ABC (DeFrancis) Dictionary proof |printed 2002.11.

24 by

tbishop@wenlin.com

Appendix I
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 (chengy
u),
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 modications for special purposes.
As the unied regulations for alphabetic spelling of modern Chinese using the \Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic
Alphabet," this standard is applicable to the elds 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 rm foundation for further consolidation of the standard writing of words (c

).

3. Principles for Formulation of the Rules

3.1

To make the word (c) 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 (c) as the unit
of spelling.
r
en
h
ao
h
en

K

`person'

qi
aok
el

yu
ed
u


0

p
ao

`good'

h
e

`quite'

`run'

`and'

f
ur
ong

`chocolate'

p
engyou

`reading'

d
zh
en

1341

`cottonrose hibiscus'
`friend'

`earthquake'

ABC (DeFrancis) Dictionary proof |printed 2002.11.24 by

Basic Rules for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography

t{
Z
:

9
^8
f

'
0
S4

w
w
w

1342

`young'

ni
anq
ng

`to demonstrate'

sh
w
ei

`ships'

chu
anzh


t
ush
ugu
an

~
ml
F/
5:

Appendix I

`to value'

qi
anm
ng

`to sign'

ni
uzhu
an

`to turn round'

d
ansh


`extraordinarily'

f
eich
ang

tbishop@wenlin.com

zh
ongsh


`evening meeting'

w
anhu


`but'

di
ansh
j


`library'

`television set'

4.1.2 Structures of two or three syllables which express an integral concept are to be written together as one word.
`steel'

g
angti
e

`plenary session'

d
ahu


`to till land'

zh
ongti
an
d
ap
o

z
oul
ai

`begonia'

`to come on'

`timid'

 ini
a
aozh
ou

`sea breeze'

h
aif
eng

`the whole nation'

`to hold a meeting'

d
anxi
ao

`ask pardon'

du
buq


`red ag'

k
aihu


`to talk nonsense'

h
ushu
o

`questions and answers'

h
ongq


qu
angu
o

`to break'

qi
uh
ait
ang

h

pe

1h


w
end
a

`bird preservation week'

`able to stand'

ch
dexi
ao

4.1.3 Terms of four or more syllables which 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.



vS>'h
-Nq
->fb
vb
AW
|eI
if
`seamless steel tube'

w
uf
eng g
anggu
an

`environmental protection'

hu
anj
ng b
aoh
u gu
hu
a

`transistor power amplier'

 f
j
ngt
gu
an g
ongl
angd
aq


Zh
onghu
a R
enm
n G
ongh
egu
o

`People's Republic of China'

`Chinese Academy of Social Sciences'

Zh
onggu
o Sh
ehu
 K
exu
eyu
an

`post-graduate school'

y
anji
ush
engyu
an

`the Red Cross'

h
ongsh
z
hu


`cordate houttuynia'

y
ux
ngc
aos
u

`paleontologist'

g
ush
engw
uxu
eji
a

4.1.4 Monosyllabic words when reduplicated are written together as one word; bisyllabic words when reduplicated are
written separately as two words.


''
**
vv
}}
ee
ZZ
77
`everyone'

r
enr
en

d
ad
a
g
eg
e

tt

aa



//
CC

ni
anni
an

`have a look'

k
ankan

shu
oshuo

`very large'

h
ongh
ong de

`every one'

ti
aoti
ao

`to study and consider'

y
anji
u y
anji
u

`snow white'

xu
eb
ai xu
eb
ai

`every year'

`say something'

`reddish'

`every stripe'

`to have a try'

ch
angsh
 ch
angsh


t
ongh
ong t
ongh
ong

`thoroughly red'

AABB type reduplicative constructions are to be written with a hyphen between, AA-BB.
l
ail
ai-w
angw
ang

q
ngq
ng-ch
uch
u

`walk to and fro'

`very clear'

`each and every family'

ji
aji
a-h
uh
u

`chatting and laughing'

shu
oshu
o-xi
aoxi
ao
w
anw
an-q
uq
u

`twisting and turning'

qi
anqi
an-w
anw
an

`numerously'

