Hny pnyn jisho

Introduction to Mandarin Pronunciation

Hanyu Pinyin System

Chinese Language is not an alphabetic language like English and
Malay. It differs from alphabetic languages in that its written form is not
directly related to its pronunciation. This has made many non-native
speakers of Chinese find it difficult to pronounce and to learn words in
the written form of the language, which is also called characters. This
difficulty has now been partly overcome by the introduction of the
Chinese Phonetic Scheme, or more commonly knowns as the Hanyu
Pinyin system. The Hanyu Pinyin system adopts the Latin alphabets as
its symbols to provide phonetic notation for Chinese characters and to
transcribe Chinese sounds.

The Finals and the Initials

A simple Chinese syllable is formed by three components which

are initial, final and tone. There will be an initial at the front and a final at
the back. A tone mark will be placed above the final.
The Chinese syllables are usually formed by an initial and a final.
An initial is a consonant that begins the syllable and a final constitutes
the rest of the syllable. From the picture in the front page, the syllable

i
ho was formed by the initial h and the final ao. There are 21 initials
and 38 finals in Chinese phonetics.

Table 1: Initials

b p m f

d t n l

g k h

j q x

z c s

zh ch sh r

Listen and repeat the following syllables.

bo po mo fo

de te ne le

ge ke he

ji qi xi

zhi chi shi ri

zi ci si

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 Table 2: Simple finals

a o e i u

Table 3: Finals

Simple finals a o e i u v

-i(zi)

-i(zhi)

Compound finals ai ou ei Ia ua

ao er ie uo ve

iao uai

iou
uei (ui)
(iu)

Nasal finals an en in uan vn

uen
ian van
(un)

ang ong eng ing ueng

iang uang

iong

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All Mandarin Syllables
Mandarin Pronunciation contains a list of 416 basic Mandarin syllables in
Hanyu pinyin, and a character that the sound represents.
Table 4: Mandarin Pinyin in Group a Finals
Group a Finals
Initials
a ai ao an ang
a ai ao an ang
b ba bai bao ban bang
p pa pai pao pan pang
m ma mai mao man mang
f fa fan fang
d da dai dao dan dang
t ta tai tao tan tang
n na nai nao nan nang
l la lai lao lan lang
g ga gai gao gan gang
k ka kai kao kan kang
h ha hai hao han hang
j
q
x
zh zha zhai zhao zhan zhang
ch cha chai chao chan chang
sh sha shai shao shan shang
r rao ran rang
z za zai zao zan zang
c ca cai cao can cang
s sa sai sao san sang

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Table 5: Mandarin Pinyin in Group o Finals

Group o Finals
Initials o ou ong
o ou ong
b bo
p po pou
m mo mou
f fo fou
d dou dong
t tou tong
n nou nong
l lou long
g gou gong
k kou kong
h hou hong
j
q
x
zh zhou zhong
ch chou chong
sh shou
r rou rong
z zou zong
c cou cong
s sou song

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 Table 6: Mandarin Pinyin in Group e Finals

Group e Finals

Initials e er ei en eng
e er ei en eng
b bei ben beng
p pei pen peng
m me mei men meng
f fei fen feng
d de dei den deng
t te tei teng
n ne nei nen neng
l le lei leng
g ge gei gen geng
k ke kei ken keng
h he hei hen heng
j
q
x
zh zhe zhei zhen zheng
ch che chen cheng
sh she shei shen sheng
r re ren reng
z ze zei zen zeng
c ce cei cen ceng
s se sen seng

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 Table Table 7: Mandarin Pinyin in Group i Finals

Group i Finals
Initials i -i ia iao ie iou ian in iang ing iong
yi ya yao ye you yan yin yang ying yong
b bi biao bie bian bin bing
p pi piao pie pian pin ping
m mi miao mie miu mian min ming
f
d di dia diao die diu dian ding
t ti tiao tie tian ting
n ni niao nie niu nian nin niang ning
l li lia liao lie liu lian lin liang ling
g
k
h
j ji jia jiao jie jiu jian jin jiang jing jiong
q qi qia qiao qie qiu qian qin qiang qing qiong
x xi xia xiao xie xiu xian xin xiang xing xiong
zh zhi
ch chi
sh shi
r ri
z zi
c ci
s si

