Syllables in Mandarin Chinese (國語 in Taiwan，普通話 in the rest of China) are traditionally split into two parts: initial and final (聲母 + 韻母). Finals can be subdivided into medial, main vowel, final consonant and tone:
initial | final | |||
initial | medial | V+[C] | Tone | |
聲母 | 介音 | 韻尾 | 聲調 | |
蔣 | ㄐ | ㄧ | ㄤ | ˇ |
C = consonant (= con [with] + son [sound] + ant)
V = vowel
屈 ﹦ㄑ + ㄩ
Ch + iu = Chiu (Qu1)
徐 ﹦ㄒ + ㄩ + ˊ
Sh + yu = Shyu (Xu2)
許﹦ㄒ + ㄩ + ˇ
Sh + eu = Sheu (Xu3)
Notice how GR (Gwoyeu Romatzyh / Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh 國語羅馬字) very cleverly shows 1st, 2nd and 3rd tone ㄩ (iu) by changing the 1st letter of the medial: iu, yu, eu. The second half of each letter shape matches the tone mark! People who have not studied phonology (音系學) and most foreign students of Chinese have trouble understanding why GR is superior to other romanizations.
