Mandarin Chinese Pronunciation Course Using Pinyin

Mandarin Chinese Pronunciation Using Pinyin (in Unicode Characters)

See also the associated language document,
“Mandarin Chinese Introductory Language Course Using Pinyin” at
pinyin_introductory01_online3_unicode.htm—online
pinyin_introductory01_online3_unicode.pdf—printable

The audio files (.wav) used in this pronunciation course can be downloaded from www.jaspell.uk/downloadsounds.htm, if needed for use offline.

START WORKING

Click on a hyperlink character to hear its sound.

STUDY 1

Pronunciation of individual and groups of characters

PRONUNCIATION 1.1 (Individual Sounds and Their Writing in Pinyin)

Pinyin script provides an approximate method for representing the pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese using Roman characters with accents. Some letters are pronounced as in English, but others have very different sounds (as highlighted in the following chart). Pronunciation also varies in different regions of China, but the following guidance is generally acceptable.

INDIVIDUAL SOUNDS
Letters	Pronounciation	Position
a	a as in “father”, “atone”
b	b as in “bag”
c	ts as in “bats”
ch	tsh as in “hatshop”
d	d as in “dog”
e	e as in “her”	generally
e	e as in “yes”, “yeah”	after “y”
f	f as in “fun”
g	g hard as in “get”	(not soft as in“gel”)
h	ch gutturally as in “loch”
i	i as in “sir”, “circle”, “chirp”	after c, ch, r, s, sh, z, zh
i	ee as in “been”; i as in “bistro”	after b, d, j, l, m, n, p, q, t, x, y
j	j as in “jam”
k	k as in “kitchen”
l	l as in “love”
m	m as in “mug”
n	n as in “nibble”
o	o as in “or”
p	p as in “pun”
q	chh as in “matchhead”
r	r rolled as in “curl”
s	s as in “sat”
sh	sh as in “rashly”
t	t as in “top”
u	u as in “boot”	(See group below)
w	w as in “water”
wu	oo as in “pool”	not “wu”
x	s as in “see”; hs as in “aah, see!”
y	y as in “yam”
yi	ee as in “been”	yi is “i”, not “yi”
z	ds as in “suds”
zh	dge as in “hedgeless”

See also the table below about groups of vowels and syllables.

PRACTICE 1.1 (Pronunciation of Characters in Simple Syllables)

Read: ba, ca, cha, da, e, ye, er, fa, ga, ha, yi, bi, ci, ju, ka, la, ma, na, bo, pa, qu, re, sa, sha, ta, wu, bu, wa, xi, ya, yi, za, zha

Repeat

PRONUNCIATION 1.2 (Pronunciation of Special Vowel Groups)

See the following table titled: “Some Special Vowel Groups and Syllables”.

Some groups are marked with an asterisk, “*”. The following comments apply to these.

If the vowel group starting in “i” occurs on its own, it needs to be written beginning with “y” instead of “i”. So, “ian” would be written as “yan”.

Similarly, a group on its own starting in “u” is written using a “w” instead of the “u”. So, “uan” is written as “wan”.

Some sound groups are easier recognizable for an English speaker: aisle; ban; bang; naos (sounding like now); eight; tiara; ring.

SOME SPECIAL VOWEL GROUPS AND SYLLABLES
Group		Sounds like…
en		urn or undo
eng		Bung
i (in ci, chi, ri, si, shi, zi, zhi)		shirt (without r), zircon, adze
i (in bi, di, fi, ji, li, mi, ni, qi, ti, xi, yi)		been, deed, jeep, tee, see, eel
ia / ya	*	yarn, try a bit
ian / yan	*	yen, try any
iang / yang	*	Young
iao / yao	*	Yowl
ie / ye	*	the air; ee-ye
iong / yong	*	Jung (German)
iu / you	*	Yoyo
o		fore, door
ong (after d, t, n, l, z, c, s, zh, ch, r, g, k, h)		jung (German); long
ou		Dough
u / wu	*	shoe, gnu, do
u (in lü, nü ) / yu	*	chew your food
u (in ju, qu, xu) / yu	*	chew your food
ua / wa	*	Wax
uai / wai	*	Wide
uan / wan	*	Won
uan (after j, q, x) / yuan	*	ú-yen; new end; innuendo
uang / wang	*	Wangle
ue (in lüe, nüe) / yue	*	ú-ye, new energy
ue (in jue, que, xue) / yue	*	ú-ye, new energy
(uei) / ui / wei	*	Weigh
un (after d, t, n, l, z, c, s, zh, ch, sh, r, g, k, h) / wen		won, dun
(ueng) / weng	*	Swung
un (in jun, qun, xun) / yun	*	unique; German ú
uo / wo		Wall

