What is "Pinyin"?
Pinyin system is the official phonetic system of romanizing Chinese. Pinyin means "phonetic transcription." Since 1958, pinyin has been the officially endorsed system in The People's republic of China. With this, Chinese language learners can accurately pronounce any Chinese character.
A Pinyin syllable has three components: a vowel, a consonant, and a tone mark that indicates the pitch contour. In some exceptions, the tone of some words will change, but for people who just start, it’s better to only render the regular tone.
1.Vowel Table:
|
a |
o |
e |
i |
u |
ü |
|
ai |
ei |
ui |
|
|
|
|
ao |
ou |
iu |
|
|
|
|
ie |
ue |
er |
|
|
|
|
an |
en |
in |
un |
ün |
|
|
ang |
eng |
ing |
ong |
|
|
|
Pinyin |
explanation |
|
|
a |
[a] |
as the vowel in "star" without the "r" sound |
|
o |
[uɔ] |
as the vowel in "law" |
|
e |
[ə] |
as the vowel in "stir" |
|
i |
[i] |
as the vowel in "bit" |
|
u |
[u] |
as the vowel in "food" |
|
ü |
[y] |
as "y" in "yellow" followed by the 'u' above |
|
ai |
[ai] |
as the vowel in "bike" |
|
ei |
[ei] |
as the vowel in "lake" |
|
ui |
[uei] |
combination of 'u' and 'i', the same as word "we" in English |
|
ao |
[ɑʊ] |
as the vowel in "loud" |
|
ou |
[ou] |
as the vowel in "flow" |
|
iu |
[iou] |
combination of 'i' and 'u', the same as word "yew" in English |
|
ie |
[iɛ] |
combination of 'i' and 'e', as the vowel in "sierra" |
|
ue |
[yɛ] |
combination of 'u' and 'e', as the vowel in "buena" |
|
er |
[ɤɻ] |
combination of 'e' and 'r', as the vowel in "early" |
|
an |
[an] |
as the vowel in "anchor" |
|
en |
[ən] |
as the word "earn" without the "r" sound |
|
in |
[in] |
as in the word "inn" |
|
un |
[uən] |
as in the word "one" |
|
ün |
[yn] |
as "y" in "yellow" followed by the English word "one" |
|
ang |
[ɑŋ] |
as the word "long" |
|
eng |
[ɤŋ] |
as the vowel in "lung" |
|
ing |
[iŋ] |
as the vowel in "England" |
|
ong |
[ʊŋ] |
as 'u' followed by the 'ng' as above |
2.Consonant Table:
b p m f d t n l g k h j q x z c s r zh ch sh y w
For consonants, we also put all these into English words with the same sound for you to learn and remember in an easier way.
|
pinyin |
explanation |
|
|
b |
[p] |
as the "b" in "book" |
|
p |
[pʰ] |
as the "p" in "pool" |
|
m |
[m] |
as the "m" in "moon" |
|
f |
[f] |
as the "f" in "food" |
|
d |
[t] |
as the "d" in "door" |
|
t |
[[tʰ]] |
as the "t" in "tom" |
|
n |
[n] |
as the "n" in "no" |
|
l |
[l] |
as the "l" in "love" |
|
g |
[k] |
as the "g" in good" |
|
k |
[kʰ] |
as the "k" in "kill" |
|
h |
[x] |
as the "h" in "high" |
|
j |
[tɕ] |
as the "j" in "jeep" |
|
q |
[tɕʰ] |
as the "ch" in "cheese" |
|
x |
[ɕ] |
as the "sh" in "sharp" |
|
zh |
[ʈʂ] |
start with 'j' in "jeep", but then end smoothly with "r" sound. The first 2 sounds in the sample voice show such move. |
|
ch |
[ʈʂʰ] |
start with 'q' in "cheese", but then end smoothly with "r" sound. The first 2 sounds in the sample voice show such move. |
|
sh |
[ʂ] |
start with 'x' in "sharp", but then end smoothly with "r" sound. The first 2 sounds in the sample voice show such move. |
|
r |
[ʐ] |
as the "r" in "red" |
|
z |
[ts] |
as the "z" in "zero" |
|
c |
[tsʰ] |
as the "ts" in "tsunami" |
|
s |
[s] |
as the "s" in "sun" |
|
y |
[i] |
as the "y" in "yes" |
|
w |
[u] |
as the "w" in "wood" |