |last=Lin Mei-chun |date=2000-10-08 |title=Official challenges romanization |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/local/archives/2000/10/08/56460 |work=Taipei Times}}</ref> It has also been accepted by the [[government of Singapore]], the United States's [[Library of Congress]], the [[American Library Association]], and many other international institutions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ao |first=Benjamin |date=1997-12-01 |title=History and Prospect of Chinese Romanization |url=http://www.white-clouds.com/iclc/cliej/cl4ao.htm |journal=Chinese Librarianship: An International Electronic Journal |publisher=Internet Chinese Librarians Club |issue=4 |issn=1089-4667 |access-date=2008-09-20}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=January 2017}} |
||
Pinyin assigns some Latin letters sound values which are quite different from those of most languages. This has drawn some criticism as it may lead to confusion when uninformed speakers apply either native or English assumed pronunciations to words. However, this problem is not limited only to pinyin, since many languages that use the Latin alphabet natively also assign different values to the same letters. A recent study on Chinese writing and literacy concluded, "By and large, pinyin represents the Chinese sounds better than the Wade–Giles system, and does so with fewer extra marks."<ref>Taylor, Insup and Maurice M. Taylor (1995), ''Writing and literacy in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese'', Volume 3 of ''Studies in written language and literacy'', John Benjamins, p. 124.</ref> |
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{{cite journal |
|||
|last= Ao |
|||
|first= Benjamin |
|||
|title= History and Prospect of Chinese Romanization |
|||
|journal= Chinese Librarianship: An International Electronic Journal |
|||
|issue= 4 |
|||
|publisher= Internet Chinese Librarians Club |
|||
|date= 1997-12-01 |
|||
|url= http://www.white-clouds.com/iclc/cliej/cl4ao.htm |
|||
|issn= 1089-4667 |
|||
|access-date= 2008-09-20 }} |
|||
</ref>{{failed reference|date=January 2017}} |
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Pinyin is now used by foreign students learning Chinese as a second language, as well as Bopomofo. |
|||
As Pinyin is a phonetic writing system for modern [[Standard Chinese]], it is not designed to replace characters for writing [[Literary Chinese]], the standard written language prior to the early 1900s. In particular, Chinese characters retain semantic cues that help distinguish differently pronounced words in the ancient classical language that are now [[homophone]]s in Mandarin. Thus, Chinese characters remain indispensable for recording and transmitting the corpus of Chinese writing from the past. |
|||
Pinyin assigns some Latin letters sound values which are quite different from those of most languages. This has drawn some criticism as it may lead to confusion when uninformed speakers apply either native or English assumed pronunciations to words. However, this problem is not limited only to pinyin, since many languages that use the Latin alphabet natively also assign different values to the same letters. A recent study on Chinese writing and literacy concluded, "By and large, pinyin represents the Chinese sounds better than the [[Wade–Giles]] system, and does so with fewer extra marks."<ref>Taylor, Insup and Maurice M. Taylor (1995), ''Writing and literacy in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese'', Volume 3 of ''Studies in written language and literacy'', John Benjamins, p. 124.</ref> |
|||
Pinyin is also not designed to transcribe [[Chinese language varieties|varieties]] other than Standard Chinese, which is based on the phonological system of Beijing Mandarin. Other romanization schemes have been devised to transcribe those other Chinese varieties, such as [[Jyutping]] for Cantonese and [[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]] for [[Hokkien]]. |
|||
As Pinyin is a phonetic writing system for ''modern'' [[Standard Chinese]], it is not designed to replace [[Chinese character]]s for writing [[Classical Chinese|Literary Chinese]], the standard written language prior to the early 1900s. In particular, Chinese characters retain [[semantic]] cues that help distinguish differently pronounced words in the ancient classical language that are now [[Homophone|homophones]] in Mandarin. Thus, Chinese characters remain indispensable for recording and transmitting the corpus of Chinese writing from the past. |
|||
=== Comparison charts === |
|||
Pinyin is also not designed to transcribe [[Sinitic languages|Chinese language varieties]] other than Standard Chinese, which is based on the phonological system of Beijing Mandarin. Other romanization schemes have been devised to transcribe those other Chinese varieties, such as [[Jyutping]] for [[Cantonese]] and [[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]] for [[Hokkien]]. |
|||
===Comparison charts=== |
|||
{{Pinyintable}} |
{{Pinyintable}} |
||
==Typography and encoding== |
== Typography and encoding == |
||
Based on the "Chinese Romanization" section of ISO 7098:2015, pinyin tone marks should use the symbols from [[Combining Diacritical Marks]], as opposed by the use of [[Spacing Modifier Letters]] in bopomofo. Lowercase letters with tone marks are included in [[GB 2312]] and their uppercase counterparts are included in [[JIS X 0212]];<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://unicode.org/versions/Unicode14.0.0/ch07.pdf#G2960|title=Unicode 14.0 Core Specification|publisher=Unicode|year=2021|isbn=978-1-936-21329-0|edition=14.0|location=Mountain View, CA|page=297|chapter=Chapter 7: Europe-I}}</ref> thus Unicode includes all the common accented characters from pinyin.<ref name="thetype-pinyin">{{Cite web |author1-last=Liu |author1-first=Eric Q. |title=The Type—Wǒ ài pīnyīn! |url=https://www.thetype.com/2017/08/11606/#pinyin-yin |website=The Type |access-date=2020-06-04}}</ref> Other punctuation mark and symbols in Chinese are to use the equivalent symbol in English noted in to GB 15834. |
|||
Many books printed in China use a mix of fonts, with vowels and tone marks rendered in a different font from the surrounding text, tending to give such pinyin texts a typographically ungainly appearance. The rules of Hanyu Pinyin specify no such practice.<ref name="w3c-clreq">{{cite web|last1=Tung|first1=Bobby|last2=Chen|first2=Yijun|last3=Liang|first3=Hai|last4=LIU|first4=Eric Q.|last5=Zhang|first5=Aijie|last6=Wu|first6=Xiaoqian|last7=Li|first7=Angel|last8=Ishida|first8=Richard|title=Requirements for Chinese Text Layout|url=https://www.w3.org/TR/clreq/|publisher=W3C|access-date=18 March 2016}}</ref>{{rp|at=3.3.4.1:8}} |
|||
Based on the "Chinese Romanization" section of ISO 7098:2015, pinyin tone marks should use the symbols from [[Combining Diacritical Marks]], as opposed by the use of [[Spacing Modifier Letters]] in [[Bopomofo]]. Lowercase letters with tone marks are included in [[GB 2312|GB/T 2312]] and their uppercase counterparts are included in [[JIS X 0212]];<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://unicode.org/versions/Unicode14.0.0/ch07.pdf#G2960|title=Unicode 14.0 Core Specification|publisher=Unicode|year=2021|isbn=978-1-936213-29-0|edition=14.0|location=Mountain View, CA|page=297|language=en|chapter=Chapter 7: Europe-I}}</ref> thus Unicode includes all the common accented characters from pinyin.<ref name="thetype-pinyin">{{cite web |author1=Eric Q. LIU |title=The Type — Wǒ ài pīnyīn! |url=https://www.thetype.com/2017/08/11606/#pinyin-yin |website=The Type |access-date=2020-06-04}}</ref> Other punctuation mark and symbols in Chinese are to use the equivalent symbol in English noted in to GB/T 15834. |
|||
According to GB 16159, all accented letters are required to have both uppercase and lowercase characters as per their normal counterparts. |
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{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: |
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |
||
|+ Accent alphabets in Hanyu Pinyin<ref name="thetype-pinyin"/>{{ref label|pinyin-yellow|a}}{{ref label|pinyin-grey|b}} |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
! colspan="2" | Letter !! First tone !! Second tone !! Third tone !! Fourth tone |
! colspan="2" | Letter !! First tone !! Second tone !! Third tone !! Fourth tone |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| colspan="2" |[[Combining Diacritical Marks]]|| ̄ (U+0304) || |
| colspan="2" | [[Combining Diacritical Marks]] || ̄ (U+0304) || ́ (U+0301) || ̌ (U+030C)|| ̀ (U+0300) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| colspan="6" | Common letters |
| colspan="6" | Common letters |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| rowspan="6" | Uppercase || A || Ā (U+0100) || Á (U+00C1) |
| rowspan="6" | Uppercase || A || Ā (U+0100) || Á (U+00C1) || Ǎ (U+01CD) || À (U+00C0) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| E || Ē (U+0112) || É (U+00C9) || Ě (U+011A) || È (U+00C8) |
| E || Ē (U+0112) || É (U+00C9) || Ě (U+011A) || È (U+00C8) |
||
Line 535: | Line 519: | ||
| U || Ū (U+016A) || Ú (U+00DA) || Ǔ (U+01D3) || Ù (U+00D9) |
| U || Ū (U+016A) || Ú (U+00DA) || Ǔ (U+01D3) || Ù (U+00D9) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| Ü (U+00DC) || style="background: |
| Ü (U+00DC) || style="background:grey;color:white" | Ǖ (U+01D5) || Ǘ (U+01D7) || Ǚ (U+01D9) || Ǜ (U+01DB) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| rowspan="6" | Lowercase || a || ā (U+0101) || á (U+00E1) || ǎ (U+01CE) || à (U+00E0) |
| rowspan="6" | Lowercase || a || ā (U+0101) || á (U+00E1) || ǎ (U+01CE) || à (U+00E0) |
||
Line 547: | Line 531: | ||
| u || ū (U+016B) || ú (U+00FA) || ǔ (U+01D4) || ù (U+00F9) |
| u || ū (U+016B) || ú (U+00FA) || ǔ (U+01D4) || ù (U+00F9) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| ü (U+00FC) || style="background: |
| ü (U+00FC) || style="background:grey;color:white" | ǖ (U+01D6) || ǘ (U+01D8) || ǚ (U+01DA) || ǜ (U+01DC) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| colspan="6" | Rare letters |
| colspan="6" | Rare letters |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| rowspan="3" | Uppercase || Ê (U+00CA) || style="background: |
| rowspan="3" | Uppercase || Ê (U+00CA) || style="background:yellow" | Ê̄ (U+00CA U+0304) || Ế (U+1EBE) || style="background:yellow" | Ê̌ (U+00CA U+030C) || Ề (U+1EC0) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| M || style="background: |
| M || style="background:yellow" | M̄ (U+004D U+0304) || Ḿ (U+1E3E) || style="background:grey;color:white" | M̌ (U+004D U+030C) || style="background:yellow" | M̀ (U+004D U+0300) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| N || style="background: |
| N || style="background:grey;color:white" | N̄ (U+004E U+0304) || Ń (U+0143) || Ň (U+0147) || Ǹ (U+01F8) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| rowspan="3" | Lowercase || ê (U+00EA) || style="background: |
| rowspan="3" | Lowercase || ê (U+00EA) || style="background:yellow" | ê̄ (U+00EA U+0304) || ế (U+1EBF) || style="background:yellow" | ê̌ (U+00EA U+030C) || ề (U+1EC1) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| m || style="background: |
| m || style="background:yellow" | m̄ (U+006D U+0304) || ḿ (U+1E3F) || style="background:grey;color:white" | m̌ (U+006D U+030C) || style="background:yellow" | m̀ (U+006D U+0300) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| n || style="background: |
| n || style="background:grey;color:white" | n̄ (U+006E U+0304) || ń (U+0144) || ň (U+0148) || ǹ (U+01F9) |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| colspan="17" style="background:#F8F8F8;font-size:small;text-align:left" | '''Notes''' |
| colspan="17" style="background:#F8F8F8;font-size:small;text-align:left" | '''Notes''' |
||
: |
:a.{{note|pinyin-yellow}} <span style="background:yellow">Yellow cells</span> indicate that there are no single Unicode character for that letter; the character shown here uses Combining Diacritical Mark characters to display the letter.<ref name="thetype-pinyin"/> |
||
: |
:b.{{note|pinyin-grey}} <span style="background:grey;color:white">Grey cells</span> indicate that ''[[Xiandai Hanyu Cidian]]'' does not include pinyin with that specific letter.<ref name="thetype-pinyin"/> |
||
|} |
|} |
||
{{Multiple image |
{{Multiple image |
||
|image1 = Microsoft Pinyin ḿǹ.png |
| image1 = Microsoft Pinyin ḿǹ.png |
||
|width1 = 200 |
| width1 = 200 |
||
|caption1 = Microsoft Pinyin IME |
| caption1 = Microsoft Pinyin IME |
||
| footer = When using pinyin IME, choosing ḿ/ǹ outputs [[Private Use Areas|PUA]] U+E7C7 and U+E7C8. |
|||
|image2 = |
|||
|width2 = |
|||
|caption2 = |
|||
|footer = When using pinyin IME, choosing ḿ/ǹ outputs [[Private Use Areas|PUA]] U+E7C7 and U+E7C8. |
|||
}} |
}} |
||
[[GBK (character encoding)|GBK]] has mapped two characters |
[[GBK (character encoding)|GBK]] has mapped two characters {{angbr|ḿ}} and {{angbr|ǹ}} to [[Private Use Areas]] in Unicode as U+E7C7 ({{lang|zh-CN| {{PUA|}}}}) and U+E7C8 ({{lang|zh-CN| {{PUA|}}}}) respectively,<ref>{{Cite web|author1=林卯|title=自制像素字体7年后总算升了0.5版本:Ozla 5.5"Mendelev"(钔捷列夫)|url=http://bangumi.tv/group/topic/342177|website=bangumi.tv}}</ref> thus some Simplified Chinese fonts (e.g. SimSun) that adheres to GBK include both characters in the Private Use Areas, and some input methods (e.g. Sogou Pinyin) also outputs the Private Use Areas code point instead of the original character. As the superset [[GB 18030]] changed the mappings of {{angbr|ḿ}} and {{angbr|ǹ}}, this has caused an issue where the input methods and font files use different encoding standards, and thus the input and output of both characters are mixed up.<ref name="thetype-pinyin" /> |
