<p>Under the section <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin#Pronunciation_of_initials" rel="noreferrer">Pronunciation of initials</a> for the pinyin page on Wikipedia there is the following:</p>

<blockquote>
  <ul>
  <li><strong>Note on y and w</strong></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>Y and w are equivalent to the semivowel medials i, u, and ü (see below). They are spelled differently when there is no initial consonant in order to mark a new syllable: fanguan is fan-guan, while fangwan is fang-wan (and equivalent to *fang-uan). With this convention, an apostrophe only needs to be used to mark an initial a, e, or o: Xi'an (two syllables: [ɕi.an]) vs. xian (one syllable: [ɕi̯ɛn]). In addition, y and w are added to fully vocalic i, u, and ü when these occur without an initial consonant, so that they are written yi, wu, and yu. Some Mandarin speakers do pronounce a [j] or [w] sound at the beginning of such words—that is, yi [i] or [ji], wu [u] or [wu], yu [y] or [ɥy],—so this is an intuitive convention. See below for a few finals which are abbreviated after a consonant plus w/u or y/i medial: wen → C+un, wei → C+ui, weng → C+ong, and you → C+iu. </p>
</blockquote>

<p>Also under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin#Letters" rel="noreferrer">letters</a> for the orthographic rules of pinyin it says:</p>

<blockquote>
  <ul>
  <li>Syllables starting with i are written as y in place of i (e.g., *ian is written as yan). Standalone i is written as yi.   </li>
  <li>Syllables starting with ü are written as yu in place of ü (e.g., *üe is written as yue).</li>
  </ul>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-24T21:42:17.840Z
2020-02-24T21:42:17.840Z
Mou某
<p>Two observations：</p>

<ol>
<li>It should be fine for the pinyin of a character to contain no initials such as 阿(ā)，哦(ò) and 噩(è).</li>
<li>The bopomofo equivalent is ㄩˊ, which is ǘ in pinyin.</li>
</ol>

<p>Then why the pinyin of 鱼 is yú instead of ǘ?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-24T21:33:44.043Z
The null initial for -u is always "w", for -ü and -i, it's "y". If you want, I'm sure someone would be happy to just list all of the spelling rules in pinyin, but I don't think it's possible to give a really satisfying _explanation_ for why the rules are the way they are. It's a convention, and the creator of pinyin could have chosen different conventions, but he didn't.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-13T08:06:33.527Z
Related: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/42990/pronunciation-of-word-initial-glides-pinyin-y-and-w/
大胳膊雅各布
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-13T08:10:06.400Z
Does this answer your question? [Why one -> many mapping between IPA and Pinyin?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/2431/why-one-many-mapping-between-ipa-and-pinyin)
大胳膊雅各布
<pinyin><zhuyin-fuhao>
Why the pinyin of 鱼 is yú instead of ǘ?
# Why the pinyin of 鱼 is yú instead of ǘ?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-02-24)

Two observations：

1. It should be fine for the pinyin of a character to contain no initials such as 阿(ā)，哦(ò) and 噩(è).
2. The bopomofo equivalent is ㄩˊ, which is ǘ in pinyin.

Then why the pinyin of 鱼 is yú instead of ǘ?

**Tags:** pinyin, zhuyin-fuhao

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The null initial for -u is always "w", for -ü and -i, it's "y". If you want, I'm sure someone would be happy to just list all of the spelling rules in pinyin, but I don't think it's possible to give a really satisfying _explanation_ for why the rules are the way they are. It's a convention, and the creator of pinyin could have chosen different conventions, but he didn't.  
> **username_2**: Related: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/42990/pronunciation-of-word-initial-glides-pinyin-y-and-w/  
> **username_2**: Does this answer your question? [Why one -> many mapping between IPA and Pinyin?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/2431/why-one-many-mapping-between-ipa-and-pinyin)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-02-24. Score: 11 | Accepted answer

Under the section [Pronunciation of initials](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin#Pronunciation_of_initials) for the pinyin page on Wikipedia there is the following:

> * **Note on y and w**
>
> Y and w are equivalent to the semivowel medials i, u, and ü (see below). They are spelled differently when there is no initial consonant in order to mark a new syllable: fanguan is fan-guan, while fangwan is fang-wan (and equivalent to \*fang-uan). With this convention, an apostrophe only needs to be used to mark an initial a, e, or o: Xi'an (two syllables: [ɕi.an]) vs. xian (one syllable: [ɕi̯ɛn]). In addition, y and w are added to fully vocalic i, u, and ü when these occur without an initial consonant, so that they are written yi, wu, and yu. Some Mandarin speakers do pronounce a [j] or [w] sound at the beginning of such words—that is, yi [i] or [ji], wu [u] or [wu], yu [y] or [ɥy],—so this is an intuitive convention. See below for a few finals which are abbreviated after a consonant plus w/u or y/i medial: wen → C+un, wei → C+ui, weng → C+ong, and you → C+iu.

Also under [letters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin#Letters) for the orthographic rules of pinyin it says:

> * Syllables starting with i are written as y in place of i (e.g., \*ian is written as yan). Standalone i is written as yi.
> * Syllables starting with ü are written as yu in place of ü (e.g., \*üe is written as yue).


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