MandarinChinesePhonetics

ThirdEdition
On this page I will try to describe the phonetics of Mandarin Chinese so simple that a beginner
student should be able to grasp the basics, but still detailed enough to be of help for more
experienced students that want to get a better understanding of the forming of the sounds.
Linguistic language and rather anatomical descriptions of how to make certain sounds are
sometimes given, but plain descriptions based on comparisons with sounds in British English are
given as often as possible.

Please note the links that connect different parts within this document a feature that may be
helpful if you do not know or do not remember the meaning of some special words.

If you have good knowledge in Swedish, then the Swedish version of this page might be useful to
give explanations from a slightly different perspective.

TableofContents
Pinyin - general aspects and overview.
Initial Sounds - detailed description of consonants.
Final Sounds - detailed description of vowels and nasals.
Special Cases - additional syllables.
All Possible Syllables in Mandarin Chinese - a complete listing.
Tones and Markings for Tones - a short description.
Sequences of Tones - just the basics.
Chinese Phonetic Alphabet - an illustration.
Further Reading - characters, calligraphy, idioms and links.

Pinyin
Pinyin is a Chinese system for transliterating Mandarin Chinese with 25 European characters (the
letter "v" is never used). The pronunciation of most of the letters is similar to pronunciation to the
European counterparts, but there are notable differences. Pay special attention to the letters that are
not pronounced entirely as you'd expect: "c", "ch", "j", "q", "r", "sh", "x", "z" and "zh"!

In Chinese, each character corresponds to one syllable (which corresponds to a part of an English
word, and entire word or more than one word). Chinese syllables consist of three elements: initial
sound, final sound and tone. The initial sounds are consonants and the final sounds contain at least
one vowel. Some syllables consist only of an initial sound or a final sound.

In Mandarin Chinese there are 21 initial sounds:

 Voiceless Voiced
Unaspirated Aspirated Nasal
fricative fricative
Labial b p m f
Alveolar d t n l
Velar g k h
Palatal j q x
Dental sibilant z c s
Retroflex zh ch sh r

In Mandarin Chinese there are 35 final sounds:

6 simple finals: a, e, i, o, u,
13 compound finals: ai, ao, ei, ia, iao, ie, iou, ou, ua, uai, e, uei, uo
8 front nasals: an, en, ian, in, uan, an, uen, n
16 nasal finals:
8 back nasals: ang, eng, iang, ing, iong, ong, uang, ueng

Additional syllables in Mandarin Chinese:

7 special cases: er, hm, hng, m, n, ng, ~r

The initial and final sounds make a total of 56 basic sounds. Combinations of initials and finals plus
the special cases result in 413 possible combinations. Applying the four tones of Mandarin Chinese
to this, we get a total of around 1,600 unique syllables.

Unaspirated v/s aspirated consonants:

Aspiration means exhalation, a puff of air. In many European languages, the difference between the
sounds of "b/p", "d/t" and "g/k" is usually that the first in each pair is voiced (i.e. you can feel you
larynx "buzzing" when you pronounce the letters) and the second not voiced (i.e. there is no
"buzzing"). In Chinese the difference between these consonant pairs is that the first in each pair is
unaspirated (i.e. you exhale very little) and the second is aspirated (i.e. you exhale noticeably).

In Chinese we find the following pairs of the pairs of unaspirated/aspirated consonants: "b/p",
"d/t", "g/k", "j/q" and "z/c". Pay special attention to make the difference clear when pronouncing
these letters!

Unvoiced v/s voiced fricatives:

Fricative consonants are produced with articulatory restriction sufficient to produced friction. A
voiced fricative should cause your larynx to "buzz" (e.g. the sounds "v" and "z" in English) and an
unvoiced fricative will not affect your larynx (e.g. English "f" and "s"). In Mandarin Chinese, the
voiced fricatives are "l" and "r", while the unvoiced fricatives are the "blowing" sounds "f", "h",
"s", "sh" and "x".
InitialSounds
Some Chinese consonants are rather similar to English consonants, but it's important to hear the
differences and get all details as accurate as possible!

Labial: a sound made with use of one or both your lips.

Mandarin Pinyin English Equivalent

As in English, but with no vibrations in the vocal cords. Like an English "p" with no
b
exhalation!
p As in English, but with strong exhalation!
m As in English.
f As in English.

Alveolar: formed with the tip of the tongue against the bony ridge behind the upper front teeth.

Mandarin Pinyin English Equivalent

As in English, but with no vibrations in the vocal cords. Like an English "t" with no
d
exhalation!
t As in English, but with strong exhalation!
n As in English.
l As in English.

