Pinyin

Pinyin, or Hanyu Pinyin, is the system that China uses to express in written form the sounds of Chinese. (Although many Chinese characters contain a sound element, they are neither universal nor consistent.)

Officially adopted in China in 1958, pinyin has a number of important uses. It is useful as a learning tool, for example when learning a new character and the accompanying pronunciation, it can be helpful to note down the pinyin in order to remember how to pronounce it. Pinyin is also used as one method of looking up words in a dictionary.

Also note that Pinyin has been accepted by the Library of Congress, The American Library Association, and most international institutions as the transcription system for Mandarin. In 1979 the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) adopted Pinyin as the standard romanization system for Modern Chinese (Mandarin). (There are other systems – Yale, Wade-Giles, Gwoyeu Romatzyh, Bo Po Mo Fo – but they are not widely used anymore.)

Finally, Pinyin is commonly used to enter Chinese into word processing software or other software on a computer or other similar electronic device. Although Pinyin is not the only way to do this, it is one of the easiest and least complicated. Even Chinese people use pinyin to enter Chinese into computers and smartphones.

Fortunately for speakers of (standard American) English, many of the sounds found in Mandarin are similar to those in English, with a few important exceptions. There is a built-in danger here that English speakers will look at Pinyin and assume that the pronunciation is automatically the same as in English, so please take special note when it is not.

Bullet Point Summary

Pinyin is the system used to write the sounds of Chinese characters using the English alphabet.
It is a learning tool; it is used to look up characters in a dictionary; it is used by most organizations to transcribe Chinese names, places, etc; and it is used to input Chinese on computers and similar electronic devices.

Differences with English

Note the following letters and syllables are not used in the way they are in English, so can cause confusion if you are not cognizant of the difference.

c = the 'ts' in cats x = sy or hs (not sh)
z = the 'ds' in reds q = ch

zh = j yan = yen

yuan = ywhen

i (depending on what consonant precedes it. ci, si, zi, chi, shi, zhi are different.)

bi,di,ji,li,mi,ni,pi - the 'i is pronounced 'ee'

chi,shi,zhi - the 'i' is pronounced like an 'r'

ci,si,ri,zi - the 'i' is almost not pronounced at all

eng = the 'ung' in lung

ui = way
iu = yo

A final note of interest. Many people, including Chinese, have wondered why they retain characters at all, given the challenge and time involved in learning them. The depth of history in the characters and the beauty in the calligraphy are perhaps some of the reasons. There was a movement early in the 20th century to eliminate them and use pinyin instead. The following story was written by Y.R. Chao, who also developed Gwoyeu Romatzyh, to demonstrate why characters are essential. There are over 70 characters that are pronounced 'shi' in Mandarin today. Every character in the following story (also see the attachment) is pronounced 'shi' (though the tones vary).

石室诗士施氏，嗜狮，誓食十狮。氏时时适市视狮。十时，适十狮适市。是时，适施氏适市。氏视是十狮，恃矢势，使是十狮逝世。氏拾是十狮尸，适石室。石室湿，氏使侍拭石室。石室拭，氏始试食是十狮。食时，始识是十狮尸，实十石狮尸。试释是事。

shi2 shi4 shi1 shi4 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi1. shi4 shi2 shi2 shi1. shi4 shi2 shi2 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi1 shi2 shi2. shi4 shi2 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi2. shi4 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi2 shi1. shi4 shi3 shi4 shi3 shi4 shi2 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi1shi1. shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi1. shi4 shi3 shi4 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi4. shi4 shi3 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi1 shi1 shi2 shi2. shi3 shi4 shi3 shi2 shi1 shi1 shi2 shi2 shi2 shi1 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4

