Scribd
Upload
106 views2 pages

PinYin - The Chinese Phonetic Alphabet

The document summarizes the Pinyin system for transcribing Mandarin Chinese. It describes that Pinyin uses initial consonants and finals to represent each syllable, and provides examples of the 21 initials and 38 finals. It also explains that Mandarin has 4 tones represented by diacritic marks, plus a neutral tone without emphasis.

Uploaded by

tiffany he
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
106 views2 pages

PinYin - The Chinese Phonetic Alphabet

The document summarizes the Pinyin system for transcribing Mandarin Chinese. It describes that Pinyin uses initial consonants and finals to represent each syllable, and provides examples of the 21 initials and 38 finals. It also explains that Mandarin has 4 tones represented by diacritic marks, plus a neutral tone without emphasis.

Uploaded by

tiffany he
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

PinYin

The Chinese Phonetic Alphabet


There have been many different systems of transcription used for learning to pronounce Chinese. Today the official
transcription accepted on an international basis is the Pinyin alphabet, developed in China at the end of the 1950's.

Initials
A syllable in Chinese is composed of an initial, which is a consonant that begins the syllable, and a final, which
covers the rest of the syllable.

b p m f
d t n l
g k h
j q x
z c s
zh ch sh r

• m, f, n, l, h and sh are pronounced as in English.


• d like "d" in "bed" (unaspirated)
j like "g" in "genius" (unaspirated)
z like "ds" in "beds"
zh like "j" in "job"
b like "p" in "spin" (unaspirated)
g a soft unaspirated "k" sound
x like "sh" in "sheep" but with the corners of the lips drawn back
r somewhat like "r" in "rain"
• Particular attention should be paid to the pronunciation of the so-called "aspirated" consonants.
It is necessary to breath heavily after the consonant is pronounced.
p like "p" in "pope"
t like "t" in "tap"
k like "k" in "kangaroo"
q harder than "ch" in "cheap"
c like "ts" in "cats"
ch (tongue curled back, aspirated)
• Distinction between certain initials:
b / p d / t g / k j / q z / c zh / ch

Finals In modern Chinese, there are 38 finals besides the above-represented 21 initials.

i u ü
a ia ua
o uo üe
e ie
er
ai uai
ei uei (ui)
ao iao
ou iou (iu)

an ian uan üan


en in uen (un) üen
ang iang uang
eng ieng ueng
ong iong

• ie like "ye" in "yes"


• e like "e" in "her"
• er like "er" in "sister" (american pronounciation)
• ai like "y" in "by" (light)
• ei like "ay" in "bay"
• ou like "o" in "go"
• an like "an" in "can" (without stressing the "n")
• -ng (final) a nasalized soung like the "ng" in "bang" without pronouncing the "g"
• uei, uen and iou when preceded by an initial, are written as ui, un and iu respectivly.

Tones Mandarin Chinese has four pitched tones and a "toneless" tone.

Tone Mark Description


1st dā High and level
2nd dá Starts medium in tone, then rises to the top
3rd dǎ Starts low, dips to the bottom, then rises toward the top
4th dà Starts at the top, then falls sharp and strong to the bottom
Neutral da Flat, with no emphasis

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy