Pinyin 拼音, Zhuyin 注音, IPA Comparison

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

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 vs. Pinyin
ZhuyinPinyinExample
b八 (ㄅㄚ, bā)
p杷 (ㄆㄚˊ, pá)
m馬 (ㄇㄚˇ, mǎ)
f法 (ㄈㄚˇ, fǎ)
d地 (ㄉㄧˋ, dì)
t提 (ㄊㄧˊ, tí)
n你 (ㄋㄧˇ, nǐ)
l利 (ㄌㄧˋ, lì)
g告 (ㄍㄠˋ, gào)
k考 (ㄎㄠˇ, kǎo)
h好 (ㄏㄠˇ, hǎo)
j叫 (ㄐㄧㄠˋ, jiào)
q巧 (ㄑㄧㄠˇ, qiǎo)
x小 (ㄒㄧㄠˇ, xiǎo)
zhi 〖zh〗主 (ㄓㄨˇ, zhǔ)
chi 〖ch〗出 (ㄔㄨ, chū)
shi 〖sh〗束 (ㄕㄨˋ, shù)
ri 〖r〗入 (ㄖㄨˋ, rù)
zi 〖z〗在 (ㄗㄞˋ, zài)
ci 〖c〗才 (ㄘㄞˊ, cái)
si 〖s〗塞 (ㄙㄞ, sāi)
a大 (ㄉㄚˋ, dà)
o多 (ㄉㄨㄛ, duō)
e得 (ㄉㄜˊ, dé)
ê爹 (ㄉㄧㄝ, diē)
ai晒 (ㄕㄞˋ, shài)
ei誰 (ㄕㄟˊ, shéi)
ao少 (ㄕㄠˇ, shǎo)
ou收 (ㄕㄡ, shōu)
an山 (ㄕㄢ, shān)
en申 (ㄕㄣ, shēn)
ang上 (ㄕㄤˋ, shàng)
eng生 (ㄕㄥ, shēng)
er而 (ㄦˊ, ér)
yi 〖i〗逆 (ㄋㄧˋ, nì)
yin 〖in〗音 (ㄧㄣ, yīn)
ying 〖ing〗英 (ㄧㄥ, yīng)
wu 〖u〗努 (ㄋㄨˇ, nǔ)
wen 〖un〗文 (ㄨㄣˊ, wén)
weng 〖ong〗翁 (ㄨㄥ, wēng)
yu 〖u, ü〗女 (ㄋㄩˇ, nǚ)
yun 〖un〗韻 (ㄩㄣˋ, yùn)
yong 〖iong〗永 (ㄩㄥˇ, yǒng)

〖〗represents the form used in combination with other letters.

Zhuyin, Pinyin, IPA Comparisons

Vowels a, e, o, i
IPAPinyinZhuyinexample
ɑa
ɔo
ɤe
ɛe
ai
ei
ɑʊao
ɤʊou
anan
ənen
ɑŋang
ɤŋeng
ɑɻer
ʊŋongㄨㄥ
iyi
yeㄧㄝ
iɤʊyouㄧㄡ
iɛnyanㄧㄢ
inyinㄧㄣ
yingㄧㄥ
Vowels u, y
IPAPinyinZhuyinexample
uwu
woㄨㄛ
ueɪweiㄨㄟ
uaɪwaiㄨㄞ
uanwanㄨㄢ
uənwenㄨㄣ
uɤŋwengㄨㄥ
yyu
yueㄩㄝ
yɛnyuanㄩㄢ
ynyunㄩㄣ
iʊŋyongㄩㄥ
Non-sibilant consonants
IPAPinyinZhuyinexample
pb
p
mm
fɤŋfengㄈㄥ
tioudiuㄉㄧㄡ
tueiduiㄉㄨㄟ
t
nyㄋㄩ
lyㄌㄩ
kɤɻgerㄍㄜㄦ歌儿
k
heㄏㄜ
Sibilant consonants
IPAPinyinZhuyinexample
tɕiɛnjianㄐㄧㄢ
tɕiʊŋjiongㄐㄩㄥ
tɕʰinqinㄑㄧㄣ
ɕyɛnxuanㄒㄩㄢ
ʈʂɤzheㄓㄜ
ʈʂɨzhi
ʈʂʰɤcheㄔㄜ
ʈʂʰɨchi
ʂɤsheㄕㄜ
ʂɨshi
ʐɤreㄖㄜ
ʐɨri
tsɤzeㄗㄜ
tsuɔzuoㄗㄨㄛ
tsɨzi
tsʰɤceㄘㄜ
tsʰɨci
seㄙㄜ
si
Tones
Tones IPAma˥˥ma˧˥ma˨˩˦ma˥˩ma
Pinyinma
Zhuyinㄇㄚㄇㄚˊㄇㄚˇㄇㄚˋㄇㄚ・
example (traditional/simplfied)媽/妈麻/麻馬/马罵/骂嗎/吗

See also: Chinese Input Methods

Chinese Linguistics