Velar: formed with the back of the tongue close to or touching the soft part of the roof of the
mouth.

Mandarin
English Equivalent
Pinyin
As in English, but with no vibrations in the vocal cords. Like an English "k" with no
g
exhalation! As the "g" in "girl", "go".
k As in English, but with strong exhalation!
h Audible and strong!

Palatal: formed with the back and middle of the tongue close to or touching the roof of the mouth.

The syllables "ji", "qi" and "xi" all contain similar "ch"-like sounds.

Mandarin
English Equivalent
Pinyin
Sounds like the "dj"-sound in "jam", "jump", with minimal exhalation. Similar to the Pinyin letter
j
"q", but without exhalation!
 Similar to the Pinyin letter "j", but with strong exhalation! As the ending sound in "watch",
q
"switch" and the "ch" in "cheese".
Sounds like the English "ch" as in "church", but without the "t"-sound at the beginning. Also
x
comparable with the "ch" in "chock". In some Chinese dialects pronounced just as "s".

Dental sibilant: formed with the tip of the tongue close to or touching the back of the upper front
teeth.

Mandarin
English Equivalent
Pinyin
Pronounced as the Pinyin letters "d" + "s". Similar to the Pinyin letter "c", but with no
z
exhalation! Compare with English words such as "cats", "hats".
Pronounced as the Pinyin letters "t" + "s". Similar to Pinyin "z", but with strong exhalation!
c
Comparable with the "tsh"-sound in "it's heavy".
s As in English.

Retroflex: formed with the tongue curled back so that it touches (or almost touches) the hard part
of the roof of the mouth.

Mandarin
English Equivalent
Pinyin
In this sound, the tongue is thrown forward from the curled back position. Rather similar to the
zh
"dj"-sound in "jam", "jewels", "George".
In this sound, the tongue is thrown forward from the curled back position. Rather similar to the
ch
"tch"-sound in "church", "chain".
This sound is pronounced with the tongue resting in the curled back position. Somewhat similar
sh
to the "sh"-sound in "wash", "shower".
This sound is pronounced with the tongue vibrating in the curled back position. Somewhat
r
similar to the "r"-sound in "war", "raw".

Other comments on initial letters in Mandarin Chinese:

Mandarin
English Equivalent
Pinyin
As in English. Special case: the syllable "wu" is pronounced as the Pinyin "u" (the letter "w" is in
w this case used to mark the beginning of a new syllable. See the following descriptions of simple
finals!
As in the words "yes", "yet". Special cases: the syllable "yi is pronounced as the Pinyin "i" #1 and
y the syllable "yu" is pronounced as the Pinyin "" (the letter "y" is in these cases used to mark the
beginning of new syllables). See the following descriptions of simple finals!

FinalSounds
Simple finals = single vowels.

The Chinese vowels all have quite logical pronunciation, but there are some details to be noted
especially the three types of "i", two types of "e" and two types of "u"!

Mandarin
English Equivalent
Pinyin
a As the "a" in "far" and "father".
1: As the English "e" in "send", "very.
2: If the "e" stands as a single vowel at the end of a syllable (e.g. "de", "ne", "zhe"), the
pronunciation becomes more similar to the vowel sound in "bird" and "sir".
e/
3: Note the special cases: "er" and "eng"!
Comment: If the "e" is the only phoneme in a syllable, pronunciation of type #1 is transcribed as
"", and pronunciation of type #2 as "e".
1: As the vowels in "sit", "it", "machine". The spelling "yi" is used when there is no consonant in
the beginning of a syllable.
2: When preceded by "c", "s" or "z" (dental sibilants), you get a sound like a mosquito buzzing
i / yi
("ziii...").
3: In the syllables "chi", "shi", "zhi" and "ri" (retroflexes), the entire syllable is pronounced as one
retroflex sound. Pronounce all letters of the syllable with your tongue curled back!
o As the vowels in "saw", "all". Exception: the combination "ong" (back nasal)!
As the vowel "o" in "too", "woman", "loop". The spelling "wu" is used when there is no consonant
u / wu in the beginning of a syllable. Special cases: In syllables beginning with "ju", "qu", "xu" and
"yu", the "u" is to be pronounced as an "".
As the German "". Try to say "yeee", keep your tongue exactly where it is and let the sound
/ yu
continue while you form your lips to the shape they'd have when you say "yuuu".

Compound finals = two or three vowels together.

