|
Pinyin, The Official Chinese System of Romanizing Chinese - Page 1
The official phonetic system of romanizing
Chinese is pinyin. Pinyin means "phonetic transcription." Since
1958, pinyin has been the officially endorsed system in The
People's Republic of China. It replaces the old system
promulgated by the British called "Wade/Giles." Much of
literature about China uses the old system. Many maps also have
this old Wade/Giles system. Under this new pinyin, the
pronunciation is much closer to the actual sounds used by the
Chinese. For example the old Soochow is now Suzhou, correctly
pronounced Su-joe, not Su-chow. Names in Wade/Giles such as Tsingtao properly
pronounced as "Ching Dow Oh" is now spelled Qingdao.
|
|
a
|
Vowel as in
|
ah
|
|
ai
|
Diphthong pronounced as
|
eye
|
|
b
|
Consonant as in
|
be
|
|
c
|
Consonants "ts" as in
|
its
|
|
ch
|
Consonants as in
|
chip strongly aspirated
|
|
d
|
Consonant as in
|
do
|
|
e
|
Vowel "o" as in
|
oh when not a Diphthong
|
|
e
|
Vowel "a" as in
|
say when in a Diphthong
|
|
f
|
Consonant as in
|
foot
|
|
g
|
Consonant as in
|
go
|
|
h
|
Consonant as in
|
her strongly aspirated
|
|
i
|
Vowels "ea" as in
|
eat
|
|
i
|
Vowel as in
|
sir when in syllables beginning with c, ch, r, s,
sh, z, and zh
|
|
j
|
Consonant as in
|
jeep
|
|
k
|
Consonant as in
|
kind strongly aspirated
|
|
l
|
Consonant as in
|
land
|
|
|
m
|
Consonant as in
|
me
|
|
n
|
Consonant as in
|
an
|
|
o
|
Vowel "a" as in
|
law
|
|
p
|
Consonant as in
|
par strongly aspirated
|
|
q
|
Consonant "ch" as in
|
cheek
|
|
r
|
Consonant as in
|
right not rolled
|
|
s
|
Consonant as in
|
sister
|
|
t
|
Consonant as in
|
top
|
|
u
|
Vowels "oo" as in
|
too
|
|
ue
|
Diphthong as "i" in
|
ship
|
|
ui
|
Diphthong pronounced as
|
wee
|
|
v
|
Used to pronounce foreign words
|
Chinese have difficulty to pronounce V.
|
|
w
|
Consonant as in
|
want
|
|
x
|
Consonants "sh" as in
|
she
|
|
y
|
Consonant as in
|
yet
|
|
z
|
Consonant as in
|
zero
|
|
zh
|
Consonant "j" as in
|
jump
|
|