---
title: "Pinyin Meaning: 拼音 (pīnyīn) Means “pinyin”"
description: "拼音 (pīnyīn) means “pinyin (romanization of Chinese)”. Hear its tones, see what 拼 and 音 each mean and a real sentence that uses it."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/pinyin"
published: "2026-10-21"
updated: "2026-11-06"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[What does it mean in Chinese?](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning)

# What does 拼音 mean?

猫头鹰māotóuyīngowl

拼音 pīnyīn

## pinyin (romanization of Chinese)

## It can also mean

- phonetic spelling

## Its characters

1. 拼 pīn to spell (as in 拼音, 拼写)
2. 音 yīn sound

## In a sentence

孩子们先学拼音再学汉字。 Children learn pinyin first, then Chinese characters.

每个学中文的人，第一天学的往往不是汉字，而是**拼音**：b、p、m、f，还有那四个小小的声调符号。

From [拼音是谁发明的？ · Who invented pinyin? The story of Zhou Youguang](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/who-invented-pinyin-zhou-youguang#library-word-22-24)

[More about 拼音](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/%E6%8B%BC%E9%9F%B3)

## More words with 拼 or 音

- [发音 fāyīn](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/fayin)
- [口音 kǒuyīn](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/kouyin)
- [录音 lùyīn](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/luyin)
- [配音 pèiyīn](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/peiyin)
- [拼搏 pīnbó](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/pinbo)
- [拼接 pīnjiē](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/pinjie)
- [拼命 pīnmìng](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/pinming)
- [声音 shēngyīn](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/shengyin)
- [音乐 yīnyuè](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/yinyue)
- [语音 yǔyīn](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/yuyin)

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[Type pinyin with tone marks](https://mandarinthewild.com/pinyin-tone-marks)

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