Mandarin Chinese Phonetics

Mandarin Chinese Phonetics
[Go to main index] [Go to linguistic index] [Contact the author] [Ls denna sida p svenska] 2000 2008 Patrick Hassel Zein This page was last updated 18.08.2008

- Third Edition 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.
Table of Contents
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"
http://www.zein.se/patrick/chinen8p.html[27/05/2010 20:19:56]
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: Unaspirated Aspirated Nasal Labial Alveolar Velar Palatal Dental sibilant Retroflex b d g j z zh p t k q c ch m n Voiceless Voiced fricative fricative f l h x s sh
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".
Initial Sounds
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 b p m f English Equivalent As in English, but with no vibrations in the vocal cords. Like an English "p" with no exhalation! As in English, but with strong exhalation! As in English. As in English.
Alveolar: formed with the tip of the tongue against the bony ridge behind the upper front teeth. Mandarin Pinyin d t n l English Equivalent As in English, but with no vibrations in the vocal cords. Like an English "t" with no exhalation! As in English, but with strong exhalation! As in English. 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 Pinyin g k h English Equivalent As in English, but with no vibrations in the vocal cords. Like an English "k" with no exhalation! As the "g" in "girl", "go". As in English, but with strong exhalation! 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 Pinyin j q x
English Equivalent Sounds like the "dj"-sound in "jam", "jump", with minimal exhalation. Similar to the Pinyin letter "q", but without exhalation! Similar to the Pinyin letter "j", but with strong exhalation! As the ending sound in "watch", "switch" and the "ch" in "cheese". Sounds like the English "ch" as in "church", but without the "t"-sound at the beginning. Also 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 Pinyin z c s English Equivalent Pronounced as the Pinyin letters "d" + "s". Similar to the Pinyin letter "c", but with no exhalation! Compare with English words such as "cats", "hats". Pronounced as the Pinyin letters "t" + "s". Similar to Pinyin "z", but with strong exhalation! Comparable with the "tsh"-sound in "it's heavy". 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 Pinyin zh ch sh r English Equivalent In this sound, the tongue is thrown forward from the curled back position. Rather similar to the "dj"-sound in "jam", "jewels", "George". In this sound, the tongue is thrown forward from the curled back position. Rather similar to the "tch"-sound in "church", "chain". This sound is pronounced with the tongue resting in the curled back position. Somewhat similar to the "sh"-sound in "wash", "shower". This sound is pronounced with the tongue vibrating in the curled back position. Somewhat similar to the "r"-sound in "war", "raw".
Other comments on initial letters in Mandarin Chinese: Mandarin Pinyin w English Equivalent As in English. Special case: the syllable "wu" is pronounced as the Pinyin "u" (the letter "w" is in 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 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!
Final Sounds
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 Pinyin a English Equivalent 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". 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 ("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! 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 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 continue while you form your lips to the shape they'd have when you say "yuuu".
e/
i / yi
o u / wu
/ yu
Compound finals = two or three vowels together. Mandarin Pinyin ai ao ei ia / ya iao / yao ie / ye English Equivalent As the "ai"-sounds in "byes", "bike", "high". As the "ow" in "how", "down". 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 beginning of a syllable. As the "ya"-sounds in "maya", "playa" followed by an English "w". The spelling "yao" is used 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", 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 iou / iu / Pinyin "y" + the English "ow"-sounds in "go", "note", "row". The spelling "you" 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 ua / wa would be "wah". Do NOT pronounce 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. uai / wai English "w" + Pinyin "ai". Compare with the English word "why". The spelling "wai" is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable.
Pinyin "" + "". The "" is written as "u" in the syllables "jue", "que", "xue" ue / e / and "yue". The spelling "yue" is used when there is no consonant in the yue beginning of a syllable. The spelling "uei" is never used, but describes the sound best. Compare with the uei / ui / initial sounds in "waiter", "wage". Try to pronounce the "", even if it is not wei 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 uo / wo in "war", "quark". 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 Pinyin an en English Equivalent This "a" is similar to the Chinese "a" as described above. Can possibly be compared with the "an" in "Russian". Do NOT 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" or "fern" with practically no sound of the "r". Pinyin "y" + "an", but here the "an" becomes broader, as in "man", "manager". ian / yan The spelling "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 syllable. Pinyin "u" + "an". In "juan", "quan", "xuan" and "yuan", the "u" is uan / wan pronounced as "". The 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". in / yin
an / yuan This sound occurs 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 uen / un / begins with a different consonant than "w", the pronunciation is Pinyin "u" + an wen almost inaudible "e" #2 + "n". When there is no initial consonant, this sound is spelled "wen", and the pronunciation is an English "w" + Pinyin "en". n / yun Pinyin "" + "n". This sound occurs only in the syllables "jun", "qun", "xun" and "yun", and is 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 Pinyin ang eng iang / yang ing / ying iong / yong ong uang / wang ueng / weng English Equivalent This "a" is similar to the Chinese "a" as described above, followed by an "ng"sound. 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 vowel sound in "bird" and "sir"). Pinyin "y" + "ang". The spelling "yang" is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable. As in English ("sing"). The spelling "ying" is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable. This syllable corresponds to the Pinyin "y" + "u" + "ng". The "o" is here most similar to the "o"-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 in "too", "woman", "loop". English "w" + Pinyin "ang". The spelling "wang" is used when there is no consonant in the beginning of a syllable. This sound only occurs in the syllable "weng". Pronounced as English "w" + Pinyin "eng".
Special Cases - additional syllables

Rather similar to the vowel sound in "bird" and "sir", with an audible retroflex "r" at er the end. Sometimes 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 rather than "er2" = "child", then the ~r 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 retroflex with an "~r" at the end. In short, the "~r" moves the pronunciation of the syllable backwards in the mouth.
All Possible Syllables in Mandarin Chinese

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
Tones and Markings for Tones

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" + " - " = "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 " = "a"). 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.
Sequences of Tones
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!).
Chinese Phonetic Alphabet

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!
Further Reading
Chinese Calligraphy. Chinese Idioms. Chinese links. Linguistic Index. The most common Chinese characters.

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