But nearly every Chinese character can be represented in Hanyu Pinyin using a combination of initials, finals and tones. When writing the first draft of his Hanyu Pinyin proposal, Zhou remembers ...

Mandarin characters don't give us the sound of a word, so the Chinese invented pinyin to help their learners ... the start of a syllable, and 36 finals, the end of the syllable.

Karen I. Chen is a writer, editor, and travel advisor. Karen's work has appeared in publications including The Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine, Departures, and more. While the prospect of ...