Pinyin 拼音, Zhuyin 注音 (Bopomofo), IPA Comparison
Pinyin (拼音) is using English alphabets to indicate Chinese character pronunciation. It was invented in 1950s. It is used in China and around the world for Chinese/English transliteration (translation by sound, such as place names, people's names.).
Zhuyin (注音) (aka bopomofo) is a set of symbols to indicate Chinese character pronunciation. It is used mostly in Taiwan. It is invented in 1912.
Pinyin and Zhuyin are pretty much the same, except Pinyin uses English alphabets and zhuyin uses special symbols.
zhuyin symbols:
ㄅㄆㄇㄈ ㄉㄊㄋㄌ ㄍㄎㄏ ㄐㄑㄒ ㄓㄔㄕㄖ ㄗㄘㄙ ㄚㄛㄜㄝ ㄞㄟㄠㄡ ㄢㄣㄤㄥ ㄦ ㄧㄨㄩ
| Zhuyin | Pinyin | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ㄅ | b | 八 (ㄅㄚ, bā) |
| ㄆ | p | 杷 (ㄆㄚˊ, pá) |
| ㄇ | m | 馬 (ㄇㄚˇ, mǎ) |
| ㄈ | f | 法 (ㄈㄚˇ, fǎ) |
| ㄉ | d | 地 (ㄉㄧˋ, dì) |
| ㄊ | t | 提 (ㄊㄧˊ, tí) |
| ㄋ | n | 你 (ㄋㄧˇ, nǐ) |
| ㄌ | l | 利 (ㄌㄧˋ, lì) |
| ㄍ | g | 告 (ㄍㄠˋ, gào) |
| ㄎ | k | 考 (ㄎㄠˇ, kǎo) |
| ㄏ | h | 好 (ㄏㄠˇ, hǎo) |
| ㄐ | j | 叫 (ㄐㄧㄠˋ, jiào) |
| ㄑ | q | 巧 (ㄑㄧㄠˇ, qiǎo) |
| ㄒ | x | 小 (ㄒㄧㄠˇ, xiǎo) |
| ㄓ | zhi 〖zh〗 | 主 (ㄓㄨˇ, zhǔ) |
| ㄔ | chi 〖ch〗 | 出 (ㄔㄨ, chū) |
| ㄕ | shi 〖sh〗 | 束 (ㄕㄨˋ, shù) |
| ㄖ | ri 〖r〗 | 入 (ㄖㄨˋ, rù) |
| ㄗ | zi 〖z〗 | 在 (ㄗㄞˋ, zài) |
| ㄘ | ci 〖c〗 | 才 (ㄘㄞˊ, cái) |
| ㄙ | si 〖s〗 | 塞 (ㄙㄞ, sāi) |
| ㄚ | a | 大 (ㄉㄚˋ, dà) |
| ㄛ | o | 多 (ㄉㄨㄛ, duō) |
| ㄜ | e | 得 (ㄉㄜˊ, dé) |
| ㄝ | ê | 爹 (ㄉㄧㄝ, diē) |
| ㄞ | ai | 晒 (ㄕㄞˋ, shài) |
| ㄟ | ei | 誰 (ㄕㄟˊ, shéi) |
| ㄠ | ao | 少 (ㄕㄠˇ, shǎo) |
| ㄡ | ou | 收 (ㄕㄡ, shōu) |
| ㄢ | an | 山 (ㄕㄢ, shān) |
| ㄣ | en | 申 (ㄕㄣ, shēn) |
| ㄤ | ang | 上 (ㄕㄤˋ, shàng) |
| ㄥ | eng | 生 (ㄕㄥ, shēng) |
| ㄦ | er | 而 (ㄦˊ, ér) |
| ㄧ | yi 〖i〗 | 逆 (ㄋㄧˋ, nì) |
| ㄧ | yin 〖in〗 | 音 (ㄧㄣ, yīn) |
| ㄧ | ying 〖ing〗 | 英 (ㄧㄥ, yīng) |
| ㄨ | wu 〖u〗 | 努 (ㄋㄨˇ, nǔ) |
| ㄨ | wen 〖un〗 | 文 (ㄨㄣˊ, wén) |
| ㄨ | weng 〖ong〗 | 翁 (ㄨㄥ, wēng) |
| ㄩ | yu 〖u, ü〗 | 女 (ㄋㄩˇ, nǚ) |
| ㄩ | yun 〖un〗 | 韻 (ㄩㄣˋ, yùn) |
| ㄩ | yong 〖iong〗 | 永 (ㄩㄥˇ, yǒng) |
〖〗represents the form used in combination with other letters.
