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The procedure for writing a given Chinese syllable in GR can be broken down into three logical steps:
1. Spell... |
2. Modify... |
3. Tidy up |
Let's examine these steps in turn.
- Spell
The spelling rules for the specifically GR basic forms have already been covered: in other cases the PY spelling will usually be correct.
- Modify
For a given tone, work through the following table until you find the correct category for the syllable you want to write. (You may not need to modify it at all, especially if it is in Tone 1.) The stressed vowel in a syllable is easy to recognize: it is the one that bears the tonal accent mark in PY: eg the as in Biàn, Gāi and Dà.
Forms in italics are intermediate results requiring a final polish.
Tone number |
If |
Is |
Then |
Examples [PY] |
1 |
First letter |
L,M,N,R |
Insert -h- as second letter |
Lhiou[liu], mha.mha[mama] |
Any other |
No modification |
Ta, chian [qian], bing |
2 |
First letter |
L,M,N,R |
No modification |
Lian, mei |
First/only vowel |
A,E,O,Y |
Insert -r after vowel(s) |
charng, char, erl[er], shyr[shi], tour, peir |
I |
change to Y |
yng[ying], chyan[qian], pyng, chyuan[quan],yang, ty[ti] |
U |
change to W |
chwan, wen, dw[du], w[wu] |
3 |
First (or only) unstressed vowel |
I (unless next to E) |
Change to E |
gae, lean[lian], eou[you], beau[biao], euan[yuan] |
U (unless next to O) |
Change to O |
goei[gui], doan[duan], gao, oan[wan] |
Otherwise |
|
Double the stressed vowel |
bii, geei, chiee[qie], suoo, chaang, eel[er], uoo[wo] |
4 |
Final letter |
Unstressed I |
Change to Y |
day, pey |
Unstressed U |
Change to W |
daw, row |
G |
Change to Q |
ranq, uanq[wang] |
N or L |
Double |
bann, ell[er] |
Any other |
Add -h |
dah, buh, lih, shieh[xie], uh[wu], iueh[yue] |
Next: ►Tidying up
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