||
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: |
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |
||
|+ Shorthand pinyin letters<ref name="thetype-pinyin"/> |
|+ Shorthand pinyin letters<ref name="thetype-pinyin"/> |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! Uppercase !! Lowercase !! Note !! Example |
|||
! Uppercase !! Lowercase !! Note !! Example{{efn|name=pinyin-hanyong| Example given is the abbreviated/shorthand version according to ''Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet'', it is inadvisable to use them for real life usage.}} |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
| Ĉ (U+0108) || ĉ (U+0109) || Abbreviation of ''ch'' || 长 |
| Ĉ (U+0108) || ĉ (U+0109) || Abbreviation of ''ch'' || {{zhi|s=长|t=長}} can be spelled as {{zhi|p=ĉáŋ}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| Ŝ (U+015C) || ŝ (U+015D) || Abbreviation of ''sh'' || 伤 |
| Ŝ (U+015C) || ŝ (U+015D) || Abbreviation of ''sh'' || {{zhi|s=伤|t=傷}} can be spelled as {{zhi|p=ŝāŋ}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| Ẑ (U+1E90) || ẑ (U+1E91) || Abbreviation of ''zh'' || 张 |
| Ẑ (U+1E90) || ẑ (U+1E91) || Abbreviation of ''zh'' || {{zhi|s=张|t=張}} can be spelled as {{zhi|p=Ẑāŋ}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| Ŋ (U+014A) || ŋ (U+014B) || Abbreviation of ''ng'' || 让 |
| Ŋ (U+014A) || ŋ (U+014B) || Abbreviation of ''ng'' || {{ubl| {{zhi|s=让|t=讓}} can be spelled as {{zhi|p=ràŋ}} | {{zhi|c=嗯}} can be spelled as {{zhi|p=ŋ̀}}}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| colspan="4" style="background:#F8F8F8;font-size:small;text-align:left" | '''Notes''' |
|||
|} |
|} |
||
Other symbols |
Other symbols are used in pinyin are as follows: |
||
{| class="wikitable" |
{| class="wikitable" |
||
|+ Symbol comparison |
|||
|+Pinyin symbols |
|||
! Chinese !! Pinyin !! Usage !! Example |
|||
!Symbol in Chinese |
|||
!Symbol in pinyin |
|||
!Usage |
|||
!Example |
|||
|- |
|- |
||
| {{unichar|3002|IDEOGRAPHIC FULL STOP}} |
|||
|。(U+3002) |
|||
| {{unichar|2E|FULL STOP}} |
|||
|. (U+002E) |
|||
| |
| End of sentence |
||
|你好。 Nǐ hǎo. |
| {{zhi|c=你好。}} {{nwr| {{zhi|p=Nǐ hǎo.}}}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| {{ubl| {{unichar|FF0C|FULLWIDTH COMMA}} | {{unichar|3001|IDEOGRAPHIC COMMA}}}} |
|||
|,(U+FF0C)/、 (U+3001) |
|||
| {{unichar|2C|COMMA}} |
|||
|, (U+002C) |
|||
| Connecting clauses |
|||
|Marks connecting sentence. |
|||
|你,好吗? Nǐ, hǎo ma? |
| {{zhi|c=你,好吗?}} {{nwr| {{zhi|p=Nǐ, hǎo ma?}}}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| |
| {{unichar|2014|EM DASH}} (×2) |
||
| |
| {{unichar|2014|EM DASH}} |
||
| |
| Division of clauses mid-sentence |
||
|枢纽部分——中央大厅 shūniǔ bùfèn — zhōngyāng dàtīng |
| {{zhi|c=枢纽部分——中央大厅}} {{nwr| {{zhi|p=shūniǔ bùfèn — zhōngyāng dàtīng}}}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| {{unichar|2026|HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS}} (×2) |
|||
|…… (U+2026 U+2026) |
|||
| {{unichar|2026|HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS}} |
|||
|… (U+2026) |
|||
| Redaction of part of a passage |
|||
|Used for omitting a word, phrase, line, paragraph, or more from a quoted passage. |
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|我…… Wǒ… |
| {{typo| {{zhi|c=我……}} {{nwr| {{zhi|p=Wǒ…}}}}}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| rowspan="3" data-sort-value="" style="vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A |
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| |
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| {{unichar|B7|MIDDLE DOT}} |
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|· (U+00B7) |
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| |
| Neutral tone marker placed before the syllable |
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|吗 ·ma |
| {{zhi|c=吗}} {{nwr| {{zhi|p=·ma}}}} |
||
|- |
|- |
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| {{unichar|2D|HYPHEN-MINUS}} |
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| |
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| Hyphenation of abbreviated compounds |
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| - (U+002D) |
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| {{zhi|c=公关}} {{nwr| {{zhi|p=gōng-guān}}}} |
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|Hyphenation between abbreviated compounds. |
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|公关 gōng-guān |
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|- |
|- |
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| {{unichar|27|APOSTROPHE}} |
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| |
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| Syllable segmentation |
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|' (U+0027) |
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| {{zhi|c=西安}} - {{zhi|p=Xī'ān}} {{nwr|(compared to {{zhi|c=先}}-{{zhi|p=xiān}})}} |
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|Indicates separate syllables. |
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|西安 Xī'ān (compared to 先 xiān) |
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|} |
|} |
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==Usage== |
== Usage == |
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[[File:Dajia-shuo-Putonghua-2817.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|right|A slogan written on a school wall featuring pinyin annotations without tonal marks]] |
[[File:Dajia-shuo-Putonghua-2817.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|right|A slogan written on a school wall featuring pinyin annotations without tonal marks or word grouping]] |
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The spelling of Chinese geographical or personal names in pinyin has become the most common way to transcribe them in English. Pinyin has also become the dominant |
The spelling of Chinese geographical or personal names in pinyin has become the most common way to transcribe them in English. Pinyin has also become the dominant [[Chinese input method]] in mainland China, in contrast to Taiwan, where bopomofo is most commonly used. |
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Families outside of Taiwan who speak Mandarin as a mother tongue use pinyin to help children associate characters with spoken words which they already know. |
Families outside of Taiwan who speak Mandarin as a mother tongue use pinyin to help children associate characters with spoken words which they already know. Chinese families outside of Taiwan who speak some other language as their mother tongue use the system to teach children Mandarin pronunciation when they learn vocabulary in elementary school.<ref name=snowling>{{Cite book|first1= Margaret J. |last1= Snowling |first2= Charles |last2= Hulme |publisher= Blackwell |year= 2005 |isbn= 1-4051-1488-6 |title= The Science of Reading|volume= 17 |series=Blackwell Handbooks of Developmental Psychology |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qV7s-Oyx13oC |pages=320–322}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |
||
|publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |
|publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |
||
|isbn=0-415-36167-2 |
|isbn=0-415-36167-2 |
||
| |
|first=R. F. |last=Price |
||
|volume=23 |
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|title=Education in Modern China. Volume 23 of "China : history, philosophy, economics". |
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|title=Education in Modern China |
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|edition= 2, illustrated |
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|series=China: History, Philosophy, Economics |
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|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=eVydlhmChEEC |
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|edition= 2nd |
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|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eVydlhmChEEC |
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|page=123 |
|page=123 |
||
}}</ref> |
}}</ref> |
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Line 654: | Line 632: | ||
Since 1958, pinyin has been actively used in [[adult education]] as well, making it easier for formerly [[Literacy in China|illiterate people]] to continue with self-study after a short period of pinyin literacy instruction.<ref>Price (2005), pp. 206–208</ref> |
Since 1958, pinyin has been actively used in [[adult education]] as well, making it easier for formerly [[Literacy in China|illiterate people]] to continue with self-study after a short period of pinyin literacy instruction.<ref>Price (2005), pp. 206–208</ref> |
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Pinyin has become a tool for many foreigners to learn Mandarin pronunciation, and is used to explain both the grammar and spoken Mandarin coupled with [[Chinese character]]s. |
Pinyin has become a tool for many foreigners to learn Mandarin pronunciation, and is used to explain both the grammar and spoken Mandarin coupled with [[Chinese character]]s. Books containing both Chinese characters and pinyin are often used by foreign learners of Chinese. Pinyin's role in teaching pronunciation to foreigners and children is similar in some respects to [[furigana]]-based books (with [[hiragana]] letters written above or next to [[kanji]], directly analogous to [[zhuyin]]) in [[Japanese language|Japanese]] or fully [[Harakat|vocalised]] texts in [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]] ("vocalised Arabic"). |
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The tone-marking diacritics are commonly omitted in popular news stories and even in scholarly works, as well as in the traditional [[Mainland Chinese Braille]] system, which is similar to pinyin, but meant for blind readers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-01-05 |title=Braille's invention still a boon to visually impaired Chinese readers |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2126844/louis-brailles-19th-century-invention-remains-boon-visually |access-date=2022-03-02 |website=South China Morning Post |
The tone-marking diacritics are commonly omitted in popular news stories and even in scholarly works, as well as in the traditional [[Mainland Chinese Braille]] system, which is similar to pinyin, but meant for blind readers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-01-05 |title=Braille's invention still a boon to visually impaired Chinese readers |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2126844/louis-brailles-19th-century-invention-remains-boon-visually |access-date=2022-03-02 |website=South China Morning Post |quote=... mainland Chinese Braille for standard Mandarin, and Taiwanese Braille for Taiwanese Mandarin are phonetically based... tone (generally omitted for Mandarin systems)}}</ref> This results in some degree of ambiguity as to which words are being represented. |
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===Computer input |
=== Computer input === |
||
Simple computer systems, sometimes only able to use simple character systems for text, such as the 7-bit [[ASCII]] standard—essentially the 26 Latin letters, 10 digits, and punctuation marks—long provided a convincing argument for using unaccented pinyin instead of diacritical pinyin or Chinese characters. Today, however, most computer systems are able to display characters from Chinese and many other writing systems as well, and have them entered with a Latin keyboard using an [[input method]] editor. Alternatively, some touchscreen devices allow users to input characters graphically by writing with a [[stylus]], with concurrent online [[handwriting recognition]]. |
Simple computer systems, sometimes only able to use simple character systems for text, such as the 7-bit [[ASCII]] standard—essentially the 26 Latin letters, 10 digits, and punctuation marks—long provided a convincing argument for using unaccented pinyin instead of diacritical pinyin or Chinese characters. Today, however, most computer systems are able to display characters from Chinese and many other writing systems as well, and have them entered with a Latin keyboard using an [[input method]] editor. Alternatively, some touchscreen devices allow users to input characters graphically by writing with a [[stylus]], with concurrent online [[handwriting recognition]]. |
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Pinyin with accents can be entered with the use of special keyboard layouts or various other utilities. |
Pinyin with accents can be entered with the use of special keyboard layouts or various other utilities. |
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===Sorting techniques=== |
=== Sorting techniques === |
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{{Main|Pinyin alphabetical order}} |
{{Main|Pinyin alphabetical order}} |
||
