The Pīnyīn alphabet consists of 26 letters. One letter differs from the English alphabet.. The ‘v’ has been dropped and the ü (u-umlaut) has been added.
Pīnyīn is a phonetic system. If simply pronounced at face value, as if it were English, the Chinese sounds will not come out right. One must look at it as a phonetic system of symbols, much like the International Phonetic Alphabet, but far less cryptic for English, German and French speakers. Although the sound values of some letters match those of English, others need careful study.
Each character, that can be written in Chinese script, can be read aloud as a single syllable. Each syllable can be written down using Roman letters and diacritical marks in Pinyin. A Chinese syllable consists of an initial consonant, followed by a final vowel, or vowel-and-consonant combination. The diacritical marks (apart from the umlaut) do not affect the phonetic values of the syllable. They only serve to indicate the melody of the syllable -- that is, which of the four or five tones to use.
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f, l, m, n, s, w, y |
It’s okay to pronounce these letters according to their face values in English. |
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p, t, and k (the unvoiced plosives) |
use an extra puff of breath (strongly aspirated). |
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b, d, and g (the Eng. voiced plosives) |
are unvoiced and unaspirated in Mandarin. That means they are essentially an unaspirated p, t, and k, respectively. For example, Peking, which was a Wade-Giles spelling, is the same as Beijing, which is the Pīnyīn spelling. The romanization system is different, but the name of the city is pronounced (at least by the Chinese) exactly as before. |
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r |
is like ‘rj’. It is a purr. The tongue is curled back (retroflex). |
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ch, sh and zh |
are the other retroflexes. (Tongue curled back.) |
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zh |
like j in judge (retroflex) |
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j, q, and x |
are the palatals (followed by a y-sound) The lips are spread, as in a smile. |
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j |
like j in jeep (palatal) |
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q |
like Eng. ch, but always with a following y-sound |
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x |
somewhat like sh, with a little of the Ger. ‘ch’ in ‘ich’ |
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h |
is deeper and more gutteral than in English |
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c |
like ‘ts’ in bets |
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z |
‘dz’ like ‘ds’ in beds |
Note that there are two types of j-sound -- palatal and retroflex:
Pīnyīn ‘j’ is palatal. Pīnyīn ‘zh’ is retroflex.
Běijīng; Zhōngguó (China)
Note that there are two types of ch-sound -- palatal and retroflex:
Pīnyīn ‘q’ is palatal. Pīnyīn ‘ch’ is retroflex.
qī (seven); chá (tea)
Note that there are two types of sh-sound -- palatal and retroflex:
Pīnyīn ‘x’ is palatal. Pīnyīn ‘sh’ is retroflex.
xiǎo (small); shí (ten).
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a |
as in father |
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ai |
as in aisle |
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an |
as in want, except after i (see below) |
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ang |
similar to ‘an’ above plus g, as in Ger. Angst |
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ao |
as in how |
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e |
as in Eng. her or Fr. le |
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ei |
as in eight |
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en |
as in ten |
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eng |
as in Engelbert |
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er |
as in are |
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i |
as in pizza, but |
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as in sir after a retroflex, or ‘c’, ‘s’, or ‘z’. |
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(the retroflexes are ch, sh, zh and r) |
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ia |
like Eng. yard, or Ger. ja |
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ian |
like yen (Tiananmen Square) |
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iang |
like yang in yin and yang |
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iao |
as in how |
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ie |
as in yes |
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in |
in |
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ing |
-ing |
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iong |
y plus -ong as in long |
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iu |
yo in yo-yo |
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o |
as in more |
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ou |
as in dough |
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ong |
-oong as in Ger. jung |
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u |
-oo like in rule, but |
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like ü when it follows a palatal (j, q or x) |
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ua |
as in Wawa, the convenience store |
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uai |
as in why |
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uan |
like wan, rhyming with ran |
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uang |
like wang, rhyming with rang |
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ue |
as in wet |
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ui |
as in way |
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un |
as like ‘uan’ in truant |
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uo |
as in war |
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ü |
as in Fr. la lune, or Ger. über |
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üe |
same ü as above plue the ‘e’ in wet, or like Ger. mühe |
1/06/2010