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 Table 8: Mandarin Pinyin in Group u Finals

Group u Finals
Initials u ua uo uai uei uan uen uang ueng
wu wa wo wai wei wan wen wang weng
b bu
p pu
m mu
f fu
d du duo dui duan dun
t tu tuo tui tuan tun
n nu nuo nuan
l lu luo luan lun
g gu gua guo guai gui guan gun guang
k ku kua kuo kuai kui kuan kun kuang
h hu hua huo huai hui huan hun huang
j
q
x
zh zhu zhua zhuo zhuai zhui zhuan zhun zhuang
ch chu chua chuo chuai chui chuan chun chuang
sh shu shua shuo shuai shui shuan shun shuang
r ru rua ruo rui ruan run
z zu zuo zui zuan zun
c cu cuo cui cuan cun
s su suo sui suan sun

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Table 9: Mandarin Pinyin in Group Finals

Group Finals
Initials e an n
yu yue yuan yun
b
p
m
f
d
t
n n ne
l l le
g
k
h
j ju jue juan jun
q qu que quan qun
x xu xue xuan xun
zh
ch
sh
r
z
c
s

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The Four Tones
Mandarin is a tonal language where a syllable has different
meanings when pronounced in different tones. For further details, please
refer to the table below:

Chinese Chinese
Tone mark Tone level Meaning
syllable character
_ 1st tone m mother

/ 2nd tone m numb

v 3rd tone m horse

\ 4th tone m to scold

From the table above, there are four basic tones in Mandarin, and
four tones is pronounced as s shng which literally means four

tones. Each level of tone is represented respectively by the tone marks

in the table above. The tone level of a syllable will change the meaning
of the represented Chinese character.

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The Tone Mark

a o e i u

The tone mark is always placed above a final. When a syllable

contains more than one finals, the tone mark should be placed above
the finals in this order: a o e i u . For example, the tone
mark should be placed above a. If a is not there, then it should be
placed above o. If o is not there, it should be placed above e and so
on. The dot above the final i should be erased if the tone mark is
placed above it. If i and u are together, mark the tone on the last final.
In addition to the four basic tones, there is a neutral tone. A
syllable in the neutral tone does not have a tone mark in spelling and is
pronounced in a very soft and short voice.

Listen and pronounce the four tones below.

- / \

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Exercise

A. Read the vowels in the four tones and put the tone marks
accordingly.

1. a a a a
2. o o o o
3. e e e e
4. i i i i
5. u u u u
6. v v v v

B. Listen and repeat the syllables in the four tones. Write out the
missing syllables with the correct tone marks.
1. nH __ nJ nK 6. rDn __ rFn rGn
2. w@ wA __ wC 7. z<i z=i z>i __
3. n< __ n> n? 8. __ suI suJ suK
4. shH shI shJ __ 9. __ jIn jJn jKn
5. h<o h=o __ h?o 10. ni<n ni=n ni>n __

C. Write the tone marks as pronounced.

1. ma ma 6. dao dao
2. ke ke 7. chi chi
3. wo wo 8. hui hui
4. xi xi 9. jia jia
5. qu qi 10. you you

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D. Circle the syllables you hear.

1. ba pa 6. beng peng
2. de te 7. dan tan
3. ge ke 8. gan kan
4. ji qi 9. jun qun
5. ze ce 10. zan can

E. Circle the syllables you hear.

1. ci qi 6. cu qu
2. si xi 7. zhu ju
3. ri re 8. qu chu
4. ku qu 9. zi ji
5. ju zu 10. ci ce

F. Circle the syllables you hear.

1. d t 6. ci zi

2. hu ho 7. lu lo

3. j z 8. yo yu

4. din tin 9. rn lng

5. png bng 10. xi xu

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