Pinyin simply means 'spell sound'. It's a Romanized system for representing Chinese words consisting of 'initials', which are mostly consonants, and finals, mostly vowels, possibly with n or ng at the end; and sometimes r. Google Translate gives both characters, either traditional or simplified, and pinyin for words. Tones are represented either by accent marks: level 1, rising 2, dipping/scooping 3, or downward 4 - or their associated numbers.
More info discussed in this thread: http://www.memrise.com/thread/494974/
This website also looks pretty good: http://www.laits.utexas.edu/ppp/
Posted by r7ll 5/25/12 (11 months ago)Pinyin simply means 'spell sound'. It's a Romanized system for representing Chinese words consisting of 'initials', which are mostly consonants, and finals, mostly vowels, possibly with n or ng at the end; and sometimes r. Google Translate gives both characters, either traditional or simplified, and pinyin for words. Tones are represented either by accent marks: level 1, rising 2, dipping/scooping 3, or downward 4 - or their associated numbers.
Posted by hugstablebear 7/18/12 (10 months ago)