We occasionally get inquiries as to whether a translator will
translate an English input and display it in PinYin. Such inquiries
show a need for people to understand more about PinYin.
Thus, this article.
Question: Do you have a device that renders the translation in PinYin?
Answer: Nobody makes such a device, because PinYin is a system that
allows Chinese speakers to (mostly) represent Chinese characters
into a device (e.g., computer, translator, PDA) based on ASCII
characters.
PinYin and input
PinYin is an input method, created to allow representation of
thousands of Chinese characters via 128 ASCII characters. Do you see
the mathematical problem, here?
PinYin is a character bridging system for text input.
PinYin is one of many input methods. To English-speaking people
who think they need to learn PinYin, my question is, "Why aren't you
also learning the other dozen or so popular input methods?"
Most Chinese input systems are based on "reduced strokes" and other
shortcuts that are applied to existing Chinese characters.
You see, PinYin isn't a language. It isn't an alphabet. It isn't a
character set. It's a compromise system that aids in machine input.
That's all it is.
PinYin doesn't provide the tonal information that is contained in
Chinese characters. In many cases, the PinYin will have so many
different renderings in Mandarin that it may as well be random.
Why there is no PinYin output
There is no reason to output PinYin, because the screen can display
the actual characters.
Chairman Mao introduced "Simplified Chinese" by eliminating a few
hundred Chinese characters. What was left was still overwhelming. I
don't think trying to read them as PinYin representations would be
very easy.
Pronouncing PinYin
There isn't any official "PinYin pronounciation."
You could pronounce the PinYin if you wanted to, but why would you
want to?
What you need to pronounce is the Mandarin. That's
why all English<->Chinese translation devices provide the Mandarin
for the output.
Some translation devices also provide Cantonese
output. Although Mandarin is the official language of China, many
Chinese speak Cantonese.
Using an electronic translator
Translation devices allow a Chinese speaker and an
English speaker to communicate. That is the purpose of such devices.
One person is going to input via PinYin (or some
other system), to get the Chinese equivalent and then have the
device translate into English.
The other is going to input via standard English
alphabet and then have the device translate into Chinese.
If you really want to learn PinYin
For an English-speaking person, learning Klingon
would probably be a more productive use of your time. But if you are
sure you want to learn PinYin, then look for a paper guide. It will
be written in Chinese. If there's a "Little China" near you, go
there and ask around for that guide. Or, you can
buy a PinYin guide here.
PinYin Resources
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