letters of a phonetic alphabet; Pinyin letters
Meanings
2 senses · 7 examplesnoun
letters of a phonetic alphabet
formalGeneral term for the letters used in any writing system that represents sounds phonetically, such as the Latin alphabet in English or Cyrillic in Russian.
English has 26 letters of the phonetic alphabet.
To learn a new language, you must first master its phonetic letters.
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Different phonetic writing systems use different sets of phonetic letters.
noun
Pinyin letters; the letters of the Chinese phonetic alphabet
neutralSpecifically refers to the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet adopted by the Hanyu Pinyin system to transcribe the sounds of Chinese characters. This is the primary meaning for learners of Chinese.
"a, o, e" are the vowel letters in the Chinese Pinyin alphabet.
Children learn to read and write Pinyin letters in kindergarten.
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The Chinese Pinyin alphabet chart has 26 letters, which is the same as the English alphabet.
It's very convenient to type using the Pinyin letter input method.