Project:Ci Basic Rules for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography
Basic Rules for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography
(GB/T 16159-1996)
National Standard of the People’s Republic of China (ICS 01.140.10). Approved and issued by the State Technology Supervision Bureau on January 22, 1996; effective on July 1, 1996.
1. Main Topics and Applications
This Standard sets the regulations for alphabetic spelling of modern Chinese using the “Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet.” It contains rules for separating and joining words; rules for spelling fused phrase expressions (chéngyǔ), foreign loan words, and personal and place names; rules for representing tones; rules for hyphenation at the ends of lines; etc. It also provides some methods for making technical modifications for special purposes.
As the unified regulations for alphabetic spelling of modern Chinese using the “Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet,” this standard is applicable to the fields of education, publication, information processing, and other domains.
2. Terminology
Hanyu Pinyin Orthography. The standard for spelling Hanyu Pinyin and norms for its written forms.
“The Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet” provides rules for alphabetic spelling of syllables. “Basic Rules for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography” comprise a firm foundation for further consolidation of the standard writing of words (cí 词).
3. Principles for Formulation of the Rules
3.1 To make the word (cí) the basic spelling unit of Hanyu Pinyin, while taking into consideration the phonological, semantic, and other such factors, as well as an appropriate degree of word length.
3.2 These rules are described according to the different grammatical parts of speech.
3.3 Each rule should be as simple and concise as possible, in order to facilitate mastery of application.
4. Basic Rules for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography
4.1 General Guidelines
4.1.1 The alphabetized transcription of Putonghua (modern standard Chinese) in principle takes the word (cí) as the unit of spelling.
- rén 人 ‘person’
- pǎo 跑 ‘run’
- hǎo 好 ‘good’
- hé 和 ‘and’
- hěn 很 ‘quite’
- fúróng 芙蓉 ‘cottonrose hibiscus’
- qiǎokèlì 巧克力 ‘chocolate’
- péngyou 朋友 ‘friend’
- yuèdú 阅读 ‘reading’
- dìzhèn 地震 ‘earthquake’
- niánqīng 年轻 ‘young’
- zhòngshì 重视 ‘to value’
- wǎnhuì 晚会 ‘evening meeting’
- qiānmíng 签名 ‘to sign’
- shìwēi 示威 ‘to demonstrate’
- niǔzhuǎn 扭转 ‘to turn around’
- chuánzhī 船只 ‘ships’
- dànshì 但是 ‘but’
- fēicháng 非常 ‘extraordinarily’
- diànshìjī 电视机 ‘television set’
- túshūguǎn 图书馆 ‘library’
4.1.2 Structures of two or three syllables that express an integral concept are to be written together as one word.
- gāngtiě 钢铁 ‘steel’
- wèndá 问答 ‘questions and answers’
- dàhuì 大会 ‘plenary session’
- hóngqí 红旗 ‘red flag’
- zhòngtián 种田 ‘to till land’
- quánguó 全国 ‘the whole nation’
- dǎpò 打破 ‘to break’
- kāihuì 开会 ‘to hold a meeting’
- húshuō 胡说 ‘to talk nonsense’
- zǒulái 走来 ‘to come on’
- qiūhǎitáng 秋海棠 ‘begonia’
- dǎnxiǎo 胆小 ‘timid’
- duìbuqǐ 对不起 ‘ask pardon’
- àiniǎozhōu 爱鸟周 ‘bird preservation week’
- hǎifēng 海风 ‘sea breeze’
- chīdexiāo 吃得消 ‘able to stand’
4.1.3 Terms of four or more syllables that express an integral concept are to be divided on the basis of word boundaries or juncture. If this is not possible, then the term should be written as one word.
- wúfèng gāngguǎn 无缝钢管 ‘seamless steel tube’
- huánjìng bǎohù guīhuà 环境保护规划 ‘environmental protection’
- jīngtǐguǎn gōnglǜ fàngdàqì 晶体管功率放大器 ‘transistor power amplifier’
- Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó 中华人民共和国 ‘People's Republic of China’
- Zhōngguó Shèhuì Kēxuéyuàn 中国社会科学院 ‘Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’
- yánjiūshēngyuàn 研究生院 ‘post-graduate school’
- hóngshízìhuì 红十字会 ‘the Red Cross’
- yúxīngcǎosù 鱼腥草素 ‘cordate houttuynia’
- gǔshēngwùxuéjiā 古生物学家 ‘paleontologist’
4.1.4 Monosyllabic words when reduplicated are written together as one word; bisyllabic words when reduplicated are written separately as two words.