4.1.5 Hyphens may be used to link words together in order to facilitate reading and understanding.
hu
an-b
ao

(ab. for hu

anj
ng b
aoh
u)

g
ong-gu
an
b
a-ji
u ti
an

ls lqs
{

k])
Ak
:
-f
Fwz
/i;I
(ab. for g
ongg
ong gu
anxi)

`environmental protection'

`public relations'

`eight or nine days'

sh
q
-b
a su


r
en-j
 du
hu
a

zh
ong-xi
aoxu
e

l
u-h
ai-k
ongj
un

bi
anzh
eng-w
eiw
uzh
uy


`17-18 years old'

`man-machine dialogue'

`primary and middle schools'

`army-navy-airforce'
`dialectical materialism'

ABC (DeFrancis) Dictionary proof |printed 2002.11.24 by

Appendix I

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1343

Basic Rules for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography

4.2 Nouns

?
P ? 4
'


;

(4
z/

:K

4.2.1 Nouns plus prexed or sufxed monosyllables are to be written together as one unit. (Some common prexes are f
u-

 X
o
^^
LP
XX
f'
iP
9S9
^X
q



b

b
kf
b
8

f!
W
w
wb
)

0
zw

`vice-', z
ong-

`general', fei-

`non-', f
an-

`anti-', ch
ao-

`sur-', l
ao-

`-able', w
u-

`-less', etc. Some common sufxes are the noun sufxes -zi

`-ness', -zhe

, -yu
an

`-er', -ji
a

`-ist', -sh
ou

`vice-minister'

f
ub
uzh
ang

m
utou

`train attendant'

`anti-ballistic missile'

`chief engineer'

`artist'

`modernization'

`tractor driver'

tu
ol
aj
sh
ou

f
and
and
ao d
aod
an

, etc.)

`wood'

xi
and
aihu
a

`children'

h
aizimen

, as well as -xing

`ultra-sonic waves'

y
sh
uji
a

`scientic(ness)'

k
exu
ex
ng

, -tou

ch
aosh
engb
o

`table'

zhu
ozi

ch
engw
uyu
an

, -r

`Ah', ke-

`-ize', the pluralizing sufx -men

z
ongg
ongch
engsh


`non-metal'

f
eij
nsh
u

`-or', -hu
a

`Old', A-

`non-professional personnel'

f
eiy
ew
u r
enyu
an

4.2.2 Position words which occur after nouns are to be written separately.
`on the mountain'

sh
an sh
ang

h
e li

`in the river'

h
e l
mian

`on the train'

`beside the school'

xu
exi
ao p
angbi
an

Note, however, that fused expressions such as h

aiw
ai
is not equivalent to h
ai de w
aimian

Y
ongd
ng H
e sh
ang

`on the Yongding River'

`south of the Yellow River'

Hu
angh
e y
n
an

`overseas' are to be written as one word. (H

aiw
ai

.)

`in the sky'

w

`underground'

d
xia

`in the air'

k
ongzh
ong

`outside of the door'

m
en w
aimian

`in the river'

hu
och
e sh
angmian

ti
anshang

`under the tree'

sh
u xi
a

`outside the door'

m
en w
ai

`overseas'

h
aiw
ai

4.2.3 Chinese people's names are to be written separately with the surname rst, 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.
L
 Hu
a

NN


[T
p
P

W
ang Ji
angu
o

D
ongf
ang Shu
o

Zh
ug
e K
ongm
ng

L
u X
un

M
ei L
anf
ang

Zh
ang S
an

W
ang M
azi

Professional titles or other forms of address are to be written separately after names and are to be written entirely in
small letters.


NH

'N
4

TP


W
ang b
uzh
ang

`Mr. Li'

L
 xi
ansheng

The initial letters of the terms of address L

ao
`Young Liu'

Xi
ao Li
u

`Big Li'

D
a L


`Elder Wu' (respectful)

W
u L
ao

0;
u

 ' ?


?