A poet by the name of Shih Shih living in a stone den was fond of lions. As he had taken an oath to eat ten lions, he went out to the market every day at ten o'clock in order to look for lions. It was at the time when all of a sudden ten lions came to the market and also Shih Shih went to the market at once realizing these ten lions. Relying on his (bow and) arrows, he caused these ten lions to pass away. Shih picked up the corpses of these ten lions, and as he went to the stone den, the stone chamber was damp. Shih had the stone den wiped by his servant. As the stone den was cleaned, it was the time that Shih began trying to eat the meal of these ten lions' corpses and he began to realize that these ten dead lions in fact were ten stone lions' corpses and he tried to get rid of this matter.

taken from https://www.fa-kuan.muc.de/SHISHI.RXML

As you can see, while the story is quite intelligible when written in Chinese characters - using some 30 different characters - in Pinyin it is gibberish, the meaning of which no one could even begin to guess at. This, of course, is an extreme example meant to make a point. Others argue that if we can understand people speak - when all we hear are sounds - then we could similarly understand what is written. The difference, of course, is context, as language is all about context. Others have suggested combining radicals - the meaning elements of characters - and pinyin for pronunciation.

Table of Pinyin Sounds that Differ from English

Pinyin Sound Pinyin Sound

c the 'ts' in cats zhi jr (i here = r)

z the 'ds' in reds chi chr (i here = r)

x sy or hs (not sh) shi shr (i here = r)

q ch zi ds (i here is not voiced)

zh j ci ts (i here is not voiced)

yan yen si s (i here is not voiced)

yuan ywhen ri r (i here is not voiced)

eng the 'ung' in lung ui way

iu yo

Consonants/Initials - 23

b: unaspirated "p", like the English "b" but with a bit more pressure

p: as in English

m: as in English

f: as in English

d: unaspirated "t", like the English "d" but with a bit more pressure

t: as in English

n: as in English

l: as in English

g: unaspirated "k", like the English "g" but with a bit more pressure

k: as in English

h: like the English "h" if followed by "a"; otherwise it is pronounced more roughly/guttural (not unlike the Scottish "ch")

z: like the ds in "reds" but with more pressure (unaspirated counterpart of c above)

c: like "ts" in cats

s: as in "sun"

zh: as in English "jungle", but with more pressure (unaspirated counterpart of ch above)

ch: as in "chant"

sh: as in "shin"

r: similar to the English "r" in "rank" with a bit of the initial sound in French "journal" in it
j: like zh, but not as "full", about halfway between zh and z, always followed by a y sound

q: like ch, but not as "full", about halfway between

ch and c, always followed by a y sound

x: think of hs or sy. Like sh, but not as "full", about halfway between sh and s

w: as in English

y: as in English; not strongly pronounced if followed by i

Vowels/Finals - 32

a: as in "father"

ai: like English "eye" or "Thai" or "my", but a bit lighter

an: following a 'y' or an 'i' pronounced like the en in "enter"; otherwise after other consonants like on in "upon"

ang: same as an, but with a 'g' sound at the end (even when following 'i' or 'y').

ao: approximately as in "cow" but without the ending 'w' sound, or "ouch"; the a is much more audible than the o

e: a little shorter than the oo in "cook"; when following 'y' or 'i' pronounced as "yet"

ei: as in "hey" "way" or "weigh"

en: sounds like an when you say quickly "an elephant" or the en in "chicken"

eng: like the ung in "lung" or "hung"

i: like English "ee", except when preceded by "c", "s", "z"; "zh", "sh", ch, and r.

i: (when preceded by "c", "s", "z") There is almost no sound given to the vowel; a very short follow through on the consonant

i: (when preceded by "zh", "sh", "ch") Here it is pronounced like "shirt" (without the t)

ia: as ya in "yacht" (also ya)

ian: like "yen" (see 'an' above) (also yan)

iang: like "yahng" (not the English yang) (see 'ang' above) (also yang)

iao: "yow" (rhymes with cow) (see 'ao' above), second part of "meow" but as one syllable

ie: the initial i sounds like English "ee", but is very short; e , like ye in "yet" (see 'e' above) (also ye)

in: "in" though slightly longer (approaching "seen")

ing: as in "sing"

iong: a y sound followed by the ong in "long" (also yong)

iu: pronounced like yo (though without the attitude) or "O solo mio" but as one syllable

o: follows only m, p, b, and f, where it is the same as 'uo' below.