- rénrén 人人 ‘everyone’
- niánnián 年年 ‘every year’
- kànkan 看看 ‘have a look’
- shuōshuo 说说 ‘say something’
- dàdà 大大 ‘very large’
- hónghóng de 红红的 ‘red’
- gègè 个个 ‘every one’
- tiáotiáo 条条 ‘every stripe’
- yánjiū yánjiū 研究研究 ‘to study and consider’
- chángshì chángshì 尝试尝试 ‘to have a try’
- xuěbái xuěbái 雪白雪白 ‘snow white’
- tōnghóng tōnghóng 通红通红 ‘thoroughly red’
AABB type reduplicative constructions are to be written with a hyphen between, AA-BB.
- láilái-wǎngwǎng 来来往往 ‘walk to and fro’
- shuōshuō-xiàoxiào 说说笑笑 ‘chatting and laughing’
- qīngqīng-chǔchǔ 清清楚楚 ‘very clear’
- wānwān-qūqū 弯弯曲曲 ‘twisting and turning’
- jiājiā-hùhù 家家户户 ‘each and every family’
- qiānqiān-wànwàn 千千万万 ‘numerously’
4.1.5 Hyphens may be used to link words together in order to facilitate reading and understanding.
- huán-bǎo (ab. for huánjìng bǎohù) 环保–环境保护 ‘environmental protection’
- gōng-guān (ab. for gōnggòng guānxi) 公关–公共关系 ‘public relations’
- bā-jiǔ tiān 八九天 ‘eight or nine days’
- shíqī-bā suì 十七八岁 ‘17-18 years old’
- rén-jī duìhuà 人机对话 ‘man-machine dialogue’
- zhōng-xiǎoxué 中小学 ‘primary and middle schools’
- lù-hǎi-kōngjūn 陆海空军 ‘army-navy-air force’
- biànzhèng-wéiwùzhǔyì 辩证唯物主义 ‘dialectical materialism’
4.2 Nouns
4.2.1 Nouns plus prefixed or suffixed monosyllables are to be written together as one unit. (Some common prefixes are fù- 副 ‘vice-’, zǒng- 总 ‘general’, fēi- 非 ‘non-’, fǎn- 反 ‘anti-’, chāo- 超 ‘sur-’, lǎo- 老 ‘Old’, A- 阿 ‘Ah’, kě- 可 ‘-able’, wú- 无 ‘-less’, etc. Some common suffixes are the noun suffixes -zi 子, -r 儿, -tou 头, as well as -xìng 性 ‘-ness’, -zhě 者, -yuán 员 ‘-er’, -jiā 家 ‘-ist’, -shǒu 手 ‘-or’, -huà 化 ‘-ize’, the pluralizing suffix -men 们, etc.)
- fùbùzhǎng 副部长 ‘vice-minister’
- zǒnggōngchéngshī 总工程师 ‘chief engineer’
- fēijīnshǔ 非金属 ‘non-metal’
- chāoshēngbō 超声波 ‘ultra-sonic waves’
- zhuōzi 桌子 ‘table’
- mùtou 木头 ‘wood’
- chéngwùyuán 乘务员 ‘train attendant’
- yìshùjiā 艺术家 ‘artist’
- kēxuéxìng 科学性 ‘scientific(ness)’
- xiàndàihuà 现代化 ‘modernization’
- háizimen 孩子们 ‘children’
- tuōlājīshǒu 拖拉机手 ‘tractor driver’
- fǎndàndào dǎodàn 反弹道导弹 ‘anti-ballistic missile’
- fēiyèwù rényuán 非业务人员 ‘nonprofessional personnel’
4.2.2 Position words that occur after nouns are to be written separately.
- shān shàng 山上 ‘on the mountain’
- shù xià 树下 ‘under the tree’
- mén wài 门外 ‘outside the door’
- mén wàimian 门外面 ‘outside of the door’
- hé li 河里 ‘in the river’
- hé lǐmian 河里面 ‘in the river’
- huǒchē shàngmian 火车上面 ‘on the train’
- Yǒngdìng Hé shàng 永定河上 ‘on the Yongding River’
- xuéxiào pángbiān 学校旁边 ‘beside the school’
- Huánghé yǐnán 黄河以南 ‘south of the Yellow River’
Note, however, that fused expressions such as hǎiwài 海外 ‘overseas’ are to be written as one word. (Hǎiwài 海外 is not equivalent to hǎi de wàimian 海的外面.)
