Pinyin Chart

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why is this pinyin chart different from some other pinyin charts?

HanziHero uses a slightly modified pinyin chart to help with our mnemonics. Standard Pinyin has a large set of finals like -iang, -ian, -ia, -iao that are difficult for students to pronounce, let alone remember. To remedy this, we created a new set of initials that are easier to pronounce and remember, and modified the finals accordingly.

In the case above, we have a new initial li- which can be combined with the more common Standard Pinyin finals -ang , -an , -a , -ao which are pronounced more or less how they are read in English.

The pinyin liang then becomes li- plus -ang instead of “l-“ plus “-iang”.

In short, we remove some finals and add some initials to make everything easier to understand and remember. You can read more on our documentation page outlining all differences.

• Why do the zh/ch/sh/r initials combined with the “-_” final form zhi/chi/shi/ri?

“i” in pinyin represents two distinct types of sound in Mandarin Chinese.

The first one is one that is similar to the English sound “ee” that is in “cheese”. You can hear this in syllables like bi- or ni- or ti- . It is a true vowel.

The second one is similar to the “i” sound we hear in “sit”. It is completely different, and is found in these syllables zhi , chi , shi , ri . This “i” is not a vowel in the true sense of the word, but instead a syllabic consonant.

To differentiate between these cases, we represent e.g., zhi as “zh-“ plus “-_”. The null final is apt here because there isn’t a true final here at all. Instead, the final sound of the syllable is a non-vowel retroflex sound.

• Why do the z/s/c initials combined with the “-_” final form zi/si/ci?

“i” in pinyin represents two distinct types of sound in Mandarin Chinese.

The first one is one that is similar to the English sound “ee” that is in “cheese”. You can hear this in syllables like bi- or ni- or ti- . It is a true vowel.

The second one is similar to the “i” sound we hear in “sit”. It is completely different, and is found in these syllables si , zi , ci . This “i” is not a vowel in the true sense of the word, but instead a syllabic vowel-like sound.

To differentiate between these cases, we represent e.g., si as “s-“ plus “-_”. The null final is apt here because there isn’t a true final vowel sound here at all.

• Why does y- combined with the “-_” final form yi?

In Pinyin, the “y” letter sometimes represents an “i” sound. E.g., if you listen closely to ya , you can here a “i” within it.

In our modified pinyin system, the syllable will include the y- initial all such cases.

As such, when the y- initial is entirely on its own (i.e., combined with a null final), it becomes yi , making more clear the presence of the “i” sound in the pronunciation of the full syllable.

• Why does y- combined with the -(e)ng final form ying?

In Pinyin, the “y” letter sometimes represents an “i” sound. E.g., if you listen closely to ya , you can here a “i” within it.

In our modified pinyin system, the syllable will include the y- initial all such cases.

As such, when the y- initial is combined with the “-(e)ng” final, it forms “ying”. This makes clear the presence of that “i” sound in the pronunciation of the syllable.

• Why does y- combined with the -en final form yin?

In Pinyin, the “y” letter sometimes includes an “i” sound. E.g., if you listen closely to ya , you can here a “i” within it.

In our modified pinyin system, the syllable will include the y- initial all such cases.

As such, when the y- initial is combined with the -(e)n final, it forms yin . This makes clear the presence of that “i” sound in the pronunciation of the syllable.

• Why does w combined with the “-_” final form wu?

In Pinyin, the w- letter represents or includes an “u” sound. E.g., if you listen closely to wa , you can here a “u” within it.

As such, when the w- initial is entirely on its own (i.e., combined with a null final), it becomes wu , making more clear the presence of the “u” sound in the pronunciation of the full syllable.