Supported operating systems: Apple Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan; Apple Mac OS X 10.12. Download Chinese English Dictionary for macOS 10.6 or later and enjoy it on your Mac. Chinese Korean Dictionary is an off-line dictionary which allows to look-up quickly words from English to Chinese as well as from Chinese to English through Services context.
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What's New
Adding the 'ABC - Extended' keyboard on Mac OS. The 'ABC - Extended' keyboard is the input method you'll need to select when you want to type pinyin with tone marks. On older Mac operating systems, this may also be called the 'U.S. Extended' keyboard. Here are step-by-step instructions for adding the ABC - Extended keyboard on Mac OS. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dear Esther is a first-person exploration and adventure video game developed by The Chinese Room for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. First released in 2008 as a free-to-play modification for the Source game engine, the game was entirely redeveloped for a commercial release in 2012. Next message: OS X TeX LaTeX with Chinese Characters Messages sorted by: date thread subject author On 19 Oct 2005, at 12:55 pm, Jung-Tsung Shen wrote: On 10/18/05, Jose Figueroa-O'Farrill wrote: HiJung-Tsung I was trying to compile a document containing chinese Jung-Tsung.
- There is a new Chinese system font, PingFang, to go along with the new overall system font, San Francisco.
- While little else is different on the surface, there are changes 'under the hood' for the Chinese input-method engine and for trackpad handwriting:
Installation
In System Preferences... Language & Region, you will find a list of 'Preferred languages.' Chinese is automatically added to this list when you install the Chinese input methods, but you can also add to the list and arrange it manually. The language at the top is used by the Finder. Adjustments to this list affect the default font behavior in applications that use Apple's built-in text engine, like Mail, Safari, and Pages. Unless you are running the system (i.e., the Finder) in an East Asian language, we recommend the following order: Simplified Chinese (简体中文), Traditional Chinese (繁體中文), Japanese (日本語), Korean (한국어).
Fonts
You will find five Chinese fonts in the /System/Library/Fonts folder. PingFang.ttc is the new Chinese system font in El Capitan, developed by Dynacomware (Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) and Apple. STHeiti Light.ttc and STHeiti Medium.ttc are the old system fonts. STHeiti Thin.ttc and STHeiti Ultralight.ttc are for iCloud/iOS integration, and not available in OS X. The remainder reside in the /Library/Fonts folder.
Let's start with the basic fonts enabled by default:
| Font name | File name | Foundry | Version | Date | Charset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PingFang SC* PingFang HK* PingFang TC* | PingFang.ttc | Dynacomware | 11.1d1 | 2015-08-15 | Unicode+ |
| Heiti SC Light Heiti TC Light | STHeiti Light.ttc | SinoType | 10.0d5e1 | 2014-12-12 | Unicode+ |
| Heiti SC Medium Heiti TC Medium | STHeiti Medium.ttc | SinoType | 10.0d5e1 | 2014-12-12 | Unicode+ |
| STHeiti Light | 华文细黑.ttf | SinoType | 11.0d1e1 | 2015-07-10 | GB18030 |
| STHeiti Regular | 华文黑体.ttf | SinoType | 6.1d2e2 | 2014-12-02 | GB18030 |
| Kaiti SC Regular Kaiti SC Bold† Kaiti SC Black† Kaiti TC Regular Kaiti TC Bold STKaiti Regular | Kaiti.ttc | SinoType | 9.0d11 | 2013-08-16 | GB18030 [?] |
| Songti SC Light Songti SC Regular Songti SC Bold Songti SC Black† Songti TC Light Songti TC Regular Songti TC Bold STSong Regular | Songti.ttc | SinoType | 11.0d1e1 | 2015-07-10 | GB18030 [?] |
| STFangsong Regular | 华文仿宋.ttf | SinoType | 8.0d5e2 | 2014-11-26 | GB18030 |
| LiHei Pro Medium | 儷黑 Pro.ttf | Dynacomware | 6.0d4e2 | 2014-11-26 | Big-5E HKSCS |
| LiSong Pro Light | 儷宋 Pro.ttf | Dynacomware | 6.0d4e2 | 2014-11-26 | Big-5E HKSCS |
* = Each PingFang font comes in six weights: Ultralight, Thin, Light, Regular, Medium, Semibold.
† = Limited to the GB2312 character set.