Chinese text can be sorted by its pinyin representation, which is often useful for looking up words whose pronunciations are known, but not whose character forms are not known. Chinese characters and words can be sorted for convenient lookup by their Pinyin expressions alphabetically,{{sfn|Wang|Zou|2003|pp=26–27}} according to their inherited order originating with the ancient Phoenicians. Identical syllables are then further sorted by tone number, ascending, with neutral tones placed last. |
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Words of multiple characters can be sorted in two different ways,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Su |first=Peicheng |author-mask=Su Peicheng (苏培成) |script-title=zh:现代汉字学纲要 |trans-title=Essentials of Modern Chinese Characters) |publisher=The Commercial Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-7-100-10440-1 |edition=3rd |location=Beijing |pages=183–207 |language=zh}}</ref> either per character, as is used in the ''[[Xiandai Hanyu Cidian]]'', or by the whole word's string, which is only then sorted by tone. This method is used in the ''[[ABC Chinese–English Dictionary]]''. |
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Chinese text can be sorted by its pinyin representation, which is often useful for looking up words whose pronunciations are known, but not whose character forms are not known.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wang|first=Ning (王寧,鄒曉麗) |title=工具書 (Reference Books)|publisher=和平圖書有限公司|year=2003 |isbn=962-238-363-7 |location=Hong Kong|page=27 |language=zh}}</ref> Chinese characters and words can be sorted for convenient lookup by their Pinyin expressions alphabetically,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wang|first=Ning (王寧,鄒曉麗) |title=工具書 (Reference Books)|publisher=和平圖書有限公司|year=2003 |isbn=962-238-363-7 |location=Hong Kong|pages=27–28 |language=zh}}</ref> according to their inherited order originating with the ancient Phoenicians. Identical syllables are then further sorted by tone number, ascending, with neutral tones placed last. |
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=== By region === |
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Words of multiple characters can be sorted in two different ways,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Su |first=Peicheng (苏培成) |title=现代汉字学纲要 (Essentials of Modern Chinese Characters) |publisher=商务印书馆 (The Commercial Press, Shangwu) |year=2014 |isbn=978-7-100-10440-1 |edition=3rd |location=Beijing |pages=183–207 |language=zh}}</ref> either per character, as is used in the ''[[Xiandai Hanyu Cidian]]''or by the whole word's string, which is only then sorted by tone. This method is used in the ''[[ABC Chinese–English Dictionary]]''. |
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==== Taiwan ==== |
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{{See also|Chinese language romanization in Taiwan|Tongyong Pinyin}} |
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[[Taiwan]] used [[Tongyong Pinyin]], a domestic modification of Hanyu Pinyin, as its official romanization system between October 2002 and January 2009. Thereafter, it began to promote the use of Hanyu Pinyin instead. Tongyong Pinyin ("common phonetic"), a romanization system developed in Taiwan, was designed to romanize languages and dialects spoken on the island in addition to Standard Chinese. The ruling [[Kuomintang]] (KMT) party resisted its adoption, preferring the system by then used in mainland China and internationally. Romanization preferences quickly became associated with issues of national identity. Preferences split along party lines: the KMT and its affiliated parties in the Pan-Blue Coalition supported the use of Hanyu Pinyin while the [[Democratic Progressive Party]] (DPP) and its allies in the Pan-Green Coalition favored the use of Tongyong Pinyin. |
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Today, many street signs in Taiwan use Tongyong Pinyin or derived romanizations,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/breakingnews/2581473|script-title=zh:路牌改通用拼音? 南市府:已採用多年|script-quote=zh:基進黨台南市東區市議員參選人李宗霖今天指出,台南市路名牌拼音未統一、音譯錯誤等,建議統一採用通用拼音。對此,台南市政府交通局回應,南市已實施通用拼音多年,將全面檢視路名牌,依現行音譯方式進行校對改善。|language=zh|date=15 October 2018|access-date=28 July 2019|last=Liu |first=Wanjun|author-mask=Liu Wanjun (劉婉君)|website=[[Liberty Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://international.thenewslens.com/article/84177 |website=The News Lens International Edition |title=OPINION: Hanyu Pinyin Should Not Be Political, Kaohsiung|access-date=13 July 2019|date=27 November 2017|last=Smith|first=Eryk |quote=...why does Kaohsiung City insist on making visitors guess what 'Shihcyuan' is supposed to represent? Especially when a few blocks away, the same road has somehow morphed into 'Shiquan' (十全路) Road? Move away from Kaohsiung's city center and streets, neighborhoods or townships can have several romanized names ... sometimes on the same signage... The refusal to adopt Hanyu in Kaohsiung seems based on nothing more than groundless fear of loss of identity or diminished regional autonomy. Listen, Kaohsiung: we won't lose our identity or our freedom by changing the romanized spelling of Singjhong Road (興中)to Xingzhong. }}</ref> but some, especially in northern Taiwan, display Hanyu Pinyin-derived romanizations. It is not unusual to see spellings on street signs and buildings derived from the older [[Wade–Giles]], [[MPS2]] and other systems. Attempts to make Hanyu Pinyin standard in Taiwan have had uneven success, with most place and proper names remaining unaffected, including all major cities. Personal names on Taiwanese passports honor the choices of Taiwanese citizens, who can choose Wade–Giles, Hakka, [[Hoklo Taiwanese|Hoklo]], Tongyong, aboriginal, or pinyin.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Everington |first1=Keoni |title=Taiwan passport can now include names in Hoklo, Hakka, indigenous languages |url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3763530 |date=Aug 15, 2019 |access-date=20 July 2020 |work=Taiwan News |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801154158/https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3763530 |archive-date= Aug 1, 2020 }}</ref> Official use of pinyin is controversial, as when pinyin use for a metro line in 2017 provoked protests, despite government responses that "The romanization used on road signs and at transportation stations is intended for foreigners... Every foreigner learning Mandarin learns Hanyu pinyin, because it is the international standard...The decision has nothing to do with the nation's self-determination or any ideologies, because the key point is to ensure that foreigners can read signs."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Lin |first1=Sean |title=Groups protest use of Hanyu pinyin for new MRT line |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2017/01/11/2003662899 |access-date=20 July 2020 |work=Taipei Times |date=11 January 2017}}</ref> |
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===By region=== |
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====Taiwan==== |
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{{see also|Chinese language romanization in Taiwan|Tongyong Pinyin}} |
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==== Singapore ==== |
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[[Taiwan]] used ''[[Tongyong Pinyin]]'', a domestic modification of Hanyu Pinyin, as its official romanization system between October 2002 and January 2009. Thereafter, it instead to instead promote the use of Hanyu Pinyin. ''Tongyong Pinyin'' ("common phonetic"), a romanization system developed in Taiwan, was designed to romanize languages and dialects spoken on the island in addition to Mandarin Chinese. The [[Kuomintang]] (KMT) party resisted its adoption, preferring the system by then used in mainland China and internationally. Romanization preferences quickly became associated with issues of national identity. Preferences split along party lines: the KMT and its affiliated parties in the pan-blue coalition supported the use of Hanyu Pinyin while the [[Democratic Progressive Party]] and its affiliated parties in the pan-green coalition favored the use of Tongyong Pinyin. |
|||
Today, many street signs in Taiwan use Tongyong Pinyin or derived romanizations,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/breakingnews/2581473|script-title=zh:路牌改通用拼音? 南市府:已採用多年|quote={{lang|zh-Hant|基進黨台南市東區市議員參選人李宗霖今天指出,台南市路名牌拼音未統一、音譯錯誤等,建議統一採用通用拼音。對此,台南市政府交通局回應,南市已實施通用拼音多年,將全面檢視路名牌,依現行音譯方式進行校對改善。}}|language=zh-tw|date=15 October 2018|access-date=28 July 2019|author=劉婉君|website=[[Liberty Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://international.thenewslens.com/article/84177|title=OPINION: Hanyu Pinyin Should Not Be Political, Kaohsiung|access-date=13 July 2019|date=27 November 2017|author=Eryk Smith|quote=why does Kaohsiung City insist on making visitors guess what 'Shihcyuan' is supposed to represent? Especially when a few blocks away, the same road has somehow morphed into 'Shiquan' ({{lang|zh|十全路}}) Road? Move away from Kaohsiung's city center and streets, neighborhoods or townships can have several romanized names ... sometimes on the same signage.{...}The refusal to adopt Hanyu in Kaohsiung seems based on nothing more than groundless fear of loss of identity or diminished regional autonomy. Listen, Kaohsiung: we won't lose our identity or our freedom by changing the romanized spelling of Singjhong Road ({{lang|zh-Hant|興中}})to Xingzhong.}}</ref> but some, especially in northern Taiwan, display Hanyu Pinyin-derived romanizations. It is not unusual to see spellings on street signs and buildings derived from the older [[Wade–Giles]], [[MPS2]] and other systems. Attempts to make Hanyu Pinyin standard in Taiwan have had uneven success, with most place and proper names remaining unaffected, including all major cities. Personal names on Taiwanese passports honor the choices of Taiwanese citizens, who can choose Wade-Giles, Hakka, [[Hoklo Taiwanese|Hoklo]], Tongyong, aboriginal, or pinyin.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Everington |first1=Keoni |title=Taiwan passport can now include names in Hoklo, Hakka, indigenous languages |url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3763530 |access-date=20 July 2020 |work=Taiwan News}}</ref> Official pinyin use is controversial, as when pinyin use for a metro line in 2017 provoked protests, despite government responses that "The romanization used on road signs and at transportation stations is intended for foreigners... Every foreigner learning Mandarin learns Hanyu pinyin, because it is the international standard...The decision has nothing to do with the nation's self-determination or any ideologies, because the key point is to ensure that foreigners can read signs."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lin |first1=Sean |title=Groups protest use of Hanyu pinyin for new MRT line - Taipei Times |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2017/01/11/2003662899 |access-date=20 July 2020 |work=www.taipeitimes.com |date=11 January 2017}}</ref> |
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====Singapore==== |
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{{see also|Chinese language romanization in Singapore}} |
{{see also|Chinese language romanization in Singapore}} |
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[[Singapore]] implemented Hanyu Pinyin as the official romanization system for Mandarin in the public sector starting in the 1980s, in conjunction with the [[Speak Mandarin Campaign]].<ref name="Language Planning in Singapore">{{Citation|work=Current Issues in Language Planning|author1=Wendy Bockhorst-Heng|author2=Lionel Lee|date=Nov 2007|page=3|title=Language Planning in Singapore: On Pragmatism, Communitarianism and Personal Names|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249025241}}</ref> Hanyu Pinyin is also used as the romanization system to teach Mandarin Chinese at schools.<ref>p.485, Chan, Sin-Wai. ''The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Chinese Language'', Routledge, 2016.</ref> While adoption has been mostly successful in government communication, placenames, and businesses established in the 1980s and onward, it continues to be unpopular in some areas, most notably for personal names and vocabulary borrowed from other varieties of Chinese already established in the local vernacular.<ref name="Language Planning in Singapore"/> In these situations, romanization continues to be based on the Chinese language variety it originated from, especially the three largest Chinese varieties traditionally spoken in Singapore: [[Hokkien Chinese|Hokkien]], [[Teochew dialect|Teochew]], and [[Cantonese]]. |
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=== <span class="anchor" id="Minority"></span>Special names === |
