English

汉语拼音 Chinese Pīnyīn

Function:Just like the phonetic alphabets in English, Pīnyīn helps us to read Chinese words.Formation:

Initials   声母  shēng mǔ

Finals     韵母  yùn mǔ

Tones      声调  shēng diào

e.g.   你 (you)  n-i-ˇ  nǐ

好 (good,fine) h-ao-ˇ hǎo

声调  shēng diào

The Chinese putonghua has four basic tones. They are shown by the tone-marks:ˉ(the 1st tone),ˊ(the 2nd tone),ˇ(the 3rd tone),ˋ(the 4th tone). Different tones may express different meanings.

bā      bá       bǎ      bà

eight  pull   target  dad

mā     má      mǎ        mà

mum  numb  horse   scold

Place of the Tone-mark

1. The tone-mark should be placed over the vowels,eg:

lā, gōng, chē

2. When a tone-mark is placed above the vowel i, the dot over it must be left out,eg:

bì,lín,tīng

3. A compound final carries two or more vowels, the tone-mark is placed over the vowel which pronounced with the mouth opening wider and louder,usually a,o,e,eg:

lái, piào, dōu

轻声（the Neutral Tone)

Every Chinese character in Chinese Putonghua has its specific tone.But sometimes,in a word or a sentence some syllables lose their original tones and become weak and short, therefore it is called the neutral tone.The neutral tone syllables are shown by the absence of the tone-mark, for example:

Bàba 爸爸（father,dad)

māma 妈妈（mother, mum)

声母 shēng mǔ

Consonants,  21

When used as initials, the following consonants are pronounced roughly the same as they are in English.

b p m f d t n l g k h j s

b

bō luó

菠萝  (pineapple)

bà ba

爸爸   (dad)

P

pó po

婆婆（mother-in-law)

pǎo bù

跑步 （running,run)

m

mā mā

妈妈 （mum)

mǎi

买   （buy)

f

chī fàn

吃饭  （eating)

fēng

风 （wind)

d

dà

大 （big, huge）

dìdi

弟弟 （younger brother)

t

tī zi

梯子 （ladder)

tài yáng

太阳（sun)

n

nán rén

男人 （male,man)

ná

拿 （take,pick,hold)

l

lóng

龙 （dragon)

kuài lè

快乐（happy)

g

gē ge

哥哥  （older brother)

gāo

高  （tall, high)

k

kě

渴 （thirsty)

kǎo shì

考试（exam)

h

hé

河 （river)

hǎi

海 （sea)

j

jī

鸡  （chicken)

jiā

家（ home)

s

sì

四 （four)

sī niàn

思念 （miss someone)

Tips

1.h sounds like "h" in the English word"her", but it must be added more friction of the breath than it is in English.

2.p sounds like "p" in the English word"port"; t sounds like"t" in the English word"term";k sounds like "k"in the English word"key";But the Chinese p,t,k must be articulated with much more aspiration than they are in English.

When used as initials, the following consonants are pronounced quite differently from what they are in English.

q x z c zh ch sh r

q

qī

七 （seven)

qián

钱（money)

x

xī

西（the west)

xǐ huān

喜欢（like)

z

zì

字（characters)

zuò

坐（sit)

c

cài

菜 （vegetable, dishes)

cāi

猜（guess)

zh

zhè

这（this)

zhàn

站 （stand)

ch

chī

吃（eat）

cháng

长（long)

sh

lǎo shī

老师（teacher)

shí

十 (ten)

Listen to all of the 21 Initials and repeat them

b p m f d t n l

g k h j q x zh

ch sh r z c s

r

rén

人 （human,people)

rè

热 （hot)

韵母  yùn mǔ

39, vowels,or vowel+n/ng

Single finals

a     ā    á    ǎ    à

o     ō    ó    ǒ    ò

e     ē    é    ě    è

i       ī     í      ǐ      ì

u     ū    ú     ǔ    ù

ü     ǖ    ǘ    ǚ    ǜ

i

1. When i stands by itself as a syllable, it should be written as yi.

2. i should be written as y when it is placed at the beginning of a final standing by itself as a syllable, or y is added before i,eg:

ia-ya  ie-ye  iou-you  iang-yang

u

1. When u stands by itself as a syllable, it should be written as wu.

2. When u combines with other finals to form syllables, it should be written as W,eg:

ua-wa  uo-wo  uei-wei  uan-wan