`Minister Wang'

`Director Tian'

Ti
an zh
ur
en

Zh
ao t
ongzh


, Xi
ao

, D
a

, and A

`Comrade Zhao'

are all to be capitalized.

`Old Qian' (seniority)

L
ao Qi
an

`Ah San'

A S
an

Certain proper names and titles have already fused and are written as one word with the initial letter capitalized.
(Master Confucius)

K
ongz

X
sh


(an historical gure)

B
aog
ong

l
_

(Duke Bao)
(an historical gure)

M
engch
angj
un

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 rst letter of both.
B
eij
ng Sh

Y
al
u Ji
ang


-_
V

D
ongt
ng H
u



q
~w

(Beijing Municipality)

H
eb
ei Sh
eng

(Yalu River)

T
ai Sh
an

(Dongting Lake)

T
aiw
an H
aixi
a

(Hebei Province)

(Tai Shan Mountain)

(Taiwan Straits)

ABC (DeFrancis) Dictionary proof |printed 2002.11.24 by

Basic Rules for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography

tbishop@wenlin.com

1344

Appendix I

If a geographical proper name or geographical feature name has a monosyllabic adjunct, write them together as one
word.
Xili
ao H
e

3WW

(West Liao River)

Ch
aoy
angm
enn
ei N
anxi
aoji
e

J
ngsh
an H
ouji
e

oqW

(Jingshan Back Street)

(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.
W
angc
un

Q
h

(Wang Village)

Zh
ouk
oudi
an

Re
mp

(a place name)

Ji
uxi
anqi
ao

(an historical site)

S
ant
any
nyu
e

(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. While 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.

Lp+
[

1f
L(P
(

? ?K
lK
[
K
|iy
&f
N

Ulanhu

Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme

Seypidin

Marx

Darwin

Newton

Einstein

Akutagawa Ryunosuke

Urumqi

Hohhot

Lhasa

London

Paris

Washington

Tokyo

Transliterated names which have already become Chinese words are to be spelled according to their Chinese pronunciation.

^2

F
eizh
ou
D
egu
o

(Africa)

N
anm
ei

(Germany)

4.3 Verbs

Verbs plus the aspectual sufxes -zhe

k
anzhe
k
anle

, -le

, and -guo

`keep watching'

kf0

The sentence-nal particle le

k
ai w
anxi
ao

L@
L
L

`be carrying out'

`carried out'

j
nx
ngguo

`carried out already'

is to be written as a separate unit.

`The train has arrived.'

4.3.2 Verbs and their objects are to be written separately.

k
an x
n

(Southeast Asia)

are to be written together as one unit.

j
nx
ngle

`have already seen'

Hu
och
e d
ao le.

(South America)

j
nx
ngzhe

`have seen'

k
anguo

W
W

D
ongn
any
a


*
`read a letter'

ch
 y
u

`to make a joke'

|

A
 !

`eat sh'

ji
aoli
u j
ngy
an

`exchange experiences'

Verb-object compound verbs are to be written separately when other elements are inserted within them.
j
ule y
 g
e g
ong

`bowed once'

l
guo s
an c
 f
a

`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.

O

:
pe


g
aohu
ai
sh
ut
ou
hu
aw
ei

z
ou j
nlai

ji
ansh
e ch
eng

`to break'

d
as


`completely ripe'
`become'

S{

SZ
t}
9:

ji
anch
eng
d
angzu
o

`to come into'

`to construct to be'

zh
engl
 h
ao
g
aixi
e w
ei

`to beat to death'

`to build to be'

`to treat as'

`to put in order'

`to rewrite as'

ABC (DeFrancis) Dictionary proof |printed 2002.11.24 by

Appendix I

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1345

Basic Rules for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography

4.4 Adjectives
4.4.1 A monosyllabic adjective and a preceding or following reduplicated adjunct are to be written together as a unit.

m
engm
engli
ang

`rst glimmer of dawn'

li
angt
angt
ang



`very bright'

Complements of extent such as xie, yxie, di

anr, y
di
anr `somewhat, a little' after adjectives are to be written separately.
d
a xi
e

'
?

