Pinyin

This article is about the transcription Pinyin of High Chinese, for the language of the same name spoken in Cameroon see Pinyin (language).

Hanyu Pinyin Fang'an (Chinese 漢語拼音方案 / 汉语拼音方案, Pinyin Hànyǔ Pīnyīn Fāng'àn - "program for fixing the sounds in Chinese"), usually just Pinyin (拼音) for short, also called Hanyu Pinyin (漢語拼音 / 汉语拼音) to distinguish it from Tongyong Pinyin (通用拼音, Tōngyòng Pīnyīn), is the official Chinese romanization of High Chinese in the People's Republic of China. Developed by Zhou Youguang, this phonetic transcription based on the Latin alphabet was officially adopted by the State Council on February 6, 1956, and approved in late 1957. It thus replaced the non-Latin Zhuyin romanization (Bopomofo) introduced in 1921 on the mainland.

The pronunciation indicated by the pinyin transcription is based on High Chinese (普通話 / 普通话, pǔtōnghuà). Pinyin is registered with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as ISO 7098:1991 (second edition after 1982), and is thus recognized as an international standard. In the People's Republic of China, pinyin is defined by the national standard GB/T 16159, last revised in 2012 (GB/T 16159-2012); for the spelling of personal names, the standard is GB/T 28039-2011.

Since 1 January 2009, Hanyu Pinyin has also been the official standard in the Republic of China on Taiwan, by decision of the Kuomintang government elected in 2008. However, in the cities and counties ruled by the DPP party, this non-binding regulation is not followed and the transcription Tongyong Pinyin, introduced in 2002, continues to be used.

Text in Pinyin in Shanghai.Zoom
Text in Pinyin in Shanghai.

Spelling of the syllables

Since the Chinese characters almost always describe exactly one syllable, the pinyin transcription is also syllable-based. The Chinese syllable consists of an initial sound and a final sound. The syllable ba consists of the initial sound b and the final sound a. Most final sounds can also be pronounced without an initial sound. Since the Chinese and the German phonetic system differ in some points considerably, the pronunciation notes are only approximations. The second column shows the pronunciation according to the International PhoneticAlphabet (IPA) based on Lee & Zee, Duanmu and Lin.

Anlaute

Pinyin

IPA

Description

b

[b̥]

unvoiced b

p

[pʰ]

as in German, hairy

m

[m]

as in German

f

[f]

as in German

d

[d̥]

unvoiced d

t

[tʰ]

as in German, hairy

n

[n]

as in German

l

[l]

as in German

g

[ɡ̊]

unvoiced g

k

[kʰ]

as in German, hairy

h

[χ]

as in laughing or spanish j

x

[ɕ]

like ch in ich and ß in weiß at the same time

j

[d̥ɕ]

like d plus pinyin x; similar to girl, but much softer.

q

[tɕʰ]

like t plus pinyin x; similar to girl, but strongly hairy

s

[s]

as in white (voiceless s)

c

[tsʰ]

like t plus s: similar to german tz

z

[d̥z̥]

similar to German d and voiced s together

w

[w]

as in English well

y

[j, ɥ]

like j in German ja or y in English yes; before a u it is pronounced with rounded lips

sh

[ʂ]

similar to german sch, but retroflex

zh

[ɖ̥ʐ̥]

like d plus pinyin sh; similar to jungle, but voiceless as well as retroflex (with the tip of the tongue bent back).

ch

[ʈʂʰ]

like t plus pinyin sh; similar to German tsch

r

[ɻ]

similar to French j (bonjour), but retroflex

Loud

Each final sound consists of up to three components:

  • Glide: - , i, u, ü
  • Central sound: - , a, e/o
  • Final sound: - , i, u, n, ng

Not all combinations are realized, and there are certain sound shifts (see phonetic transcription). In addition, there is the syllable er, which does not fit into this scheme.

Final

Interjection

[i̯]

[u̯]

[n]

[ŋ]

[ɻ]

Glide

-i [ɻ̩], [ɹ̩]

e [ɤ]

a [a]

ei [ei̯]

ai [ai̯]

ou [ou̯]

ao [au̯]

en [ən]

an [an]

ong [ʊŋ]

eng [əŋ]

ang [aŋ]

he [ɚ]

o [ɔ]
ê [ɛ]

[u]

u [u]

uo [u̯o]

ua [u̯a]

uei [u̯ei̯].

uai [u̯ai̯].

uen [u̯ən]

uan [u̯an]

ueng [u̯əŋ]

uang [u̯aŋ].

[i]

i [i]

ie [i̯e]

ia [i̯a]

iai [i̯ai̯].

iou [i̯ou̯].

iao [i̯au̯].

in [in]

ian [i̯ɛn].

iong [i̯ʊŋ]

ing [iŋ]

iang [i̯aŋ].

io [i̯ɔ].

[y]

ü [y]

üe [y̆e]

ün [yn]

üan [y̆ɛn]

The final sounds are spelled differently depending on the initial sound:

  • After j, q, x and y, the dots above the ü are dropped. A written u after these sounds is therefore pronounced as ü;
  • The pronouns uei, uen and iou are written after the initial sound as ui, un and iu;
  • For syllables without an anlaut, i, u, ü are replaced at the beginning by y, w, yu. The syllables i, in, ing and u are written as yi, yin, ying and wu;
  • After z, c, s, zh, ch, sh and r, i denotes "pressed" vowels in the throat ("it gets stuck in your throat") - written here as "-i" (top left of the table).