Mandarin
English Equivalent
Pinyin
ai As the "ai"-sounds in "byes", "bike", "high".
ao As the "ow" in "how", "down".
ei As the "ay"-sounds in "cake", "say".
As the "ya"-sounds in "maya", "playa". The spelling "ya" is used when there is no consonant in the
ia / ya
beginning of a syllable.
As the "ya"-sounds in "maya", "playa" followed by an English "w". The spelling "yao" is used
iao / yao
when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable.
As a combination of the Pinyin sounds "y" + "" i.e. NOT quite as the English "ye", as in "yes",
ie / ye but rather "tight"! The spelling "ye" is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a
syllable.
The spelling "iou" is never used, but describes the sound best. Pronounced as a Pinyin "y" + the
iou / iu / you English "ow"-sounds in "go", "note", "row". The spelling "you" is used when there is no consonant
in the beginning of a syllable.
ou As the "ow"-sounds in "go", "note", "row".
 As an English "w" followed by a Pinyin "a". Compare with the final vowels in the Italian word
"acqua". The most probable English spelling of this sound would be "wah". Do NOT pronounce
ua / wa
this combination as the English "wa"-sounds in "water" or "Wales"! The spelling "wa" is used
when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable.
English "w" + Pinyin "ai". Compare with the English word "why". The spelling "wai" is used when
uai / wai
there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable.
Pinyin "" + "". The "" is written as "u" in the syllables "jue", "que", "xue" and "yue". The
ue / e / yue
spelling "yue" is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable.
The spelling "uei" is never used, but describes the sound best. Compare with the initial sounds in
uei / ui / wei "waiter", "wage". Try to pronounce the "", even if it is not explicitly written a syllable such as
"hui". The spelling "wei" is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable.
Sounds like "woah", but the "a" is hardly audible. Similar to the "wuo"-sounds in "war", "quark".
uo / wo
The spelling "wo" is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable.

Nasal finals = single or compound vowel followed by "n" or "ng".

Nasals are pronounced through the nose. In Mandarin Chinese, sounds ending in "n"
(an alveolar nasal) are known as front nasals, while sounds ending in "ng (a velar nasal) are known
as back nasals.

Front nasals = sounds through the nose formed with the tongue in the front of the mouth (i.e.
in alveolar position).

Mandarin
English Equivalent
Pinyin
This "a" is similar to the Chinese "a" as described above. Can possibly be compared with the "an"
an
in "Russian". DoNOT pronounce this combination as the English "an" in "man" and "manager"!
"e" #2 + "n". Usually as the "en" in "men", but sometimes more similar to the "urn" in "burning"
en
or "fern" with practically no sound of the "r".
Pinyin "y" + "an", but here the "an" becomes broader, as in "man", "manager". The spelling "yan"
ian / yan
is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable.
As in English ("bin"). The spelling "yin" is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a
in / yin
syllable.
Pinyin "u" + "an". In "juan", "quan", "xuan" and "yuan", the "u" is pronounced as "". The
uan / wan
spelling "wan" is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable.
Pinyin "" + "an", but here the "an" becomes broader, as in "man", "manager". This sound occurs
an / yuan
only in the syllables "juan", "quan", "xuan" and "yuan", and is then spelled with a "u".
The spelling "uen" is never used, but describes the sound best. If a syllable begins with a different
uen / un / consonant than "w", the pronunciation is Pinyin "u" + an almost inaudible "e" #2 + "n". When
wen there is no initial consonant, this sound is spelled "wen", and the pronunciation is an English "w" +
Pinyin "en".
Pinyin "" + "n". This sound occurs only in the syllables "jun", "qun", "xun" and "yun", and is
n / yun
then spelled with a "u".

Back nasals = sounds through the nose formed with the tongue in the back of the mouth (i.e.
in velar position).
 Mandarin
English Equivalent
Pinyin
This "a" is similar to the Chinese "a" as described above, followed by an "ng"-sound.
ang
Do NOT pronounce this combination as the broad "ang" in "language"!
"e" #2 + "ng" (almost similar to the "ang" in "language", but the "e" has a little "taste" of the
eng
vowel sound in "bird" and "sir").
Pinyin "y" + "ang". The spelling "yang" is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a
iang / yang
syllable.
As in English ("sing"). The spelling "ying" is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of
ing / ying
a syllable.
This syllable corresponds to the Pinyin "y" + "u" + "ng". The "o" is here most similar to the "o"-
iong / yong sound in "too", "woman", "loop". The spelling "yong" is used when there is no consonant in the
beginning of a syllable.
This syllable corresponds to the Pinyin "u" + "ng". The "o" is here most similar to the "o"-sound
ong
in "too", "woman", "loop".
English "w" + Pinyin "ang". The spelling "wang" is used when there is no consonant in the
uang / wang
beginning of a syllable.
ueng / weng This sound only occurs in the syllable "weng". Pronounced as English "w" + Pinyin "eng".

