Pronunciation guide
The pronunciation guide below uses Hanyu pinyin, the official romanization of the People's Republic of China. Until recently, Taiwan used the Wade-Giles system, which is quite different, but has recently officially switched to Tongyong pinyin, which is only slightly different.
Vowels
a
as in father
e
as in the hen
i
as in ping or key; after sh,
zh, or r,
as in shirr; after s or z, hold the
z and make a vowel of it
o
as in saw or sung
u
as in soon; but as ü in ju, qu, yu and xu
ü
as in French lune or German
grün
Consonants
Chinese stops distinguish aspirated and unaspirated, not voiceless and voiced as in English. So p, t, and k should be pronounced with a puff of air.
b
as in ball or spall
c
as in rats
ch
as in chore
d
as in do or stew
f
as in fun
g
as in gang
h
as in her
j
as in jeer
k
as in king
l
as in lease
m
as in mow
n
as in none
ng
as in sing
p
as in pit
q
as in cheap
r
as in genre or fair
s
as in sag
sh
as in shoot
t
as in tongue
w
as in wing, but silent in wu
x
as in sheep
y
as in yet, but silent in yi,
yu
z
as in red zebra
zh
as in jungle
Exceptions
There are a fairly large number of niggling exceptions to the basic rules above, based on the position of the sound. Some of the more notable ones include:
-ian
as -ien, so Tian'anmen is pronounced "Tien'anmen"
wu-
as u-, so wubai is pronounced "ubai"
yi-
as i-, so yige is pronounced "ige"
yü-
as ü-, so Yuyuan is pronounced "ü-üan"
Tones
There are four tones in Mandarin that must be followed for proper pronunciation.
1. first
tone
flat, high pitch - more sung instead of spoken
2. second tone ( á )
low to middle, rising - pronounced like the end of a question
phrase (Whát?)
3. third tone
middle to low to high, dipping - if at the end of a sentence or
before a pause, it is then followed by a rising pitch
4. fourth tone ( à )
high to low, falling - Pronounced like a command (Stop!)
5. There is also a fifth tone, the neutral tone, which is used rarely, mostly for phrase particles.
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