（一）汉语音节的构成Chinese syllable structure

汉语的音节一般由声母、韵母和声调三个部分构成。例如：lǎo、shī两个音节，它们的构成分别为：声母：l、sh；韵母： ao、i；声调：ˇ、ˉ。

    Chinese syllables are made up of three components: initial, final, and tone. Take the two syllables “lǎo、shī” for example, the structure is composed of the initial “l”, “sh”, the final “ao”, “i”, and the tone “ˇ” , “ˉ”.

（二）声调符号的标注规则  Rules for tone marking

1、韵母一个时标注在它的上边。

When in a syllable there is only one vowel, the tone mark is placed over it.

2、韵母是复韵母时，按下列顺序标注：

If the final is a compound final, follow the following rules:

（1）有a时标注在a的上边。例如：zǎo、shàng。

If “a” in the compound final, the tone mark is over it, as in “zǎo、shàng”.

（2）没有a时标注在o、e的上边。例如：wǒ、kè。

If “a” is not in the syllable, the tone mark goes to the top of “o” or “e”.

（3）i、u并列时标注在后一个音节上。例如：jiǔ、guì。

If “i” and “u” are put together, mark the tone on the last one, as in “jiǔ” and “guì”.

另外，当i单独作韵母的时侯，上边的点要去掉，然后标注声调。例如：nǐ。

In addition to the above, when “i” is the only vowel in a syllable, the tone mark is placed on “i” without the dot on the top of “i”, e.g. “nǐ”.

3. 拼写规则    Spelling rules

（1）i、u、ü自成音节时前边加y、u、y。例如：

     When i、u、ü are used alone, y、w、y are added as initials. 

（2）以i、u、ü开头的音节分别写成y-、w-、yu-。例如：

Syllables beginning with i、u、ü are written as y-、w-、yu-, e.g.

     ia —→ ya   ua —→ wa    üe —→ yue

        ian—→yan    uai—→wai    üan—→yuan

（3）iou、uei、uen和声母相拼时，要去掉中间的元音字母，分别写成iu、ui、un。例如：

When iou、uei、uen are spelled with initials, the vowel in the middle of the syllable will be taken out, e.g.

jiou—→jiu    guei—→gui    

（4）ü和j、q、x相拼时，ü上两点要去掉。例如：

When ü is used with j、q、x，the dots over ü will be taken off, e.g.

   i —→ yi       u —→ wu     ü —→ yu

   jü —→ ju      qü —→ qu      xü —→ xu