A Short Course in the Pin-Yin Romanization Method:
The Pin-Yin Romanization method has generally replaced the older Wades-Giles
method for attempting to romanize the Chinese language. This system has
been official use since 1958 and was introduced by the People's Republic
of China. It is yet another attempt at teaching Chinese pronunciation to
foreigners. For the most part, Pin-Yin is slightly better for most words
than previous romanization attempts, but as with other attempts, there are
certain characters which do not translate very well, therefore is is most
useful only after a significant study of the system. After mastering the
Pin-Yin system, it can actually be used to accurately pronounce most Chinese
words (as long as the Chinese words are spelling out in the Pin-Yin system). |
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Pin-Yin spelling is used extensively on signs and posters throughout
China, although they seldom use the accent marks that are needed to reproduce
the tones of the language. Western newspapers, such as the New York Times,
have adtoped the Pin-Yin spelling to render Chinese names and terms.
Tones: Part of the Pin-Yin (and other methods)
romanization are the unique "tones" of the Chinese language. It
is sometimes referred to as the language that is "sung". Each
syllable as a tone or movement of it's pitch which is important to the meaning
of the word. Unfortunately, there is nothing in English that parallels this
concept. In English, an incorrect inflection of a sentence can render the
sentence difficult to understand... in Chinese an incorrect intonation of
a single word can completely change it's meaning. |