Usage and Development of Contemporary Hanyu Pinyin

Source:
By:Wai Houng Tham

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/ret.v1i2.50

Abstract:

Hanyu is a type of language that is based on the Beijing phonetic system and has four distinguishable tones.  As a result to date, the tool designed for the pronunciation of this Chinese language whether it is the past National Phonetic Alphabet or the contemporary Hanyu Pinyin, there is always the need to add the tone marks in order to distinguish the four tones.  However, to add a symbol for the sake of pronunciation spells inconvenience, because Hanyu Pinyin is essentially composed of Latin alphabet.  Unless there is a special facility, no ordinary English computer keyboard can manage to add tone marks together with typing at the same time.  Hence, the tone marks can only be chosen from the symbols set in the computer (if any) or added manually after all typing has been completed.  It is not only time consuming but also involves a lot of work and many a time, the tone mark is either wrongly added or omitted.  If there is a way to write Hanyu Pinyin without the use of tone marks and yet be able to differentiate the four tones, it will save the trouble of having to add tone marks for the correct pronunciation.  This new method may also help in making typing more convenient. 

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