- tiānshang 天上 ‘in the sky’
- dìxia 地下 ‘underground’
- kōngzhōng 空中 ‘in the air’
- hǎiwài 海外 ‘overseas’
4.2.3 Chinese people’s names are to be written separately with the surname first, followed by the personal name written as one word, with the initial letters of both capitalized. Pen names and other aliases are to be treated in the same manner.
- Lǐ Huá 李华
- Wáng Jiànguó 王建国
- Dōngfāng Shuò 东方朔
- Zhūgě Kǒngmíng 诸葛孔明
- Lǔ Xùn 鲁迅
- Méi Lánfāng 梅兰芳
- Zhāng Sān 张三
- Wáng Mázi 王麻子
Professional titles or other forms of address are to be written separately after names and are to be written entirely in small letters.
- Wáng bùzhǎng 王部长 ‘Minister Wang’
- Tián zhǔrèn 田主任 ‘Director Tian’
- Lǐ xiānsheng 李先生 ‘Mr. Li’
- Zhào tóngzhì 赵同志 ‘Comrade Zhao’
The initial letters of the terms of address Lǎo 老, Xiǎo 小, Dà 大, and A 阿 are all to be capitalized.
- Xiǎo Liú 小刘 ‘Young Liu’
- Lǎo Qián 老钱 ‘Old Qián’ (seniority)
- Dà Lǐ 大李 ‘Big Li’
- A Sān 阿三 ‘Ah San’
- Wú Lǎo 吴老 ‘Elder Wu’ (respectful)
Certain proper names and titles have already fused and are written as one word with the initial letter capitalized.
- Kǒngzǐ 孔子 (Master Confucius)
- Bāogōng 包公 (Duke Bao)
- Xīshī 西施 (an historical figure)
- Mèngchángjūn 孟尝君 (an historical figure)
4.2.4 Chinese place names should be alphabetized according to the “Spelling Rules for Chinese Geographical Place Names,” document no. 17 (1984) of the State Committee on Chinese Geographical Place Names.
Separate the geographical proper name from the geographical feature name and capitalize the first letter of both.
- Běijīng Shì 北京市 (Beijing Municipality)
- Héběi Shěng 河北省 (Hebei Province)
- Yālù Jiāng 鸭绿江 (Yalu River)
- Tài Shān 泰山 (Tai Shan Mountain)
- Dòngtíng Hú 洞庭湖 (Dongting Lake)
- Táiwān Hǎixiá 台湾海峡 (Taiwan Straits)
If a geographical proper name or geographical feature name has a monosyllabic adjunct, write them together as one word.
- Xīliáo Hé 西辽河 (West Liao River)
- Jǐngshān Hòujiē 景山后街 (Jingshan Back Street)
- Cháoyángménnèi Nánxiǎojiē 朝阳门内南小街 (South Street inside Chaoyangmen Gate)
The names of smaller villages and towns and other place names in which it is not necessary to distinguish between the proper place name and the geographical feature name are to be written together as one unit.
- Wángcūn 王村 (Wang Village)
- Jiǔxiānqiáo 酒仙桥 (a place name)
- Zhōukǒudiàn 周口店 (an historical site)
- Sāntányìnyuè 三潭印月 (a scenic spot)
4.2.5 In accordance with the principle of adhering to the original, non-Chinese people’s and place names are to be written in their original roman (Latin) spelling. But people’s and place names from non-romanized scripts are to be spelled according to the rules for romanization for that language. For reference, Chinese characters or their Hanyu Pinyin equivalent may be noted after the original name. Under certain conditions, the Hanyu Pinyin may precede or replace the original spelling.
