Centre for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language

Pinyin Pronunciation
This introductory lesson to Mandarin Pinyin pronunciation is divided into 7 parts and click
the following links (in blue) to start. The materials for practice are available on the
CDROM, For more information on Pinyin please visit the Wikipedia website.

1. vowels

2. consonants

3. groups

4. rules for written form

5. tones

6. tone changes

7. Pinyin-Zhuyin exchange table.

 1. Vowels

The six vowels in Pinyin pronunciation are listed below. They will be read in the first tone, which
sounds like a sustained sung note. Please listen and repeat after me.

It sounds like the noise you might make when your doctor is examining the inside of your mouth.
Open your mouth wide and say: aah.

Push your lips forward into a small circle, with your tongue at the bottom of your mouth, leaving a
hollow space above it. Say: o. Your lips should make the shape they take when you say the
English word law.

Make a sound as if you have seen something really disgusting: ergh. When e is used with other
vowels it can also be pronounced which is similar to e in the English word bed.

Pull your lips slightly back and push your tongue up towards the hard palate without touching it. It
is similar to the ea sound in the English word squeak.

Push your lips forward and make a narrow gap through which your breath can vibrate. Your lips
should take the shape they make when you say the word fool.

It is similar to the umlaut in German or the French u. Say ee through tightly pursed lips
(form the shape they make when you say the sh of the English word fish).

The following vowels will be read in the first tone. The first tone is like singing a sustained note. If
you read them in the following order, you will notice that the gap between your lips will gradually
get narrower.


Some irregular features

There are some irregular features in Pinyin pronunciation. When the vowel comes before or after
the vowels and , it should be pronounced e as in bed. Let's read the following 3 examples in
the first tone.

i i
When o is followed by u, the pronunciation of o is similar to the English letter "o". Listen and
repeat after me. When you are ready, you can repeat after me.

u
I am going to read two groups of combined vowels that are written in an abbreviated form. Please
listen and repeat carefully after me.

i u
2. Consonants

The following consonants: p, f, t, k, h, q, x, c, s, ch and sh are aspirated sounds. If you put your
palm in front of your mouth when you are reading out these letters, you will feel the air being
exhaled. Read the following consonants after me in the first tone - you will be practising your
vowels as well.

b p m f With the vowel

d t n l With the vowel

g k h With the vowel

j q x With the vowel

When you read out the following letters close your teeth, but not too tightly. Place your tongue so
that it is just vibrating against the back of your upper front teeth. Please note: the vowel i should
NOT be pronounced in this case. The (here soundless) letter i is placed after z, c, s, zh, ch and
sh in written Pinyin as a vehicle for indicating the tones.

z When you say z you should feel a buzz behind your upper front teeth.

c Blow the air out as you make a short buzzing sound. Your tongue should be
looser than in z.
s Close your teeth and blow over your tongue.

r Roll your tongue back in the roof of your mouth. It should just touch your
hard palate as you say r.
zh Roll your tongue back in the roof of your mouth. The tip of your tongue
should stay pressing up towards your hard palate. Squeeze the air out over
your tongue.
ch Roll your tongue back in the roof of your mouth. The tip of your tongue
should stay pressing up towards your hard palate. Blow the air out over your
tongue, making a slightly harder sound than in zh.
sh Roll your tongue back in the roof of your mouth so that it just touches your
hard palate as you say sh.
 3. Groups

There are five groups with the end sound g and five groups with the end sound n. In the
following slide show these groups will be read in the first tone. The first tone is like singing a
sustained note. Please listen and repeat after me.

ng Say and touch your soft palate with the back of your tongue.

ng Say and touch your soft palate with the back of your tongue.

ng Say and touch your soft palate with the back of your tongue.

ng Say and touch your soft palate with the back of your tongue.

ung Say u and touch your soft palate with the back of your tongue

n Keep saying the sound, then touch the front of your hard palate with the tip of
your tongue.

n Keep saying the sound, then touch front of your hard palate with the tip of your
tongue.

n Keep saying the sound, then touch front of your hard palate with the tip of your
tongue.

n n is an abbreviated form. The actual pronunciation is u n. Say first, then en.

(un)
n Keep saying the sound, then touch the front of your hard palate with the tip of your
tongue.
4. Rules for writing, and for reading out loud

If a word begins with u the written form is w, so ua would be written wa but still
pronounced ua.
If a word begins with i the written form is y, so i would be written y but still pronounced
ie. The written form of i is y, and the written form of is yu.
The vowel u after the consonants j, q and x should be pronounced . In other words, there is
no u sound after j, q and x in Mandarin pronunciation.
There is no sound after the consonants z, c, s, h, r, zh, ch, and sh in Mandarin
pronunciation.
In written Pinyin the letter i after z, c, s, zh, ch, sh and r has no sound but is used as a
vehicle for indicating the tones. For example the word zh should be read as zh in the first
tone.

5. Tones

There are four full tones in Mandarin pronunciation, and one neutral tone. Lets read out the vowel
a in the four tones.

First Second Third Fourth Neutral a

The first tone The second tone The third tone V is The fourth tone \ is The neutral tone
is marked as a is marked marked down and marked downwards. has no mark. It is a
straight It has a upwards. It is a up. It is a low and It is a falling tone short and light
long and rising tone (start curved tone. Try to (start from the tone.
sustained sound from the lower go as low as you grating highest part
(as if singing a part of your voice, can and then of your voice, then
note). then go up). bounce up. go down, as if
exclaiming).

Where should I mark the tones?

Tones should be marked on a vowel. If a word has more than one vowel, the tone should be marked
on the main vowel of the word. Vowels are listed in the following order: a, o, e, i, u and . As the
vowel a appears first in this list, the tone in the word liao should be marked on the vowel a.
 6. Tone changes

1. The 3rd tone is a changeable tone. When two 3rd tones come together, the first 3rd tone should
be changed into a 2nd tone, e.g., nho ( hello) should be pronounced nho.

2. When a 3rd tone is followed by a 1st, 2nd, 4th or neutral tone, the 3rd tone should be
pronounced as a low 3rd tone. In other words it is a low sustained tone, e.g., as in
jnzhng ( nervous) and jifng ( liberate). Both jn and ji stay in the
lower part of your voice and you dont move the sound up.

3. Only under the following situations should the 3rd tone be pronounced as a proper 3rd tone:

when a 3rd tone is on its own. For example, the mono-syllabic expression ho ( OK, all
right).
when a 3rd tone is at the end of a sentence or a phrase, e.g. fngho ( to put
[something] properly.)

4. When a sentence has three third tones next to each other, it can be changed into the
following two patterns:

second, second and proper third

lower third, second and proper third.

For example: w hnho ( I am fine) can be pronounced either w hnho or w

hnho.

The neutral tone is a short and light tone, as described above. The best way to remember how to
pronounce the neutral tone is to remember its length and its pitch as follows:

The syllable before the neutral tone should be pronounced longer, as if it is a crochet in
music notation and the neutral tone as a quaver.
A neutral tone should be in the middle range of your voice. If a neutral tone is preceded by a
low tone such as a third (curved) tone or a low ending tone such as a fourth (falling) tone,
the neutral tone should end up at a higher pitch than the preceding tones; if a neutral tone is
preceded by a first (sustained) tone or second (rising) tone, the neutral tone should end at a
lower pitch than the preceding tones.
 7. Pinyin - Zhuyin Exchange Table

a o e i u
er ai ao ei ou

an en ang eng ong

b p m f
d t n l

g k h
j q x
z c s

r zh ch sh