How to Key in Hanyu Pinyin
Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language. To teach tones to students of Chinese, the Hanyu Pinyin romanization system is often used. Since Chinese characters are not spelled out using an alphabet, Chinese cannot be "sounded out" like English words can. The pinyin system uses letters to spell out how Chinese words are pronounced, and while every pinyin letter can be found on a standard QWERTY keyboard, Hanyu Pinyin uses diacritics over some vowels to indicate tone. Since keyboards themselves cannot create pinyin tone marks, other means of typing pinyin on computers must be used.
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Instructions
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Using Pinyinput
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1
Download and install Pinyinput. When installing, choose which keyboard locale (typing language) you would like Pinyinput to be sorted under. For example, you might choose "EN - English (United States)" or "CH - Chinese (Simplified, PRC)".
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2
Click on the language bar icon that displays "EN" if typing in English, or "CH" if typing in Chinese. If you have chosen to sort Pinyinput under "CH - Chinese", change the language to Chinese. If you have sorted Pinyinput under "EN", change the input language to English.
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3
Click the keyboard icon, which is beside the language icon displaying "EN" or "CH." Select "Pinyinput" from the language input choices that pop up.
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4
Open a software program that you can type in and use your keyboard to type pinyin words. At the end of each word, type the tone number using the numerals 1, 2, 3 or 4.
Key 2011
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5
Download, install and open Key 2011.
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Type Pinyin words using your keyboard.
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Highlight each word that you type and click the appropriate tone number from the icons listed at the top of the program. Choose from 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 to create a first, second, third, fourth or neutral tone.
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Tips & Warnings
If you don't plan on regularly typing Hanyu Pinyin, simply copy and paste vowels with pinyin diacritics as needed when typing pinyin words.
References
Resources
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