`somewhat bigger'

d
a y
xi
e

`quicker'

ku
ai di
anr

'
?

`a little bigger'

ku
ai y
di
anr

`a little quicker'

4.5 Pronouns
4.5.1 The pluralizing sufx -men is to be written together with the preceding pronoun as one word.
w
omen

`we'

4.5.2 The demonstrative pronouns

zh
e

`this',

n
a

t
amen

`they'

`that', and the interrogative pronoun

n
a

written separately from most nouns or classiers which follow them.

!
9

H 7 , ?
*

H
7
,

?
*
H7
n
a c
 hu
y


`that meeting'

zh
e zh
 chu
an

`this ship'

`which newspaper?'

n
a zh
ang b
aozh


When the morphemes xie

n
a

`which' are to be

`this person'

zh
e r
en

ge

, -me

, y
ang

, b
an

, l

, bi
an

occur immediately after the demonstrative pronouns zhe

, hur

`this', n
a

and the general classier -

`that', or the interrogative pronoun

`which', they are to be written together with that pronoun as one unit.
`these'

zh
exi
e

4.5.3 Words such as

g
e

`each',

g
e r
en


*
t

,

!

m
ei

`every',

m
ou

`some',

b
en

`each country'

`this',

g
e g
e

`every person'

m
ei ni
an
m
ou r
en

`in this way'

zh
emey
ang

separately from the nouns or classiers which follow them.

g
e gu
o

`this time, now'

zh
ehu
r

`this'

zh
ege

`where'

n
ali

`here'

zh
ebi
an

`this way, so'

zh
eb
an

`there'

n
ali

`so'

zh
eme

`like that'

n
ay
ang

g
ai

`that',

`our',

w
o

n


*
f
!

,
l
`UM

`your', etc. are to be written

`every'

`each eld of study'

g
e xu
ek
e

`each year'

m
ei c


`each time'

`a certain person'

m
ou g
ongch
ang

`a certain factory'

b
en sh


`this municipality'

b
en b
um
en

`our department'

g
ai k
an

`that journal'

g
ai g
ongs


`that company'

w
o xi
ao

`our school'

n
 d
anw
ei

`your organization'

4.6 Numbers and Classiers

4.6.1 Numbers from 11 to 99 are to be written as one word.
sh
y


s
ansh
s
an

A
~
`eleven'

4.6.2 The numbers b

ai

sh
w
u

`thirty-three'

`hundred', qi
an

A
]A]

ji
ush
ji
u

'thousand', w
an

`fteen'
`ninety-nine'

`ten thousand', and y

`one hundred million' when

preceded by a single digit number are to be written as one unit. When the numbers w
an and y
 are preceded by any
number of ten or more, they should be written separately.

]C ~Am
mA C~mAkC]A

 rqi
ji
uy
 l
ng q
w
an e
an s
anb
ai w
ush
li
u

 rb
li
ush
s
an y
 q
qi
an e
ai li
ush
b
a w
an s
qi
an l
ng ji
ush
w
u

`6,372,684,095'

`900,072,356'

ABC (DeFrancis) Dictionary proof |printed 2002.11.24 by

Basic Rules for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography

tbishop@wenlin.com

1346

Appendix I

4.6.3 A hyphen is to be inserted between the ordinal prex d- and the number following it.

,A
,Ak
, ~Am
$*
'm
A !
$JKP
~*
Ae

)+
A
A
A*
A9

d
-y


`rst'

`thirteenth'

d
-sh
s
an

`twenty-eighth'

d
-
ersh
b
a

d
-s
anb
ai w
ush
li
u

`356th'

4.6.4 Numbers and classiers are to be written separately.

`two people'

li
ang g
e r
en

`a big bowl of rice'

y
 d
a w
an f
an

`53 man-times'

w
ush
s
an r
enc


`two and a half rooms'

li
ang ji
an b
an w
uzi

Numbers are to be written separately from words denoting approximation, such as du
o
`more than one hundred'

y
b
ai du
o g
e

, l
ai

, and j

`some hundred thousand persons'

sh
 l
ai w
an r
en

`several families'

j
 ji
a r
en

`a few days' time'

j
 ti
an g
ongfu
Sh
j


 e

`ten and some' and jsh

`several tens of' are to be written together as one unit.

