Combinations of initials and finals

These are the syllables of Mandarin Chinese as shown in the combinations of initial and final sounds and as spelled in Hanyu Pinyin.

Notes:

• ⁂ Represents a zero initial (i.e. where nothing comes before the final sound in the far left column)
• * Whenever u comes at the beginning of a syllable, it is written w. W, however, must not appear without an additional vowel, so u as a complete syllable is not written as w by itself but as wu.
• † The i in zi, ci, si is different from most other uses of i in that it is short, not long. It is represented in IPA by ɿ .
• ‡ The i in zhi, chi, shi, ri is different from most other uses of i in that it is short, not long. It is represented in IPA by ʅ .
• + Whenever i comes at the beginning of a syllable, it is written y. Thus, Y, however, must not appear without an additional vowel, so not y, yn, yng but yi,yin, ying.
• ※ Hanyu Pinyin simplifies the spellings of syllables with ü by using the u form instead in cases where no ambiguity could result. This is merely a spelling convention; the u‘s here are still pronounced ü.
• ¹ wei: ui is actually an abbreviation of uei. This is why Hanyu Pinyin uses, for example, shui, not shuei, and dui, not duei.
• ² wen: un is actually an abbreviation of uen.
• ³ you: iu is acutally an abbreviation of iou. Thus, since i is written y at the beginning of a syllable, the spelling becomes you instead of yu (which would be not only misleading but wrong).
• er has been omitted from this table.

 From – http://www.pinyin.info/