PRACTICE 1.2 (Pronunciation of Special Vowel Groups and Syllables)

With the help of the table (of special vowel groups and syllables) given above please read these syllables:

Read:

en, ben, beng, ci, bi, ya, jia, lia, yian, dian, dianr, yang, liang, yao, biao, jiao, ye, bie, jie, xie, yong, jiong, xiong, you, miu, jiu, o

Repeat

Read:

bo, dong, rong, zhong, wu, bu, yu, nü, lü, ju, qu, wa, zhua, hua, wai, guai, wan, duan, juan, quan, xuan, wang, huang, chuang, yue

Repeat

Read:

lüe, nüe, jue, xue, wei, dui, zui, wen, dun, hun, yun, jun, xun, wo, duo, shuo, huo, huor .

Repeat

PRONUNCIATION 1.3 (Pronunciation of “i” Depending on Its Context)

The vowel “i” may occur after some, but not all consonants. If the sound of the letter “i” occurs on its own, the sound is represented by “yi”.

The letter “i” can be pronounced in two different ways, depending on which sort of consonant it occurs with. It is easier to remember which is right, if you register where in your mouth the first group is pronounced.

Note: c, ch, r, s, sh, z, and zh are a family of sounds. They are all pronounced in the roof of the mouth towards the front of the palate with the help of different amounts of pressure from the tongue. With “r” the tongue barely touches the palate, whereas with “zh” the tongue is folded back there somewhat painfully.

WAYS TO PRONOUNCE “I” / “i”

ci	*	what sir did	bi	Been
chi	*	what churns around	di	Deed
ri	*	never irksome	ji	Jeep
si	*	sir	li	Leek
shi	*	shirt	mi	Meek
zi	*	zircon	ni	Need
zhi	*	adjourn	pi	Peek
			qi	Cheek
			ti	Tee
			xi	“aah, see!”
			yi	“eel”
Repeat			Repeat

* If this “i” occurs with characters in the group in left hand column, but it occurs without a tonal mark — especially at the tail end of a word — it tends to be restrained. (Compare the end of English words like “sire”, “shire”, “adze”, “badge”, etc., in which the final vowel “e” is almost lost.) For example, this applies to “shi”, but not to sh, sh, sh, or sh.

PRACTICE 1.3 (Varying Pronunciation of “i”)

With the help of the table given above please read these syllables:

Read: bi, ci, chi, di, ji, li, mi, ni, pi, qi, ri, si, shi, ti, xi, yi, zi, zhi.

Repeat

PRONUNCIATION 1.4 (Vowel Tones and Their Tone Marks in Pinyin)

Mandarin is pronounced with tones. These are indicated in Pinyin script by tone marks.

Mandarin Tone	Pinyin Tone mark	Description of Tone	Example
First tone	ā	highest and level pitch	mā (mother)
Second tone	á	starts high and rises	máfan (trouble)
Third tone	ǎ	falls first and then rises	mǎ (horse)
Fourth tone	à	starts high and then falls	mà (scold)
(Toneless)	a (No mark)	unstressed or neutral	ma (eh, surely!)
			Repeat

NOTE 1

When a third tone (…ˇ ) precedes another third tone, pronounce it as a second tone (…ˊ). Hence “hěn hǎo” is pronounced ‘hén hǎo’. Similarly, “nǐ hǎo” is pronounced more like “ní hǎo”.