`ten and some persons'

sh
j
 g
e r
en

`tens of steel tubes'

j
sh
 g
en g
anggu
an

4.7 Function Words

Function words are to be written separately from other words.
4.7.1 Adverbs

}
e

'
e

p
^8
A
(Mb

:
()w
 t
s*

Icp
F}
`e/ e

0
'0s?
/f
@x;
`quite good'

h
en h
ao

`all come'

d
ou l
ai

`more beautiful'

g
eng m
ei
zu
 d
a
b
u l
ai

`biggest'

`not coming'

`ought or not'

y
ng b
u y
ngg
ai
g
angg
ang z
ou

`have just gone'

f
eich
ang ku
ai

`extraordinarily fast'

`deeply touched'

sh
f
en g
and
ong

4.7.2 Prepositions

z
ai qi
anmi
an

`in front'

`go east'

xi
ang d
ongbi
an q
u

`serve the people'

w
ei r
enm
n f
uw
u
c
ong zu
oti
an q


sh
eng y
u 1940 ni
an

`since yesterday'

1940

`born in 1940'

`on this question'

gu
any
u zh
ege w
ent


4.7.3 Conjunctions

`workers and peasants'

g
ongr
en h
e n
ongm
n

`glorious but arduous'

 r ji
gu
angr
ong e
anj
u

`not only quick but also good'

 rqi
b
ud
an ku
ai e
e h
ao

? `Are you coming or not?'

N
 l
ai h
aishi b
u l
ai?

4.7.4 The subordinating particles de

 er
d
ad
 de n'

(...'s, of ...), de

(-ly), de

`daughter of the earth'

Zh
e sh
 w
o de sh
u.

W
omen gu
ozhe x
ngf
u de sh
enghu
o.

(nominalizer), and zh

(of ...).

`This is my book.'

`We live a happy life.'

ABC (DeFrancis) Dictionary proof |printed 2002.11.24 by

Appendix I

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Basic Rules for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography

FF

(
VR\
('W
bb0p
f}J`
e *p?0\@
Skr
}

tK
K
0

Sh
angdi
an l
 b
aim
anle ch
 de, chu
an de, y
ong de.

`The store is full of things for eating, wearing, and daily use.'

`one who sells vegetables'

m
ai q
ngc
ai lu
obo de

`He is walking slowly on the street.'

T
a z
ai d
aji
e sh
ang m
anm
an de z
ou.

`Frankly speaking...'

T
anb
ai de g
aosu n
 ba.

T
a y
 b
u y
 g
e ji
aoy
nr de g
ongzu
ozhe.

`He works steadily with every step leaving its imprint.'

`swept clean'

d
as
ao de g
anj
ng

`not well written'

xi
e de b
u h
ao

`bright red'

h
ong de h
en

`shivering with cold'

l
eng de f
ad
ou

`home of the youths'

sh
aoni
an zh
 ji
a

`one of the most well-developed countries'

zu
 f
ad
a de gu
oji
a zh
 y


Note: when necessary for technical purposes, the characters

, and

may be spelled as d,

, and

di

de

respectively.

4.7.5 Modal Particles

`S
H eJ
'
/ e
J 
`H
p@'

? `Do you know?'

N
 zh
dao ma?

? `Why hasn't (she) come yet?'

Z
enme h
ai b
u l
ai a?
Ku
ai q
u ba!

! `Go at once!'

`Certainly he won't come.'

T
a shi b
u hu
 l
ai de.

4.7.6 Interjections

A! Zh
en m
ei!

! `Oh! Really beautiful!'

,

? `Huh? What did you say?'

! `Hmm, let's wait and see!'

Ng, n
 shu
o sh
enme?
Hm, z
ouzhe qi
ao ba!

4.7.7 Onomatopoetic Words

Pa!

p
'l!|
 }

`Bang!'

