Pinyin method

The pinyin method (simplified Chinese: 拼音输入法; traditional Chinese: 拼音輸入法; pinyin: pīnyīn shūrù fǎ) refers to a family of 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 pronunciation. However, there are a number of slightly different such systems in use, and modern pinyin methods provide a number of convenient features.

The obvious advantage of pinyin-based input methods is the ease of learning for Standard Chinese speakers. Those who are familiar with pinyin would be able to input Chinese characters with almost no training, compared to other input methods.

For people who do not speak Chinese, the main advantage of pinyin becomes its disadvantage. They will need to learn the Standard Chinese pronunciation of characters before they are able to use this input method.

However, since all children in Mainland China are required to learn pinyin in school, pinyin is in fact very popular there.

Unlike stroke-based input methods, the pinyin method only requires the user to know how to speak Mandarin and be able to recognize the characters. It does not require the user to be able to construct the character from scratch as one would do in writing Chinese. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. It is an advantage in that people will be able to type all the characters they can recognize. It is a disadvantage in that it may cause language attrition and skill loss in adults, and it may be a learning barrier for written Chinese in children.

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.

The basic idea of an input method is to have a buffer that holds the user input until it is converted into characters that would otherwise be unavailable from the keyboard.

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