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Romanization
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Pronunciation of Chinese Words and Names
The Chinese language is much too extensive to include the entire catalogue of characters on this site. Therefore, a very abbreviated explanation is included on this page.
The nature of the Chinese language is rooted in character drawings and one syllable pronunciations of those characters. When communication took place between the West and China, the need arose to develop a way in which the west would be able to understand Chinese. As not everyone could be taught Chinese, the west 'Romanized' the Chinese language.
Every character in the Chinese language has its own unique pronunciation, consisting of one syllable each. The west simply took the Chinese pronunciation and applied the Roman alphabet. In other words, Romanization takes the Chinese language and spells it phonetically using the Roman alphabet.
There have been many Roman translations throughout history; Wade- Giles, Yale and Pinyin. The Wade translation left much of the emphasis on basic Chinese literation, not taking into account that a missed accent or tone could change the entire meaning of the word group. The Yale translation was deemed too confusing for many English speakers, but served well for the Dutch and Portuguese.
For the most part, these translations were inaccurate and hastily developed due to the immediate need for communication. To better prepare those who were studying or learning Chinese, a new and final translation, Pinyin, was adopted and is now the standard for translating the Chinese language.
Libraries in the West still used Wade- Giles until October 1, 1999, when Pinyin was adopted as a standard for titles, authors and text across the US and Europe. This translation is the most accurate in terms of how to pronounce the Chinese language.
Please refer to the charts below for examples of how the different translations compare with each other.
Wade-Giles to Pinyin Conversion Table- Conversion by individual syllables.
Wade-Giles Pinyin Pinyin Wade-Giles a a a a ai ai ai ai an an an an ang ang ang ang ao ao ao ao cha zha ba pa ch'a cha bai p chai zhai ban pan ch'ai chai bang pang chan zhan bao pao ch'an chan bei pei chang zhang ben pen ch'ang chang beng pe chao zhao bi pi ch'ao chao bian pien che zhe biao piao ch'e che bie pieh chen zhen bin pin ch'en chen bing pi cheng zheng bo po ch'eng cheng bou pou chi ji bu pu ch'i qi chia jia ca ts'a ch'ia qia cai ts' chiang jiang can ts'an ch'iang qiang cang ts'ang chiao jiao cao ts'ao ch'iao qiao ce ts'e chieh jie cen ts'en ch'ieh qie ceng ts'e chien jian cha ch'a ch'ien qian chai ch'ai chih zhi chan ch'an ch'ih chi chang ch'ang chin jin chao ch'ao ch'in qin che ch ching jing chen ch'en ch'ing qing cheng ch'eng chiu jiu chi ch'ih ch'iu qiu chong ch'ung chiung jiong chou ch'ou ch'iung qiong chu ch cho zhuo chua ch'ua ch'o chuo chuai ch'uai chou zhou chuan ch'uan ch'ou chou chuang ch'uang chu zhu chui ch'ui ch'u chu chun ch' chü ju chuo ch'o ch'ü qu ci tz'u chua zhua cong ts'ung ch'ua chua cou ts'ou chuai zhuai cu ts'u ch'uai chuai cuan ts'u chuan zhuan cui ts'ui ch'uan chuan cun ts'un chüan juan cuo ts'o ch'üan quan chuang zhuang