When do I use V for Ü in Pinyin programs

Question

I use a program called Sougou, which is very poopular in China I think. Sometimes I use the Microsoft pinyin language option.

Sougou is very good at guessing my characters based on context, but sometimes I have to click through to find my character, especially when it's character with ü it seems.

• Is there a standard rule here? Should ü always be replaced with v in pinyin programs?

• What about after the J, Q, X and Y letters where ü is always implied, should I be hitting V or U on my keyboard?

Sorry for the simplistic question, I wish I could understand the sougou documentation, but it's still "chinese" to me. Thank you.

Answer 1

In the past (e.g. 80's to 90's), when the Chinese IME did not implement fuzzy logic, the rule was you should use v for and only for ü as you would write on paper. For example for J you should type ju not jv.

Now all the mainstream Chinese IME (MSPY, Sogou, Google Pinyin, etc.) has fuzzy logic built-in and enabled by default. This question isn't much relevant anymore.

Answer 2

V is not used in Chinese as a consonant (声母), it was used to be ü as a vowel (Chinese called 韵母), like

lv -> 绿 xv -> 许

Is there a standard rule here? Should ü always be replaced with v in pinyin programs? Yes

What about after the J, Q, X and Y letters where ü is always implied, should I be hitting V or U on my keyboard?

When used with JQXY ü is same as u in sogou , it is normal in internet , although they are different in textbook.

Answer 3

A more direct answer:

• lv

• nv

• lve

• nve

Answer 4

v is not an Alphabet in official PINYIN system but an International Phonetic Alphabet.
ǘ 读愚,于,雨,遇
But Sougou always using what is short for convenience.
It's the most popular Chinese Input Method in China even Apple set it as default in OSX Mavericks.
I think there are no strict rules,everything based on your own preferences.