NOTE 2

Some words like “bù” change before a fourth tone syllable (…ˋ), such as “mà”, or before a toneless syllable, such as “ma”: “bù” changes to “bú” in this context.

PRACTICE 1.4 (Pronunciation of Vowel Tones)

Read the following verses (from Galatians 5:22-23).

Lìng yì fāngmiàn,	shènglíng de guǒshí	yǒu	àixīn,	xǐlè,	hépíng,
On the other hand,	the fruitage of the spirit	is / have	love,	joy,	peace,

jiānrěn,	réncí,	liángshàn,	xìnxīn,	wēnhé,	zìzhì.
long-suffering,	kindness,	goodness,	faith,	mildness,	self-control.

Lìng yì fāngmiàn , shènglíng de guǒshí yǒu àixīn, xǐlè, hépíng, jiānrěn, réncí, liángshàn, xìnxīn, wēnhé, zìzhì.

PRACTICE 1.5 (Pronunciation of Vowel Tones)

Read:

Qǐng dú zhège hǎo xiāoxi.	Please read this good news.
Wǒ xīwàng gěi nǐ zhège tèbié qǐngtiě.	I'd like to give you this special invitation.
Xīwàng hěn kuài jiàndào nǐ!	See you soon! (Like very quickly get to see you.)
Zhù nǐ zǎo rì kāngfù!	‘Get well soon!’

DIALOGUE 1.1 (Pronunciation of Vowel Tones)

Read this dialogue as two persons, A and B:

A	Zǎoshàng hǎo	Good morning
B	Zǎoshàng hǎo.	Good morning
A	Hěn gāoxìng jiàndào nï	Nice to see you.
B	Wǒ yě hěn gāoxìng jiàndào nǐ.	Nice to see you too.
A	Wǒ jiào X. Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?	I'm called X. What name are you called?
B	Wǒ jiào X.	I'm called X.
A	Wǒmen xīwàng xiǎngyǒu hépîng de shēngmìng, kěshì yǒu duō kùnnan.	We'd like to enjoy a life of peace, but we have much difficulty.
B	Duì!	Correct!
A	Wǒ xīwàng gěi nǐ zhèfèn qǐngtiě.	I'd like to give you this invitation.
B	Wèishénme?	For what?
A	Měi Xīngqīyī yǒu pǔtónghuà yòng de tǎolùn.	Each Monday there's a discussion using Mandarin.
B	Tǎolùn de huàtí shì shénme?	What is the topic?
A	Wǒmen xuéxí Shàngdì de yùyán. Tā shuō le Tā huì zěnyàng bāngzhù yìrén.	We study God's prophecy. He said how He will help righteous ones.
B	Zài nǎr?	Where?
A	Wǒ néng lái ràng nǐ dāché.	I can come and give you a lift by car.
B	Xièxie. Kěshì wǒ néng zǒulù.	Thanks. However, I can go on foot.

DIALOGUE 1.2 (Pronunciation of Vowel Tones)

Read this dialogue as two persons, A and B:

A	Nǐ xiǎng dú zhège hǎo xiāoxi ma?	Would you like to read this good news?
B	Hǎode	OK
A	Nǐ duì zhège huàtí gǎn xìngqù ma?	Are you interested in this topic?
B	Wǒ yǒu xìngqù liǎojiě. Kěshì guò yīhuǐr.	I'm interested in understanding. But later.
A	Zhè shì wǒde diànhuà hàomǎ. Zhè shì wǒde yīmèir dìzhǐ.	This is my telephone number. This is my email address.
B	Xièxie.	Thanks.
A	Nǐ néng gàosù wǒ nïde diànhuà hàomǎ hé dìzhǐ ma?	Could you tell me your telephone number and address?
B	Hǎode. Gěi nǐ.	OK. Here you are.
A	Míngtiān Yíngwén yòng de tǎolùn huì shì: “Shàngdì duì nǐ hěn zhòngshì ma?”	Tomorrow the topic in English will be: “Does God count you as important?”