Huahua

`whoosh'

(a twittering sound)

jiji-zhazha

\honglong" y
 sh
eng

"

`a loud booming sound'

`The big rooster crows, cockadoodle doo!'

D
a g
ongj
 wo-wo-t
.

\D
u|" q
d
 xi
ang le.

|"

`Woo! blew the steam whistle.'

4.8 Fused Phrase Idioms (Chengy

u)
4.8.1 Four-syllable fused phrase idioms which can be divided into two two-syllable parts will have one hyphen inserted
between the two parts.

B w
sjY
1
40 
'
sr
I=


c
engch
u-b
uqi
ong

`to emerge in an endless stream'

f
engp
ng-l
angj
ng

`calm and tranquil'

`to be clear-cut in what ones loves and hates'

 iz
a
eng-f
enm
ng

shu
d
ao-q
uch
eng

y
angy
ang-d
agu
an
p
ngf
en-qi
us
e

`a spectacular sight'

`to go fty-fty'

gu
angm
ng-l
eilu
o
di
ans
an-d
aos


`when conditions are ripe, success will come'

`to be open and aboveboard'

`to turn things topsy-turvy'

4.8.2 Fused phrase idioms and other such proverbial phrases which cannot be divided should be written together as one
unit.
b
uy
l
eh
u

PN
; K
1

`extremely'

z
ong'
ery
anzh


`to sum it up'

 im
a
on
engzh
u

`sympathetic but unable to help'

ABC (DeFrancis) Dictionary proof |printed 2002.11.24 by

Basic Rules for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography

c&4

?S

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Appendix I

`a narrow strip of water in between'

y
y
d
aishu

h
ulih
utu

`all in a muddle'
`swarthy'

h
eibuli
uqi
u

di
ao'erl
angd
ang

`careless and casual'

4.9 Capitalization
4.9.1 Capitalize the rst letter of each sentence in prose, and capitalize the rst letter of each line of a poem. (No examples
given.)
4.9.2 Capitalize the rst letter of a proper noun.
B
eij
ng




Ef
s
I
-



-q

R
`Beijing'

`the Great Wall'

Ch
angch
eng

`Qingming Festival' (at the fth solar term)

Q
ngm
ngji
e

If a proper noun consists of two or more words, capitalize the rst letter of each word.
`International Bookstore'

Gu
oj
 Sh
udi
an

`Peace Hotel'

H
ep
ng Bingu
an

Gu
angm
ng R
b
ao

`Guangming Daily'

4.9.3 Capitalize the rst letter of a combination of a proper noun and a common noun.
`the Chinese'

Zh
onggu
or
en

`Ming dynasty history'

M
ngsh


`Guangdong dialect'

Gu
angd
onghu
a

Terms which have already become common nouns are not capitalized.
`Cantonese orange'

gu
angg
an

`a Chinese tunic'

zh
ongsh
anf
u

(a medicinal rhizome grown in Sichuan)

chu
anxi
ong

`chinko' (a species of olive grown on the Xizang plateau)

z
angq
nggu
o

4.10 Hyphenation at the End of a Line

4.10.1 At the end of a line, words should be divided according to syllabication, and a hyphen placed after the syllable at
the end of the line.
gu
angm
ng

`glorious' but not \gu.

 ngm
a
ng"

4.11 Tone Marking

4.11.1 Words are to be marked with their original tones; tone variations are not to be noted.
y
 ji
a
y
 t
ou

4

k*

q
w
an
b
a g
e
b
u q
u

b
uzh
y
u

`one...'
`one head of'
`seventy thousand'

`eight...'
`not going'
`be unlikely to'

y
 ti
an
y
 w
an
q
 b
en

,

k

`one day'

`one bowl'

`seven volumes'

q
sh
ang-b
axi
a
b
u du


`to be agitated'

`not correct'

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.

ABC (DeFrancis) Dictionary proof |printed 2002.11.24 by

Appendix I

1349

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Basic Rules for Hanyu Pinyin Orthography

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

, Li Leyi

NP

, and Jin Huishu

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 Dictionar y

(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 ofcial stamp of approval as the standard procedures for writing pinyin text.