Pronunciation of initials
Pinyin IPA b p m f d t n l g k h [p]
English Approximation[18] spit
Explanation unaspirated p, as in spit strongly aspirated p, as in pit as in English mummy as in English fun unaspirated t, as in stop strongly aspirated t, as in top as in English nit as in English love unaspirated k, as in skill strongly aspirated k, as in kill like the English h if followed by "a". It is pronounced roughly like the Scots ch and Russian (Cyrillic "kha"). No equivalent in English. Like q, but unaspirated. Not the s in Asia, despite the common English pronunciation of "Beijing". The sequence "ji" wordinitially is the same as the Japanese pronunciation of () chi. No equivalent in English. Like cheek, with the lips spread wide with ee. Curl the tip of the tongue downwards to stick it at the back of the teeth and strongly aspirate. No equivalent in English. Like she, with the lips spread and the tip of your tongue curled downwards and stuck to the back of teeth when you say ee. The sequence "xi" is the same as the Japanese pronunciation of () shi. Rather like ch (a sound between choke, joke, true, and drew, tongue tip curled more upwards). Voiced in a toneless syllable. as in chin, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to nurture in American English, but strongly aspirated.
[p] pay [m] may [f] [t] fair stop
[t] take [n] [l] [k] nay lay skill
[k] kay [x] hay
[t] hatch
[t] cheek
[]
she
zh
[t] junk [t] church
ch
sh
[] [], []
shirt
ray
z c s w y ' v
[ts] reads [ts] hats [s] say
as in shoe, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to marsh in American English Similar to the English z in azure and r in reduce, but with the tongue curled upwards, like a cross between English "r" and French "j". In Cyrillised Chinese the sound is rendered with the letter "". unaspirated c, similar to something between suds and cats; as in suds in a toneless syllable like the English ts in cats, but strongly aspirated, very similar to the Polish c. as in sun as in water.* as in yes. Before a u, pronounce it with rounded lips.* new syllable* not used, reserved for other spoken Chinese and minorities languages. See #Other languages
[w] way [j], [] [.] [v] yea
Pronunciation of finals
Form with zero initial
Pinyin
IPA
Explanation -i is a buzzed continuation of the consonant following z-, c-, s, zh-, ch-, sh- or r-.
-i
[]
(n/a) (In all other words, -i has the sound of bee; this is listed below.)
[a] [] (
as in "father" a back, unrounded vowel, which can be formed by first pronouncing a plain continental "o" (AuE and NZE law) and then spreading the lips without changing the position of the tongue. That same sound is also similar to English "duh", but not as open. Many unstressed syllables in Chinese use the schwa [] (idea), and this is also written as e. like English "eye", but a bit lighter as in "hey" approximately as in "cow"; the a is much more audible than the o as in "so" starts with plain continental "a" (AuE and NZE bud) and ends with "n" as in "taken" as in German Angst, including the English loan word angst (starts with the vowel sound in father and ends in the velar nasal; like song in American English) like e in en above but with ng added to it at the back similar to the sound in "bar" in American English Finals beginning with i- (y-)
listen),
[] ai ei ao ou an en ang eng er [a ] [e ] [ [o ] [an] [n] [ [ [ [i]
ai ei ao ou an en ang eng er
i ia ie
yi ya
like English bee. as i + a; like English "yard" as i + ; but is very short; e (pronounced like ) is pronounced longer and carries the main stress (similar to the initial sound ye in yet)
ye
iao iu ian in iang ing ] n] [in] [u] u
yao you yan yin yang ying
as i + ao as i + ou as i + + n; like English yen as i + n as i + ang as i + ng Finals beginning with u- (w-)
u ua uo, o uai ui uan un uang ong
wu wa
like English "oo" as u + a Same as the o interjection below after b, p, m and f; elsewhere as u + o where the o is pronounced shorter and lighter as u + ai like as in why as u + ei; as u + an; as u + en; like the on in the English won; as u + ang; like the ang in English angst or anger starts with the vowel sound in book and ends with the velar nasal sound in sing; as u + eng in zero initial. Finals beginning with - (yu-)
u], [] wo u ] u ] u un] u [ , u [y] (
listen)
wai wei wan wen wang weng
u, ue, e uan un iong
yu yue
as in German "ben" or French "lune" (To get this sound, say "ee" with rounded lips) as + ; the is short and light as + + n; as + n; as i + ong
n] [yn]
yuan yun yong
