Structure
Pinyin

Structure

When represented by Pinyin (the romanization of Standard Chinese characters), each sound in the Chinese language is made up of three parts: initials, finals, and tones. Initials are the first part of a Chinese sound, and finals are the end part of a sound. Tone marks are drawn above letters when words are written with Pinyin.

Example

The 5 Tones

Initials

Finals

Tones
Tone
1
2
3
4
5
Mark
ˉ
ˊ
ˇ
ˋ
N/A
Pitch
Flat
Rising
Low
Falling
Neutral
b
c
ch
d
f
g
h
j
k
l
m
n
p
q
r
s
sh
t
w
x
y
z
zh
a
ai
an
ang
ao
e
ei
en
eng
er
i
ia
ian
iang
iao
ie
in
ing
iong
iu
o
ong
ou
u
ua
uai
uang
ue
ui
un
uo
ü
üe
Final
Initial
Tone
Pinyin
zh
ong
1
zhōng