How to convert Chinese characters to Pinyin

Question

For sorting Chinese language text, I want to convert Chinese characters to Pinyin, properly separating each Chinese character and grouping successive characters together.

Answer 1

the following code writing in C# can help you to simply convert chinese words that including in gb2312 encodec(just 2312 of often used Simplified-Chinese words) to pinyin.like convert "今天天气不错" to "JinTianTianQiBuCuo".

sometimes a chinese word is not one to one map to a pinyin,it depends on the context we talk about.like the "行" in "自行车"(bike) is pronounced "Xing",but in "银行"(bank) it pronounced "Hang".so if you have problem with this,you may find more complex solution to handle this.

sorry for my poor english.i hope this could give you a little help.

public class ChineseToPinYin
    {
        private static int[] pyValue = new int[]
    {
    -20319,-20317,-20304,-20295,-20292,-20283,-20265,-20257,-20242,-20230,-20051,-20036,
    -20032,-20026,-20002,-19990,-19986,-19982,-19976,-19805,-19784,-19775,-19774,-19763,
    -19756,-19751,-19746,-19741,-19739,-19728,-19725,-19715,-19540,-19531,-19525,-19515,
    -19500,-19484,-19479,-19467,-19289,-19288,-19281,-19275,-19270,-19263,-19261,-19249,
    -19243,-19242,-19238,-19235,-19227,-19224,-19218,-19212,-19038,-19023,-19018,-19006,
    -19003,-18996,-18977,-18961,-18952,-18783,-18774,-18773,-18763,-18756,-18741,-18735,
    -18731,-18722,-18710,-18697,-18696,-18526,-18518,-18501,-18490,-18478,-18463,-18448,
    -18447,-18446,-18239,-18237,-18231,-18220,-18211,-18201,-18184,-18183, -18181,-18012,
    -17997,-17988,-17970,-17964,-17961,-17950,-17947,-17931,-17928,-17922,-17759,-17752,
    -17733,-17730,-17721,-17703,-17701,-17697,-17692,-17683,-17676,-17496,-17487,-17482,
    -17468,-17454,-17433,-17427,-17417,-17202,-17185,-16983,-16970,-16942,-16915,-16733,
    -16708,-16706,-16689,-16664,-16657,-16647,-16474,-16470,-16465,-16459,-16452,-16448,
    -16433,-16429,-16427,-16423,-16419,-16412,-16407,-16403,-16401,-16393,-16220,-16216,
    -16212,-16205,-16202,-16187,-16180,-16171,-16169,-16158,-16155,-15959,-15958,-15944,
    -15933,-15920,-15915,-15903,-15889,-15878,-15707,-15701,-15681,-15667,-15661,-15659,
    -15652,-15640,-15631,-15625,-15454,-15448,-15436,-15435,-15419,-15416,-15408,-15394,
    -15385,-15377,-15375,-15369,-15363,-15362,-15183,-15180,-15165,-15158,-15153,-15150,
    -15149,-15144,-15143,-15141,-15140,-15139,-15128,-15121,-15119,-15117,-15110,-15109,
    -14941,-14937,-14933,-14930,-14929,-14928,-14926,-14922,-14921,-14914,-14908,-14902,
    -14894,-14889,-14882,-14873,-14871,-14857,-14678,-14674,-14670,-14668,-14663,-14654,
    -14645,-14630,-14594,-14429,-14407,-14399,-14384,-14379,-14368,-14355,-14353,-14345,
    -14170,-14159,-14151,-14149,-14145,-14140,-14137,-14135,-14125,-14123,-14122,-14112,
    -14109,-14099,-14097,-14094,-14092,-14090,-14087,-14083,-13917,-13914,-13910,-13907,
    -13906,-13905,-13896,-13894,-13878,-13870,-13859,-13847,-13831,-13658,-13611,-13601,
    -13406,-13404,-13400,-13398,-13395,-13391,-13387,-13383,-13367,-13359,-13356,-13343,
    -13340,-13329,-13326,-13318,-13147,-13138,-13120,-13107,-13096,-13095,-13091,-13076,
    -13068,-13063,-13060,-12888,-12875,-12871,-12860,-12858,-12852,-12849,-12838,-12831,
    -12829,-12812,-12802,-12607,-12597,-12594,-12585,-12556,-12359,-12346,-12320,-12300,
    -12120,-12099,-12089,-12074,-12067,-12058,-12039,-11867,-11861,-11847,-11831,-11798,
    -11781,-11604,-11589,-11536,-11358,-11340,-11339,-11324,-11303,-11097,-11077,-11067,
    -11055,-11052,-11045,-11041,-11038,-11024,-11020,-11019,-11018,-11014,-10838,-10832,
    -10815,-10800,-10790,-10780,-10764,-10587,-10544,-10533,-10519,-10331,-10329,-10328,
    -10322,-10315,-10309,-10307,-10296,-10281,-10274,-10270,-10262,-10260,-10256,-10254
    };