- Ulanhu 乌兰夫
- Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme 阿沛-阿旺晋美
- Seypidin 赛福鼎
- Marx 马克思
- Darwin 达尔文
- Newton 牛顿
- Einstein 爱因斯坦
- Akutagawa Ryunosuke 芥川龙之介
- Urumqi 乌鲁木齐
- Hohhot 呼和浩特
- Lhasa 拉萨
- London 伦敦
- Paris 巴黎
- Washington 华盛顿
- Tokyo 东京
Transliterated names that have already become Chinese words are to be spelled according to their Chinese pronunciation.
- Fēizhōu 非洲 (Africa)
- Nánměi 南美 (South America)
- Déguó 德国 (Germany)
- Dōngnányà 东南亚 (Southeast Asia)
4.3 Verbs
Verbs plus the aspectual suffixes -zhe 着, -le 了, and -guo 过 are to be written together as one unit.
- kànzhe 看着 ‘keep watching’
- jìnxíngzhe 进行着 ‘be carrying out’
- kànle 看了 ‘have seen’
- jìnxíngle 进行了 ‘carried out’
- kànguo 看过 ‘have already seen’
- jìnxíngguo 进行过 ‘carried out already’
The sentence-final particle le 了 is to be written as a separate unit.
- Huǒchē dào le. 火车到了。‘The train has arrived.’
4.3.2 Verbs and their objects are to be written separately.
- kàn xìn 看信 ‘read a letter’
- chī yú 吃鱼 ‘eat fish’
- kāi wánxiào 开玩笑 ‘to make a joke’
- jiāoliú jīngyàn 交流经验 ‘exchange experiences’
Verb-object compound verbs are to be written separately when other elements are inserted within them.
- jūle yī gè gōng 鞠了一个躬 ‘bowed once’
- lǐguo sān cì fà 理过三次发 ‘have had three haircuts’
When both a verb (or adjective) and its complement are monosyllabic, they are to be written together; otherwise the two are to be separated.
- gǎohuài 搞坏 ‘to break’
- dǎsǐ 打死 ‘to beat to death’
- shútòu 熟透 ‘completely ripe’
- jiànchéng 建成 ‘to build to be’
- huàwéi 化为 ‘become’
- dàngzuò 当做 ‘to treat as’
- zǒu jìnlai 走进来 ‘to come into’
- zhěnglǐ hǎo 整理好 ‘to put in order’
- jiànshè chéng 建设成 ‘to construct to be’
- gǎixiě wéi 改写为 ‘to rewrite as’
4.4 Adjectives
4.4.1 A monosyllabic adjective and a preceding or following reduplicated adjunct are to be written together as a unit.
- mēngmēngliàng 蒙蒙亮 ‘first glimmer of dawn’
- liàngtāngtāng 亮堂堂 ‘very bright’
Complements of extent such as xiē, yīxiē, diǎnr, yīdiǎnr ‘somewhat, a little’ after adjectives are to be written separately.
- dà xiē 大些 ‘somewhat bigger’
- dà yīxiē 大一些 ‘a little bigger’
- kuài diǎnr 快点儿 ‘quicker’
- kuài yīdiǎnr 快一点儿 ‘a little quicker’
4.5 Pronouns
4.5.1 The pluralizing suffix -men is to be written together with the preceding pronoun as one word.
- wǒmen 我们 ‘we’
- tāmen 他们 ‘they’
4.5.2 The demonstrative pronouns zhè 这 ‘this’, nà 那 ‘that’, and the interrogative pronoun nǎ 哪 ‘which’ are to be written separately from most nouns or classifiers that follow them.
- zhè rén 这人 ‘this person’
- nà cì huìyì 那次会议 ‘that meeting’
- zhè zhī chuán 这只船 ‘this ship’
- nǎ zhāng bàozhǐ 哪张报纸 ‘which newspaper?’
When the morphemes xiē 些, -me 么, yàng 样, bān 般, lǐ 里, biān 边, huìr 会儿, and the general classifier -ge 个 occur immediately after the demonstrative pronouns zhè 这 ‘this’, nà 那 ‘that’, or the interrogative pronoun nǎ 哪 ‘which’, they are to be written together with that pronoun as one unit.