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[[Singapore]] implemented Hanyu Pinyin as the official romanization system for Mandarin in the public sector starting in the 1980s, in conjunction with the [[Speak Mandarin Campaign]].<ref name="Language Planning in Singapore">{{citation|work=Current Issues in Language Planning|author1=Wendy Bockhorst-Heng|author2=Lionel Lee|date=Nov 2007|page=3|title=Language Planning in Singapore: On Pragmatism, Communitarianism and Personal Names|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249025241}}</ref> Hanyu Pinyin is also used as the romanization system to teach Mandarin Chinese at schools.<ref>p.485, Chan, Sin-Wai. ''The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Chinese Language'', [[Routledge]], 2016.</ref> While the process of Pinyinisation has been mostly successful in government communication, placenames, and businesses established in the 1980s and onward, it continues to be unpopular in some areas, most notably for personal names and vocabulary borrowed from other varieties of Chinese already established in the local vernacular.<ref name="Language Planning in Singapore"/> In these situations, romanization continues to be based on the Chinese language variety it originated from, especially the three largest Chinese varieties traditionally spoken in Singapore ([[Hokkien Chinese|Hokkien]], [[Teochew dialect|Teochew]], and [[Cantonese]]). |
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===Special names=== |
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{{See also|SASM/GNC romanization|Tibetan pinyin|Guangdong Romanization}} |
{{See also|SASM/GNC romanization|Tibetan pinyin|Guangdong Romanization}} |
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In accordance to the |
In accordance to the ''Regulation of Phonetic Transcription in Hanyu Pinyin Letters of Place Names in Minority Nationality Languages'' ({{zhi|s=少数民族语地名汉语拼音字母音译转写法 |t=少數民族語地名漢語拼音字母音譯寫法}}) promulgated in 1976, place names in non-Han languages like [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]], [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]], and [[Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]] are also officially transcribed using pinyin in a system adopted by the State Administration of Surveying and Mapping and Geographical Names Committee known as [[SASM/GNC romanization]]. The pinyin letters (26 Roman letters, plus {{angbr|ü}} and {{angbr|ê}}) are used to approximate the non-Han language in question as closely as possible. This results in spellings that are different from both the customary spelling of the place name, and the pinyin spelling of the name in Chinese: |
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{| class="wikitable |
{| class="wikitable" |
||
|- |
|- |
||
! Customary !! Official pinyin!!colspan=2 | |
! Customary !! Official pinyin !! colspan="2" | Characters !! Pinyin for Chinese name |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[Shigatse]] || Xigazê || {{lang|zh-hant|日喀則}} || {{lang|zh-hans|日喀则}} || {{ |
| [[Shigatse]] || Xigazê || {{lang|zh-hant|日喀則}} || {{lang|zh-hans|日喀则}} || {{transliteration|zh|Rìkāzé}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| Urumchi || [[Ürümqi]] || {{lang|zh-hant|烏魯木齊}} || {{lang|zh-hans|乌鲁木齐}} || {{ |
| Urumchi || [[Ürümqi]] || {{lang|zh-hant|烏魯木齊}} || {{lang|zh-hans|乌鲁木齐}} || {{transliteration|zh|Wūlǔmùqí}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[Lhasa ( |
| [[Lhasa (city)|Lhasa]] || Lhasa || {{lang|zh-hant|拉薩}} || {{lang|zh-hans|拉萨}} || {{transliteration|zh|Lāsà}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
| [[Hohhot]] || Hohhot || {{lang|zh-hant|呼和浩特}} || {{lang|zh-hans|呼和浩特}} || {{ |
| [[Hohhot]] || Hohhot || {{lang|zh-hant|呼和浩特}} || {{lang|zh-hans|呼和浩特}} || {{transliteration|zh|Hūhéhàotè}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|[[Golmud]] || Golmud || {{lang|zh-hant|格爾木}} || {{lang|zh-hans|格尔木}} || {{ |
|[[Golmud]] || Golmud || {{lang|zh-hant|格爾木}} || {{lang|zh-hans|格尔木}} || {{transliteration|zh|Gé'ěrmù}} |
||
|- |
|- |
||
|[[Qiqihar]] || Qiqihar || {{lang|zh-hant|齊齊哈爾}} || {{lang|zh-hans|齐齐哈尔}} || {{ |
|[[Qiqihar]] || Qiqihar || {{lang|zh-hant|齊齊哈爾}} || {{lang|zh-hans|齐齐哈尔}} || {{transliteration|zh|Qíqíhā'ěr}} |
||
|} |
|} |
||
''[[Tongyong Pinyin]]'' was developed in Taiwan for use in rendering not only Mandarin Chinese, but other languages and dialects spoken on the island such as [[Taiwanese Hokkien|Taiwanese]], [[Hakka language|Hakka]], and [[Taiwan aboriginal languages|aboriginal languages]]. |
''[[Tongyong Pinyin]]'' was developed in Taiwan for use in rendering not only Mandarin Chinese, but other languages and dialects spoken on the island such as [[Taiwanese Hokkien|Taiwanese]], [[Hakka language|Hakka]], and [[Taiwan aboriginal languages|aboriginal languages]]. |
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==See also== |
== See also == |
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* [[Bopomofo]] |
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* [[Combining character]] |
* [[Combining character]] |
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* [[Comparison of Chinese transcription systems]] |
* [[Comparison of Chinese transcription systems]] |
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* [[Cyrillization of Chinese]] |
* [[Cyrillization of Chinese]] |
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* [[Pinyin input method]] |
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* [[Romanization of Japanese]] |
* [[Romanization of Japanese]] |
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* [[Transcription into Chinese characters]] |
* [[Transcription into Chinese characters]] |
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* [[Two-cell Chinese Braille]] |
* [[Two-cell Chinese Braille]] |
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* [[Chinese word-segmented writing]] |
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== |
== References == |
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{{ |
{{Reflist}} |
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{{notelist}} |
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== Further reading == |
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==References== |
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{{ |
{{Refbegin}} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Gao |first=Johnson K. |title=Pinyin shorthand: a bilingual handbook |publisher=Jack Sun |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-599-71251-2}} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Kimball |first=Richard L. |url=https://archive.org/details/quickreferencech0000kimb |title=Quick reference Chinese: a practical guide to Mandarin for beginners and travelers in English, Pinyin romanization, and Chinese characters |publisher=China Books & Periodicals |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-835-12036-4 |url-access=registration}} |
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* {{Cite book |title=Pinyin Chinese–English dictionary |publisher=The Commercial Press |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-471-86796-8 |location=Beijing}} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Yin |first=Binyong |last2=Felley |first2=Mary |publisher=Sinolingua |year=1990 |isbn=978-7-800-52148-5 |script-title=zh:汉语拼音和正词法 |trans-title=Chinese romanization: pronunciation and orthography |author-mask=Yin Binyong (尹斌庸)}} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Wang |first=Ning |last2=Zou |first2=Xiaoli |publisher=Peace Book |year=2003 |isbn=9-622-38363-7 |location=Hong Kong |pages=27–28 |language=zh |script-title=zh:工具書 |trans-title=Reference Books |author-mask=Wang Ning (王寧) |author-mask2=Zou Xiaoli (鄒曉麗)}} |
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{{Refend}} |
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== External links == |
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==Further reading== |
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{{sister project links|d=Q42222|b=no|v=no|s=no|q=no|n=no|m=no|voy=no|mw=no|species=no|c=Category:Pinyin}} |
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* {{cite book |last1 = Gao |first1= Johnson K. |title = Pinyin shorthand: a bilingual handbook |year = 2005 |publisher = Jack Sun |isbn = 9781599712512 }} |
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* {{cite book |last = Kimball |first = Richard L. |title = Quick reference Chinese : a practical guide to Mandarin for beginners and travelers in English, Pinyin romanization, and Chinese characters |url = https://archive.org/details/quickreferencech0000kimb |url-access=registration |year=1988 |publisher = China Books & Periodicals |isbn=9780835120364 }} |
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* {{cite book |title = Pinyin Chinese–English dictionary |year=1979 |publisher = Commercial Press |location=Beijing |isbn=9780471867968 |language = en }} |
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* {{cite book |author1 = Yǐn Bīnyōng ({{zh |c = 尹斌庸 |labels=no }}) |last2 = Felley |first2 = Mary |script-title = zh:汉语拼音和正词法 |trans-title = Chinese romanization: pronunciation and orthography |year = 1990 |publisher = Sinolingua |isbn = 9787800521485 |language = en }} |
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==External links== |
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{{sisterlinks|d=Q42222|b=no|v=no|s=no|q=no|n=no|m=no|voy=no|mw=no|species=no|c=Category:Pinyin}} |
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{{Wikisourcelang|zh|汉语拼音方案}} |
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{{Wikibooks|Pinyin}} |
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* [http://www.moe.gov.cn/ewebeditor/uploadfile/2012/06/01/20120601104529410.pdf Chinese phonetic alphabet spelling rules for Chinese names]—The official standard GB/T 28039–2011 in Chinese. PDF version from the Chinese Ministry of Education {{in lang|zh}} |
* [http://www.moe.gov.cn/ewebeditor/uploadfile/2012/06/01/20120601104529410.pdf Chinese phonetic alphabet spelling rules for Chinese names]—The official standard GB/T 28039–2011 in Chinese. PDF version from the Chinese Ministry of Education {{in lang|zh}} |
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** [https://www.babelstone.co.uk/CJK/GBT28039-2011.html HTML version] {{in lang|zh}} |
** [https://www.babelstone.co.uk/CJK/GBT28039-2011.html HTML version] {{in lang|zh}} |
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* [https://www.pinyin-guide.com/ Pinyin-Guide.com] Pronunciation and FAQs related to Pinyin |
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* [http://toshuo.com/chinese-tools/pinyin-tone-tool/ Pinyin Tone Tool] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20190430193349/http://toshuo.com/chinese-tools/pinyin-tone-tool/ archived 30 April 2019]) Online editor to create Pinyin with tones |
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Revision as of 23:13, 18 June 2024
Hanyu Pinyin | |
---|---|
Script type | romanization |
Created | 1950s |
Time period |
|
Languages | Standard Chinese |
Pinyin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinese | 拼音 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | spelled sounds | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 汉语拼音方案 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 漢語拼音方案 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | scheme of spelled Han language sounds | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Transliteration of Chinese |
---|
Mandarin |
Wu |
Yue |
Min |
Gan |
Hakka |
Xiang |
Polylectal |
See also |
Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. In official documents, it is referred to as the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet.[1][2] It is the official system used in China, Singapore, Taiwan, and by the United Nations. Its use has become common when transliterating Standard Chinese mostly regardless of region, though it is less ubiquitous in Taiwan. It is used to teach Standard Chinese, normally written with Chinese characters, to students already familiar with the Latin alphabet. The system makes use of diacritics to indicate the four tones found in Standard Chinese, though these are often omitted in various contexts, such as when spelling Chinese names in non-Chinese texts, or when writing non-Chinese words in Chinese-language texts. Pinyin is also used by various input methods on computers and to categorize entries in some Chinese dictionaries. Hànyǔ (汉语; 漢語) literally means 'Han language'—meaning, the Chinese language—while pinyin literally means 'spelled sounds'.[3]
Hanyu Pinyin was developed in the 1950s by a group led by Chinese linguists including Wang Li, Lu Zhiwei, Li Jinxi, Luo Changpei[4] and Zhou Youguang,[5] who has been called the "father of pinyin". They based their work in part on earlier romanization systems. The system was originally promulgated at the Fifth Session of the First National People's Congress in 1958, and has seen several rounds of revisions since.[6] The International Organization for Standardization propagated Hanyu Pinyin as ISO 7098 in 1982,[7] and the United Nations began using it in 1986.[5] Attempts to make Hanyu Pinyin the standard in Taiwan occurred in 2002 and 2009; the system has been official since the latter attempt.[8][9][10]
The pronunciation and spelling of Chinese words are generally given in terms of initials and finals, which represent the language's segmental phonemic portion, rather than letter by letter. Initials are initial consonants, whereas finals are all possible combinations of medials (semivowels coming before the vowel), a nucleus vowel, and coda (final vowel or consonant).