    private static string[] pyName = new string[]
{
"A","Ai","An","Ang","Ao","Ba","Bai","Ban","Bang","Bao","Bei","Ben",
"Beng","Bi","Bian","Biao","Bie","Bin","Bing","Bo","Bu","Ba","Cai","Can",
"Cang","Cao","Ce","Ceng","Cha","Chai","Chan","Chang","Chao","Che","Chen","Cheng",
"Chi","Chong","Chou","Chu","Chuai","Chuan","Chuang","Chui","Chun","Chuo","Ci","Cong",
"Cou","Cu","Cuan","Cui","Cun","Cuo","Da","Dai","Dan","Dang","Dao","De",
"Deng","Di","Dian","Diao","Die","Ding","Diu","Dong","Dou","Du","Duan","Dui",
"Dun","Duo","E","En","Er","Fa","Fan","Fang","Fei","Fen","Feng","Fo",
"Fou","Fu","Ga","Gai","Gan","Gang","Gao","Ge","Gei","Gen","Geng","Gong",
"Gou","Gu","Gua","Guai","Guan","Guang","Gui","Gun","Guo","Ha","Hai","Han",
"Hang","Hao","He","Hei","Hen","Heng","Hong","Hou","Hu","Hua","Huai","Huan",
"Huang","Hui","Hun","Huo","Ji","Jia","Jian","Jiang","Jiao","Jie","Jin","Jing",
"Jiong","Jiu","Ju","Juan","Jue","Jun","Ka","Kai","Kan","Kang","Kao","Ke",
"Ken","Keng","Kong","Kou","Ku","Kua","Kuai","Kuan","Kuang","Kui","Kun","Kuo",
"La","Lai","Lan","Lang","Lao","Le","Lei","Leng","Li","Lia","Lian","Liang",
"Liao","Lie","Lin","Ling","Liu","Long","Lou","Lu","Lv","Luan","Lue","Lun",
"Luo","Ma","Mai","Man","Mang","Mao","Me","Mei","Men","Meng","Mi","Mian",
"Miao","Mie","Min","Ming","Miu","Mo","Mou","Mu","Na","Nai","Nan","Nang",
"Nao","Ne","Nei","Nen","Neng","Ni","Nian","Niang","Niao","Nie","Nin","Ning",
"Niu","Nong","Nu","Nv","Nuan","Nue","Nuo","O","Ou","Pa","Pai","Pan",
"Pang","Pao","Pei","Pen","Peng","Pi","Pian","Piao","Pie","Pin","Ping","Po",
"Pu","Qi","Qia","Qian","Qiang","Qiao","Qie","Qin","Qing","Qiong","Qiu","Qu",
"Quan","Que","Qun","Ran","Rang","Rao","Re","Ren","Reng","Ri","Rong","Rou",
"Ru","Ruan","Rui","Run","Ruo","Sa","Sai","San","Sang","Sao","Se","Sen",
"Seng","Sha","Shai","Shan","Shang","Shao","She","Shen","Sheng","Shi","Shou","Shu",
"Shua","Shuai","Shuan","Shuang","Shui","Shun","Shuo","Si","Song","Sou","Su","Suan",
"Sui","Sun","Suo","Ta","Tai","Tan","Tang","Tao","Te","Teng","Ti","Tian",
"Tiao","Tie","Ting","Tong","Tou","Tu","Tuan","Tui","Tun","Tuo","Wa","Wai",
"Wan","Wang","Wei","Wen","Weng","Wo","Wu","Xi","Xia","Xian","Xiang","Xiao",
"Xie","Xin","Xing","Xiong","Xiu","Xu","Xuan","Xue","Xun","Ya","Yan","Yang",
"Yao","Ye","Yi","Yin","Ying","Yo","Yong","You","Yu","Yuan","Yue","Yun",
"Za", "Zai","Zan","Zang","Zao","Ze","Zei","Zen","Zeng","Zha","Zhai","Zhan",
"Zhang","Zhao","Zhe","Zhen","Zheng","Zhi","Zhong","Zhou","Zhu","Zhua","Zhuai","Zhuan",
"Zhuang","Zhui","Zhun","Zhuo","Zi","Zong","Zou","Zu","Zuan","Zui","Zun","Zuo"
};

