CJK Input Methods

Chinese Input Methods
Japanese Input Methods
Korean Input Methods
Radical Lookup

Chinese Input Methods

Pinyin
Quanpin
Shuangpin
Zhuyin
Cangjie
Wubi
Symbols
Radical Lookup

Pinyin

Pin¹yin¹ is the official romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It was promulgated in 1958 and has been a United Nations standard since 1977.

Type the pronunciation and select the character from the list displayed on the input bar:
Click it or type its number. You may also press the space bar to select the first character.
Pinyin ü is typed as u, uu or v, depending on the application you use. Pinyin üe is invaraiably ue.
Some applications let you input compounds and phrases in addition to individual characters. This makes typing Chinese much faster:
There are some applications in which you may or have to specify the tone:

Tone numbers should be typed at the end of the syllable: zhong1 wen2.

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The meaning of Quan²pin¹ depends on what other input methods you have. If you have Pinyin and Quanpin then you must type the tone numbers in Pinyin but not in Quanpin. If you have Quanpin and Shuangpin then Quanpin is full Pinyin (with or without tones) and Shuangpin is abbreviated Pinyin.

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Shuangpin

Shuang¹pin¹ is two-letter Pinyin. Every syllable is analyzed into an onset and a rhyme. An onset is an initial consonant and a rhyme is what follows. Every onset and every rhyme is represented by exactly one letter, eg. Shuangpin is written as 'udpn'. One-letter onsets and one-letter rhymes are typed as in standard Pinyin. This is how you abbreviate digraph onsets:

Pinyin	ch	sh	zh
Shuangpin	i	u	v

If a syllable starts with a vowel then it has a silent onset. Different applications use different keystrokes to mark a silent onset, eg. an apostrophe ( ' ) or letter o.

The keystrokes for complex rhymes are application-specific. Read the help file of your application.

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Zhuyin

zhu⁴yin¹, also known as Bopomofo, is a non-Roman transcription system derived from character strokes. It was adopted in 1913 and is still used in Taiwan. Click here to learn Zhuyin. View a typical Zhuyin keyboard.

The Zhuyin input method is used to type han⁴zi⁴. To type Zhuyin, use the Symbols input method.

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Cangjie

Cang¹jie² is a fast input method that identifies characters by their shape. It was developed by Zhu¹ Bang¹fu⁴ in Taiwan and is named after the legendary inventor of Chinese writing.

Learn Cangjie and other input methods from Dylan Sung.

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Wubi

Wu³bi³ is another input method by shape. It is very popular in mainland China.

Learn Wubi from Joe Wicentowski.

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Symbols

Fu²hao⁴: any full-width character that is not a han⁴zi⁴ is referred to as a symbol in Chinese information processing. Symbols include letters, numbers, punctuation marks, iconic symbols, etc. You can input symbols through pop-up keyboards or character maps.

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Rômaji

: type the pronunciation in Hepburn (or other) romanization and select your kana or kanji from the list displayed on the input bar:

Click it or type its number. The first item may also be selected by pressing the space bar.

Input commonly used compounds and phrases as units:

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Kana to Kanji

Type hiragana and select your kana or kanji from the list displayed on the input bar.

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Symbols Input

Kigô: any full-width character that is not a kana or kanji is referred to as a symbol in Japanese information processing. Symbols include letters, numbers, punctuation marks, iconic symbols, etc. You can input symbols through pop-up keyboards or character maps.