History
Background
Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit missionary in China, wrote the first book that used the Latin alphabet to write Chinese, entitled Xizi Qiji (西字奇蹟; 'Miracle of Western Letters') and published in Beijing in 1605.[11] Twenty years later, fellow Jesuit Nicolas Trigault published 西儒耳目資; Xīrú ěrmù zī; 'Aid to the Eyes and Ears of Western Literati') in Hangzhou.[12] Neither book had any influence among the contemporary Chinese literati, and the romanizations they introduced primarily were useful for Westerners.[13]
During the late Qing, the reformer Song Shu (1862–1910) proposed that China adopt a phonetic writing system. A student of the scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had observed the effect of the kana syllabaries and Western learning during his visits to Japan.[which?] While Song did not himself propose a transliteration system for Chinese, his discussion ultimately led to a proliferation of proposed schemes.[13] The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and further improved by Herbert Giles, presented in the 1892 Chinese–English Dictionary. It was popular, and was used in English-language publications outside China until 1979.[14] In 1943, the US military tapped Yale University to develop another romanization system for Mandarin Chinese intended for pilots flying over China—much more than previous systems, the result appears very similar to modern Hanyu Pinyin.
Development
Hanyu Pinyin was designed by a group of mostly Chinese linguists, including Wang Li, Lu Zhiwei, Li Jinxi, Luo Changpei,[4] as well as Zhou Youguang who was an economist,[5] as part of a Chinese government project in the 1950s. Zhou, often called "the father of pinyin",[5][15][16][17] worked as a banker in New York when he decided to return to China to help rebuild the country after the People's Republic was established. Initially, Mao Zedong considered the development of a new writing system for Chinese that only used the Latin alphabet, but during his first official visit to the Soviet Union in 1949, Joseph Stalin convinced him to maintain the existing system.[18] Zhou became an economics professor in Shanghai, and when the Ministry of Education created the Committee for the Reform of the Chinese Written Language in 1955, Premier Zhou Enlai assigned him the task of developing a new romanization system[dubious – discuss], despite the fact that he was not a linguist by trade.[5]
Hanyu Pinyin incorporated different aspects from existing systems, including Gwoyeu Romatzyh from 1928, Latinxua Sin Wenz from 1931, and the diacritics from bopomofo.[19] "I'm not the father of pinyin", Zhou said years later; "I'm the son of pinyin. It's [the result of] a long tradition from the later years of the Qing dynasty down to today. But we restudied the problem and revisited it and made it more perfect."[20]
An initial draft was authored in January 1956 by Ye Laishi, Lu Zhiwei and Zhou Youguang.[21] A revised Pinyin scheme was proposed by Wang Li, Lu Zhiwei and Li Jinxi, and became the main focus of discussion among the group of Chinese linguists in June 1956, forming the basis of Pinyin standard later after incorporating a wide range of feedback and further revisions.[4][21][22] The first edition of Hanyu Pinyin was approved and officially adopted at the Fifth Session of the 1st National People's Congress on 11 February 1958. It was then introduced to primary schools as a way to teach Standard Chinese pronunciation and used to improve the literacy rate among adults.[23]
During the height of the Cold War the use of pinyin system over the Yale romanization outside of China was regarded as a political statement or identification with the mainland Chinese government.[24] Beginning in the early 1980s, Western publications addressing mainland China began using the Hanyu Pinyin romanization system instead of earlier romanization systems;[25] this change followed the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and the PRC in 1979.[26][27] In 2001, the PRC Government issued the National Common Language Law, providing a legal basis for applying pinyin.[23] The current specification of the orthographic rules is laid down in the National Standard GB/T 16159–2012.[28]
Syllables
Unlike European languages, clusters of letters—initials (声母; 聲母; shēngmǔ) and finals (韵母; 韻母; yùnmǔ)—and not consonant and vowel letters, form the basic units in traditional (and most other phonetic systems used to describe the Han language). Every Mandarin syllable can be spelled with exactly one initial followed by one final, except for the special syllable er or when a trailing -r is considered part of a syllable (a phenomenon known as erhua). The latter case, though a common practice in some sub-dialects, is rarely used in official publications.
Even though most initials contain a consonant, finals are not always simple vowels, especially in compound finals (复韵母; 複韻母; fùyùnmǔ), i.e. when a "medial" is placed in front of the final. For example, the medials [i] and [u] are pronounced with such tight openings at the beginning of a final that some native Chinese speakers (especially when singing) pronounce yī (衣; 'clothes') officially pronounced /í/) as /jí/ and wéi (围; 圍; 'to enclose'), officially pronounced /uěi/) as /wěi/ or /wuěi/. Often these medials are treated as separate from the finals rather than as part of them; this convention is followed in the chart of finals below.
Initials
The conventional lexicographical order derived from bopomofo is:
b p m f | d t n l | g k h | j q x | zh ch sh r | z c s |
In each cell below, the pinyin letters assigned to each initial are accompanied by their phonetic realizations in brackets, notated according to the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Pinyin | IPA | Description[29] |
---|---|---|
b | [p] | Unaspirated p, like in English spark. |
p | [pʰ] | Strongly aspirated p, like in English pay. |
m | [m] | Like the m in English may. |
f | [f] | Like the f in English fair. |
d | [t] | Unaspirated t, like in English stop. |
t | [tʰ] | Strongly aspirated t, like in English take. |
n | [n] | Like the n in English nay. |
l | [l]~[ɾ][a] | Like the l in English lay. |
g | [k] | Unaspirated k, like in English skill. |
k | [kʰ] | Strongly aspirated k, like in English kiss. |
h | [x]~[h][a] | Varies between the h in English hat, and the ch in Scottish English loch. |
j | [tɕ] | Alveolar-palatal, unaspirated. No direct equivalent in English, but similar to the ch in English churchyard. |
q | [tɕʰ] | Alveolar-palatal, aspirated. No direct equivalent in English, but similar to the ch in English punchy. |
x | [ɕ] | Alveolo-palatal, unaspirated. No direct equivalent in English, but similar to the sh in English push. |
zh | [ʈʂ]~[d͡ʒ][a] | Retroflex, unaspirated. Like j in English jack. |
ch | [ʈʂʰ]~[ʃ][a] | Retroflex, aspirated. Like ch in English church. |
sh | [ʂ]~[ɹ̠̊˔][a] | Retroflex, unaspirated. Like sh in shirt. |
r | [ɻ~ʐ]~[ɹ][a] | Retroflex. No direct equivalent in English, but varies between the r in English reduce and the s in English measure. |
z | [ts] | Unaspirated. Like the zz in English pizza. |
c | [tsʰ] | Aspirated. Like the ts in English bats. |
s | [s] | Like the s in English say. |
w[b] | [w] | Like the w in English water. |
y[b] | [j], [ɥ] | Either like the y in English yes—or when followed by a u, see below. |
Finals
In each cell below, the first line indicates the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcription, the second indicates pinyin for a standalone (no-initial) form, and the third indicates pinyin for a combination with an initial. Other than finals modified by an -r, which are omitted, the following is an exhaustive table of all possible finals.
The only syllable-final consonants in Standard Chinese are -n, -ng, and -r, the last of which is attached as a grammatical suffix. A Chinese syllable ending with any other consonant either is from a non-Mandarin language (a southern Chinese language such as Cantonese, reflecting final consonants in Old Chinese), or indicates the use of a non-pinyin romanization system, such as one that uses final consonants to indicate tones.
Rime | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
∅ | -e/-o/-ê | -a | -ei | -ai | -ou | -ao | -en | -an | -eng | -ang | er | ||||||
Medial | ∅ | [ɨ] -i |
[ɤ] e -e |
[ɛ] ê -ê |
[a] a -a |
[ei̯] ei -ei |
[ai̯] ai -ai |
[ou̯] ou -ou |
[au̯] ao -ao |
[ən] en -en |
[an] an -an |
[əŋ] eng -eng |
[aŋ] ang -ang |
[ɚ] er | |||
y- -i- |
[i] yi -i |
[je] ye -ie |
[ja] ya -ia |
[jou̯] you -iu |
[jau̯] yao -iao |
[in] yin -in |
[jɛn] yan -ian |
[iŋ] ying -ing |
[jaŋ] yang -iang |
||||||||
w- -u- |
[u] wu -u |
[wo] wo -uo |
[wa] wa -ua |
[wei̯] wei -ui |
[wai̯] wai -uai |
[wən] wen -un |
[wan] wan -uan |
[wəŋ~ʊŋ] weng -ong |
[waŋ] wang -uang |
||||||||
yu- -ü- |
[y] yu -ü |
[ɥe] yue -üe |
[yn] yun -ün |
[ɥɛn] yuan -üan |
[jʊŋ] yong -iong |
Technically, i, u, ü without a following vowel are finals, not medials, and therefore take the tone marks, but they are more concisely displayed as above. In addition, ê [ɛ] (欸; 誒) and syllabic nasals m (呒, 呣), n (嗯, Chinese: 唔), ng (嗯, 𠮾) are used as interjections or in neologisms; for example, pinyin defines the names of several pinyin letters using -ê finals.
According to the Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, ng can be abbreviated with the shorthand ŋ. However, this shorthand is rarely used due to difficulty of entering it on computers.
