Chinese Phonetic System：

Hanyu Pinyin
汉语语音系统：汉语拼音
International Phonetic System
Hanyu Pinyin
国际音标

Presented by
Daisy Cheng See
In most languages,
Words are pronounced as spelled

Hi! Hello!
Hallo
Bonjour
Hola
Ahn-nyeong hah-she-yo
Selamat
Konnichiwa

In Chinese, however,

Words are represented by characters…

早 国 际 音 标

Thus the difficulty of reading the words if one is

unfamiliar with the character
But there are over 50,000 characters. Do you need to memorize
them all?
NO!

We have what we call the Chinese phonetic system to guide you in

speaking or reading characters.

The Chinese phonetic system may be symbol-based (Zhuyin fuhao注音符号)

or Romanized (Hanyu Pinyin).
So, for example…

Father, written in Chinese is… in Zhuyin fuhao注音符号 and in Hanyu Pinyin汉语拼音

爸爸 ㄅㄚˋ ˙ㄅㄚ bà bɑ
怕 ㄆㄚˋ pà
大 ㄉㄚˋ dà
What is observable?
Father, written in Chinese is… in Zhuyin fuhao注音符号 and in Hanyu Pinyin汉语拼音
爸爸 ㄅㄚˋ ˙ㄅㄚ bà bɑ
怕 ㄆㄚˋ pà
大 ㄉㄚ dà
他 ㄊㄚ tā

Symbol-based Romanized
1 symbol per sound More user-friendly

There are distinct tones.

拼音 Pinyin
Click here to

1. Know how many there are in all

• Initial Sounds 声母表
• Final Sounds 韵母

2. How each is spelled / represented

3. How each is pronounced

4. Get a feel of how a syllable is pronounced 整体音节

Keep referring to me as you progress through this lecture.
Initial Sounds
一 声母表 （有22个）

Initial Sound Representative Character with

this Initial Sound
b 玻 b like "p" in "spin"
(unaspirated)
p 坡 p like "p" in "pope”
m 摸 pronounced as in English

f 佛 pronounced as in English
Initial Sounds
一 声母表 （有22个）

Initial Sound Representative Character with

this Initial Sound

d 得 d like "d" in "bed"

(unaspirated)
t 特 t like "t" in "tap"
n 讷 pronounced as in English

l 勒 pronounced as in English
Initial Sounds
一 声母表 （有22个）

Initial Sound Representative Character with

this Initial Sound
g 哥 g is a soft unaspirated "k"
sound
k 科 k like "k" in "kangaroo”
h 喝 pronounced as in English
Initial Sounds
一 声母表 （有22个）

Initial Sound Representative Character with

this Initial Sound
j 鸡 j like "g" in "genius"
(unaspirated)
q 欺 q harder than "ch" in
"cheap"
x 西 x like "sh" in "sheep" but
with the corners of the lips
drawn back
Initial Sounds
一 声母表 （有22个）

Initial Sound Representative Character with

this Initial Sound
zh 知 zh like "j" in "job"
ch 吃 ch (tongue curled back,
aspirated)
sh 诗 pronounced as in English

r 日 r somewhat like "r" in "rain”

Initial Sounds
一 声母表 （有22个）

Initial Sound Representative Character with

this Initial Sound
z 资 z like "ds" in "beds
c 刺 c like "ts" in "cats”
s 思 pronounced as in English
Initial Sounds
一 声母表 （有22个）
b 玻 p 坡 m 摸 f 佛
d 得 t 特 n 讷 l 勒
g 哥 k 科 h 喝

j 鸡 q 欺 x 西

z 资 c 刺 s 思

zh 知 ch 吃 sh 诗 r 日
y 衣 w 乌
To summarize, on INITIAL SOUNDS…
声母 Shengmu

Labial
b[p] p[pʰ] m[m] f [f]

Alveolar
d[t] t [tʰ] n[n] l[l]

Velar
g[k] k[kʰ] h[x]

Palatal
j[tɕ] q [tɕʰ] x[ɕ]

Retroflex
zh[tʂ] ch[tʂʰ] sh[ʂ] r[ɻ~ʐ]1

Dental sibilant
z[ts] c [tsʰ] s[s]

y[j]2 or [ɥ]3 w [w]2

Final Sounds
二 韵母表 （基本24个）
• Single Final 单韵母

Final Sound Representative Character with this

Final Sound
a 啊 a[a] ah

o 喔 o [o]

e 鹅 e [ɤ] [ər]
e like "e" in "her"
I 衣 i [i]
Final Sounds
二 韵母表 （基本24个）
• Single Final 单韵母

Final Sound Representative Character with this

Final Sound
u 乌 u[u]

ü 迂 ü[y]
Final Sounds
二 韵母表 （基本24个）
• Compound Final 复韵母

Final Sound Representative Character with this

Final Sound
ai 哀 ai like "y" in "by" (light)

ei 诶 ei like "ay" in "bay"

ao 奥

ou 欧 ou like "o" in "go"

Final Sounds
二 韵母表 （基本24个）
• Compound Final 复韵母

Final Sound Representative Character

with this Final Sound
ui 威 uei (spelled –ui)

iu 优 iou (spelled -iu)

ie 耶 ie [iɛ] like "ye" in "yes"

