Humanities Information

Basic Chinese Pinyin Rules


* Make sure you set your browser encoding correctly to read Chinese words in this article. Chinese Simplified GB2312 is recommended. Please find detail instruction from this page: http://www.learn-chinese-language-online.com/read-chinese-online.html

Talking about Chinese Pinyin rules, let's start by looking at the following different scenarios:

1. Tone Mark Placement

The tone mark is placed over the vowel if there is only one vowel, e.g. wo, or on the main vowel of a syllable where they are two or three vowels, e.g. hao.

1.1 Syllable with one vowel letter, tone mark is always placed over the vowel letter. For examples:

笔 bǐ ( pen ) , 山 shān ( mountain )

车 chē ( car ), 信 xìn ( letter )

1.2 Syllables with two or three vowel letters: If the first vowel letter is a medial , e.g. "i", "u", or " ü ", the tone mark is placed over the vowel letter after the medial.

For example:

学 xué ( study ) , 贵 guì ( expensive)

小 xiao ( small ) , ? lüè ( strategy)

1.3 If the first vowel letter is not a medial, the tone mark is always placed on the first vowel letter.

For example:

靠 kào ( rely ) , 要 yào ( ask )

好 hǎo ( good ) , 北 běi ( north )

2. Syllables With an Initial

Write down the initial and then the final with no space between them.

For example:

客kè ( guest ) , 桌 zhuō ( desk ) 忙 máng ( busy ) , 飞 fēi ( fly )

Exceptions:

If and only if "uo" follows "b", "p", "m", or "f", "u" is dropped, resulting in "bo", "po", "mo", or "fo". If and only if "ü" follows "j", "q", "x", ü is changed to "u", resulting in "ju", "qu" and "xu"

3. Syllables Without an Initial

3.1 Syllables starting with "a", "o" or "e", just write down the final.

For example:

安 ān ( safe ), 鸥 ōu ( seagull ) 恩 en 恩 ( favor ), 昂 áng ( raise )

3.2 Syllables starting with "i", replace "i" with "y". For example:

严 yán ( strict ), 也 yě ( too )

Exceptions:

For the single vowel "i", and the nasals "in" and "ing", "y" is added before "i", resulting in "yi", "yin", and "ying";

Spell "you" for "iu", 有 yǒu ( have )

3.3 Syllables starting with "u", replace "u" with "w".

For example:

完 wán ( finish ), 外 wài ( outside )

王 wáng ( king ), 网 wǎng ( net )

Exceptions:

For the single vowel "u", "w" is added before "u", resulting in "wu";

Spell "wen" for "un";

Spell "wei" for "ui".

3.4 Syllables starting with "ü", replace "ü" with "yu".

For example:

雨 yǔ ( rain ), 孕 yùn ( pregnant )

园yuán ( circle ), 约 yuē ( appointment )

4. R-ending

The "er" (儿) sound can follow finals to form retroflection, add "r" at the end of the syllable in this case.

For example:

小孩儿 xiǎo hái er ( little kids )

雨点儿 yǔ diǎn er ( rain drops )

树枝儿 shù zhī er ( tree branch )

Again, it is good to know these rules to understand how to spell a character from Pinyin, but don't be intimidated by these Pinyin rules.

The more you practice, the more you will feel comfortable when speaking Chinese. You will eventually learn these rules without even realizing they exist, like most Chinese people do.

Rosie From Learn Chinese Language Online (http://www.learn-chinese-language-online.com)

The goal of Learn Chinese Language Online (LCLO) is to reduce the Mandarin Learning curve, promote and introduce the most efficient way to grasp the broad foundation of Chinese language.


MORE RESOURCES:

"Country School†Documentary Film Project Awarded $15000 Grant by ...
PR.com (press release), NY - 8 hours ago
“We are very grateful for the grant for ‘Country School’ and the support we received previously from Humanities Iowa for ‘Villisca: Living with a Mystery’ ...


What are the humanities good for?
Macleans.ca, Canada - Jul 23, 2008
There is an interesting article titled: “The Role of the Humanities in the Modern University: Some Historical and Philosophical Considerations†“This ...


In our town
Salt Lake Tribune, United States - 1 hour ago
The Venture Course in Humanities is offering free college classes. The Utah Humanities Council (UHC) is now accepting applications for The Venture Course in ...


Trip to Italy... priceless
Cannon Falls Beacon, MN - 35 minutes ago
The students, one parent, and three chaperones went on a ten-day Italian tour in conjunction with the Humanities class taught by John Fogarty and Nicolette ...


Board to discuss allegations about degree probe
Daily Press, VA - 8 hours ago
Robert Holsworth resigned as dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences and Michael Pratt resigned as interim director of the L. Douglas Wilder School ...
VCU board to hear allegations Richmond Times Dispatch
all 5 news articles


Art show winners announced
Waverly News, IA - 11 hours ago
The Bellevue Artists' Association Bellevue University Summer Art Show is on display in the Humanities Building Gallery and will run through July 30. ...


Sounds of Summer performance Saturday
The News-Press, FL - 6 hours ago
This one night only concert is a joint fundraiser for The Council of Arts and Humanities and the Cultural Park Theater.
Sports Calendar Cape Coral Daily Breeze
all 2 news articles


HRD Ministry mulls uniform quota for IIT faculties
Expressindia.com, India - 17 hours ago
While at present there is a quota in the Humanities streams at all levels, for Science and Technology streams, a quota has been proposed at the entry level. ...


Actor-historian portrays first New Jersey governor at West Milford ...
Township Journal - 1 hour ago
The program is sponsored by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. NJCH is a nonprofit organization, established in 1973 as the state partner of the ...


Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture renames its Summer ...
Dallas Morning News, TX - Jul 18, 2008
The Teachers Academy of The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture has renamed its Summer Institute for Teachers, now 25 years old, the Sue Rose Summer ...

Humanities - Google News

home | site map
© 2006