Pinyin | IPA | Form with zero initial | Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
-i | [ɹ̩~z̩], [ɻ̩~ʐ̩] | (N/A) | -i is a buzzed continuation of the consonant following z-, c-, s-, zh-, ch-, sh- or r-. In all other cases, -i has the sound of bee. |
a | [a] | a | like English father, but a bit more fronted |
e | [ɤ] , [ə][a] | e | a back, unrounded vowel (similar to English duh, but not as open). Pronounced as a sequence [ɰɤ]. |
ai | [ai̯] | ai | like English eye, but a bit lighter |
ei | [ei̯] | ei | as in hey |
ao | [au̯] | ao | approximately as in cow; the a is much more audible than the o |
ou | [ou̯] | ou | as in North American English so |
an | [an] | an | like British English ban, but more central |
en | [ən] | en | as in taken |
ang | [aŋ] | ang | as in German Angst. (Starts with the vowel sound in father and ends in the velar nasal; like song in some dialects of American English) |
eng | [əŋ] | eng | like e in en above but with ng appended |
ong | [ʊŋ]~[o̞ʊŋ][a] | (weng) | starts with the vowel sound in book and ends with the velar nasal sound in sing. Varies between [oŋ] and [uŋ] depending on the speaker. |
er | [aɚ̯]~[əɹ][a] | er | Similar to the sound in bar in English. Can also be pronounced [ɚ] depending on the speaker. |
Finals beginning with i- (y-) | |||
i | [i] | yi | like English bee |
ia | [ja] | ya | as i + a; like English yard |
ie | [je] | ye | as i + ê where the e (compare with the ê interjection) is pronounced shorter and lighter |
iao | [jau̯] | yao | as i + ao |
iu | [jou̯] | you | as i + ou |
ian | [jɛn] | yan | as i + an; like English yen. Varies between [jen] and [jan] depending on the speaker. |
in | [in] | yin | as i + n |
iang | [jaŋ] | yang | as i + ang |
ing | [iŋ] | ying | as i + ng |
iong | [jʊŋ] | yong | as i + ong. Varies between [joŋ] and [juŋ] depending on the speaker. |
Finals beginning with u- (w-) | |||
u | [u] | wu | like English oo |
ua | [wa] | wa | as u + a |
uo/o | [wo] | wo | as u + o where the o (compare with the o interjection) is pronounced shorter and lighter (spelled as o after b, p, m or f) |
uai | [wai̯] | wai | as u + ai, as in English why |
ui | [wei̯] | wei | as u + ei, as in English way |
uan | [wan] | wan | as u + an |
un | [wən] | wen | as u + en; as in English won |
uang | [waŋ] | wang | as u + ang |
(ong) | [wəŋ] | weng | as u + eng |
Finals beginning with ü- (yu-) | |||
ü | [y] | yu | as in German über or French lune (pronounced as English ee with rounded lips; spelled as u after j, q or x) |
üe | [ɥe] | yue | as ü + ê where the e (compare with the ê interjection) is pronounced shorter and lighter (spelled as ue after j, q or x) |
üan | [ɥɛn] | yuan | as ü + an. Varies between [ɥen] and [ɥan] depending on the speaker (spelled as uan after j, q or x) |
ün | [yn] | yun | as ü + n (spelled as un after j, q or x) |
Interjections | |||
ê | [ɛ] | ê | as in bet |
o | [ɔ] | o | approximately as in British English office; the lips are much more rounded |
io | [jɔ] | yo | as i + o |
The ⟨ü⟩ sound
An umlaut is added to ⟨u⟩ when it occurs after the initials ⟨l⟩ and ⟨n⟩ when necessary in order to represent the sound [y]. This is necessary in order to distinguish the front high rounded vowel in lü (e.g. 驴; 驢; 'donkey') from the back high rounded vowel in lu (e.g. 炉; 爐; 'oven'). Tonal markers are placed above the umlaut, as in lǘ.
However, the ü is not used in the other contexts where it could represent a front high rounded vowel, namely after the letters j, q, x, and y. For example, the sound of the word for 'fish' (鱼; 魚) is transcribed in pinyin simply as yú, not as yǘ. This practice is opposed to Wade–Giles, which always uses ü, and Tongyong Pinyin, which always uses yu. Whereas Wade–Giles needs the umlaut to distinguish between chü (pinyin ju) and chu (pinyin zhu), this ambiguity does not arise with pinyin, so the more convenient form ju is used instead of jü. Genuine ambiguities only happen with nu/nü and lu/lü, which are then distinguished by an umlaut.
Many fonts or output methods do not support an umlaut for ü or cannot place tone marks on top of ü. Likewise, using ü in input methods is difficult because it is not present as a simple key on many keyboard layouts. For these reasons v is sometimes used instead by convention. For example, it is common for cellphones to use v instead of ü. Additionally, some stores in China use v instead of ü in the transliteration of their names. The drawback is that there are no tone marks for the letter v.
This also presents a problem in transcribing names for use on passports, affecting people with names that consist of the sound lü or nü, particularly people with the surname 吕 (Lǚ), a fairly common surname, particularly compared to the surnames 陆 (Lù), 鲁 (Lǔ), 卢 (Lú) and 路 (Lù). Previously, the practice varied among different passport issuing offices, with some transcribing as "LV" and "NV" while others used "LU" and "NU". On 10 July 2012, the Ministry of Public Security standardized the practice to use "LYU" and "NYU" in passports.[30][31]
Although nüe written as nue, and lüe written as lue are not ambiguous, nue or lue are not correct according to the rules; nüe and lüe should be used instead. However, some Chinese input methods support both nve/lve (typing v for ü) and nue/lue.
Tones
The pinyin system also uses four diacritics to mark the tones of Mandarin.[32] In the pinyin system, four main tones of Mandarin are shown by diacritics: ā, á, ǎ, and à.[33] And there is no symbol or diacritic for the neutral tone: a. The diacritic is placed over the letter that represents the syllable nucleus, unless that letter is missing. Tones are used in Hanyu Pinyin symbols, and they do not appear in Chinese characters.
Tones are written on the finals of Chinese pinyin. If the tone mark is written over an i, then macron would be used to replace it, as in yī.
- The first tone (flat or high-level tone) is represented by a macron ⟨ˉ⟩ added to the pinyin vowel:
- ā ē ê̄ ī ō ū ǖ Ā Ē Ê̄ Ī Ō Ū Ǖ
- The second tone (rising or high-rising tone) is denoted by an acute accent ⟨ˊ⟩:
- á é ế í ó ú ǘ Á É Ế Í Ó Ú Ǘ
- The third tone (falling-rising or low tone) is marked by a caron ⟨ˇ⟩:
- ǎ ě ê̌ ǐ ǒ ǔ ǚ Ǎ Ě Ê̌ Ǐ Ǒ Ǔ Ǚ
- The fourth tone (falling or high-falling tone) is represented by a grave accent ⟨ˋ⟩:
- à è ề ì ò ù ǜ À È Ề Ì Ò Ù Ǜ
- The fifth tone (neutral tone) is represented by a normal vowel without any accent mark:
- a e ê i o u ü A E Ê I O U Ü
In dictionaries, neutral tone may be indicated by a dot preceding the syllable—e.g. ·ma. When a neutral tone syllable has an alternative pronunciation in another tone, a combination of tone marks may be used: zhī·dào (知道) may be pronounced either zhīdào or zhīdao.[34]
Numbers
Before the advent of computers, many typewriter fonts did not contain vowels with macron or caron diacritics. Tones were thus represented by placing a tone number at the end of individual syllables. For example, tóng is written tong2. The number used for each tone is as the order listed above, except the neutral tone either lacks a number, or is given the numeral 0 or 5.
Tone | Diacritic | Numeral | Example | IPA | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First | macron ⟨◌̄⟩ | 1 | mā | ma1 | ma˥ | |
Second | acute accent (⟨◌́⟩ | 2 | má | ma2 | ma˧˥ | |
Third | caron ⟨◌̌⟩ | 3 | mǎ | ma3 | ma˨˩˦ | |
Fourth | grave accent ⟨◌̀⟩ | 4 | mà | ma4 | ma˥˩ | |
Neutral | 5 | ma | ma | ma5 | ma | |
middle dot before syllable ⟨·◌⟩ | 0 | ·ma | ma0 |
Placement and omission
Briefly, tone marks should always be placed by the order—a, o, e, i, u, ü, with the only exception being iu, where the tone mark is placed on the u instead. Pinyin tone marks appear primarily above the nucleus of the syllable, for example as in kuài, where k is the initial, u the medial, a the nucleus, and i the coda. The exception is syllabic nasals like /m/, where the nucleus of the syllable is a consonant, the diacritic will be carried by a written dummy vowel.
When the nucleus is /ə/ (written e or o), and there is both a medial and a coda, the nucleus may be dropped from writing. In this case, when the coda is a consonant n or ng, the only vowel left is the medial i, u, or ü, and so this takes the diacritic. However, when the coda is a vowel, it is the coda rather than the medial which takes the diacritic in the absence of a written nucleus. This occurs with syllables ending in -ui (from wei: wèi → -uì) and in -iu (from you: yòu → -iù). That is, in the absence of a written nucleus the finals have priority for receiving the tone marker, as long as they are vowels: if not, the medial takes the diacritic.
An algorithm to find the correct vowel letter (when there is more than one) is as follows:
- If there is an a or an e, it will take the tone mark
- If there is an ou, then the o takes the tone mark
- Otherwise, the second vowel takes the tone mark
Worded differently,
- If there is an a, e, or o, it will take the tone mark; in the case of ao, the mark goes on the a
- Otherwise, the vowels are -iu' or -ui, in which case the second vowel takes the tone mark
The above can be summarized as the following table. The vowel letter taking the tone mark is indicated by the fourth-tone mark.
-a | -e | -i | -o | -u | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
a- | ài | ào | |||
e- | èi | ||||
i- | ià, iào | iè | iò | iù | |
o- | òu | ||||
u- | uà, uài | uè | uì | uò | |
ü- | (üà) | üè |
Tone colors
In addition to numbers and diacritics, color has been suggested as a means to carry tone information, mostly as a visual aid for learning. There are a number of different color schemes in use, with that by Nathan Dummitt being one of the first.
Scheme | Tone 1 | Tone 2 | Tone 3 | Tone 4 | Neutral tone |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dummitt[35] | red | orange | green | blue | default |
MDBG | red | orange | green | blue | black |
Unimelb[c] | blue | green | purple | red | grey |
Hanping[36] | blue | green | orange | red | grey |
Pleco | red | green | blue | purple | grey |
Thomas[c] | green | blue | red | black | grey |
- ^ a b c d e f g h i for Taipei Mandarin
- ^ a b Y and w are equivalent to the semivowel medials i, u, and ü (see below). They are spelled differently when there is no initial consonant in order to mark a new syllable: fanguan is fan-guan, while fangwan is fang-wan (and equivalent to *fang-uan). With this convention, an apostrophe only needs to be used to mark an initial a, e, or o: Xi'an (two syllables: [ɕi.an]) vs. xian (one syllable: [ɕi̯ɛn]). In addition, y and w are added to fully vocalic i, u, and ü when these occur without an initial consonant, so that they are written yi, wu, and yu. Some Mandarin speakers do pronounce a [j] or [w] sound at the beginning of such words—that is, yi [i] or [ji], wu [u] or [wu], yu [y] or [ɥy],—so this is an intuitive convention. See below for a few finals which are abbreviated after a consonant plus w/u or y/i medial: wen → C+un, wei → C+ui, weng → C+ong, and you → Q+iu.
