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. Pinyin Rules:
- 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 )
-
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)
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 )
Pinyin Rules part II 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"
Pinyin Rules part III Syllables
Without an Initial
- 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 )
- 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 )
- 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".
- Syllables
starting with "ü", replace "ü" with "yu".
For example:
雨 yǔ ( rain ),孕 yùn ( pregnant )
园yuán ( circle ), 约 yuē ( appointment )
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 Pinyin rules without even realizing they exist,
like most Chinese people do.
|
