拼音 pīnyīn phonetic writing
phonetic writing; pinyin (Chinese romanization)
How to remember 拼音: 拼 to link + 音 sound = phonetic writing.
Characters
How it is used
- Pinyin - the romanization system for Mandarin - 汉语拼音 (Hànyǔ pīnyīn) Chinese pinyin; 用拼音打字 type using pinyin.
- 拼 (to spell/piece together) + 音 (sound): literally spelling out sounds. It's the pronunciation/input system, not the characters.
- Also the general act of 'spelling' phonetically; 拼音输入法 = pinyin input method.