In addition, Apple maintains a set of old Chinese Language Kit and Mac OS 9 fonts, for backward-compatibility reasons. These fonts are hidden in El Capitan:
- GB2312: Hei, Kai
- Big Five: Apple LiGothic Medium, Apple LiSung Light, BiauKai
Finally, there is a set of ten additional Chinese fonts:
| Font name | File name | Foundry | Version | Date | Charset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yuanti SC Light Yuanti SC Regular Yuanti SC Bold | Yuanti.ttc | SinoType | 10.11d4e1 | 2015-05-21 | GB18030 |
| Xingkai SC Light Xingkai SC Bold | Xingkai.ttc | SinoType | 8.0d1e1 | 2012-06-19 | GB2312 |
| Baoli SC Regular | Baoli.ttc | SinoType | 8.0d1e1 | 2012-06-19 | GB2312 |
| Libian SC Regular | Libian.ttc | SinoType | 8.0d1e1 | 2012-06-19 | GB2312 |
| Lantinghei SC Extralight Lantinghei SC Demibold Lantinghei SC Heavy Lantinghei TC Extralight Lantinghei TC Demibold Lantinghei TC Heavy | Lantinghei.ttc | Founder | 10.10d1 | 2014-03-22 | GBK GBK GBK Big Five [HK?] Big Five [HK?] Big Five [HK?] |
| Hannotate SC Regular Hannotate SC Bold Hannotate TC Regular Hannotate TC Bold | Hannotate.ttc | Dynacomware | 10.11d1 | 2015-03-27 | GB18030 [?] |
| Hanzipen SC Regular Hanzipen SC Bold Hanzipen TC Regular Hanzipen TC Bold | Hanzipen.ttc | Dynacomware | 10.0d1e2 | 2014-08-26 | GB18030 [?] |
| Wawati SC Regular Wawati TC Regular | WawaSC-Regular.otf WawaTC-Regular.otf | Dynacomware | 8.0d1e1 | 2012-06-20 | GB18030 [?] |
| Weibei SC Bold Weibei TC Bold | WeibeiSC-Bold.otf WeibeiTC-Bold.otf | Arphic | 9.0d1e1 | 2012-12-20 | GB2312 Big Five [HK?] |
| Yuppy SC Regular Yuppy TC Regular | YuppySC-Regular.otf YuppyYC-Regular.otf | Monotype | 1.0d1e2 8.0d1e1 | 2012-06-19 | GB18030 [?] |
Getting Started
Input Menu
Under the Input Sources tab in System Preferences... Language & Region, go to 'Keyboard Preferences...:
First, check the 'Show Input menu in menu bar' box:
Then use the + sign to activate the Chinese input methods you want to use and cause them to appear in the Input menu:
Note: 'Trackpad Handwriting' also appears here if you have a multi-touch trackpad. See: OS X El Capitan: About the Trackpad Handwriting input source
Under the Keyboard tab, check the 'Show Keyboard & Character Viewers in menu bar' box for easy access to the Character Viewer via the Input menu.
Under the Shortcuts tab, you will find two keyboard shortcuts listed under Input Sources. To enable them, you'll also need to disable them under Spotlight:
- Command-space [⌘Space] ~ Selects the previous input source. Toggles back and forth between the last two input sources selected in the Input menu.
- Option-command-space [⌥⌘Space] ~ Selects the next input source. Cycles through the keyboards and input methods in the Input menu.
The Chinese input methods will appear right away in the Input menu itself, which appears on the right side of the Menu bar:
To activate a keyboard or input method, choose it from the menu. Its icon will appear in the Menu bar and it will have a check mark beside it in the menu. In the above example, the U.S. Extended keyboard is followed by two Japanese input modes, the two Chinese Pinyin input modes, and the Character Viewer.
Input Methods
Help
El Capitan's built-in Chinese input methods include a full set of English-language help instructions:
To access this Help, select an input mode in the Input menu. Its extended menu will appear, with Help at the bottom. Traditional-Chinese Pinyin, for example, looks like this:
Note: Apple's Help for the Chinese input methods is excellent. What follows below is a general description, not designed to be complete or especially helpful.
Key Sequences
After you have typed an appropriate input string for the input mode you are using, you can:
- Use
shift-spaceto invoke Structural Pinyin. [Pinyin only.] - Use the arrow keys to expand the horizontal Candidate window and navigate the list of candidates.
- Use
tabto change the candidate sorting mode:- Frequency [Pinyin, Zhuyin] = Displays candidates by frequency of use.
- Radical [Pinyin, Zhuyin] = Displays candidates by radical, then number of remaining strokes.
- Stroke [Pinyin] = Displays candidates by initial stroke, then total number of strokes.
- Structure [Pinyin] = Displays 'Structural Candidates' = Structural Pinyin
Structural Pinyin
Both Pinyin input modes provide access to the 'Structural Pinyin' [結構拼音/结构拼音] input mode via shift-space, which covers the GB 18030-2000 character set. Standard Pinyin readings are used for the graphic and/or phonetic components of the structure of the character, usually left-right, top-bottom, inner-outer. These are listed as Chaizi [拆字, 'Hanzi Components'] in the 'Hanzi (Simplified)' section of the Character Viewer.
