[The pinyin a represents three distinct vowel sounds in Mandarin]
ai [#1 + i] – like “Thai“
ao [#1 + o#2] – like “Tao” (the excessive American “w” sound at the end like in “wow” or “now” is absent)
an [#2 + n] – similar to “on” (the excessive American “aw” sound like in “lawn” is absent) but there is some of the vowel sound in the English word “can” as well
yan [i + #2 + n] – similar to “yen,” the Japanese currency (not just like “yawn”!)
ang [#3 + ng] – similar to pinyin an but nasalized with the “ng“
[The pinyin e represents two distinct vowel sounds in Mandarin]
e [#1] – somewhere between “put” and “uh“
ei [#2 + i] – like “vein”
eng [#1 + ng] – like “hung“
[The pinyin i represents three distinct vowel sounds in Mandarin]
ci, si, zi [#2] – like “sit” but with some of the “put” sound in it
chi, shi, zhi, ri [#3] – somewhere between “it” and “put” (A good way to learn to say the very important Chinese word shi is to start to say the English word “shirt” but stop right as the “r” sound is beginning. Once you can sayshi, apply that vowel sound also to pinyin si, ci, chi, zi, zhi, ri.)
ia [#1 + a] – like “hi-ya” of martial arts fame
ian [#1 + an] – like “yen,” the Japanese currency (not at all like “yawn”!)
iang [#1 + ang] – like pinyin ang above, with a “y” sound on the front
iao [#1 + ao] – like “yeow” of comic book fame (but pronounced as one syllable, not at all drawn out)
ie [#1 + e#2] – like “yes”
in [#1 + n] – somewhere between “in” and “seen“
ing [#1 + ng] – like “seen” but with an “ng” sound at the end instead of “n”
iong [#1 + ong] – like pinyin “yong“
iu [#1 + ou] – like “yo” with just a touch of “oo” sound on the end (not just like “spew“)
[The pinyin o represents two distinct vowel sounds in Mandarin]
o [#1] – like you started to say “war” but switched to “uh” before the “r” sound began
ou [#2 + u] – like “oh” with a hint of “oo” sound on the end
ong [#2 + ng] – like “lone” but with a nasalized “ng” sound on the end instead of just “n”
[The pinyin u represents two distinct vowel sounds in Mandarin, the second being the ü sound -- the umlaut is not always written in pinyin!]
uai [#1 + ai] – like “why” without any airy “h” sound
uan [#1 + an] – like the English word “wan“
juan, quan, xuan, yuan, [#2 + an] – similar to “when” without any airy “h” sound (not like the English word “wan”!)
uang [#1 + ang] – like pinyin ang with a “w” sound on the front
ue [#2 + e#2] – like “wet”
ui [#1 + ei] – like “way” (not like “we”!)
un [#1 + en] – like “would” but substitute the “ld” sound for an “n” sound
jun, qun, xun, yun [#2 + in] – see pinyin yun below
uo [#1 + o#1] – same as pinyin o, above
*ü [#2] – make the “ee” sound (as in see) and then round your lips as if saying “oo” (as in “boo“)
*yu [#2] – like ü with a faint “y” sound at the beginning (not like “you”)
*yun [#2 + in] – start out like yu above and end like “between” (not like “soon“!)
* Expect to spend a lot of time and practice mastering these sounds.
The finals that can be combined with j, q, and x are limitd to iand ü and the compound finals which start with [i or ü]. When j,q, and x are combined with ü or a compound starting with ü, the umlaut in ü is omitted and the ü appears as u. Spelling Rules:
If there is no initial before i, i is a semi-vowel. In the following combinations ia, ie, iao, iu, ian, iang, i is written as y: ya, ye, yao, you (note that the o cannot be omitted here), yan, yang; Before in, ing, and o, add y, e.g., yin,ying, yo.
If there is no initial before ü, add a y, and drop the umlaut:yu, yuan, yue, yun.
u becomes w if not preceded by an initial, e.g., wa, wai,wan, wang, wei, wen, weng, wo. u by itself becomeswu.
ueng is written as ong, if preceded by an initial, e.g.,tong, dong, nong, long.
In order to avoid confusion, an apostrophe is used to separate two syllables with connecting vowels, e.g., shi’erand the city Xi’an (xi and an are two separate syllables).
These sounds are very similar to English’s “ch,” sh,” and “j” sounds. The difference is that in Chinese the tip of the tongue is pulled back further into the mouth when making them.
Make a continual “sh” noise, and as you make it, pull your tongue backward into your mouth. Pull it back until the “sh” sound starts to get hard to make, then push it back forward just a little bit. That’s probably the right place.
The position of the tongue for the “sh” sound in the word “shirt” is further back than usual because the tongue needs to back up to make the “r” sound. If you can say “shirt” without moving your tongue until you get to the final “t,” then that’s probably where your tongue needs to be for Mandarin’s sh sound.
The positioning for Mandarin’s ch and zh is exactly the same. Say “shirt” in the way described above. Then say “chirt” and “jirt” in the same way. Those should correspond to Mandarin’s ch and zh sounds.
Make an English “ch” sound. Feel what’s happening in your mouth as you make it. Make the “ch” several more times. Where is your tongue? Where exactly is the sound coming from?
You should be able to determine that your tongue is touching the roof of your mouth to make the sound, and the sound is coming from that place. OK, good.
To make q the sound comes from the same place in your mouth, but you need to reposition your tongue. Instead of curving up to put the tip on that place on the roof of your mouth, let your tongue flop down to the bottom of your mouth. The tip of your tongue should be right behind your lower front teeth, just touching them.
Now comes the tricky part. Bend your tongue upward to that place on the roof of your mouth without moving the tip of your tongue. Whatever you do, make sure that the tip of your tongue stays touching your lower front teeth! Your tongue should be able to flex upward in the middle. Basically you’re just raising your entire tongue toward the roof of your mouth, but leaving the tip touching your lower front teeth.
In that position, try to make the “ch” sound. Remember, the sound should come from the same place. You can feel if it’s coming from the same place on the roof of your mouth. If it is, then you did it. That’s the Mandarin q.
Make an “sh-” sound, then touch the top of their tongue to the back for their bottom teeth and make the same sound.
Make an “J” sound, then touch the top of their tongue to the back for their bottom teeth and make the same sound.
Say the word “leisure.” Now focus on the end, the “-sure” part. Is your tongue pulled way back in your mouth? It should be. And the tip of your tongue should be pointing up. Now leave off the “-s-” and just make the “-ure” part. Did you notice how saying “-sure” made your tongue vibrate a little but just saying “-ure” doesn’t? See if you can bring back just a little of that buzzy vibration without returning fully to the “-sure” part.
If you can, there’s a good chance that you’ve learned how to make Mandarin’s rcorrectly. It will take a lot of practice to get it consistent. Keep at it.
