Difference between revisions of "Introduction to pinyin"

Revision as of 15:34, 28 March 2015

Level

A1
Related to
1. Pinyin chart (A1)
2. Pinyin gotchas (A1)
3. Pinyin quick start guide (A1)
4. Pinyin spelling rules (A2)

This article is simply an introduction to what pinyin is, from a learner's perspective. For a list of all pinyin sounds, see the pinyin page. To learn pinyin as a beginner, see the pinyin quick start guide. And to see and hear all pinyin syllables together on one useful chart, see the pinyin chart.

What Pinyin Is (and Is Not)

Pinyin was developed in the 1950s to help improve literacy rates in the newly founded People's Republic of China. Pinyin is a system for romanizing (writing using the Roman/Latin alphabet) the sounds of the Chinese language. Pinyin was never meant as a pronunciation guide for foreigners, so please don't think of it that way! Some letters that look familiar to you have been repurposed to represent the special sounds of Mandarin Chinese.

Because pinyin was created by Chinese people for Chinese people who already speak Chinese fluently, it can seem a bit counter-intuitive to learners at times. Stick with it!

How to Learn Pinyin

Obviously, a learner needs to learn the Chinese sounds that the different letters of pinyin make. Some are familiar, some not.

Unfortunately, the syllables of pinyin aren't always just straightforward combinations of sounds like in Spanish or Japanese. Certain syllables will not sound how you expect, often because the pinyin syllable omits a few letters for the convenience of the Chinese speaker. For this reason, it's important to systematically study the sound of every syllable, which you can do with our pinyin chart and by going through our pinyin quick start guide.

A History of Pinyin

While pinyin is not the first romanization method developed for Chinese, it is the first created by the Chinese government for its own people. Its official name is Hanyu Pinyin (汉语拼音), and was officially adopted by the People's Republic of China in 1958.

Over the years, Hanyu Pinyin has gradually replaced older romanization systems used by the West, and pinyin is now the standard for learning Mandarin Chinese, even in Taiwan, which resisted the adoption of the mainland's Hanyu Pinyin for a long time.

Sources and further reading

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 == What Pinyin Is (and Is Not) ==
-Mauris et ipsum vel ipsum consequat semper. Morbi eget mi faucibus, consectetur libero sed, placerat nulla. Nulla nec arcu sit amet quam finibus euismod. In tincidunt arcu neque, eget molestie leo fermentum sit amet. Fusce ultrices lacinia turpis, in iaculis nibh scelerisque eget. Vestibulum nec elit id quam tempus molestie ac id diam. Morbi vitae magna ex. Ut id orci nisi. Etiam et sem aliquam, imperdiet ante eget, molestie urna. Maecenas diam ante, blandit et luctus ac, suscipit vitae sapien. Duis sit amet tincidunt arcu. Cras urna nulla, vulputate vel neque et, ultrices sodales libero. Suspendisse egestas lacinia ipsum at scelerisque. Fusce sit amet lacus quis nulla pretium rhoncus quis congue metus.
+Pinyin was developed in the 1950s to help improve literacy rates in the newly founded People's Republic of China. Pinyin is a system for romanizing (writing using the Roman/Latin alphabet) the sounds of the Chinese language. ''Pinyin was never meant as a pronunciation guide for foreigners'', so please don't think of it that way! Some letters that ''look'' familiar to you have been repurposed to represent the special sounds of Mandarin Chinese.
+Because pinyin was created ''by'' Chinese people ''for'' Chinese people ''who already speak Chinese fluently'', it can seem a bit counter-intuitive to learners at times. Stick with it!
 == How to Learn Pinyin ==
-Nam dapibus quam nec imperdiet gravida. Phasellus iaculis, nisl vitae semper elementum, mauris velit tristique est, vitae fringilla orci nisl quis mi. Nunc ut lobortis nisi. Nulla porttitor lobortis mauris sed pulvinar. Cras lobortis nibh vitae augue porttitor lobortis. Pellentesque a tincidunt leo, in varius lorem. Sed nunc sem, auctor at scelerisque a, rutrum eu urna. Duis a vulputate eros. Quisque finibus dignissim tellus. Vivamus feugiat sollicitudin nunc, quis convallis arcu laoreet sed. Nunc pretium tincidunt nibh at sollicitudin. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed non commodo libero. Vivamus suscipit ligula quis viverra pulvinar. Ut ut molestie dui, vitae venenatis erat.
+Obviously, a learner needs to learn the Chinese sounds that the different letters of pinyin make. Some are familiar, some not.
+Unfortunately, the syllables of pinyin aren't always just straightforward combinations of sounds like in Spanish or Japanese. Certain syllables will not sound how you expect, often because the pinyin syllable omits a few letters for the convenience of the Chinese speaker. For this reason, ''it's important to systematically study the sound of every syllable'', which you can do with our [[pinyin chart]] and by going through our [[pinyin quick start guide]].
 == A History of Pinyin ==
-Mauris sed orci arcu. Duis posuere luctus diam non tincidunt. Curabitur porttitor non nulla ac euismod. Sed eget mauris tincidunt, cursus metus at, feugiat metus. Nam lacus lectus, posuere sed consectetur a, dictum a magna. Cras id aliquam enim. Ut id ultricies nisl, at dignissim nibh. Fusce sed odio leo. Vestibulum eu ex tortor. Vivamus sodales magna lectus, in condimentum est laoreet sed. Cras ullamcorper malesuada leo, eu ornare nulla maximus id. In blandit, nisi eget fringilla interdum, diam nisl tincidunt turpis, eget semper quam ante in dui.
+While pinyin is not the first romanization method developed for Chinese, it is the first created by the Chinese government for its own people. Its official name is ''Hanyu Pinyin'' (汉语拼音), and was officially adopted by the People's Republic of China in 1958.
+Over the years, ''Hanyu Pinyin'' has gradually replaced older romanization systems used by the West, and pinyin is now the standard for learning Mandarin Chinese, even in Taiwan, which resisted the adoption of the mainland's ''Hanyu Pinyin'' for a long time.
 == Sources and further reading ==