Matrix of all syllables

In the following table, all syllables of High Chinese are listed according to initial and final sound. The sorting is done phonetically, not according to the writing. That is:

  • if j, q, x, y is followed by the "ü" sound, the syllable is in the corresponding line, although in this case "u" is written without dots;
  • the line with the "ong" pronunciation is in the u group, because in this case "ung" is pronounced;
  • the syllables with [ɻ̩] and [ɹ̩] are in the line for the final sound "-i", separated from the line "i";
  • "w", "y" and "yu" are in the column for syllables without an anlaut (∅), because they are spelling variants of the glide vowels "u", "i", "ü".

The syllable yai occurs in the high-level variant of the Republic of China, but not in the variant of the People's Republic of China. Only syllables occurring in the vocabulary of dialects are bracketed.

b

p

m

f

d

t

n

l

g

k

h

j

q

x

zh

ch

sh

r

z

c

s

a

a

ba

pa

ma

fa

as

ta

na

LA

ga

ka

ha

zha

cha

sha

za

ca

sa

ai

ai

bai

pai

may

dai

tai

nai

LAI

gai

kai

shark

zhai

chai

shai

zai

cai

sai

ao

ao

bao

pao

mao

dao

tao

nao

LAO

gao

kao

hao

zhao

chao

shao

rao

zao

cao

sao

to

to

ban

pan

man

fan

dan

tan

nan

lan

gan

can

han

zhan

chan

shan

ran

zan

can

san

ang

ang

bang

pang

mang

Catch

dang

tang

nang

lang

gang

kang

hang

zhang

chang

shang

rank

zang

cang

sang

e

e

me

de

te

ne

le

ge

ke

hey

zhe

che

she

re

ze

ce

se

o

o

bo

po

mo

fo

lo

ei

ei

at

pei

mei

fei

the

nei

lei

gei

(kei)

hot

zhei

shei

zei

ou

ou

pou

mou

fou

dou

tou

nou

lou

gou

kou

hou

zhou

chou

shou

rou

zou

cou

sou

en

en

ben

pen

men

fen

the

gen

ken

hen

zhen

chen

shen

ren

zen

cen

sen

close

close

beng

bang

meng

feng

deng

teng

neng

leng

geng

keng

heng

zheng

cheng

sheng

reng

zeng

ceng

seng

he

he

u

wu

bu

pu

mu

fu

you

tu

nu

lu

gu

ku

hu

zhu

chu

shu

ru

Sync and corrections by n17t01

cu

su

ua

wa

gua

kua

hua

zhua

chua

shua

uai

wai

guai

kuai

huai

zhuai

chuai

shuai

uan

wan

duan

tuan

nuan

luan

guan

kuan

huan

zhuan

chuan

shuan

ruan

on

cuan

suan

uang

wang

guang

kuang

huang

zhuang

chuang

shuang

uo

where

duo

tuo

nuo

luo

guo

kuo

huo

zhuo

chuo

shuo

ruo

Go to

cuo

suo

uei

wei

dui

tui

gui

kui

ugh

ZHUI

chui

shui

rui

Sync and corrections by n17t01

cui

sui

uen

who

dun

do

now

lun

gun

kun

hun

zhun

chun

shun

run

zun

cun

sun

ong

dong

tong

nong

long

gong

kong

hong

zhong

chong

rong

zong

cong

song

ueng

weng

i

yi

BOTH

pi

mi

di

ti

ni

li

ji

qi

xi

ia

ya

lia

jia

qia

xia

iai

yai

iao

yao

biao

piao

miao

(fiao)

diao

tiao

niao

liao

jiao

qiao

xiao

ian

yan

bian

pian

mian

dian

tian

nian

lian

jian

qian

xian

iang

yang

niang

liang

jiang

qiang

xiang

he

ye

bie

pie

mie

the

tie

never

read epub

JIE

qie

xie

io

yo

iou

you

miu

diu

niu

liu

jiu

qiu

xiu

on

yin

Sync and corrections by n17t01

pin

min

nin

lin

jin

qin

xin

ing

ying

bing

ping

ming

ding

ting

ning

ling

jing

qing

xing

iong

yong

jiong

qiong

xiong

ü

yu

ju

qu

xu

üan

yuan

juan

quan

xuan

üe

yue

nüe

lüe

YYE

que

xue

ün

yun

jun

qun

xun

-i

zhi

chi

shi

ri

zi

ci

si

Except for er, all these syllables in High Chinese and increasingly in Beijing pronunciation can have an -r appended to them, which often greatly changes the pronunciation and causes tonal differences between otherwise clearly separated syllables to disappear, but this is not taken into account in the pinyin transcription. In addition, there is the interjection ê as well as interjections with syllabic nasals (hm, hng, m, n, ng). Interjections cannot be extended by -r.

Hyphen

Main article: Pinyin syllable separator

In polysyllabic words, when a syllable begins with an a, e, or o, it must always be separated from the preceding syllable by an apostrophe. Examples are the city names Xi'an (西安, Xī'ān) and Chang'an (長安 / 长安, Cháng'ān) or the words tian'e (天鵝 / 天鹅, tiān'é - "swan") and hai'ou (海鷗 / 海鸥, hǎi'ōu - "seagull"). Without hyphenation, these cities would be read as xian (one syllable) and chan-gan. Before the other vowels (i, u, ü), such a rule is not necessary because they are written at the beginning of the syllable as y, w, yu - so the y and the w already mark the syllable boundary. To improve the flow of reading, the apostrophe is also placed where there is no danger of confusion (tiane cannot be read tia-ne because the syllable tia does not exist in High Chinese; neither can haiou be pronounced as one syllable).


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