Zhuyin, Pinyin, IPA Comparisons
| IPA | Pinyin | Zhuyin | example |
| ɑ | a | ㄚ | 阿 |
| ɔ | o | ㄛ | 哦 |
| ɤ | e | ㄜ | 俄 |
| ɛ | e | ㄝ | 也 |
| aɪ | ai | ㄞ | 艾 |
| eɪ | ei | ㄟ | 黑 |
| ɑʊ | ao | ㄠ | 凹 |
| ɤʊ | ou | ㄡ | 偶 |
| an | an | ㄢ | 安 |
| ən | en | ㄣ | 恩 |
| ɑŋ | ang | ㄤ | 昂 |
| ɤŋ | eng | ㄥ | 冷 |
| ɑɻ | er | ㄦ | 二 |
| ʊŋ | ong | ㄨㄥ | 中 |
| i | yi | ㄧ | 一 |
| iɛ | ye | ㄧㄝ | 也 |
| iɤʊ | you | ㄧㄡ | 又 |
| iɛn | yan | ㄧㄢ | 言 |
| in | yin | ㄧㄣ | 音 |
| iŋ | ying | ㄧㄥ | 英 |
| IPA | Pinyin | Zhuyin | example |
| u | wu | ㄨ | 五 |
| uɔ | wo | ㄨㄛ | 我 |
| ueɪ | wei | ㄨㄟ | 位 |
| uaɪ | wai | ㄨㄞ | 外 |
| uan | wan | ㄨㄢ | 完 |
| uən | wen | ㄨㄣ | 文 |
| uɤŋ | weng | ㄨㄥ | 翁 |
| y | yu | ㄩ | 玉 |
| yœ | yue | ㄩㄝ | 月 |
| yɛn | yuan | ㄩㄢ | 元 |
| yn | yun | ㄩㄣ | 云 |
| iʊŋ | yong | ㄩㄥ | 用 |
| IPA | Pinyin | Zhuyin | example |
| p | b | ㄅ | 玻 |
| pʰ | p | ㄆ | 婆 |
| m | m | ㄇ | 末 |
| fɤŋ | feng | ㄈㄥ | 封 |
| tiou | diu | ㄉㄧㄡ | 丟 |
| tuei | dui | ㄉㄨㄟ | 兌 |
| tʰ | t | ㄊ | 特 |
| ny | nü | ㄋㄩ | 女 |
| ly | lü | ㄌㄩ | 旅 |
| kɤɻ | ger | ㄍㄜㄦ | 歌儿 |
| kʰ | k | ㄎ | 可 |
| xɤ | he | ㄏㄜ | 何 |
| IPA | Pinyin | Zhuyin | example |
| tɕiɛn | jian | ㄐㄧㄢ | 件 |
| tɕiʊŋ | jiong | ㄐㄩㄥ | 窘 |
| tɕʰin | qin | ㄑㄧㄣ | 秦 |
| ɕyɛn | xuan | ㄒㄩㄢ | 宣 |
| ʈʂɤ | zhe | ㄓㄜ | 哲 |
| ʈʂɨ | zhi | ㄓ | 之 |
| ʈʂʰɤ | che | ㄔㄜ | 扯 |
| ʈʂʰɨ | chi | ㄔ | 赤 |
| ʂɤ | she | ㄕㄜ | 社 |
| ʂɨ | shi | ㄕ | 是 |
| ʐɤ | re | ㄖㄜ | 惹 |
| ʐɨ | ri | ㄖ | 日 |
| tsɤ | ze | ㄗㄜ | 仄 |
| tsuɔ | zuo | ㄗㄨㄛ | 左 |
| tsɨ | zi | ㄗ | 字 |
| tsʰɤ | ce | ㄘㄜ | 策 |
| tsʰɨ | ci | ㄘ | 次 |
| sɤ | se | ㄙㄜ | 色 |
| sɨ | si | ㄙ | 斯 |
| Tones IPA | ma˥˥ | ma˧˥ | ma˨˩˦ | ma˥˩ | ma |
| Pinyin | mā | má | mǎ | mà | ma |
| Zhuyin | ㄇㄚ | ㄇㄚˊ | ㄇㄚˇ | ㄇㄚˋ | ㄇㄚ・ |
| example (traditional/simplfied) | 媽/妈 | 麻/麻 | 馬/马 | 罵/骂 | 嗎/吗 |
See also: Chinese Input Methods