- ^ a b These colors are only approximate. The precise color values used by Dummitt, the MDBG Chinese Online Dictionary, Hanping, and Pleco are taken from Laowai's blog Tone Colors and What Pleco Did with Them.
Tone sandhi
Tone sandhi is not ordinarily reflected in pinyin spelling.
Spacing, capitalization, and punctuation
Standard Chinese has many polysyllabic words. Like in other writing systems using the Latin alphabet, spacing in pinyin is officially based on word boundaries. However, there are often ambiguities in partitioning a word. The Basic Rules of the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet Orthography were put into effect in 1988 by the National Educational and National Language commissions.[37] These rules became a GB recommendation in 1996,[37][38] and were last updated in 2012.[39]
Comparison with other orthographies
Pinyin superseded older romanization systems such as Wade–Giles and postal romanization, and replaced bopomofo as the method of Chinese phonetic instruction in mainland China. The ISO adopted pinyin as the standard romanization for modern Chinese in 1982 (ISO 7098:1982, superseded by ISO 7098:2015). The United Nations followed suit in 1986.[5][40] It has also been accepted by the government of Singapore, the United States's Library of Congress, the American Library Association, and many other international institutions.[41][failed verification] Pinyin assigns some Latin letters sound values which are quite different from those of most languages. This has drawn some criticism as it may lead to confusion when uninformed speakers apply either native or English assumed pronunciations to words. However, this problem is not limited only to pinyin, since many languages that use the Latin alphabet natively also assign different values to the same letters. A recent study on Chinese writing and literacy concluded, "By and large, pinyin represents the Chinese sounds better than the Wade–Giles system, and does so with fewer extra marks."[42]
As Pinyin is a phonetic writing system for modern Standard Chinese, it is not designed to replace characters for writing Literary Chinese, the standard written language prior to the early 1900s. In particular, Chinese characters retain semantic cues that help distinguish differently pronounced words in the ancient classical language that are now homophones in Mandarin. Thus, Chinese characters remain indispensable for recording and transmitting the corpus of Chinese writing from the past.
Pinyin is also not designed to transcribe varieties other than Standard Chinese, which is based on the phonological system of Beijing Mandarin. Other romanization schemes have been devised to transcribe those other Chinese varieties, such as Jyutping for Cantonese and Pe̍h-ōe-jī for Hokkien.
Comparison charts
IPA | a | ɔ | ɛ | ɤ | ai | ei | au | ou | an | ən | aŋ | əŋ | ʊŋ | aɹ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pinyin | a | o | ê | e | ai | ei | ao | ou | an | en | ang | eng | ong | er |
Tongyong Pinyin | ||||||||||||||
Wade–Giles | eh | ê/o | ên | êng | ung | êrh | ||||||||
Bopomofo | ㄚ | ㄛ | ㄝ | ㄜ | ㄞ | ㄟ | ㄠ | ㄡ | ㄢ | ㄣ | ㄤ | ㄥ | ㄨㄥ | ㄦ |
example | 阿 | 喔 | 誒 | 俄 | 艾 | 黑 | 凹 | 偶 | 安 | 恩 | 昂 | 冷 | 中 | 二 |
IPA | i | je | jou | jɛn | in | iŋ | jʊŋ | u | wo | wei | wən | wəŋ | y | ɥe | ɥɛn | yn |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pinyin | yi | ye | you | yan | yin | ying | yong | wu | wo/o | wei | wen | weng | yu | yue | yuan | yun |
Tongyong Pinyin | wun | wong | ||||||||||||||
Wade–Giles | i/yi | yeh | yu | yen | yung | wên | wêng | yü | yüeh | yüan | yün | |||||
Bopomofo | ㄧ | ㄧㄝ | ㄧㄡ | ㄧㄢ | ㄧㄣ | ㄧㄥ | ㄩㄥ | ㄨ | ㄨㄛ/ㄛ | ㄨㄟ | ㄨㄣ | ㄨㄥ | ㄩ | ㄩㄝ | ㄩㄢ | ㄩㄣ |
example | 一 | 也 | 又 | 言 | 音 | 英 | 用 | 五 | 我 | 位 | 文 | 翁 | 玉 | 月 | 元 | 雲 |
IPA | p | pʰ | m | fəŋ | tjou | twei | twən | tʰɤ | ny | ly | kɤɹ | kʰɤ | xɤ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pinyin | b | p | m | feng | diu | dui | dun | te | nü | lü | ge | ke | he |
Tongyong Pinyin | fong | diou | duei | nyu | lyu | ||||||||
Wade–Giles | p | pʻ | fêng | tiu | tui | tun | tʻê | nü | lü | ko | kʻo | ho | |
Bopomofo | ㄅ | ㄆ | ㄇ | ㄈㄥ | ㄉㄧㄡ | ㄉㄨㄟ | ㄉㄨㄣ | ㄊㄜ | ㄋㄩ | ㄌㄩ | ㄍㄜ | ㄎㄜ | ㄏㄜ |
example | 玻 | 婆 | 末 | 封 | 丟 | 兌 | 頓 | 特 | 女 | 旅 | 歌 | 可 | 何 |
IPA | tɕjɛn | tɕjʊŋ | tɕʰin | ɕɥɛn | ʈʂɤ | ʈʂɨ | ʈʂʰɤ | ʈʂʰɨ | ʂɤ | ʂɨ | ɻɤ | ɻɨ | tsɤ | tswo | tsɨ | tsʰɤ | tsʰɨ | sɤ | sɨ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pinyin | jian | jiong | qin | xuan | zhe | zhi | che | chi | she | shi | re | ri | ze | zuo | zi | ce | ci | se | si |
Tongyong Pinyin | jyong | cin | syuan | jhe | jhih | chih | shih | rih | zih | cih | sih | ||||||||
Wade–Giles | chien | chiung | chʻin | shüan | chê | chih | chʻê | chʻih | shê | shih | jê | jih | tsê | tso | tzŭ | tsʻê | tzʻŭ | sê | ssŭ |
Bopomofo | ㄐㄧㄢ | ㄐㄩㄥ | ㄑㄧㄣ | ㄒㄩㄢ | ㄓㄜ | ㄓ | ㄔㄜ | ㄔ | ㄕㄜ | ㄕ | ㄖㄜ | ㄖ | ㄗㄜ | ㄗㄨㄛ | ㄗ | ㄘㄜ | ㄘ | ㄙㄜ | ㄙ |
example | 件 | 窘 | 秦 | 宣 | 哲 | 之 | 扯 | 赤 | 社 | 是 | 惹 | 日 | 仄 | 左 | 字 | 策 | 次 | 色 | 斯 |
IPA | ma˥˥ | ma˧˥ | ma˨˩˦ | ma˥˩ | ma |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pinyin | mā | má | mǎ | mà | ma |
Tongyong Pinyin | ma | mȧ | |||
Wade–Giles | ma1 | ma2 | ma3 | ma4 | ma |
Bopomofo | ㄇㄚ | ㄇㄚˊ | ㄇㄚˇ | ㄇㄚˋ | ˙ㄇㄚ |
example (Chinese characters) | 媽 | 麻 | 馬 | 罵 | 嗎 |
Typography and encoding
Based on the "Chinese Romanization" section of ISO 7098:2015, pinyin tone marks should use the symbols from Combining Diacritical Marks, as opposed by the use of Spacing Modifier Letters in bopomofo. Lowercase letters with tone marks are included in GB 2312 and their uppercase counterparts are included in JIS X 0212;[43] thus Unicode includes all the common accented characters from pinyin.[44] Other punctuation mark and symbols in Chinese are to use the equivalent symbol in English noted in to GB 15834.
According to GB 16159, all accented letters are required to have both uppercase and lowercase characters as per their normal counterparts.
Letter | First tone | Second tone | Third tone | Fourth tone | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Combining Diacritical Marks | ̄ (U+0304) | ́ (U+0301) | ̌ (U+030C) | ̀ (U+0300) | ||||||||||||
Common letters | ||||||||||||||||
Uppercase | A | Ā (U+0100) | Á (U+00C1) | Ǎ (U+01CD) | À (U+00C0) | |||||||||||
E | Ē (U+0112) | É (U+00C9) | Ě (U+011A) | È (U+00C8) | ||||||||||||
I | Ī (U+012A) | Í (U+00CD) | Ǐ (U+01CF) | Ì (U+00CC) | ||||||||||||
O | Ō (U+014C) | Ó (U+00D3) | Ǒ (U+01D1) | Ò (U+00D2) | ||||||||||||
U | Ū (U+016A) | Ú (U+00DA) | Ǔ (U+01D3) | Ù (U+00D9) | ||||||||||||
Ü (U+00DC) | Ǖ (U+01D5) | Ǘ (U+01D7) | Ǚ (U+01D9) | Ǜ (U+01DB) | ||||||||||||
Lowercase | a | ā (U+0101) | á (U+00E1) | ǎ (U+01CE) | à (U+00E0) | |||||||||||
e | ē (U+0113) | é (U+00E9) | ě (U+011B) | è (U+00E8) | ||||||||||||
i | ī (U+012B) | í (U+00ED) | ǐ (U+01D0) | ì (U+00EC) | ||||||||||||
o | ō (U+014D) | ó (U+00F3) | ǒ (U+01D2) | ò (U+00F2) | ||||||||||||
u | ū (U+016B) | ú (U+00FA) | ǔ (U+01D4) | ù (U+00F9) | ||||||||||||
ü (U+00FC) | ǖ (U+01D6) | ǘ (U+01D8) | ǚ (U+01DA) | ǜ (U+01DC) | ||||||||||||
Rare letters | ||||||||||||||||
Uppercase | Ê (U+00CA) | Ê̄ (U+00CA U+0304) | Ế (U+1EBE) | Ê̌ (U+00CA U+030C) | Ề (U+1EC0) | |||||||||||
M | M̄ (U+004D U+0304) | Ḿ (U+1E3E) | M̌ (U+004D U+030C) | M̀ (U+004D U+0300) | ||||||||||||
N | N̄ (U+004E U+0304) | Ń (U+0143) | Ň (U+0147) | Ǹ (U+01F8) | ||||||||||||
Lowercase | ê (U+00EA) | ê̄ (U+00EA U+0304) | ế (U+1EBF) | ê̌ (U+00EA U+030C) | ề (U+1EC1) | |||||||||||
m | m̄ (U+006D U+0304) | ḿ (U+1E3F) | m̌ (U+006D U+030C) | m̀ (U+006D U+0300) | ||||||||||||
n | n̄ (U+006E U+0304) | ń (U+0144) | ň (U+0148) | ǹ (U+01F9) | ||||||||||||
Notes
|
GBK has mapped two characters ⟨ḿ⟩ and ⟨ǹ⟩ to Private Use Areas in Unicode as U+E7C7 () and U+E7C8 () respectively,[45] thus some Simplified Chinese fonts (e.g. SimSun) that adheres to GBK include both characters in the Private Use Areas, and some input methods (e.g. Sogou Pinyin) also outputs the Private Use Areas code point instead of the original character. As the superset GB 18030 changed the mappings of ⟨ḿ⟩ and ⟨ǹ⟩, this has caused an issue where the input methods and font files use different encoding standards, and thus the input and output of both characters are mixed up.[44]
Uppercase | Lowercase | Note | Example |
---|---|---|---|
Ĉ (U+0108) | ĉ (U+0109) | Abbreviation of ch | 长; 長 can be spelled as ĉáŋ |
Ŝ (U+015C) | ŝ (U+015D) | Abbreviation of sh | 伤; 傷 can be spelled as ŝāŋ |
Ẑ (U+1E90) | ẑ (U+1E91) | Abbreviation of zh | 张; 張 can be spelled as Ẑāŋ |
Ŋ (U+014A) | ŋ (U+014B) | Abbreviation of ng |
|
Other symbols are used in pinyin are as follows:
Chinese | Pinyin | Usage | Example |
---|---|---|---|
U+3002 。 IDEOGRAPHIC FULL STOP | U+002E . FULL STOP | End of sentence | 你好。 Nǐ hǎo. |
|
U+002C , COMMA | Connecting clauses | 你,好吗? Nǐ, hǎo ma? |
U+2014 — EM DASH (×2) | U+2014 — EM DASH | Division of clauses mid-sentence | 枢纽部分——中央大厅 shūniǔ bùfèn — zhōngyāng dàtīng |
U+2026 … HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS (×2) | U+2026 … HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS | Redaction of part of a passage | 我…… Wǒ… |
N/A | U+00B7 · MIDDLE DOT | Neutral tone marker placed before the syllable | 吗 ·ma |
U+002D - HYPHEN-MINUS | Hyphenation of abbreviated compounds | 公关 gōng-guān | |
U+0027 ' APOSTROPHE | Syllable segmentation | 西安 - Xī'ān (compared to 先-xiān) |
Usage
The spelling of Chinese geographical or personal names in pinyin has become the most common way to transcribe them in English. Pinyin has also become the dominant Chinese input method in mainland China, in contrast to Taiwan, where bopomofo is most commonly used.
