Sino-Mini小语xiǎo yǔ
A minimalistic constructed language with Chinese characteristics
Sino-Mini combines a simplified form of Mini’s grammar with 1,000 words drawn from Mandarin Chinese. Each word has its own simplified Chinese character, creating an idealized form of Chinese writing in which words and characters correspond exactly. Speakers can express arbitrarily complex ideas by combining words from this small vocabulary.
Any word can act as any part of speech depending on its use in a sentence. Strict word order and a small set of particle words ensure the grammar is unambiguous. There are no inflections or tenses. The vocabulary is recognizably Chinese, while the grammar is often closer to English—a deliberate choice inherited from Mini.
Above all, Sino-Mini is a thought experiment in how far a real language with over a billion speakers can be simplified while preserving its native feel.
Example text
Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost
活 世 的 第 一 绿 色 乃 黄 金。 在 兮 留 乃 这 色，呈 最 更 难。 它 早 叶 乃 花。 但 不 后 一 钟。 则，叶 兮 变 乃 叶。 然，Eden 兮 变 呈 悲。 然，早 晨 兮 变 乃 日。 黄 金 的 物 兮 不 能 留。
huó shì de dì yī lǜ sè nǎi huáng jīn。 zài xī liú nǎi zhè sè，chéng zuì gèng nán。 tā zǎo yè nǎi huā。 dàn bù hòu yī zhōng。 zé，yè xī biàn nǎi yè。 rán，Eden xī biàn chéng bēi。 rán，zǎo chén xī biàn nǎi rì。 huáng jīn de wù xī bù néng liú。
Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.
Read & learn
- Quick start
- A 15-minute introduction with simple explanations, pronunciation, and practice. No knowledge of Chinese needed.
- Phrasebook
- Everyday phrases for conversation, travel, shopping, and getting help, with pinyin and English meanings.
- Reference grammar
- The complete rules, from writing and word order to verb stacking and clauses. 174 numbered examples.
- Vocabulary
- The 1,000 words, with pinyin and meanings. Phrase examples illustrate ordinary grammar without adding words.
- Reading samples
- Poems by Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, and Matsuo Bashō, alongside Aesop, the Tower of Babel, and the complete Meditations on Moloch.