Pinyin pronunciation Chinese Tones Initial pronunciation Mandarin Pronunciation Table Combinations of initials and finals

Introduction

拼音, pinyin, a phonetic transcription to combine sounds to form words or syllables ; to pronounce a word by following its phonetic symbols

Chinese is not a phonetic language. The pronunciation is not related to the writing of Chinese words (characters). A special tool called Pinyin (pronouncing the sound) is created for people to learn Mandarin pronunciation. Pinyin is a way to transcribe Chinese characters so people can pronounce it. The writing of Pinyin is similar to English alphabet.

Unlike in European languages, initials and finals and not consonants and vowels are the fundamental elements in pinyin (and most other phonetic systems used to describe the Han language). Nearly each Chinese syllable can be spelled with exactly one initial followed by one final, except in the special syllable er and when a trailing -r is considered part of a syllable (see below). The latter case, though a common practice in some sub-dialects, is rarely used in official publications.

Even though most initials contain a consonant, finals are not simple vowels, especially in compound finals, i.e., when one "final" is placed in front of another one. For example, [i] and [u] are pronounced with such tight openings that some native Chinese speakers (especially when singing or on stage) pronounce yī (Chinese: 衣, clothes, officially pronounced /i/) as /ji/, wéi as /wei/ or /wuei/. The concepts of consonants and vowels are not incorporated in pinyin or its predecessors, despite the fact that the Roman alphabets are used in pinyin. In the entire pinyin system, there is not a list of consonants, nor a list of vowels.

Pinyin pronunciation

Chinese Tones

There are four full tones in Mandarin pronunciation, and one neutral tone. Let's read out the vowel "a" in the four tones.

ā The first tone is marked as a straight line "—". It has a long and sustained sound (as if singing a note).
á The second tone is marked upwards like this " ? " . It is a rising tone (start from the lower part of your voice, then go up).
ă The third tone is marked down and up like this "V". It is a low and curved tone. Try to go as low as you can and then bounce up.
à The fourth tone is marked downwards like this " \ ". It is a falling tone (start from the grating highest part of your voice, then go down, as if exclaiming).
a The neutral tone has no mark. It is a short and light tone.

Tones should be marked on a vowel. If a word has more than one vowel, the tone should be marked on the main vowel of the word. Vowels are listed in the following order: a, o, e, i, u and ü. As the vowel "a" appears first in this list, the tone in the word liao should be marked on the vowel "a"

Initial pronunciation

Initial of Pinyin Pronounce Explanation
b bō "b" as in boy
p pō "p" as in pig
m mō "m" as in moon
f fō "f" as in food
d dē "d" as in dad
t tē "t" as in tool
n nē "n" as in noodle
l lē "l" as in leg
g gē "g" as in google
k kē "k" as in kite
h hē "h" as in hair
j jī "j" as in joke
q qī "q" (ch) as in cheese
x xī "x" (sh) as in sheep
When you read out the following letters close your teeth, but not too tightly. Place your tongue so that it is just vibrating against the back of your upper front teeth. N.B: the vowel “i” should NOT be pronounced in this case. The (here soundless) letter “i” is placed after z, c and s in written Pinyin as a vehicle for indicating the tones.
z zī When you say z you should feel a buzz behind your upper front teeth.
c cī Blow the air out as you make a short buzzing sound. Your tongue should be looser than in “z”.
s sī Close your teeth and blow over your tongue.
r rī Roll your tongue back in the roof of your mouth. It should just touch your hard palate as you say “r”. The vowel "i" should NOT be pronounced in this case. The (here soundless) letter “i” is placed after r, zh, ch and sh in written Pinyin as a vehicle for indicating the tones.
zh zhī Roll your tongue back in the roof of your mouth. The tip of your tongue should stay pressing up towards your hard palate. Squeeze the air out over your tongue.
chi chī Roll your tongue back in the roof of your mouth. The tip of your tongue should stay pressing up towards your hard palate. Blow the air out over your tongue, making a slightly harder sound than in zhi.
shi shī Roll your tongue back in the roof of your mouth so that it just touches your hard palate as you say “sh”.