- zhèxiē 这些 ‘these’
- zhème 这么 ‘so’
- nàyàng 那样 ‘like that’
- zhèbān 这般 ‘this way, so’
- nàli 那里 ‘there’
- nǎli 哪里 ‘where’
- zhèbiān 这边 ‘here’
- zhèhuìr 这会儿 ‘this time, now’
- zhège 这个 ‘this’
- zhèmeyàng 这么样 ‘in this way’
4.5.3 Words such as gè ‘each’, měi ‘every’, mǒu ‘some’, běn ‘this’, gāi ‘that’, wǒ ‘our’, nǐ ‘your’, etc., are to be written separately from the nouns or classifiers that follow them.
- gè guó 各国 ‘each country’
- gè gè 各个 ‘every’
- gè rén 各人 ‘every person’
- gè xuékē 各学科 ‘each field of study’
- měi nián 每年 ‘each year’
- měi cì 每次 ‘each time’
- mǒu rén 某人 ‘a certain person’
- mǒu gōngchǎng 某工厂 ‘a certain factory’
- běn shì 本市 ‘this municipality’
- běn bùmén 本部门 ‘our department’
- gāi kān 该刊 ‘that journal’
- gāi gōngsī 该公司 ‘that company’
- wǒ xiào 我校 ‘our school’
- nǐ dānwèi 你单位 ‘your organization’
4.6 Numbers and Classifiers
4.6.1 Numbers from 11 to 99 are to be written as one word.
- shíyī 十一 ‘eleven’
- shíwǔ 十五 ‘fifteen’
- sānshísān 三十三 ‘thirty-three’
- jiǔshíjiǔ 九十九 ‘ninety-nine’
4.6.2 The numbers bǎi 百 ‘hundred’, qiān 千’thousand’, wàn 万 ‘ten thousand’, and yì 亿 ‘one hundred million’ when preceded by a single digit number are to be written as one unit. When the numbers wàn and yì are preceded by any number of ten or more, they should be written separately.
- jiǔyì líng qīwàn èrqiān sānbǎi wǔshíliù九亿零七万二千三百五十六 ‘900,072,356’
- liùshísān yì qīqiān èrbǎi liùshíbā wàn sìqiān líng jiǔshíwǔ 六十三亿七千二百六十八万四千零九十五 ‘6,372,684,095’
4.6.3 A hyphen is to be inserted between the ordinal prefix dì- and the number following it.
- dì-yī 第一 ‘first’
- dì-shísān 第十三 ‘thirteenth’
- dì-èrshíbā 第二十八 ‘twenty-eighth’
- dì-sānbǎi wǔshíliù 第三百五十六 ‘356th’
4.6.4 Numbers and classifiers are to be written separately.
- liǎng gè rén 两个人 ‘two people’
- yī dà wǎn fàn 一大碗饭 ‘a big bowl of rice’
- wǔshísān réncì 五十三人次 ‘fifty-three man-times’
- liǎng jiān bàn wūzi 两间半屋子 ‘two and a half rooms’
Numbers are to be written separately from words denoting approximation, such as duō 多, lái 来, and jǐ 几.
- yībǎi duō gè 一百多个 ‘more than one hundred’
- shí lái wàn rén 十来万人 ‘some hundred thousand persons’
- jǐ jiā rén 几家人 ‘several families’
- jǐ tiān gōngfu 几天工夫 ‘a few days’ time’
Shíjǐ 十几 ‘ten and some’ and jǐshí 几十 ‘several tens of’ are to be written together as one unit.
- shíjǐ gè rén 十几个人 ‘ten and some persons’
- jǐshí gēn gāngguǎn 几十根钢管 ‘tens of steel tubes’
4.7 Function Words
Function words are to be written separately from other words.
