The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Standard Mandarin pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-cmn}}, {{IPAc-cmn}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Standard Chinese phonology for more detail on the sounds of Mandarin Chinese.

Consonants
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese Example English approximation
ɕ x hs ㄒ About this sound晓/曉/xiǎo sheep,[a] but more y-like
f f ㄈ About this sound非/fēi fan
j y-/-i- ㄧ About this sound牙/yá yes
k g k ㄍ About this sound干/gān skin
kʰ k k' ㄎ About this sound口/kǒu kin
l l ㄌ About this sound来/來/lái leaf
m m ㄇ About this sound明/míng moon
n n ㄋ，ㄣ，ㄢ About this sound泥/ní noon
ŋ -ng ㄥ，ㄤ About this sound江/jiāng song
p b p ㄅ About this sound帮/幫/bāng span
pʰ p p' ㄆ About this sound滂/páng pan
ʐ[b] r- j ㄖ About this sound日/rì pleasure, but with tongue curled or pulled back
s s ㄙ About this sound私/sī same
ʂ sh ㄕ About this sound矢/shǐ show, but without lip rounding and with tongue curled or pulled back
t d t ㄉ About this sound端/duān stop
tʰ t t' ㄊ About this sound透/tòu top
tɕ j ch ㄐ About this sound叫/jiào cheap,[a] but more y-like (without lip rounding)
tɕʰ q ch' ㄑ About this sound去/qù Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
ts z ts ㄗ About this sound子/zǐ outset
tsʰ c ts' ㄘ About this sound此/cǐ let's help
ʈʂ zh ch ㄓ About this sound之/zhī cheer, but without lip rounding with tongue curled or pulled back
ʈʂʰ ch ch' ㄔ About this sound吃/chī Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
w w-/-u- ㄨ About this sound我/wǒ water
x h ㄏ About this sound火/huǒ loch (Scottish English)
ɥ yu-/-ü-[c] yü-/-ü- ㄩ About this sound月/yuè between wet and yet
Vowels
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese Example English approximation
a a ㄚ，ㄢ，ㄤ 阿，安，盎 car
er êrh ㄦ 二，兒（儿）
ɛ~æ yan/-ian yen/-ien ㄧㄢ 言 set or sat
yuan/-üan ㄩㄢ 元
e ye/-ie, yue/-üe eh ㄝ 也，月 hey
ə en,[d] eng ên, êng ㄣ，ㄥ 本，冷 atop
ɚ er êrh ㄦ 二，兒（儿） fern [e]
ɤ e ê / o[f] ㄜ 厄 between boot and but
i yi/-i ㄧ 李 city
o wo/-uo[g] o[h] ㄛ 末 boy
ɻ̩ zhi, chi, shi, ri ih ㄭ[i] 之，吃，師（师），日 Below, but retroflex.[j]
ɹ̩ zi, ci, si ŭ 子，次，私 thousand, cousin
u wu/-u ㄨ 土 cool
ʊ -ong -ung ㄨㄥ，ㄩㄥ 冬，用 book
y yu/-ü[c] yü/-ü ㄩ 雨 beet, but with the lips rounded as for boot.
Diphthongs
ai ai ㄞ 艾 time
au ao ㄠ 凹 somewhat like out
ei ei[d] ㄟ 杯 face
ou ou[d] ㄡ 歐（欧） show
Tones
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese Example Tone number Description
á ā a1 ㄚ About this sound巴/bā tone 1 high level [˥]
ǎ á a2 ㄚˊ About this sound拔/bá tone 2 mid rising [˧˥]
à ǎ a3 ㄚˇ About this sound把/bǎ tone 3 medially, low [˩]; initially, mid falling [˧˩]; finally, low rising [˩˧]; in isolation, dipping [˧˩˧]
â à a4 ㄚˋ About this sound爸/bà tone 4 high falling [˥˩]
a a a0 ˙ㄚ About this sound吧/ba tone 0 or 5
(toneless) 		mid [˧] after all tones but 4, where it is low [˩]
Note: Pinyin uses the same diacritics as IPA but with different values.

Notes

  1. ^ a b [ɕ, tɕ, tɕʰ] are always followed by [i] [j], [y], or [ɥ].
  2. ^ Also transcribed as ɻ in some literature.
  3. ^ a b ü (/y/) is spelled u after j, q, x in pinyin since /u/ cannot occur after them.
  4. ^ a b c wei, you/yu, wen/wên are spelled respectively ui, iu, un in Pinyin and Wade-Giles but are pronounced identically when they are preceded by a consonant.
  5. ^ The rhotic vowel also appears in erhua.
  6. ^ This sound is spelled ⟨o⟩ after ⟨k, k', h⟩ in Wade-Giles.
  7. ^ This sound is spelled ⟨o⟩ after ⟨b, p, m, f⟩ in Pinyin.
  8. ^ ㄨㄛ is spelled as ⟨o⟩, except for ⟨k, k', h, sh⟩ (as ⟨kuo, k'uo, huo, shuo⟩) in Wade-Giles.
  9. ^ This symbol is rarely used and usually omitted during writing.
  10. ^ Voiced continuants (also transcribed [ɨ, ɯ] or [ʐ̩, z̩]) reflecting the character of the preceding consonant[clarification needed]

References

  • Duanmu, San (2007). The Phonology of Standard Chinese (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Lee, Wai-Sum; Zee, Eric (2003). "Standard Chinese (Beijing)" (PDF). Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 33 (1): 109–112. doi:10.1017/S0025100303001208.
  • Lin, Yen-Hwei (2007). The Sounds of Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

External links

International Phonetic Alphabet keys
Categories