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{{Short description|Method of entering Chinese characters into a computer}}
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{{External links|date=January 2022}}
[[Image:Scim-pinyin-weijibaike.png|thumb|300px|Screenshot of [[Smart Common Input Method|SCIM]]'s Smart Pinyin]]
[[File:Typing Chinese characters with SunPinyin screencast.webm|thumb|Typing using [[Intelligent Input Bus|IBus]] and SunPinyin]]
The '''pinyin method''' ({{lang-zh|s=拼音输入法|t=拼音輸入法|p=pīnyīn shūrù fǎ}}) refers to a family of [[Chinese input methods for computers|input methods]] based on the [[pinyin]] method of romanization.
In the most basic form, the pinyin method allows a user to input [[Chinese characters]] by entering the pinyin of a Chinese character and then presenting the user with a list of possible characters with that [[Standard Chinese phonology|pronunciation]]. However, there are a number of slightly different such systems in use, and modern pinyin methods provide a number of convenient features.
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== Elements and features ==
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Pinyin input methods differ in a number of possible aspects. Most pinyin input methods provide convenience features to speed up input. Some of these features can speed up typing immensely.
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With the exception of intonation, there are two extended Latin vowels in pinyin. They are [[ü]] (U-umlaut) and [[ê]] (E-circumflex). Given that the US keyboard layout is the most common keyboard layout in China, any pinyin method implementation would need to be able to facilitate the input of those vowels on US keyboard.
Since the letter "v" is unused in Mandarin pinyin, it is universally used as an alias for ü. For example, typing "nv" into the input method would bring up the candidate list for {{lang-zh|p=nǚ}}.
The handling of ê is not as universal, since the character [[wikt:欸|欸]] is the only commonly used character with this pronunciation. It is an [[interjection]] roughly equivalent to "[[Eh]]" in English. Some IMEs, such as Google Pinyin, merge it into "e", while others create an additional letter combination for it, such as "ea" or "eh", or "ei" in iOS. Others would simply drop this sound.
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=== Abbreviation ===
Abbreviation is a feature that allows the user to omit all but the first or first couple of letters in the pinyin spelling. This feature can speed up the input of long word phrases significantly. Under this feature, the user can enter the word for "concert" ({{lang-zh|s=音乐会|t=音樂會|p=yīnyuèhuì}}) by typing "yyh" as opposed to "yinyuehui".
In systems that support user-defined phrases, users can even define their own abbreviations that might not follow standard pinyin rules.
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=== Word prediction ===
[[Word prediction]] ({{lang-zh|s=联想|t=聯想|p=liánxiǎng|l=association}}) is a feature of an input method that attempts to guess the next series of characters that the user is attempting to enter. This feature is often used to refer to two different mechanisms that have similar functions.
One of these mechanisms is akin to an [[auto-complete]] function for user input. While the user is typing the appropriate pinyin, the input method would take the input and look up all possible word phrases that might match the user input even though the input is incomplete. For example, when the user enters "shang", the input method would show "上海" (Shanghai) as a word candidate under this feature.
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