4.7.1 Adverbs
- hěn hǎo 很好 ‘quite good’
- dōu lái 都来 ‘all come’
- gèng měi 更美 ‘more beautiful’
- zuì dà 最大 ‘biggest’
- bù lái 不来 ‘not coming’
- yīng bù yīnggāi 应不应该 ‘ought or not’
- gānggāng zǒu 刚刚走 ‘have just gone’
- fēicháng kuài 非常快 ‘extraordinarily fast’
- shífēn gǎndòng 十分感动 ‘deeply touched’
4.7.2 Prepositions
- zài qiánmiàn 在前面 ‘in front’
- xiàng dōngbiān qù 向东边去 ‘go east’
- wèi rénmín fúwù 为人民服务 ‘serve the people’
- cóng zuótiān qǐ 从昨天起 ‘since yesterday’
- shēng yú 1940 nián 生于1940年 ‘born in 1940’
- guānyú zhège wèntí 关于这个问题 ‘on this question’
4.7.3 Conjunctions
- gōngrén hé nóngmín 工人和农民 ‘workers and peasants’
- guāngróng ér jiānjù 光荣而艰巨 ‘glorious but arduous’
- bùdàn kuài érqiě hǎo 不但快而且好 ‘not only quick but also good’
- Nǐ lái háishi bù lái? 你来还是不来? ‘Are you coming or not?’
4.7.4 The subordinating particles de 的 (...’s, of ...), de 地 (-ly), de 得 (nominalizer), and zhī~之~(of~...).
- dàdì de nǚ’ér 大地的女儿 ‘daughter of the earth’
- Zhè shì wǒ de shū. 这是我的书。‘This is my book.’
- Wǒmen guòzhe xìngfú de shēnghuó. 我们过着幸福的生活。‘We live a happy life.’
- Shāngdiàn lǐ bǎimǎnle chī de, chuān de, yòng de. 商店里摆满了吃的、穿的、用的。 ‘The store is full of things for eating, wearing, and daily use.’
- mài qīngcài luóbo de 卖青菜萝卜的 ‘one who sells vegetables’
- Tā zài dàjiē shàng mànmàn de zǒu. 他在大街上慢慢地走。‘He is walking slowly on the street.’
- Tǎnbái de gàosu nǐ ba. 坦白地告诉你吧。‘Frankly speaking...’
- Tā yī bù yī gè jiǎoyìnr de gōngzuòzhe. 他一步一个脚印儿地工作着。 ‘He works steadily with every step leaving its imprint.’
- dǎsǎo de gānjìng 打扫得干净 ‘swept clean’
- xiě de bù hǎo 写得不好 ‘not well written’
- hóng de hěn 红得很 ‘bright red’
- lěng de fādǒu 冷得发抖 ‘shivering with cold’
- shàonián zhī jiā 少年之家 ‘home of the youths’
- zuì fādá de guójiā zhī yī 最发达的国家之一 ‘one of the most well-developed countries’
Note: when necessary for technical purposes, the characters 的, 地, and 得 may be spelled as d, di, and de respectively.
4.7.5 Modal Particles
- Nǐ zhīdao ma? 你知道吗? ‘Do you know?’
- Zěnme hái bù lái a? 怎么还不来啊? ‘Why hasn’t (she) come yet?’
- Kuài qù ba! 快去吧! ‘Go at once!’
- Tā shi bù huì lái de. 他是不会来的。‘Certainly he won’t come.’
4.7.6 Interjections
- A! Zhēn měi! 啊! 真美! ‘Oh! Really beautiful!’
- Ng, nǐ shuō shénme? 嗯, 你说什么? ‘Huh? What did you say?’
- Hm, zǒuzhe qiáo ba! 哼, 走着瞧吧! ‘Hmm, let’s wait and see!’
4.7.7 Onomatopoetic Words
- Pa! 啪 ‘Bang!’
- Huahua 哗哗 ‘whoosh’
- jiji-zhazha 叽叽喳喳 (a twittering sound)
- “honglong” yī shēng “轰隆” 一声 ‘a loud booming sound’
- Dà gōngjī wo-wo-tí. 大公鸡喔喔啼。‘The big rooster crows, cockadoodle doo!’
- “Dū—” qìdí xiǎng le. “嘟—” 汽笛响了。‘Woo! blew the steam whistle.’
4.8 Fused Phrase Idioms (Chéngyǔ)
4.8.1 Four-syllable fused phrase idioms that can be divided into two two-syllable parts will have one hyphen inserted between the two parts.