üe 约 üe [yɛ]

er 耳 er like "er" in "sister" (American

English)
Final Sounds
二 韵母表 （基本24个）
• Compound Final 复韵母

Final Sound Representative Character with this

Final Sound
ia 呀 ia

iao 腰 iao [iau]

uo 窝 uo

ua 哇 ua

uai 歪 uai
Final Sounds
二 韵母表 （基本24个）
• Nasal Final 前鼻韵母 (front nasal)

Final Sound Representative Character with

this Final Sound
an 安 an like "an" in "can" (without
stressing the "n")
en 恩 en

in 因 in

un 温 uen(-un) [uən]

ün 晕 ün(üen) [yn]
• uei, uen and iou when preceded by an initial, are written as ui, un
and iu respectively.
Final Sounds
二 韵母表 （基本24个）
• Nasal Final 前鼻韵母 (front nasal)

Final Sound Representative Character with this

Final Sound
ian 烟 ian[iɛn]

uan 弯 uan[uan]

üan 冤 üan[yɛn]
Final Sounds
二 韵母表 （基本24个）
• Nasal Final 后鼻韵母 (posterior nasal)

Final Sound Representative Character with this

Final Sound
ang 昂 ang

eng 摁 eng

ing 英 ing(ieng)[iŋ]

ong 翁 ong
Final Sounds
二 韵母表 （基本24个）
• Nasal Final 后鼻韵母 (posterior nasal)

Final Sound Representative Character with this

Final Sound
iang 殃 iang[iaŋ]

uang 汪 uang [uɑŋ]

ueng 瓮 ueng[uəŋ]

iong 庸 iong[iuŋ]
 Structure of a Chinese Syllable SCS
汉语音节的构成

• The structure of a syllable in Mandarin Chinese usually consists of three parts: the tone, as well
as the final and initial sounds. Among them, there are four tones, more than 30 final sounds and
21 initial sounds, with two special zero initials.

• 汉语普通话的一个音节通常由声母、韵母、声调三部分组成。其中声母有21个（特殊零声母2个）
，韵母30多个。
• The sounds you learned, when Pinyin equivalent
combined, form the Chinese
syllable.
Zǎo
• A Chinese syllable may refer to
one or more Chinese
characters. 早
• This syllable is how spoken
Chinese is communicated. Chinese character
 Structure of a Chinese Syllable
汉语音节的构成

Tone
声调 Shēngdiào 4

Initial sound Z ǎo Final sound

声母 Shēngmǔ 21
韵母 Yùnmǔ 35

Syllable
Chinese Pinyin Syllable
• Final Sound 韵母 Yùnmǔ
1.
Single Final 单韵母
2.
Compound Final 复韵母
3. Nasal Final 鼻韵母

• Tones 声调 Shēngdiào

• Initial Sound 声母 Shēngmǔ

• There are certain sounds which may in themselves may be syllables
and refer to Chinese characters.
三 整体音节 （例子）

zhi Chi Shi Ri

织 吃 狮 日

Zi Ci Si Yi
资 次 丝 衣
wu Yu Ye Yue
屋 鱼 椰 月
yuan Yin yun ying
元 音 云 鹰
Tones 声调 Shēngdiào
There are four lexical tones in modern Chinese
language. A syllable with the same initial and
final sounds will have different meanings in
different tones.
汉语普通话有 4 个声调。不同的声调加在同样的声
韵组合上会形成不同的音节，标的不同的语义。
ā 1st Tone is a high and level 55
sound, naturally prolonged.
á 2nd Tone is a rising tone, 35
from low to high.
ǎ 3rd Tone the tone first falls 214
and then goes up again
à 4th Tone is a falling tone, 51
which starts out high but
falls short and strong
a Neutral Tone is pronounced
lightly and quickly.
Careful with the Tones!
A difference in tone may mean a world of difference.

妈 麻 马 骂 吗

mother numb horse scold MP-

interrogative
mā má mǎ mà ma

八 拔 把 爸 吧
Eight Pull (v) make father MP-expression
bā bá bǎ bà ba
 Read the following line The first syllable of… in Chinese
b 玻璃的玻 Bōlí de bō Glass
p 泼水的泼 pōshuǐ de pō Splashing water
m 磨墨的磨 mó mò de mó Grinding ink
f 佛教的佛 fójiào de fú Buddhism
d 得力的得 délì de dé Effective
t 特别的特 tèbié de tè Particular
n 呢啦的呢 ne la de ne What?
l 乐趣的乐 lèqù de lè Pleasure
g 歌唱的歌 gēchàng de gē Singing
k 咳嗽的咳 késòu de ké Cough
h 河流的河 héliú de hé River
j 机器的机 jīqì de jī Machine
q 欺骗的欺 qīpiàn de qī Deceive
x 稀奇的稀 xīqí de xī Rare
z 资料的资 zīliào de zī Data
c 瓷器的瓷 cíqì de cí Porcelain
s 似乎的似 sìhū de sì Seem
zh 知道的知 zhīdào de zhī Know
ch 翅膀的翅 chìbǎng de chì Wing
sh 示范的示 shìfàn de shì Demonstration
r 日光的日 rìguāng de rì Sunlight