The purpose of this is to allow you to use Pinyin to input obscure characters that you don't otherwise know how to pronounce. For example, you probably don't know the pronunciation of 龘 (dá), but with a basic reading knowledge of Chinese you can see that it is composed of three dragons [龍 lóng], and thus you know its Structural Pinyin reading is long-long-long.
Note: In both the SCIM and TCIM input menus, this feature is translated as 'Structural Candidates'. The (simplified) Chinese text is 拆字组合的候选字.
Data
The user data for the Chinese input methods is stored in your Home ~/Library/Dictionaries folder. [Hidden by default in El Capitan. Hold down the option key as you access the Go menu in the Finder.] You can reset your dictionary and/or frequency data by trashing the various folders there. Just drag them to the Trash and log out/in.
Plug-ins
Plug-in input methods are easy to install. You simply create a plain-text source file, change the file extension to either '.inputplugin' (for the Apple format) or '.cin' (a common open-source format), and then place it in the /Library/Input Methods folder.
Character Viewer
Note: Use the little icon in the upper right corner to switch out of 'Emoji & Symbols' mode and into 'Characters' mode shown here.
The Character Viewer is always accessible via Edit > Special Characters... To input characters into text in an application, just double-click on the character you want.
To add or remove the scripts and other categories of characters in the list on the right side, use the 'Customize List...' command in the pop-up menu on the upper left:
The East Asian Scripts heading contains three choices for Chinese hanzi:
- Hanzi (Simplified) displays the GB 18030 character set by radical-stroke.
- Hanzi (Traditional) displays the Big-5 character set by radical-stroke.
- Han Characters - All displays all of Unicode's CJK Unified Ideographs, Extension A, and Extension B, together by radical-stroke. [Extensions C and D are not yet included here, but you can find them in the Unicode code table.]
The Code Tables heading contains tables for five encodings that include Chinese: Unicode, Big-5E, HKSCS-2001, GB2312, and GB18030. The Unicode table has a block index for Unicode 6.0. The others are strictly by code point. You can use these tables to determine if a given character is in a given character set. Select the character and switch between the tables.
On the left side is the Character Info section of the Character Viewer. You can drag/copy any character from an application and drop/paste it into this section to get information about that character. This includes the input key sequences for the Apple input methods and Unicode code points. Below that is a list of Related Characters, and below that is the Font Variation section, where you can see all available glyphs for the selected character in the different fonts on your system. Click on a glyph to display it and the font's name up above:
TextEdit
TextEdit 1.11 in El Capitan supports vertical-text layout for Chinese and Japanese. Use the Format > Make Vertical/Horizontal Layout command (also available in the contextual menu that appears when you control-click/right-click inside a document). TextEdit will convert Chinese punctuation to/from the vertical format for you, although the effectiveness of this depends on the font you are using (some fonts are better at vertical text than others).
You can customize the pop-up menu for encodings in Preferences > Open & Save. At the bottom of the menu is a 'Customize Encodings List...' command, which brings you to a checklist of all supported encodings.
Pinyin - 拼音 (pīn yīn) is not just a tool for mastering Mandarin Chinese pronunciation: many students also find writing out pinyin is a great way to memorize the correct tones for new vocabulary.
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(*TIP: If you've never heard of pinyin, first check out this post - 'Pinyin: A Beginner's Guide'.)
So how exactly do you type pinyin with the correct tones? Some people simply stick the tone number at the end of the pinyin, for example ni3 hao3. It does the trick, but it doesn't quite look as nice as those pretty tones: nǐ hǎo.
Other people just copy and from Google Translate. But that's a slow process and does nothing to help you learn the correct tones!
It's Yoyo Chinese to the rescue! This post gives you step-by-step instructions for typing pinyin with beautiful tone marks on your Windows or Mac operating system.
This post is NOT about typing Chinese characters! To learn how to type Chinese characters, check out this free lesson from our Chinese Character Course:
And for step-by-step instructions to set up a Chinese input keyboard on your device, click here.
Without further ado, read on to learn how to type pinyin with tone marks on your computer!
• Windows
• Mac OS
Windows
Important Update: Windows Settings Have Changed - click HERE for the 2020 Updates for Installation of the PinyinTones Software on Windows
There are some third party apps and plug ins you can download to type pinyin with tones. But if you're looking to avoid installing extra stuff on your computer, and want to use the tools built into Windows, we'll show you how here!
And the REALLY nice thing about using the built in language tools in Windows is that you don't have to remember which letter the tone mark is over - it does it for you!
To type pinyin in Windows, you need to first add the Japanese language, and then the PinyinTones keyboard.
