Table Of ContentHANYu PINYIN
)11t41f-i
PENG'S CHINESE TREASURY
concept and cartoons
by
Tan Huay Peng
Times Books International
S;II!1Qport _ /Ii"./" lItmp~r
(11984 TImes Editions Pte Lid
Published by Times Books International
Hanyu Pinyin 6
an imprint 01 Times EdJlions Pte Ltd
Times Centre, 1 New Industrial Road The Four Tones 8
Singapore 1953
Simple Vowels 13
2nd Floor, Wlsma Hong Leong Yamaha
50 Jalan Penchala Compound .vowels 24
46050 PetaNng Jaya
Consonants 41
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia The Neutral Tone 67
First published June 1984 Tone Sandhi 71
Reprinted 1986, 1988, 1990
Tone Marks 72
All rights reserved. No pan of this publication may be The Umlaut Mark 74
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form Of by any means, electronic, mechanical, Two-syllable Words 76
photo-copying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
Vocabulary 82
permission of the copyright owner.
Printed by Mentor Printers Private Limited
ISBN981204 1419
Basic Words and Characters
HANYU PINYIN
Approximately 500. basic words. with their Chinese
characters in the modern simplified form. are
progressively introduced in groups according to
sound. As far as possible. the examples given for
each vowel or consonant group can be identified
from the cartoon.
100 Pinyin words with two syllables are also listed
and explained.
Cartoons
Learning Pinyin is really no drudgery. and cartoons
Hanyu Pinyin. the Romanized Chinese phonetic have been used throughout for the dual function:
System. is considered the most effective aid to to amuse and to teach. Almost effortlesslY, it is
learning Mandarin today. It is precise and accurate possible to learn the Pinyin spelling. pronunciation
and compared to other Romanizations, such as .
and pitch of each word. as well as its meaning and
Wade-Giles and Yale. it is less complicated and
Chinese character - at the same time.
thus more easily learnt.
So flip these pages. be inspired, learn and have
The system reads and writes easily. using fewer
fun!
letters per sound than any other system. As an
additional guide to proper pronunciation. simple
tone marks are placed over the vowels.
Pinyin Made Simple
This book demonstrates the simplest way to
master Pinyin. It analyzes the system. breaking
down the sounds into simple vowels. compound
vowels, and consonants.
First things first. The 4 tones are introduced. after
which comes the pronunciation of each vowel and
consonant component of one-syllable words.
7
6
1st tone ;;;
THE FOUR TONES
Chinese is a tonal language. Every Chinese
character is a syllable with a fixed tone. If the tone
is wrong, the meaning is changed right away. and
in some cases corresponds with no existing
Chinese character! 2nd tone
Mandarin. the official Chinese language. has four
basic tones: each one is indicated by a tone mark.
The tone marks are placed over the vowels. If the
letter '"j" has a tone mark over it. the dot is
-
omitted.
The first tone is a high continuous tone.
like the reciting of "A BCD. etc." 3rd tone
The second tone is a rising questioning
tone, like a surprised "Huh?"
V The third tone is a drawling tone. first
falling then riSing. like an indecisive
"Well .. "
The fourth tone is a sharp falling tone.
...
like a purposeful "Yes!"
"'
Examples:
a A A A ~ ~ ~ ~ T 1
060 0 Q u u u
4th tone
8 9
VOWELS CONSONANTS
II
In Mandarin there are 6 simple vowels and 15
compound vowels. The compound vowels are There are also 24 consonants. divided into
combinations of 2 or J vowels. 7 groups according to the way they are articulated.
10 II
SIMPLE
COMPOUND
VOWELS SIMPLE VOWELS
VOWELS
""'"
a a; ao ~
e
e;
~
;a ;e ;u lao ,
0
ou
u
ua u; un uo uai
U ua ue
CONSONANTS b p m f
d n
g k ng h
,
,
q.
,
zh ch sh
z c s
Lefs begin with the simple vowels:
y w
a e 0 u U
12
13
a a as in cash. rash
as in mama. papa when placed between 1 and n
T- 1000
Ii, fear y' jf tooth tiNn 7i: sky qi3n
p~
m. ~1 mother ~a . :it hair jian JlI. see xi!n $I'; first
w. r.s piAn !lQ cheat
nA. it carry ~ frog dian shop
fl money
.yii III duck ba i§ father dian ,~. spot qian
ilii noodles
miiin
h. Pft ha! da IT beat jiatt ~ reduce
15
I'
e
e as in get, w£t
as in ~arn, learn when preceded by I or u
lexcept for the letter yl
~ M\ Swan de m
he iUJ river ge 1- obtain ye 1I night xi~ *4 slanting
ge individual ji~ ill elder sister lie ~ crack
ke i~l: song re !!.\ ho[ jie I~ receive que Ml really
lesson she
he "'- ~ tongue bi~ ~lJ don't ye Pt leaf
c jOin he n!O drink die I'Ji fall yue 11 moon
[6
17
•
I •
is pronounced like a vocalized r
as in sir. wit I
if preceded by zh. eh, sh or r
\ 1/ ~-
.:'0:- zhi I1l point
,
, 'I" chi 0<; eat
chi II!; spoon
chi i8 late
•
shi matter
8 day
•
is pronounced like a buuing z
I
if preceded by z, c or s
zl i\ purple
cr III bestow
z; q: word
d;
!f:i younger ti H; body cj iii1 phrase
brother
sl Ii silk
bIi, . f:/. grain q; -l:: seven
1m four
., ;g pen ji ic remember
.
) ~ chicken y' 1>. garment
ml !It rice xl i1!i west
18
19
