Yale romanization of Mandarin
In fact, during the height of the Cold War, the use outside of China of pinyin rather than Yale romanization was regarded as a political statement or identification with the communist Chinese regime.The Yale system, like Wade–Giles and Gwoyeu Romatzyh, represents palatal consonants using letters for similar sounds with which they are in complementary distribution.Syllables with syllabic fricatives are spelled jr (ㄓ zhi), chr (ㄔ chi), shr (ㄕ shi), r (ㄖ ri), dz (ㄗ zi), tsz (ㄘ ci), sz (ㄙ si), suggesting approximate pronunciations to English speakers.For example, "knowledge" (知識) is spelled chih-shih in Wade–Giles and zhishi in pinyin, but in Yale romanization it is written jr-shr—only the last will elicit a near-correct pronunciation from an unprepared English speaker.Tone was marked using diacritics, the shape of which suggested the corresponding pitch contour: ā (high level), á (rising), ǎ (falling-rising) and à (falling).