You might be thinking, 'The 'Japanese language'? I'm here to type Chinese!' Just trust us on this one!
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Please Note: If you are unable to set up the “PinyinTones” directly through your Windows settings for any reason, you can also just visit their websiteand download it there!
Add the Japanese Language and the PinyinTones keyboard on Windows
1: Go to 'Settings' by selecting it from the main menu:
2. Click 'Time & Language':
3. Click on “Region & language” from the menu on the left:
4. Click “Add a language”:
5. Search for 'Japanese'. First click on “Japanese”, then click “next” below:
6. Uncheck the box that says, “Set as my Windows display language”. *THIS STEP IS VERY IMPORTANT! You don't want to change your display language to Japanese:
7. Click 'Install'.
8. In the 'Language options' menu for the Japanese Language you just insalled, click “Add a keyboard”:
9. Select “PinyinTones”:
Switching to the PinyinTones keyboard on Windows
1. Click the Language tab on task bar and select “JP Japanese (Japan)”:
2. Click “PinyinTones”:
Typing Pinyin with Tone Marks on Windows
Now that you've got the PinyinTones keyboard selected, you can then type the letters of the pinyin, followed by the number for the tone.
For example, to type the pinyin for 好, you simply type the pinyin ‘hao’, then the number “3” (for the tone), and then click “space”: hǎo
It's great practice, because you have to remember the correct tone, but it's a lot easier than having to also remember where the tone mark goes. The PinyinTones keyboard takes care of it for you!
Mac OS (Apple computers and laptops)
We're going to be the first to admit it, typing pinyin with tone marks on Mac OS is a little trickier than on Windows.
Probably the biggest difference is that you need to remember which vowel has the tone mark. While that might seem like a big drawback at first, if you are typing pinyin to help you memorize tones, it is MUCH more effective practice if you are forced to remember where the tone mark actually goes!
To type pinyin with tone marks on your Mac device, you'll need to do three things:
• Add the 'ABC - Extended' keyboard to your input methods
• Switch your input method to this keyboard
• Type the vowels with the correct tone marks
The 'ABC - Extended' keyboard is the input method you'll need to select when you want to type pinyin with tone marks. On older Mac operating systems, this may also be called the 'U.S. Extended' keyboard.
Here are step-by-step instructions for adding the ABC - Extended keyboard on Mac OS:
1: Open System Preferences from your dock or the Apple menu.
2: Select 'Language & Region':
3: Click 'Keyboard Preferences':
4: Click the + sign to add a new input keyboard:
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5: Scroll down the list on the right to find and select 'ABC - Extended' and click 'Add':
*NOTE: The box that says 'Show input menu in menu bar' should be checked. This will let you see and switch your input method from the menu bar on your Mac.
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Switching to the 'ABC - Extended' input method on Mac OSThere are two ways to switch to the the 'ABC - Extended' input method: from the menu bar or with a keyboard shortcut.
To switch from the menu bar, click the icon on the menu bar to bring up the input method dropdown. You can click on 'ABC - Extended' here, and switch it back to your native language when you are done:
Or, to use keyboard shortcuts to switch between your input methods, open your System Preferences again and click 'Keyboard':
Then click 'Shortcuts' from the buttons at the top of the window, and then 'Input Sources' from the list on the left:
If they are not already selected, you can now click the boxes to enable the shortcuts for switching forward or backwards through your list of input methods.
The default shortcuts are ^ (control) + space bar to go forward, and ^ (control) + ⌥ (option) + space bar to go backward through the list.
Typing Pinyin with Tone Marks on Mac OS
You've added the ABC - Extended keyboard, and selected it as your input method. Now you're ready to type tones marks over your vowels.
The way the system works, you first give the computer the command for the tone, and then type the vowel that the tone will be over. Here are the commands for each tone:
• 1st tone: ⌥ (option) + a
• 2nd tone: ⌥ (option) + e
• 3rd tone: ⌥ (option) + v
• 4th tone: ⌥ (option) + ~ (the key under the Esc key)
So to type a first tone tone mark, click '⌥ (option) + a'. *
NOTE: You click 'a' even if you are putting the tone mark over a different vowel!
The first tone should appear when you are typing the text. Type the correct vowel and it should appear below the tone mark.
Don't forget! When you are typing characters like 女 (nǚ) - woman, or 绿 (lǜ) - green, with the letter/tone 'ǚ', you don't type 'nu' but 'nv'!
Now that you know how to type pinyin with tone marks on your Windows or Mac OS device, try adding it to your practice routine!
Type out vocabulary from our Conversational Courses, or characters you are learning in our Chinese Character Courses, and see if you remember the correct tones!
If you have any questions, other tools and tips you use for typing pinyin, or if you need any help, let us know in the comments below!