Pinyin

views updated

Pin·yin / ˈpinˈyin/ (also pin·yin) • n. the standard system of romanized spelling for transliterating Chinese.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

Pinyin

views updated

Pinyin the standard system of romanized spelling for transliterating Chinese, which superseded the earlier Wade–Giles system. Recorded from the 1960s, the term comes from Chinese pīn-yīn, literally ‘spell-sound’.

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES

Pinyin

views updated

Pinyin System of spelling used to transliterate ideographic Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet. It is a phonetic system (it represents the sounds of words) and was officially adopted by the People's Republic of China in 1958.

World Encyclopedia

More From encyclopedia.com

About this article

Pinyin

All Sources -
Updated Aug 24 2016 About encyclopedia.com content Print Topic

Related Content