外国语中心

汉语拼音 Chinese Pīnyīn

Function:Just like the phonetic alphabets in English, Pīnyīn helps us to read Chinese words.Formation:
Initials   声母  shēng mǔ
Finals     韵母  yùn mǔ
Tones      声调  shēng diào
e.g.   你 (you)  n-i-ˇ  nǐ
好 (good,fine) h-ao-ˇ hǎo
声调  shēng diào
The Chinese putonghua has four basic tones. They are shown by the tone-marks:ˉ(the 1st tone),ˊ(the 2nd tone),ˇ(the 3rd tone),ˋ(the 4th tone). Different tones may express different meanings.
bā      bá       bǎ      bà
eight  pull   target  dad
mā     má      mǎ        mà
mum  numb  horse   scold
Place of the Tone-mark
1. The tone-mark should be placed over the vowels,eg:
lā, gōng, chē
2. When a tone-mark is placed above the vowel i, the dot over it must be left out,eg:
bì,lín,tīng
3. A compound final carries two or more vowels, the tone-mark is placed over the vowel which pronounced with the mouth opening wider and louder,usually a,o,e,eg:
lái, piào, dōu
轻声（the Neutral Tone)
Every Chinese character in Chinese Putonghua has its specific tone.But sometimes,in a word or a sentence some syllables lose their original tones and become weak and short, therefore it is called the neutral tone.The neutral tone syllables are shown by the absence of the tone-mark, for example:
Bàba 爸爸（father,dad) 
māma 妈妈（mother, mum)
声母 shēng mǔ
Consonants,  21
When used as initials, the following consonants are pronounced roughly the same as they are in English.
b p m f d t n l g k h j s
b
bō luó
菠萝  (pineapple)
bà ba
爸爸   (dad)
P
pó po
婆婆（mother-in-law)
pǎo bù
跑步 （running,run)
m
mā mā
妈妈 （mum)
mǎi
买   （buy)
f
chī fàn
吃饭  （eating)
fēng
风 （wind)
d
dà
大 （big, huge）
dìdi
弟弟 （younger brother)
t
tī zi
梯子 （ladder)
tài yáng
太阳（sun)
n
nán rén
男人 （male,man)
ná
拿 （take,pick,hold)
l
lóng
龙 （dragon)
kuài lè
快乐（happy)
g
gē ge
哥哥  （older brother)
gāo
高  （tall, high)
k
kě
渴 （thirsty)
kǎo shì
考试（exam)
h
hé
河 （river)
hǎi
海 （sea)
j
jī
鸡  （chicken)
jiā
家（ home)
s
sì
四 （four)
sī niàn
思念 （miss someone)
Tips
1.h sounds like "h" in the English word"her", but it must be added more friction of the breath than it is in English.
2.p sounds like "p" in the English word"port"; t sounds like"t" in the English word"term";k sounds like "k"in the English word"key";But the Chinese p,t,k must be articulated with much more aspiration than they are in English.
When used as initials, the following consonants are pronounced quite differently from what they are in English.
q x z c zh ch sh r
q
qī
七 （seven)
qián
钱（money)
x
xī 
西（the west)
xǐ huān
喜欢（like)
z
zì
字（characters)
zuò
坐（sit)
c
cài
菜 （vegetable, dishes)
cāi
猜（guess)
zh
zhè
这（this)
zhàn
站 （stand)
ch
chī
吃（eat）
cháng
长（long)
sh
lǎo shī
老师（teacher)
shí
十 (ten)
Listen to all of the 21 Initials and repeat them
b p m f d t n l 
g k h j q x zh 
ch sh r z c s
r
rén
人 （human,people)
rè
热 （hot)
韵母  yùn mǔ
39, vowels,or vowel+n/ng
Single finals
a     ā    á    ǎ    à
o     ō    ó    ǒ    ò
e     ē    é    ě    è
i       ī     í      ǐ      ì
u     ū    ú     ǔ    ù
ü     ǖ    ǘ    ǚ    ǜ
i
1. When i stands by itself as a syllable, it should be written as yi.
2. i should be written as y when it is placed at the beginning of a final standing by itself as a syllable, or y is added before i,eg:
ia-ya  ie-ye  iou-you  iang-yang
u
1. When u stands by itself as a syllable, it should be written as wu.
2. When u combines with other finals to form syllables, it should be written as W,eg:
ua-wa  uo-wo  uei-wei  uan-wan