{"id":2188,"date":"2009-04-26T22:43:10","date_gmt":"2009-04-26T14:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/?p=2188"},"modified":"2015-12-15T15:40:11","modified_gmt":"2015-12-15T07:40:11","slug":"mandarin-interjections-in-pinyin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/2009\/mandarin-interjections-in-pinyin\/","title":{"rendered":"Mandarin interjections in Pinyin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"coverAh, interjections! Such flavor they can add! With a few of the many interjections in today’s reading on Mandarin interjections<\/a> (325 KB PDF) you’ll sound a lot more like a native speaker. But don’t overdo it unless you also want to sound like a drama queen. <\/p>\n

Here’s the introduction:<\/p>\n

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Interjections, sometimes also called exclamations, are a type of function word used in calling out, to express strong emotions, or to indicate agreement. Interjections may form complete utterances on their own, or function as part of a larger utterance. When they form a part of a larger sentence, they most usually appear at the beginning. They are separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma or exclamation point in writing. <\/p>\n

Interjections can tolerate a wide degree of variation in tone and intonation in order to better express the emotions they indicate. This makes it difficult to set a fixed Chinese-character form for each different interjection. To better suit this variability, interjections are permitted to go without tone markers in HP. <\/p>\n

Interjections, as function words, are written separately from the words around them. Most interjections are monosyllabic, though there are a number of polysyllabic ones, like haiyo, heihei, aiya, and aiyaya. Some interjections are composed wholly of consonants: ng, hm, hng. These too are treated as ordinary syllables. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Thus, when it comes to writing interjections in Hanyu Pinyin, the rules are simple. Pinyin’s greater flexibility than Chinese characters<\/a> could also open up all sorts of possibilities. <\/p>\n

Here are some standard examples from the reading: <\/p>\n

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  1. a 啊<\/strong>\n