da ta ch'uang chuang dai t chüeh jue dan tan ch'üeh que dang tang chui zhui dao tao ch'ui chui de te chun zhun deng teng ch'un chun di t chün jun dian tien ch'ün qun diao tiao chung zhong die tieh ch'ung chong ding ting diu tiu en en dong tu erh er dou tou du tu fa fa duan tuan fan fan dui tui fang fang dun tun fei fei duo t fen fen feng feng e o fo fo en en fou fou er erh fu fu fa fa ha ha fan fan hai hai fang fang han han fei fei hang hang fen fen hao hao feng feng hei hei fo fo hen hen fou f heng heng fu ho he ga ka hou hou gai kai hsi xi gan kan hsia xia gang kang hsiang xiang gao k hsiao xiao ge ko hsieh xie gei kei hsien xian gen ken hsin xin geng keng hsing gong kung hsiu xiu gou k hsiung xiong gu ku hsü xu gua kua hsüan xuan guai kuai hsüeh xue guan kuan hsün xun guang kuang hu hu gui ku hua hua gun kun huai huai guo kuo huan huan huang huang ha ha hui hui hai hai hun hun han h hung hong hang hang huo huo hao hao he ho i yi hei hei hen hen jan ran heng he jang rang hong hung jao rao hou hou je re hu hu jen ren hua hua jeng reng huai huai jih ri huan hu jo ruo huang huang jou rou hui hui ju ru hun hun juan ruan huo huo jui rui jun run ji c jung rong jia chia jian chien ka ga jiang chiang k'a ka jiao chiao kai gai jie chieh k'ai kai jin ch kan gan jing ching k'an kan jiong chiung kang gang jiu chiu k'ang kang ju chü kao gao juan chüan k'ao kao jue chü kei gei jun chün k'ei kei ken gen ka k'a k'en ken kai k'ai keng geng kan k'an k'eng keng kang k'a ko ge kao k'ao k'o ke ke k'o kou gou kei k'ei k'ou kou ken k'en ku gu keng k'eng k'u ku kong k'u kua gua kou k'ou k'ua kua ku k'u kuai guai kua k'ua k'uai kuai kuai k'uai kuan guan kuan k'uan k'uan kuan kuang k'ua kuang guang kui k'uei k'uang kuang kun k'un kuei gui kuo k'uo k'uei kui kun gun la la k'un kun lai l kung gong lan lan k'ung kong lang lang kuo guo lao lao k'uo kuo le le lei lei la la leng le lai lai li li lan lan lia lia lang lang lian lien lao lao liang liang le le liao liao lei lei lie li leng leng lin lin li li ling ling lia lia liu liu liang liang long lung liao liao lou lou lieh lie lu lien lian lü lü lin lin luan luan ling ling lüan lüan liu liu lüe lüeh lo luo lun lun lou lou lu lu lu ma ma lü lü mai mai luan luan man man lüan lüan mang mang lüeh lüe mao mao lun lun mei m lung long men men ma ma meng meng mai mai mi mi man man mian mien mang mang miao miao mao mao mie mi mei mei min min men men ming ming meng meng miu miu mi mi mo mo miao miao mou mou mieh mie mu mien mian min min na na ming ming nai nai miu miu nan nan mo mo nang nang mou mou nao n mu mu nei nei nen nen na na neng neng nai nai ni ni nan nan nian nien nang nang niang nia nao nao niao niao nei nei nie nieh nen nen nin nin neng neng ning ning ni ni niu niu niang niang nong nu niao niao nou nou nieh nie nu nu nien nian nü nü nin nin nuan nuan ning ning nüe nüeh niu niu nuo no nuo nou nou ou ou nu nu nü nü pa p'a nuan nuan pai p'ai nüeh nüe pan p' nung nong pang p'ang pao p'ao o e pei p'ei ou ou pen p'en peng p'eng pa ba pi p p'a pa pian p'ien pai bai piao p'iao p'ai pai pie p'ieh pan ban pin p'in p'an pan ping p'ing pang bang po p p'ang pang pou p'ou pao bao pu p'u p'ao pao pei bei qi ch'i p'ei pei qia ch'ia pen ben qian ch'i p'en pen qiang ch'iang peng beng qiao ch'iao p'eng