Answer:
That is Pinyin. Take Pinyin mā as an example, it presents the pronunciation of mother in Chinese. m is the initial, written at the front of a syllable, ā is the final, just behind the initial. The short line (-) above is the tone, marked above the final
Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language. In order to differentiate meaning, the same syllable can be pronounced with different tones. Mandarin's tones give it a very distinctive quality, but the tones can also be a source of miscommunication if not given due attention.
Mandarin is said to have four main tones and one neutral tone (or, as some say, five tones). Each tone has a distinctive pitch contour which can be graphed using the Chinese 5-level system.