STUDY 2

Greetings and appreciation; read

VOCABULARY 2.1 (Greetings, Request and Thanks)

Huānyíng! *	Welcome!
Nǐ hǎo!	Hello! Hi! Howdy! How do you do!
pǔtōnghuà	Mandarin

Qǐng	Please!
dú	[to] read
Xièxie!	Thanks!
Xièxie nín!	Thank you! (polite form)

* See guidance on Mandarin pronunciation and Pinyin script.

Check especially “h” in Pronunciation 1.1.

Check especially “q”, and “x” in Pronunciation 1.1.

Check tones and tonal marks in Pronunciation 1.4.

Remember, when a third tone (…ˇ) precedes another third tone, pronounce it as a second tone (…ˊ). So, “nǐ hǎo” is pronounced more like “ní hǎo”.

ˉˊˇˋ

PRACTICE 2.1 (Greetings and Appreciation)

Nǐ hǎo!	Hi!
qǐng	Please
Qǐng dú	Please read.
Xièxie	Thanks!
pǔtōnghuà	Mandarin
Huānyíng	Welcome!

STUDY 3

Presenting a message; style awareness

VOCABULARY 3.1 (Messages)

zhè; zhèi	this (some person or thing here)
zhège …	this (particular) …
nà …	that (some person or thing there)
nàge …	that (particular) …
hǎo	well, good fine
xiāoxi	news
xìnxī	information, message
qǐngtiě	invitation

(Remember, “h” in “hǎo” is pronounced raspingly, like “ch” in Scottish “loch”)

(Pronounce “zh” in “zhè” like ‘dge’ in ‘hedgeless’. Curl back the tongue.)

GRAMMAR 3.1 (Style Awareness)

You may be able to discern subtle differences in how a word feels according to context. Observe in the following example that “zhè” would feel too vague and general, so it’s good to add “-ge” to make the object in the sentence more specific.

The examples provided at the start of this course try to make meaningful sentences, but with only a few words learned at this stage, it is almost unavoidable that some of them lack some of the finer style you can achieve with a wider choice of words.

Qǐng dú zhè[ge].

Please read this [item].

INCREMENTAL CONSTRUCTION 3.1 (Messages)

Learn the following method or constructing a sentence incrementally.

Nǐ hǎo!	Hi!
Qǐng dú	Please read.
xiāoxi	news
hǎo xiāoxi	good news
zhège xiāoxi	this news
zhège hǎo xiāoxi	this good news
dú zhège hǎo xiāoxi	Read this good news
Qǐng dú zhège hǎo xiāoxi!	Please read this good news!

INCREMENTAL CONSTRUCTION 3.2 (Messages)

Nǐ hǎo!	Hi!
Qǐng dú	Please read.
qǐngtiě	invitation
hǎo qǐngtiě	good invitation
zhège qǐngtiě	this invitation
zhège hǎo qǐngtiě	this nice invitation
dú zhège hǎo qǐngtiě	read this nice invitation
Qǐng dú zhège hǎo qǐngtiě!	Please read this nice invitation!
Xièxie!	Thanks!
Xièxie nín!	Thank you! (polite form)

REVIEW 3.1

Greetings! / ‘Hello!’ / ‘How are you?’	‘nǐ hǎo’! [- h is pronounced like ch in loch]

Please!	qǐng! [- q is lpronounced ike ch in chicken]
Read!	dú!
Please read …!	qǐng dú …!

information	xìnxī
this [a word used in place of a person or thing]	zhè [- zh is pronounced like dge in fudge]
this particular …	zhège … - g is like g in get
this information	zhège xìnxī
Please read this message.	Qǐng dú zhège xìnxī.

Please read this invitation.	Qǐng dú zhège qǐngtiě.

Thanks!	Xièxie!
Thank you! (polite form)	Xièxie nîn!

You are at: [Website - Home] > [Learn Another Language] > [Mandarin Chinese Pronunciation Using Pinyin (in Unicode Characters)]
/ [Contact Us!]