Pinyin

Hanyu Pinyin
Script type romanization
CreatorPinyin Committee
Published
  • 11 February 1958
  • 1982 (ISO 7098)
Official script
LanguagesStandard Chinese
Chinese name
Chinese拼音
Literal meaningspelled sounds
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinpīnyīn
Bopomofoㄆㄧㄣ ㄧㄣ
Wade–Gilespʻin1-yin1
Tongyong Pinyinpin-yin
IPA[pʰín.ín]
Wu
Romanizationphin in
Hakka
Romanizationpin24 im24
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationpingyām
Jyutpingping3 jam1
Sidney Lauping3yam
Canton Romanizationping3yem1
IPA[pʰɪŋ˧ jɐm˥]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJpheng-im
Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet
Simplified Chinese汉语拼音方案
Traditional Chinese漢語拼音方案
Literal meaningscheme of spelled Han language sounds
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHànyǔ Pīnyīn Fāng'àn
Bopomofoㄏㄢˋ ㄩˇ ㄆㄧㄣ ㄧㄣ ㄈㄤ ㄢˋ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhHannyeu Pinin Fangann
Wade–GilesHan4-yü3 Pʻin1-yin1 Fang1-an4
Tongyong PinyinHàn-yǔ Pin-yin Fang-àn
IPA[xân.ỳ pʰín.ín fáŋ.ân]
Wu
RomanizationHoe nyiu phin in faon oe
Hakka
RomanizationHon55 ngi24 pin24 im24 fong24 on55
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationHonyúh Pingyām Fōng'on
JyutpingHon3 jyu5 ping3 jam1 fong1 on3
Sidney LauHon3yue5 Ping3yam Fongon3
Canton RomanizationHon3yu5 Ping3yem1 Fong1on3
IPA[hɔ̄ːn.y̬ː pʰēŋ.jɐ́m fɔ́ːŋ.ɔ̄ːn]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJHàn-gú pheng-im hong-àn
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. In official documents, it is referred to as the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet. Hanyu (汉语; 漢語) literally means 'Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while pinyin literally means 'spelled sounds'. Pinyin is the official system used in China, Singapore, Taiwan, and by the United Nations. Its use has become common when transliterating Standard Chinese mostly regardless of region, though it is less ubiquitous in Taiwan. It is used to teach Standard Chinese, normally written with Chinese characters, to students already familiar with the Latin alphabet. Pinyin is also used by various input methods on computers and to categorize entries in some Chinese dictionaries.

In pinyin, each Chinese syllable is spelled in terms of an optional initial and a final, each of which is represented by one or more letters. Initials are initial consonants, whereas finals are all possible combinations of medials (semivowels coming before the vowel), a nucleus vowel, and coda (final vowel or consonant). Diacritics are used to indicate the four tones found in Standard Chinese, though these are often omitted in various contexts, such as when spelling Chinese names in non-Chinese texts.

Hanyu Pinyin was developed in the 1950s by a group of Chinese linguists including Wang Li, Lu Zhiwei, Li Jinxi, Luo Changpei and Zhou Youguang, who has been called the "father of pinyin". They based their work in part on earlier romanization systems. The system was originally promulgated at the Fifth Session of the 1st National People's Congress in 1958, and has seen several rounds of revisions since. The International Organization for Standardization propagated Hanyu Pinyin as ISO 7098 in 1982, and the United Nations began using it in 1986. Taiwan adopted Hanyu Pinyin as its official romanization system in 2009, replacing Tongyong Pinyin.


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