Families outside of Taiwan who speak Mandarin as a mother tongue use pinyin to help children associate characters with spoken words which they already know. Chinese families outside of Taiwan who speak some other language as their mother tongue use the system to teach children Mandarin pronunciation when they learn vocabulary in elementary school.[46][47]
Since 1958, pinyin has been actively used in adult education as well, making it easier for formerly illiterate people to continue with self-study after a short period of pinyin literacy instruction.[48]
Pinyin has become a tool for many foreigners to learn Mandarin pronunciation, and is used to explain both the grammar and spoken Mandarin coupled with Chinese characters. Books containing both Chinese characters and pinyin are often used by foreign learners of Chinese. Pinyin's role in teaching pronunciation to foreigners and children is similar in some respects 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 ("vocalised Arabic").
The tone-marking diacritics are commonly omitted in popular news stories and even in scholarly works, as well as in the traditional Mainland Chinese Braille system, which is similar to pinyin, but meant for blind readers.[49] This results in some degree of ambiguity as to which words are being represented.
Computer input
Simple computer systems, sometimes only able to use simple character systems for text, such as the 7-bit ASCII standard—essentially the 26 Latin letters, 10 digits, and punctuation marks—long provided a convincing argument for using unaccented pinyin instead of diacritical pinyin or Chinese characters. Today, however, most computer systems are able to display characters from Chinese and many other writing systems as well, and have them entered with a Latin keyboard using an input method editor. Alternatively, some touchscreen devices allow users to input characters graphically by writing with a stylus, with concurrent online handwriting recognition.
Pinyin with accents can be entered with the use of special keyboard layouts or various other utilities.
Sorting techniques
Chinese text can be sorted by its pinyin representation, which is often useful for looking up words whose pronunciations are known, but not whose character forms are not known. Chinese characters and words can be sorted for convenient lookup by their Pinyin expressions alphabetically,[50] according to their inherited order originating with the ancient Phoenicians. Identical syllables are then further sorted by tone number, ascending, with neutral tones placed last.
Words of multiple characters can be sorted in two different ways,[51] either per character, as is used in the Xiandai Hanyu Cidian, or by the whole word's string, which is only then sorted by tone. This method is used in the ABC Chinese–English Dictionary.
By region
Taiwan
Taiwan used Tongyong Pinyin, a domestic modification of Hanyu Pinyin, as its official romanization system between October 2002 and January 2009. Thereafter, it began to promote the use of Hanyu Pinyin instead. Tongyong Pinyin ("common phonetic"), a romanization system developed in Taiwan, was designed to romanize languages and dialects spoken on the island in addition to Standard Chinese. The ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party resisted its adoption, preferring the system by then used in mainland China and internationally. Romanization preferences quickly became associated with issues of national identity. Preferences split along party lines: the KMT and its affiliated parties in the Pan-Blue Coalition supported the use of Hanyu Pinyin while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its allies in the Pan-Green Coalition favored the use of Tongyong Pinyin.
Today, many street signs in Taiwan use Tongyong Pinyin or derived romanizations,[52][53] but some, especially in northern Taiwan, display Hanyu Pinyin-derived romanizations. It is not unusual to see spellings on street signs and buildings derived from the older Wade–Giles, MPS2 and other systems. Attempts to make Hanyu Pinyin standard in Taiwan have had uneven success, with most place and proper names remaining unaffected, including all major cities. Personal names on Taiwanese passports honor the choices of Taiwanese citizens, who can choose Wade–Giles, Hakka, Hoklo, Tongyong, aboriginal, or pinyin.[54] Official use of pinyin is controversial, as when pinyin use for a metro line in 2017 provoked protests, despite government responses that "The romanization used on road signs and at transportation stations is intended for foreigners... Every foreigner learning Mandarin learns Hanyu pinyin, because it is the international standard...The decision has nothing to do with the nation's self-determination or any ideologies, because the key point is to ensure that foreigners can read signs."[55]
Singapore
Singapore implemented Hanyu Pinyin as the official romanization system for Mandarin in the public sector starting in the 1980s, in conjunction with the Speak Mandarin Campaign.[56] Hanyu Pinyin is also used as the romanization system to teach Mandarin Chinese at schools.[57] While adoption has been mostly successful in government communication, placenames, and businesses established in the 1980s and onward, it continues to be unpopular in some areas, most notably for personal names and vocabulary borrowed from other varieties of Chinese already established in the local vernacular.[56] In these situations, romanization continues to be based on the Chinese language variety it originated from, especially the three largest Chinese varieties traditionally spoken in Singapore: Hokkien, Teochew, and Cantonese.
Special names
In accordance to the Regulation of Phonetic Transcription in Hanyu Pinyin Letters of Place Names in Minority Nationality Languages (少数民族语地名汉语拼音字母音译转写法; 少數民族語地名漢語拼音字母音譯寫法) promulgated in 1976, place names in non-Han languages like Mongolian, Uyghur, and Tibetan are also officially transcribed using pinyin in a system adopted by the State Administration of Surveying and Mapping and Geographical Names Committee known as SASM/GNC romanization. The pinyin letters (26 Roman letters, plus ⟨ü⟩ and ⟨ê⟩) are used to approximate the non-Han language in question as closely as possible. This results in spellings that are different from both the customary spelling of the place name, and the pinyin spelling of the name in Chinese:
Customary | Official pinyin | Characters | Pinyin for Chinese name | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Shigatse | Xigazê | 日喀則 | 日喀则 | Rìkāzé |
Urumchi | Ürümqi | 烏魯木齊 | 乌鲁木齐 | Wūlǔmùqí |
Lhasa | Lhasa | 拉薩 | 拉萨 | Lāsà |
Hohhot | Hohhot | 呼和浩特 | 呼和浩特 | Hūhéhàotè |
Golmud | Golmud | 格爾木 | 格尔木 | Gé'ěrmù |
Qiqihar | Qiqihar | 齊齊哈爾 | 齐齐哈尔 | Qíqíhā'ěr |
Tongyong Pinyin was developed in Taiwan for use in rendering not only Mandarin Chinese, but other languages and dialects spoken on the island such as Taiwanese, Hakka, and aboriginal languages.
See also
- Combining character
- Comparison of Chinese transcription systems
- Cyrillization of Chinese
- Romanization of Japanese
- Transcription into Chinese characters
- Two-cell Chinese Braille
- Chinese word-segmented writing
References
- ^ GF 3006-2001 汉语拼音方案的通用键盘表示规范 [Standard for the Scheme of Chinese Phonetic Alphabet Input with Universal Keyboard] (in Chinese). National Language Commission. 23 February 2001. ISBN 978-7-801-26789-4.
- ^ GB/T 16159 汉语拼音正词法基本原则 [The basic rules of Chinese phonetic alphabet orthography] (in Chinese), National Language Commission, 29 June 2012
- ^ The online version of the canonical[clarification needed "According to which group?"] Guoyu Cidian (國語辭典 defines this term as 'a system of symbols for notation of the sounds of words, rather than for their meanings, that is sufficient to accurately record some language'. See this entry online.[permanent dead link] Retrieved 14 September 2012.
- ^ a b c Chinese Language and Writing Network (5 December 2006). "The Development of the Hanyu Pinyin System". 人文与社会 (in Chinese). Retrieved 29 August 2023.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c d e f Fox, Margalit (14 January 2017). "Zhou Youguang, Who Made Writing Chinese as Simple as ABC, Dies at 111". The New York Times.
- ^ "Pinyin celebrates 50th birthday". Xinhua News Agency. 11 February 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
- ^ "ISO 7098:1982 – Documentation – Romanization of Chinese". Retrieved 1 March 2009.
- ^ Shih, Hsiu-Chuan (18 September 2008). "Hanyu Pinyin to be standard system in 2009". Taipei Times. p. 2.
- ^ "Government to improve English-friendly environment". The China Post. 18 September 2008. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008.
- ^ Copper, John F. (2014). Historical Dictionary of Taiwan. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-442-24307-1.
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In the Cold War era, the use of this system outside China was typically regarded as a political statement, or a deliberate identification with the Chinese communist regime. (p390)
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...why does Kaohsiung City insist on making visitors guess what 'Shihcyuan' is supposed to represent? Especially when a few blocks away, the same road has somehow morphed into 'Shiquan' (十全路) Road? Move away from Kaohsiung's city center and streets, neighborhoods or townships can have several romanized names ... sometimes on the same signage... The refusal to adopt Hanyu in Kaohsiung seems based on nothing more than groundless fear of loss of identity or diminished regional autonomy. Listen, Kaohsiung: we won't lose our identity or our freedom by changing the romanized spelling of Singjhong Road (興中)to Xingzhong.
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Further reading
- Gao, Johnson K. (2005). Pinyin shorthand: a bilingual handbook. Jack Sun. ISBN 978-1-599-71251-2.
- Kimball, Richard L. (1988). Quick reference Chinese: a practical guide to Mandarin for beginners and travelers in English, Pinyin romanization, and Chinese characters. China Books & Periodicals. ISBN 978-0-835-12036-4.
- Pinyin Chinese–English dictionary. Beijing: The Commercial Press. 1979. ISBN 978-0-471-86796-8.
- Yin Binyong (尹斌庸) Felley, Mary (1990). 汉语拼音和正词法 [Chinese romanization: pronunciation and orthography]. Sinolingua. ISBN 978-7-800-52148-5.
- Wang Ning (王寧) Zou Xiaoli (鄒曉麗) (2003). 工具書 [Reference Books] (in Chinese). Hong Kong: Peace Book. pp. 27–28. ISBN 9-622-38363-7.
External links
- Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet—The original 1958 Scheme, apparently scanned from a reprinted copy in Xinhua Zidian. PDF version from the Chinese Ministry of Education. (in Chinese)
- Basic rules of the Chinese phonetic alphabet orthography—The official standard GB/T 16159–2012 in Chinese. PDF version from the Chinese Ministry of Education. (in Chinese)
- HTML version (in Chinese)
- Chinese phonetic alphabet spelling rules for Chinese names—The official standard GB/T 28039–2011 in Chinese. PDF version from the Chinese Ministry of Education (in Chinese)
- HTML version (in Chinese)