SpecialCasesadditionalsyllables
Rather similar to the vowel sound in "bird" and "sir", with an audible retroflex "r" at the end. Sometimes
er
more like the English word "are". Could possibly be written as "ehr" in English. Pronounced as a retroflex.
hm Pronounced as in English. This syllable is only used as an interjection.
hng Pronounced as a Pinyin "h" + a back nasal. This syllable is only used as an interjection.
m Pronounced as in English. This syllable is only used as an interjection.
n Pronounced as in English. This syllable is only used as an interjection.
ng Pronounced as a back nasal. This syllable is only used as an interjection.
Sometimes the syllable "er" ( ) is added to the end of words especially on nouns. This is most common
in Chinese spoken by people from Beijing. If the " " is written in a text, and is to be interpreted as a suffix
~r rather than "er2" = "child", then the transcription is usually written only as "r" (e.g. "yi4 dian3r" = "a little").
Basically, this added "~r" changes the pronunciation of the previous syllable, so that the entire final part of
the syllable is pronounced as a retroflexwith an "~r" at the end. In short, the "~r" moves the pronunciation
of the syllable backwards in the mouth.

AllPossibleSyllablesinMandarinChinese
It is not possible to create Chinese syllables by grouping characters at random. The phonemes of
Mandarin Chinese can only be combined into a fixed number of possible syllables. I have made a
list of 413 syllables, which I believe to be every one of the possible combinations. You can get the
actual pronunciations for most of the listed syllables at the page Chinese Phonetics of University of
Vermont.

a, ai, an, ang, ao

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

Syllables spelled with "u", but pronounced with "":

ju, juan, jue, jun

qu, quan, que, qun
xu, xuan, xue, xun
yu, yuan, yue, yun

Syllables where "u" and "" must not be mixed up:

lu, l, le
nu, n, ne

TonesandMarkingsforTones
In Chinese it is always very important to pronounce words with correct tone. In transliterated
Chinese, tone markings are written over the central vowels in most syllables. Some syllables have
no specific tone, and then no sign is put above any vowel. In Mandarin Chinese there are four
tones:

The 1:st tone is marked with a line ("a" + " -" = ""). This is a high, even and constant
tone.
The 2:nd tone is marked with a rising line ("a" + "" = ""). This is a rising tone that
grows stronger.
The 3:rd tone is marked with a hook ("a" + " v" = ""). This tone is first falling and
fading, then rising and growing strong.
The 4:th tone is marked with a falling line ("a" + "`" = ""). This is a quickly falling
and fading tone.

In unstressed syllables the tone may be hardly noticeable. In such cases, no marking is put above
any vowel. You may regard this as "tone zero". The tone will usually end up more or less where the
previous syllable ended.
SequencesofTones
When you pronounce a sequence of tones, the tones will not always remain the same. The most
common details to be noted are:
The word "yi" (meaning "one") is usually of tone #1. However this word will be
pronounced with tone #2 when directly preceding a tone #4. It will be pronounced
with tone #4 when directly preceding a tone #2 or #3. Example: "yi1 ge4" is
pronounced as "yi2 ge4", while "yi1 ben3" is pronounced as "yi4 ben3".
The word "bu" (meaning "not") is usually of tone #4. However this word will be
pronounced with tone #2 when directly preceding a tone #4. Example: "bu4 shi4"
(meaning "is not") is pronounced as "bu2 shi4".
Every syllable that is usually pronounced with tone #3, will turn into a tone #2 when
directly preceding another tone #3. This rule will apply for entire sequences of words!
Example: "liang3 ben3 shu1" (meaning "two books") is pronounced as "liang2 ben3
shu1".
If a sentence contains a long sequence of tones #3, the phrase may be split into parts
separated by a brief pause. Tones are then chosen within each part of the sentence.
Example: "wo3 xiang3 mai3 liang3 ben3 shu1" (meaning "I want to buy two books")
may be pronounced as "wo2 xiang2 mai3" + "liang2 ben3 shu1" rather than "wo2
xiang2 mai2 liang2 ben3 shu1" (spoken without any pause!).

ChinesePhoneticAlphabet
The list below illustrates the Chinese phonetic alphabet (usually referred to as "bopomofo"). Please
note that the Pinyin-transcriptions (written with European characters) are NOT pronounced
according to European rules of pronunciation. This alphabet is intended to be used to specify the
pronunciation of Chinese characters you should avoid spelling European words with these
characters!