Mandarin Pronunciation Table

All Mandarin sounds (syllables) are listed in this pronunciation table. Click on Pinyin to learn and improve your Mandarin pronunciation.

Combinations of initials and finals

b p m f d t n l g k h z c s zh ch sh r j q x ?
a ba pa ma fa da ta na la ga ka ha za ca sa zha cha sha a
o bo po mo fo o
e me de te ne le ge ke he ze ce se zhe che she re e
ai bai pai mai dai tai nai lai gai kai hai zai cai sai zhai chai shai ai
ei bei pei mei fei dei tei nei lei gei kei hei zei zhei shei ei
ao bao pao mao dao tao nao lao gao kao hao zao cao sao zhao chao shao rao ao
ou pou mou fou dou tou nou lou gou kou hou zou cou sou zhou chou shou rou ou
an ban pan man fan dan tan nan lan gan kan han zan can san zhan chan shan ran an
ang bang pang mang fang dang tang nang lang gang kang hang zang cang sang zhang chang shang rang ang
en ben pen men fen den nen gen ken hen zen cen sen zhen chen shen ren en
eng beng peng meng feng deng teng neng leng geng keng heng zeng ceng seng zheng cheng sheng reng eng
ong dong tong nong long gong kong hong zong cong song zhong chong rong
u bu pu mu fu du tu nu lu gu ku hu zu cu su zhu chu shu ru wu *
ua gua kua hua zhua chua shua rua wa *
uo duo tuo nuo luo guo kuo huo zuo cuo suo zhuo chuo shuo ruo wo *
uai guai kuai huai zhuai chuai shuai wai *
ui dui tui gui kui hui zui cui sui zhui chui shui rui wei * 1
uan duan tuan nuan luan guan kuan huan zuan cuan suan zhuan chuan shuan ruan wan *
uang guang kuang huang zhuang chuang shuang wang *
un dun tun nun lun gun kun hun zun cun sun zhun chun shun run wen * 2
ueng weng *
i bi pi mi di ti ni li zi ★ ci ★ si ★ zhi ■ chi ■ shi ■ ri ■ ji qi xi yi +
ia dia lia jia qia xia ya +
ie bie pie mie die tie nie lie jie qie xie ye +
iao biao piao miao diao tiao niao liao jiao qiao xiao yao +
iu miu diu niu liu jiu qiu xiu you + 3
ian bian pian mian dian tian nian lian jian qian xian yan +
iang niang liang jiang qiang xiang yang +
in bin pin min nin lin jin qin xin yin +
ing bing ping ming ding ting ning ling jing qing xing ying +
iong jiong qiong xiong yong +
ü nü lü ju ※ qu ※ xu ※ yu ※
üe nüe lüe jue ※ que ※ xue ※ yue ※
üan juan ※ quan ※ xuan ※ yuan ※
ün jun ※ qun ※ xun ※ yun ※

Notes:

? Represents a zero initial (i.e. where nothing comes before the final sound in the far left column)
* Whenever u comes at the beginning of a syllable, it is written w. W, however, must not appear without an additional vowel, so u as a complete syllable is not written as w by itself but as wu.
★ The i in zi, ci, si is different from most other uses of i in that it is short, not long. It is represented in IPA by ? .
■ The i in zhi, chi, shi, ri is different from most other uses of i in that it is short, not long. It is represented in IPA by ? .
+ Whenever i comes at the beginning of a syllable, it is written y. Thus, Y, however, must not appear without an additional vowel, so not y, yn, yng but yi, yin, ying.
※ Hanyu Pinyin simplifies the spellings of syllables with ü by using the u form instead in cases where no ambiguity could result. This is merely a spelling convention; the u's here are still pronounced ü.
1 wei: ui is actually an abbreviation of uei. This is why Hanyu Pinyin uses, for example, shui, not shuei, and dui, not duei.
2 wen: un is actually an abbreviation of uen.
3 you: iu is acutally an abbreviation of iou. Thus, since i is written y at the beginning of a syllable, the spelling becomes you instead of yu (which would be not only misleading but wrong).
er has been omitted from this table.