- céngchū-bùqióng 层出不穷 ‘to emerge in an endless stream’
- fēngpíng-làngjìng 风平浪静 ‘calm and tranquil’
- àizēng-fēnmíng 爱憎分明 ‘to be clear-cut in what ones loves and hates’
- shuǐdào-qúchéng 水到渠成 ‘when conditions are ripe, success will come’
- yángyáng-dàguān 洋洋大观 ‘a spectacular sight’
- píngfēn-qiūsè 平分秋色 ‘to go fifty-fifty’
- guāngmíng-lěiluò 光明磊落 ‘to be open and aboveboard’
- diānsān-dǎosì 颠三倒四 ‘to turn things topsy-turvy’
4.8.2 Fused phrase idioms and other such proverbial phrases that cannot be divided should be written together as one unit.
- bùyìlèhū 不亦乐乎 ‘extremely’
- zǒng’éryánzhī 总而言之 ‘to sum it up’
- àimònéngzhù 爱莫能助 ‘sympathetic but unable to help’
- yīyīdàishuǐ 一衣带水 ‘a narrow strip of water in between’
- húlihútu 糊里糊涂 ‘all in a muddle’
- hēibuliūqiū 黑不溜秋 ‘swarthy’
- diào’erlángdāng 吊儿郎当 ‘careless and casual’
4.9 Capitalization
4.9.1 Capitalize the first letter of each sentence in prose, and capitalize the first letter of each line of a poem. (No examples given.)
4.9.2 Capitalize the first letter of a proper noun.
- Běijīng 北京 ‘Beijing’
- Chángchéng 长城 ‘the Great Wall’
- Qīngmíngjié 清明节 ‘Qingming Festival’ (at the fifth solar term)
If a proper noun consists of two or more words, capitalize the first letter of each word.
- Guójì Shūdiàn 国际书店 ‘International Bookstore’
- Hépíng Binguǎn 和平宾馆 ‘Peace Hotel’
- Guāngmíng Rìbào 光明日报 ‘Guangming Daily’
4.9.3 Capitalize the first letter of a combination of a proper noun and a common noun.
- Zhōngguórén 中国人 ‘the Chinese’
- Míngshǐ 明史 ‘Ming dynasty history’
- Guǎngdōnghuà 广东话 ‘Guangdong dialect’
Terms that have already become common nouns are not capitalized.
- guǎnggān 广柑 ‘Cantonese orange’
- zhōngshānfú 中山服 ‘a Chinese tunic’
- chuānxiōng 川芎 (a medicinal rhizome grown in Sichuan)
- zàngqīngguǒ 藏青果 ‘chinko’ (a species of olive grown on the Xizang plateau)
4.10 Hyphenation at the End of a Line
4.10.1 At the end of a line, words should be divided according to syllabification, and a hyphen placed after the syllable at the end of the line.
“guāng-
míng” ‘glorious’ but not “gu-
āngmíng”.
4.11 Tone Marking
4.11.1 Words are to be marked with their original tones; tone variations are not to be noted.
- yī jià 一架 ‘one...’
- yī tiān 一天 ‘one day’
- yī tóu 一头 ‘one head of’
- yī wǎn 一碗 ‘one bowl’
- qīwàn 七万 ‘seventy thousand’
- qī běn 七本 ‘seven volumes’
- bā gè 八个 ‘eight...’
- qīshàng-bāxià 七上八下 ‘to be agitated’
- bù qù 不去 ‘not going’
- bù duì 不对 ‘not correct’
- bùzhìyú 不至于 ‘be unlikely to’
However, for the purpose of training in phonetics, tone variants may be marked as necessary.
Note: In addition to the normal tone symbols stipulated in the “Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet,” when necessary for certain technical purposes, the tones may be represented by numerals or Latin letters.
Additional Notes
These basic rules were jointly promulgated and put into force in July 1988 by the State Education Commission and the State Language Commission.
The Committee for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography was responsible for drafting the basic rules.
The main authors of the basic rules were Yin Binyong 尹斌庸, Li Leyi 李乐毅, and Jin Huishu 金惠淑.
Editor’s Note: The sections numbered 4.1.1–4.11.1 are virtually identical to those numbered 0.1–10 in Appendix I of the ABC Chinese-English Dictionary (1996). They were translated into English by John S. Rohsenow and edited by Wang Jun of the State Language Commission. The introduction and end notes are new. The most important change is that the rules have now been given the official stamp of approval as the standard procedures for writing pinyin text.
