Pinyin initial: "y"

The Pinyin initial "y" is used in the first half of Pinyin syllables. In MandarinBanana's mnemonic system, "y" belongs to the group of Pinyin initials which are represented in mnemonics by women. You can visit the Pinyin index to see all Pinyin syllables from this mnemonic group, or to see all Pinyin syllables "y" can appear in.

Mnemonics for y

Y is for Maud Younger.

Characters with y

variant of 巖|岩[yan2]

= + : Maud Younger finds the anthill's kitchen blocked by a cliff. With a fork, she forks up the cliff rock by rock and frees the entrance.
variant of 岩[yan2]

= + : Maud Younger finds the anthill's kitchen blocked by a cliff. With a fork, she forks up the cliff rock by rock and frees the entrance.
sound / noise / note (of musical scale) / tone / news / syllable / reading (phonetic value of a character)

= + : Mnemonic symbol: a loudspeaker.

= + : Maud Younger and the Sun opened a pop-up store in front of the encampment. They sell vases and advertise them using loudspeakers, playing loud music and dancing to it.
Italy / Italian / abbr. for 意大利[Yi4 da4 li4]

= + : Maud Younger had a desire for new loudspeakers ever since she boarded the space station. Today she wants to anticipate what will be in the next supply shipment, so in the bathroom she stares into her crystal ball, and indeed sees the desired loudspeakers. She falls in love instantly, feeling her heart pounding heavily.
Italy; Italian (abbr. for 意大利[Yi4 da4 li4])
idea / meaning / thought / to think / wish / desire / intention / to expect / to anticipate

= + : Maud Younger had a desire for new loudspeakers ever since she boarded the space station. Today she wants to anticipate what will be in the next supply shipment, so in the bathroom she stares into her crystal ball, and indeed sees the desired loudspeakers. She falls in love instantly, feeling her heart pounding heavily.
smile (archaic)
surname Yao
youngest / most junior / tiny / one (unambiguous spoken form when spelling out numbers, esp. on telephone or in military) / one or ace on dice or dominoes / variant of 吆[yao1], to shout

= : Mnemonic symbol from 幺点, ace: an ace card.

= : Maud Younger is going to a poker tournament in the aorta. Before she enters, she hides an ace in her fake nose in front of the aorta.
to use / by means of / according to / in order to / because of / at (a certain date or place)

= + : So this is Neanderthal Man with a fake nose. He has bushy eyebrows, so my symbol for 以 is going to be one of these fake noses that come with additional glasses, eyebrows, and a moustache: Groucho glasses.

= + : Maud Younger and Neanderthal Man prepared some costumes for Halloween in the space station. Neanderthal Man created a big fake nose, while Maud Younger made a pair of Groucho glasses.
old variant of 以[yi3]
old variant of 以[yi3]

= + : Mnemonic symbol: 㠯 looks like a cool pair of safety goggles.

A ghost (尸) has been hiding from Maud Younger (Ø3) in a mandarin (口). Maud finds the mandarin in the space station's living room (Ø3) and squeezes the ghost out, and in order to (㠯) be protected from the mandarin juice flying all around in zero gravity she is wearing safety goggles (㠯).
abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4]
classical final particle, similar to modern 了[le5]

= + : Mnemonic symbol: the finals of a TV show.

Maud Younger (y) made it to the finals of a TV show (矣) and is facing her last challenge in the space station (Ø3). With a fake nose (厶) covering her face she'll have to smell different darts (矢) and guess which dart player had it in his or her hands last.
center / end / to beg / to plead

= + : Mnemonic symbol: 中央处理机, central processing unit (CPU).

In front of the anglepod, Maud Younger received her new robot. Soon she is not satisfied with his artificial intelligence; to increase it, she staples a CPU to the center of its chest, although the robot begs her not to do so.
old variant of 映[ying4]

= + : Maud Younger's (y) CPU (央) is defect and she wants to find out how exactly. The sun (日) helps her investigate the chip's nanostructures by projecting (映) it on the wall of the engine's bathroom ((e)ng4).
to reflect (light) / to shine / to project (an image onto a screen etc)

= + : Maud Younger's (y) CPU (央) is defect and she wants to find out how exactly. The sun (日) helps her investigate the chip's nanostructures by projecting (映) it on the wall of the engine's bathroom ((e)ng4).
shoots / sprouts

= + : In front of the anglepod (ang1) Maud Younger (y) wants to create even more anglepods, and she wants to do so very efficiently. She plants one shoot (秧) in a bowl of cereals (禾) and connects a CPU (央) to monitor the growth.
calamity

= + : Maud Younger (y) found that the wicked witch (歹) destroyed her CPU (央) in front of the anglepod (ang1). It's a real calamity (殃) for her!
to lose / to leave behind / to omit / to bequeath / sth lost / involuntary discharge (of urine etc)

= + : Sometimes, just inside the space station's entrance (Ø2), Maud Younger (y) woefully thinks of her lost (遗) treasure chest (贵). It was filled to the top with gladiator sandals (辶); but it was too heavy to bring to the space station, so she had to leave it behind.