ong: here, o is a sound somewhere in between English "o" as in "song" and English "u" as in "bush"

ou: oe as in "doe" (without a strong 'w' sound at the end)

u: like English "oo", except when preceded by y, x, j or q

u: (when preceded by y, x, j or q) it is pronounced like ü, or yu, but with a tighter mouth. Pinch your mouth together and say 'ee'.

ü or uu: as in German "über" or French "lune." (Use 'v' when you type this vowel in pinyin to convert to characters.)

ua: wa as in "want" or "wash"

uai: "why"

uan: wan as in "want"; except when preceded by a j, q, x, or y

uan: when preceded by j, q, x, or y it is pronounced "when", though with a rounding of the mouth and lips and without any airy 'wh' sound.

uang: "wong" or the Korean "won" plus a g sound.

üe: e is pronounced like ê, the ü is short and light, as in "wet"

ui: "way"

un: following j, q, x, or y, pronounced as "win" but with rounded lips

uo: the u is pronounced shorter and lighter than the o, like the wo in "swore"

Conventions

Is it important just how you write pinyin? Yes and no. If you are writing it for yourself, then as long as you are consistent, it does not really matter. If you writing to use with other people, then you should follow the conventions in order to avoid any confusion.

The normal convention is to use tone marks rather than numbers to indicate tones. With software today, it is relatively easy to produce them. However, anyone will understand if you write numbers instead. Note that the neutral tone does not have a mark or a number, though occasionally you see a 5 written.

北京、上海、香港我们都去过。

Běijīng, Shànghǎi, Xiānggǎng wǒmen dōu qùguò.
Bei3jing1, Shang4hai3, Xiang1gang3 wo3men dou1 qu4guo4.
We have been to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.

When tones change (tone sandhi), only the original tone is reflected, not the change. However, you may see the change in textbooks in order to aid in the proper pronunciation.

你好。Nǐhǎo and not Níhǎo.
一块 yīkuài and not yíkuài
Note also that the first word in the sentence is capitalized.

Note that proper names, such as people and cities, are capitalized, while other words are not. Also, there are no spaces between the pinyin for words (most of which are two characters, but can be three or four).

When there is more than one vowel in the pinyin, the tone mark is placed based on the following order (i.e. it goes on the vowel that comes first in this list): a - o - e - i - u

Examples: hǎo dài wěi xiōng
Exception: for ui and iu it goes over the second, so diū and duī\

Recommended Reading

https://pinyin.info/rules/index.html

Start by reading through the following two tables of initital and final sounds. Then watch the video and pronounce along. There is a lot to absorb here, so it may be better to do one section per day or, if you want to do more, take a break between each section. THese are divided up in teh same way the Chinese divide them, based on the sounds your mouth makes.
You should spend a fair amount of time here and with the links below. Good pronunciation makes a world of difference when speaking with Chinese people.

Consonants/Initials - 23

b: unaspirated "p", like the English "b" but with a bit more pressure
p: as in English
m: as in English
f: as in English
d: unaspirated "t", like the English "d" but with a bit more pressure
t: as in English
n: as in English
l: as in English
g: unaspirated "k", like the English "g" but with a bit more pressure
k: as in English
h: like the English "h" if followed by "a"; otherwise it is pronounced more roughly/guttural (not unlike the Scottish "ch")
z: like the ds in "reds" but with more pressure (unaspirated counterpart of c above)
c: like "ts" in cats
s: as in "sun"
zh: as in English "jungle", but with more pressure (unaspirated counterpart of ch above)
ch: as in "chant"
sh: as in "shin"
r: similar to the English "r" in "rank" with a bit of the initial sound in French "journal" in it
j: like zh, but not as "full", about halfway between zh and z, always followed by a y sound
q: like ch, but not as "full", about halfway between ch and c, always followed by a y sound
x: think of hs or sy. Like sh, but not as "full", about halfway between sh and s
w: as in English
y: as in English; not pronounced at all if followed by i

