1. 拼音 pīn yīn (notations representing Chinese-language Joint Sounds)
| (1)声母 shēng mǔ (initial consonants) 21+2=23 | ||||
| b | p | m | f | |
| d | t | n | l | |
| g | k | h | ||
| j | q | x | ||
| zh | ch | sh | r | |
| z | c | s | ||
| y | w | (many books do not include the last twos into initials) | ||
| How Chinese pupils are taught at school with regard to Pinyin: Recite group by group (such as “b, p, m, f” as a group)Resort to specific Chinese character for each Pinyin (such as: to remember “j”, we resort to “鸡 jī-chicken” or whatever you feel easy to learn by heart). | ||||
| (2)韵母 yùn mǔ (finals ) 24 | ||||
| a | o | e | ||
| i | u | ü | The former six are vowels, also called simple finals | |
| ai | ei | ui | ||
| ao | ou | iu | ||
| ie | üe | er | These nine are compound finals; and below are nasal finals | |
| an | en | in | un | ün |
| ang | eng | ing | ong | |
| Another form for Finals (no need to recite this form, but pay attention to those marked in purple and know that sometimes there are two finals in one character, and also pay attention to the remarks) 24 +12 | ||||
| i | u | ü | ||
| a | ia | ua | ||
| o | uo | |||
| e | ie | üe | ||
| ai | uai | |||
| ei | uei-ui | |||
| ao | iao | |||
| ou | iou-iu | |||
| an | ian | uan | üan | |
| en | in | uen-un | ün | |
| ang | iang | uang | ||
| eng | ing | ueng | ||
| ong | iong | Special: er | ||
Remarks:
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For the audio material for every Pinyin, please refer to 金石汉语
2. 声调 shēng mǔ (Tones)
| Script of tones | Name of tones | Description | Concept& example | Vocal cord |
ā |
1st | High and level | Like sing out an English syllable, eg. 衣(yī), sing out [i:] | Keep tightest, almost no change (the sound is long) |
á |
2nd | Rising (middle low to high) | Like Doubt: Did you say 王(wáng)? | Not tight not loose, stretch till the tightest (long) |
ǎ |
3rd | Low (with rise):If read separately, fall then rise;If in the context with other characters, aiming at low (except in two consecutive third tones) | Aiming at low when read together with other characters in contextsEg: 很高hěn gāo,书法 shū fǎ | A little bit tight–loosen & extend,suddenly tighten, but not to the tightest(if read separately, the longest, but in the context with other characters,short) |
| 4th | Falling (very high then low) | Like LIST final intonation or Certainty. Eg: “I said Wei4” or “It is late!” or “1, 2, 3 (all rising) and 4(falling)!” | Tight–loosen till completely loose(short) | |
a |
Light tone | Toneless, depending on contexts |
*The tone form above is derived from MIT Open course (see resources)
Note: the third tone: If an expression is made up of two third tones, the first one shall be read as the second tone. Eg. 很好hěn hǎo, both are the third tone, so the first character 很shall be read as the second tone, but the written form is still the third tone.
Learn to tune into the right tones:
“汽车平走ā ā ā，汽车上坡á á á，汽车下坡又上坡ǎ ǎ ǎ，汽车下坡à à à”—- “The car runs on flat road ā ā ā, the car runs uphill á á á, the car runs uphill and downhill ǎ ǎ ǎ, the car runs downhill à à à!” (Picture source: www.pep.com.cn People’s Education Press)
3. 汉字笔画hàn zì bǐ huà（Character Strokes)
Basic Strokes
点 diǎn ｀ (小 六) Dot,from top to bottom-right
横 héng 一 (一 大) Horizontal stroke,from left to right
竖 shù 丨 (十 干）Vertical stroke,from top to bottom
撇 piě ノ (人 八) Downward-left stroke,from top to bottom-left
捺 nà 乀 (人 八)Downward-right stroke,from top to bottom-right
提 tí (我 打) Upward,from bottom-left to top rigth
Stroke Order
Horizontal then vertical.(下, 十 ) Falling leftwards then falling rightwards (人, 天)
From top to bottom (三, 足) From left to right (红, 你)
Outside then inside (月, 肉) Sometimes inside then outside(山, 这)
Middle then two sides (小, 水) From outside to inside then close it up(日, 四)