peng qie ch'ieh pi bi qin ch'in p'i pi qing ch'ing piao biao qiong ch'iu p'iao piao qiu ch'iu pieh bie qu ch'ü p'ieh pie quan ch'üan pien bian que ch'üeh p'ien pian qun ch'ün pin bin p'in pin ran jan ping bing rang jang p'ing ping rao jao po bo re je p'o po ren jen pou bou reng je p'ou pou ri jih pu bu rong jung p'u pu rou jou ru ju sa sa ruan juan sai sai rui j san san run jun sang sang ruo jo sao sao se se sa sa sen sen sai sai seng seng san s sha sha sang sang shai shai sao sao shan shan se se shang shang sen sen shao shao seng seng she she sha s shen shen shai shai sheng sheng shan shan shih shi shang shang shou shou shao shao shu shu she she shua shua shen sh shuai shuai sheng sheng shuan shuan shi shih shuang shuang shou shou shui shui shu shu shun shun shua shua shuo shuo shuai shu so suo shuan shuan sou sou shuang shuang ssu si shui shui su su shun shun suan suan shuo shuo sui sui si s sun sun song sung sung song sou sou ta da su su t'a ta suan suan tai dai sui sui t'ai tai sun s tan dan suo t'an tan a t'a tang dang tai t'ai t'ang tang tan t'an tao dao tang t'a t'ao tao tao t'ao te de te t'e t'e te teng t'eng teng deng ti t'i t'eng teng tian t'ien ti di tiao t'i t'i ti tie t'ieh tiao diao ting t'ing t'iao tiao tong t'ung tieh die tou t'ou t'ieh tie tu t'u tien dian tuan t'u t'ien tian tui t'ui ting ding tun t'un t'ing ting tuo t'o tiu diu to duo wa wa t'o tuo wai w tou dou wan wan t'ou tou wang wang tsa za wei wei ts'a ca wen wen tsai zai weng weng ts'ai cai wo tsan zan wu wu ts'an can tsang zang xi hsi ts'ang cang xia hsia tsao zao xian hsien ts'ao cao xiang hsia tse ze xiao hsiao ts'e ce xie hsieh tsei zei xin hsin tsen zen hsing ts'en cen xiong hsiung tseng zeng xiu hsi ts'eng ceng xu hsü tso zuo xuan hsüan ts'o cou xue hsüeh tsou zou xun hsün ts'ou cou tsu zu ya ts'u cu yai yai tsuan zuan yan yen ts'uan cuan yang yang tsui zui yao yao ts'ui cui ye yeh tsun zun yi ts'un cun yin yin tsung zong ying ying ts'ung cong yong yung tu du you yu t'u tu yu yü tuan duan yuan yü t'uan tuan yue yüeh tui dui yun yün t'ui tui tun dun za tsa t'un tun zai tsai tung dong zan ts t'ung tong zang tsang tzu zi zao tsao tz'u ci ze tse zei tsei wa wa zen tsen wai wai zeng tse wan wan zha cha wang wang zhai chai wei wei zhan chan wen wen zhang chang weng weng zhao chao wo wo zhe c wu wu zhen chen zheng cheng ya ya zhi chih yai yai zhong chung yang yang zhou chou yao yao zhu ch yeh ye zhua chua yen yan zhuai chuai yin yin zhuan chuan ying ying zhuang chuang yu you zhui chui yü yu zhun chu yüan yuan zhuo cho yüeh yue zi tzu yün yun zong tsung yung yong zou tsou zu tsu zuan tsuan zui tsui zun tsun
Yale and Wade-Giles to Pinyin Conversion Table- Conversion by general syllables.
Pinyin Yale Wade- Giles a a a ai ai ai ao au ao b b p c ts ts',tz' ch ch ch' d d t e e,ee e,eh ei ei ei er er erh f f f g g k h h h i,yi i,r,y,yi,z i,i h,u ia,ya ya ia,ya iao,yao yau iao,yao ie,ye ye ie,ieh,ye iou,iu,you you iu,y u j j ch k k k' l l l m m m n n n ng ng ng o o o ong ung ung ou ou ou p p p' q ch ch' r r j s s s,ss sh sh sh t t t' u u u ü yu,yw ü ua,wa wa ua,wa uai,wai wai uai,wai ue we we üe,ue,yue ywe üe,üe h uei,ui,wei wei uei, ui,wei uo,wo wo uo,wo,o x sy hs z dz ts,tz zh j ch
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