Vowels/Finals - 32

a: as in "father"
ai: like English "eye" or "Thai" or "my", but a bit lighter
an: following a 'y' or an 'i' pronounced like the en in "enter"; otherwise after other consonants like on in "upon"
ang: same as an, but with a 'g' sound at the end (even when following 'i' or 'y').
ao: approximately as in "cow" but without the ending 'w' sound, or "ouch"; the a is much more audible than the o
e: a little shorter than the oo in "cook"; when following 'y' or 'i' pronounced as "yet"
ei: as in "hey" "way" or "weigh"
en: sounds like an when you say quickly "an elephant" or "chicken"
eng: like the ung in "lung"
i: like English "ee", except when preceded by "c", "s", "z"; "zh", "sh", ch, and r. Here it is pronounced like "shirt" When preceded by c, s, or z, there is almost no sound of the vowel.
ia: as ya in "yacht"
ian: like "yen" (see 'an' above)
iang: like "yahng" (not yang) (see 'ang' above)
iao: "yow" (rhymes with cow) (see 'ao' above), second part of "meow" but as one syllable
ie: the initial i sounds like English "ee", but is very short; e , like ye in "yet" (see 'e' above)
in: "in" though slightly longer (approaching "seen")
ing: as in "sing"
iong: a y sound followed by the ong in "long"
iu: pronounced like yo (though without the attitude) or "O solo mio" but as one syllable
o: follows only m, p, b, and f, where it is the same as 'uo' below.
ong: here, o is a sound somewhere in between English "o" as in "song" and English "u" as in "bush"
ou: oe as in "doe" (without a strong 'w' sound at the end)
u: like English "oo", except when preceded by y, x, j or q; in this case it is pronounced like ü, or yu, but with a tighter mouth. Pinch your mouth together and say 'ee'.
ü or uu: as in German "üben" or French "lune." Use 'v' when you type this vowel.
ua: wa as in "want" or "wash"
uai: "why"
uan: wan as in "want"; except when preceded by a j, q, x, or y, when it is pronounced "when", though with a rounding of the mouth and lips and without any airy 'wh' sound.
uang: "wong" or the Korean "won" plus a g sound.
üe: e is pronounced like ê, the ü is short and light, as in "wet"
ui: "way"
un: following j,q,x, or y, pronounced as "win" but with rounded lips
uo: the u is pronounced shorter and lighter than the o , like the wo in "swore"Differences with

English

Note the following letters and syllables are not used in the way they are in English, so can cause confusion if you are not cognizant of the difference. (Look back at the explanations above if you do not remember.)
c
x
z
yan
yuan
i (depending on what consonant precedes it. ci, si, zi, chi, shi, zhi are different.)
eng
ui
iu

Take few minutes now and go here https://www.archchinese.com/chinese_pinyin.htmlor here
https://www.quickmandarin.com/chinesepinyintable/ to practice. Look at any pinyin the table, think about how you would pronounce it, say it aloud, then click on it and choose one of the words that appears at the top of the table (the only difference is the tone) or in the popup to hear it.
Recommended Reading
https://web.mit.edu/%7Ejinzhang/www/pinyin/
https://www.activechinese.com/school/pinyin.jsp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin_table
Recommended Listening
https://www.quickmandarin.com/chinesepinyintable/
https://www.chinese-tools.com/learn/chinese/anexe-pinyin.html
iPad https://pinyintutor.com/
Recommended Software
The following program will put a pinyin table, complete with pronunciations, on your computer.
https://www.chinesehour.com/tools/pinyin_chart/
https://chinesepod.com/tools/pronunciation