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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 xing   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  
lin lin   luan luan
ling ling   lüan lüan
liu liu   lüe lüeh
lo luo   lun lun
lou lou   lu  
lu lu   ma ma
  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  
nin nin   nuan nuan
ning ning   nüe nüeh
niu niu   nuo  
no nuo      
nou nou   ou ou
nu nu      
  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   xing 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
tuan duan   yuan
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
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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