    /// <summary>
    /// 把汉字转换成拼音(全拼)
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="hzString">汉字字符串</param>
    /// <returns>转换后的拼音(全拼)字符串</returns>
    public static string Convert(string hzString)
    {
        // 匹配中文字符
        Regex regex = new Regex("^[\u4e00-\u9fa5]$");
        byte[] array = new byte[2];
        string pyString = "";
        int chrAsc = 0;
        int i1 = 0;
        int i2 = 0;
        char[] noWChar = hzString.ToCharArray();

        for (int j = 0; j < noWChar.Length; j++)
        {
            // 中文字符
            if (regex.IsMatch(noWChar[j].ToString()))
            {
                array = System.Text.Encoding.Default.GetBytes(noWChar[j].ToString());
                i1 = (short)(array[0]);
                i2 = (short)(array[1]);
                chrAsc = i1 * 256 + i2 - 65536;
                if (chrAsc > 0 && chrAsc < 160)
                {
                    pyString += noWChar[j];
                }
                else
                {
                    // 修正部分文字
                    if (chrAsc == -9254) // 修正“圳”字
                        pyString += "Zhen";
                    else
                    {
                        for (int i = (pyValue.Length - 1); i >= 0; i--)
                        {
                            if (pyValue[i] <= chrAsc)
                            {
                                pyString += pyName[i];
                                break;
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            // 非中文字符
            else
            {
                pyString += noWChar[j].ToString();
            }
        }
        return pyString;
    }
}

Answer 2

CoreFoundation provides certain method to do the conversion:

CFMutableStringRef string = CFStringCreateMutableCopy(NULL, 0, CFSTR("中文"));
CFStringTransform(string, NULL, kCFStringTransformMandarinLatin, NO);
CFStringTransform(string, NULL, kCFStringTransformStripDiacritics, NO);
NSLog(@"%@", string);

The output is

zhong wen

Answer 3

Short answer: you don't.

Long answer: There is no one-to-one mapping for 汉字 to 汉语拼音. Just some quick examples:

• 把 can be "ba" in the third tone or fourth tone.
• 了 can be "le" toneless or "liao" third tone.
• 乐 can be "le" or "yue", both in the fourth tone.
• 落 can be "luo", "la" or "lao", all in the fourth tone.

And so on. I have a beginners' book on this topic that has 207 examples. I stress that this is a beginners' book and is by no means complete. Each one has a page or two of examples of use and conditions under which you choose the appropriate pronunciation. It is not something that could be easily programmed (if at all).

And this doesn't even address the other slippery thing you want to deal with: the separation of characters into grouped words. The very notion of a word is a bit slippery in Chinese. (There's two terms that correspond, roughly to "word" in Chinese for example: 字 and 词. The first is the character, the second groups of characters that are put together into one concept. (I frequently get asked by Chinese speakers how many "words" I can read when they really mean "characters".) While in some cases the distinction is clear (the 词 "乌鸦", for example, is "crow" -- the two 字 must be together to express the idea properly and it would be incorrect to translate it as "black crow"), in others it is not so clear. What does "你好" translate to? Is it one word meaning, idiomatically, "hello"? Or is it two words translating literally to "you good"? Each of the characters involved stands alone or in groups with other words, but together they mean something entirely different from their individual meanings. Given this, how, precisely, do you plan to group the 汉语拼音 transliterations (which are difficult to impossible to get right in the first place!) into "words"?

Answer 4

A table containing the mapping between unicode to pinyin

ftp://ftp.cuhk.hk/pub/chinese/ifcss/software/data/Uni2Pinyin.gz

Answer 5

If you use Visual Studio, this might be an option:

Microsoft.International.Converters.PinYinConverter

How to install:

First, download the Visual Studio International Pack 2.0, Official Download. Once the download is complete install the run file VSIPSetup.msi installation (x86 operating system on the default installation directory (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio International Feature Pack 2.0). After installation, you need to add a reference in VS, respectively reference: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio International Pack\Simplified Chinese Pin-Yin Conversion Library (Pinyin) and C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio International Pack\Traditional Chinese to Simplified Chinese Conversion Library and Add-In Tool (Traditional and Simplified Huzhuan to)

How to use:

public static string GetPinyin(string str)
    {
        string r = string.Empty;
        foreach (char obj in str)
        {
            try
            {
                ChineseChar chineseChar = new ChineseChar(obj);
                string t = chineseChar.Pinyins[0].ToString();
                r += t.Substring(0, t.Length - 1);
            }
            catch
            {
                r += obj.ToString();
            }
        }
        return r;
    }

Source: http://www.programering.com/a/MzM3cTMwATA.html

Answer 6

While @JUST MY correct OPINION's answer addresses some of the difficulties of converting characters into pinyin, it is not an impossible problem to solve.

I have written a library (pinyinify) that solves this task with decent accuracy. Even though there is not a one-to-one mapping between characters and pinyin, my library can usually decide which pronunciation is correct. For example, "我受不了了" correctly converts to "wǒ shòubùliǎo le", with two different pronunciations of 了.

My approach to solving the problem is pretty simple:

• First segment the text into words. For example, 我喜欢旅游 would be divided into three words: 我 喜欢 旅游. This is also not a simple process, but there are many libraries for it. jieba is one of the more popular libraries for this purpose.
• Use a dictionary to convert the words into pinyin.
• If the word is not in the dictionary, fall back to converting the individual characters to pinyin using their most common pronunciation.