{"id":9863,"date":"2019-11-21T20:01:30","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T20:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/?p=9863"},"modified":"2019-11-22T01:53:51","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T01:53:51","slug":"learn-chinese-pinyin-in-21-days-day-20-spelling-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/de\/learn-chinese-pinyin-in-21-days-day-20-spelling-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn Chinese Pinyin in 21 Days \u2013 Day 20: Spelling Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By the standard, Basic Spelling Rules for Pinyin Orthography, called “\u6c49\u8bed\u62fc\u97f3\u6b63\u8bcd\u57fa\u672c\u89c4\u5219” in Chinese, issued in 1988 from Natio<\/em>nal Education Commission and natio<\/em>nal Language Commission of P.R. China, spacing in Pinyin is ba<\/em>sed on whole words, not syllables.<\/p>\n

Since word segmentation is complicated and there are often ambiguities on how to partition a word and group the syllable, people still write Pinyin text syllable by syllable.<\/p>\n

In Level-1 lessons of Kids Chinese Podcast, we write Pinyin syllable by syllable for beginners to read and understand Pinyin easily.<\/p>\n

Spelling General Rules<\/h3>\n

1. A Word is the basic unit for spelling the Chinese Common Language.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • \u72d7, g\u01d2u (English translation: dog)<\/li>\n
  • \u670b\u53cb, péngyou (English translation: friend)<\/li>\n
  • \u7535\u89c6\u673a, diànshìj\u012b (English translation: television)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    2. Structures of two or three syllables that indicate a complete co<\/em>ncept are written together.<\/p>\n

      \n
    • \u5168\u73ed, quánb\u0101n (English translation: the whole class)<\/li>\n
    • \u5bf9\u4e0d\u8d77, duìbuq\u01d0 (English translation: sorry)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      3. Separate terms with more than 4 syllables if they can be separated into words, otherwise write all the syllables together.<\/p>\n

        \n
      • \u7ecf\u6d4e\u5371\u673a, j\u012bngjì w\u0113ij\u012b (English translation: financial crisis)<\/li>\n
      • \u7814\u7a76\u751f\u9662, yánji\u016bsh\u0113ngyuàn (English translation: graduate school)<\/li>\n
      • \u7ea2\u5341\u5b57\u4f1a, Hóngshízìhuì (English translation: Red Cross)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        4. Reduplicated mo<\/em>nosyllabic words are written together, but reduplicated disyllabic words are separated.<\/p>\n

          \n
        • \u4eba\u4eba, rénrén (English translation: everybody)<\/li>\n
        • \u5c1d\u8bd5\u5c1d\u8bd5, chángshi chángshi (English translation: give it a try)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          5. Surnames and given names (xìngmíng\/míngzi) are written separately in the Chinese Han language. The first letters of surnames and the given names are capitalized. Pen names (b\u01d0míng) and nicknames (biémíng) are written according to the same principles:<\/p>\n

            \n
          • \u738b\u5efa\u56fd, Wáng Jiànguó<\/li>\n
          • \u4e1c\u65b9 \u7ae0, D\u014dngf\u0101ng Zh\u0101ng<\/li>\n
          • \u6714 \u4e09, Shuò S\u0101n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            A perso<\/em>nal name and the person’s professio<\/em>nal title are separated.<\/em><\/p>\n

              \n
            • \u738b\u6559\u6388, Wáng ji\u0101oshòu (English translation: Professor Wang)<\/li>\n
            • \u674e\u6821\u957f, L\u01d0 xiàozh\u01ceng (English translation: Principle Li)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              6. Perso<\/em>nal and place names not in the Chinese Han language, are written either in the original language or transcribed in Roman letters.<\/p>\n

                \n
              • Einstein (Ài’\u012bns\u012bt\u01cen)<\/li>\n
              • Lo<\/em>ndon (Lúnd\u016bn)<\/li>\n
              • Washington (Huáshèngdùn)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                Foreign names transcribed in the Chinese Han language are written according to the pro<\/em>nunciation of the correspo<\/em>nding characters. <\/em><\/p>\n

                  \n
                • \u67e5\u91cc, chá l\u01d0 (English translation: Charley)<\/li>\n
                • \u8428\u62c9, sà l\u0101 (English translation: Sarah)<\/li>\n
                • \u8272\u62c9, sè l\u0101 (English translation: salad)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                  7. (Monosyllabic) action verbs are written together with the suffixes zhe, le, guo.<\/p>\n

                    \n
                  • \u770b\u7740, kànzhe (English translation: reading\/looking)<\/li>\n
                  • \u770b\u4e86, kànle (English translation: read o<\/em>nce at a past moment)<\/li>\n
                  • \u770b\u8fc7, kànguò (English translation: have\/had read at least once)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                    Le at the end of a sentence is separated from the sentence.<\/em>
                    \u7535\u8f66\u5230\u4e86. diànch\u0113 dào le (English translation: The train came\/has come).
                     <\/p>\n

                    Pinyin Spelling Rules<\/h3>\n

                    We have covered some of the “Pinyin rules” in “Pro<\/em>nunciation Guide” or “Notes” of each Pinyin Lesson. Here is a short summary.<\/p>\n

                    The following seven groups of single syllables cover all Chinese Pinyin spelling.<\/p>\n

                      \n
                    • 1. The final “iou” becomes the short form of “iu” when spelt with an initial. Namely, “iou = iu”.<\/li>\n
                    • 2. The final “uei” becomes the short form of “ui” when spelt with an initial. Namely, “uei = ui”.<\/li>\n
                    • 3. The final “uen” becomes the short form of “un” when spelt with an initial. Namely, “uen = un”.<\/li>\n
                    • 4. The final “ü” is written as “u” (no \u016bmlaut) after j, q, x, or y, and also “üen” changes into “un”. Namely, “jü = ju”, “qü = qu”, “xü = xu”, and “yü = yu”; “jüen = jun”, “qüen = qun”, “xüen = xun”, “yüen = yun”.<\/li>\n
                    • 5. “i” in the syllables “zi”, “ci” and “si” is not the common final “i”, but a blade-alveolar vowel. The pro<\/em>nunciations of the syllables “zi”, “ci” and “si” are the same as those of the initials “z”, “c” and “s”. Namely, “zi = z”, “ci = c”, and “si = s”.<\/li>\n
                    • 6. “i” in the syllables “zhi”, “chi” “shi” and “ri” is not the common final “i”, but a blade-alveolar vowel. The pro<\/em>nunciations of the syllables “zhi”, “chi”, “shi” and “ri” are the same as those of the initials “zh”, “ch”, “sh”, and “r”. Namely, “zhi = zh”, “chi = ch”, “Shi = sh” and “ri = r”.<\/li>\n
                    • 7. When finals “i”, “u” and “ü” make syllables themselves without preceding. They are written as, “i = y”, “u = W”, “ü = yu”.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                       <\/p>\n<\/div>\n