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Introduction

Introduction
Reasons to Learn
Usage worldwide

Spelling Rules

Pinyin Basics
Fake Initials
Treatment of ü
Vowel Shortening 
Tone Mark Rules

Pronunciation

Pronunciation Guide
Alphabet and Sounds

Applications of Pinyin

Dictionary Lookup
Computer Input

Pinyin Charts

Traditional Chart

Modernized Charts:
Syllables Without Glides
Syllables With Glide j
Syllables With Glide w
Syllables With Glide ɥ
    

 

Links to Other Sites

    

Pronunciation Guide

In the traditional method of teaching standard Mandarin, syllables are analyzed as combinations of three components: initials, finals, and tones. This analysis can be seen in the traditional chart for initials and finals. However, there is an alternative four-component (consonants, vowels, glides, and tones) analysis that may be more useful for second language learners of Chinese. Below we present the sounds of Chinese and show how they combine to form syllables, according to this four-component alternative.

Sounds of Chinese

Consonants

For the consonants, there is a one to one correspondence between actual sounds and the Pinyin letters or letter combinations used to represent those sounds.

Pinyin	IPA	Examples (Pinyin)
		Pinyin	IPA without tone
b	p	pi3 bian1	pi pjɛn
p	pʰ	pa4 ping2	pa piŋ
m	m	men5 mian4	mən mjɛn
f	f	fa1 fu2	fa fu
z	ts	zuo3 zi4	tswɔ tsʐ̩
c	tsʰ	ci2 cuo4	tsʰʐ tsʰwɔ
s	s	si4 suo3	sʐ swɔ
d	t	di1 dian3	ti tjɛn
t	tʰ	ti1 tie3	tʰi tʰjɛ
n	n	ni3 pin1	ni pʰin
l	l	lian3 lou2	ljɛn loʊ
ng	ŋ	ying1 ping2	??? pʰiŋ
j	tɕ	ji3 jiao4	tɕi tɕjɑʊ
q	tɕʰ	qu4 qian2	tɕʰy tɕʰjɛn
x	ɕ	xiao3 xi1	ɕjɑʊ ɕi
zh	ʈʂ	zhou1 zhan4	ʈʂoʊ ʈʂan
ch	ʈʂʰ	chi1 chuan1	ʈʂʰz̩ ʈʂʰwan
sh	ʂ	shi4 shua1	ʂz̩ ʂwa
r	ʐ	ri4 rou4	ʐz̩ ʐoʊ
g	k	ge1 gao1	kɤ kɑʊ
k	kʰ	ke3 kou4	kʰɤ kʰoʊ
h	x	he1 han4	xɤ xan

Vowels

Vowels have a more complicated correspondence between sound and symbol in Pinyin. While this may sound alarming, rest assured that the correspondence is still more regular and easier to learn than that of written English.

Pinyin	IPA	Examples
		Pinyin	IPA without tone
a	a	ba1 man4	pa man
	ɑ	kao3 chuang1	kɑʊ ʈʂʰwɑŋ
	ɛ	mian4 quan2	mjɛn tɕʰɥɛn
e	e	mei3	mei
	œ	lüe4 jue2	lɥœ tɕɥœ
	ɤ	de2 zhe4	tɤ ʈʂɤ
	ɛ	bie2 die1	pjɛ tjɛ
	ə	sen1 zeng1	sən tsəŋ
i
	ɪ	shai4 shuai4 sui4	ʂaɪ ʂwaɪ sweɪ
	z̩	de2 zhe4	??
	ʐ̩	de2 zhe4	??
	i	shei2 ling2 mi3	ʂei liŋ mi
o	o	chou1 you3	ʈʂʰoʊ ???
	ɔ	fo2 zhuo1	fwɔ ʈʂwɔ
	ʊ	cong2 xiong1 jiao4	tsʰʊŋ ɕjʊŋ tɕjɑʊ
u	ʊ	hou4 jiu3	xoʊ tɕjoʊ
	u	hu2	xu
ü	y	nü3 jue2 xuan3 jun1	ny tɕɥœ ɕɥɛn tɕyn
null	o	liu4	ljoʊ
	e	dui4 hun4	tweɪ xwən

 

Glides

There are three glides in Mandarin. The sounds for these glides are represented by three IPA symbols: [j] , [w] and [ɥ] which are written as superscripts. The correspondence of these glides is listed below

IPA	Rule
j	Represented with an {i} in Pinyin when preceded by a consonant
w	Represented with an {u} in Pinyin when preceded by a consonant
ɥ	Represented with an {ü} in Pinyin when preceded by a consonant
	Represented with a {u} in place of {ü} when no ambiguity can result
	Represented with a {y} when syllable initial

Tones

In Putonghua, there are five tones. Every syllable has a tone. The tones determine the pitch of the speaker's voice throughout the duration of the syllable. Tones in Chinese do not represent mood or attitude of the speaker. Instead, they serve the same purpose as vowels and consonants in terms of differentiating words (see example in Pinyin Basics). The five tones in Mandarin are:

1. The 'first tone' or 'high flat tone' {ma1}
2. The 'second tone' or 'rising tone' {ma}
3. The 'third tone' or 'dipping tone' {ma3}
4. The 'fourth tone' or 'falling tone' {ma4 )
5. The 'fifth tone' or 'neutral tone' {ma5}

Tone Chart

Looking a tone chart, which is much like a musical chart, we can see the target values for the first four tones:

The bottom end of the chart represents a low pitch vocalization, while the upper end of the chart represents a high pitch vocalization. The neutral tone is not listed on the chart because its pitch varies depending upon the syllable that precedes it. Generally, syllables with the neutral tone are vocalized with a shorter duration such that the tone does not even have the opportunity to change pitch.

Examples:

zhuōzi (zhuo1zi5)

lízi (li2zi5)

yǐzi (yi3zi5)

dèngzi (deng4zi5)

Learning Pronunciation

Research conducted at CMU and the University of Pittsburgh indicates that viewing a
human or computer model when learning Mandarin can make a more robust learning of the Mandarin pronunciation. This means that paying close attention to the lip movements of native speakers should help in picking up the language quickly. In order to get this sort of practice, you might try one or more of the following:

1. Pay close attention to your teacher’s mouth movements when speaking.
2. Try to sit towards the front of class.
3. Watch lip movements closely in pronunciation.
4. Try to mimic the pronunciation.
5. Listen to Chinese music, especially ones with lyrics.

 

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