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Do you have trouble pronouncing foreign names? The Chinese ones are the
hardest. They're always something hard with lots of Q's and X's in them. Fear
not. Here is a simple pronunciation guide for Mandarin Chinese, which is spoken
in Mainland China and in Taiwan.
Chances are, if you're trying to pronounce a name in Cantonese (the other major
dialect that is mainly used in Hong Kong), you won't have much trouble.
The type of phoenetic writing used here is called PinYin, or sometimes
HanYu PinYin. HanYu is the national language of China, which was
standardized in order to facilitate communication across the wide distances
that the country spanned. The government felt that a standardized language
would make it's job of centralized ruling much easier. While you'll still find
areas that speak other dialects, like Hokkien and Cantonese, the standard
language in China is HanYu.
PinYin is the most common form of anglicized Chinese writing. In the
past, there were a few others, like Yale. This explains differences between
spellings of common Chinese names, like Peking and Beijing.
"Beijing" is the pinyin spelling of the word. Like most Chinese
words, it is a composite, made up of bei (north) and jing
(capital).
Now on with the pronunciation guide.
There are only four sets of sounds that you need to learn.
- Vowels are pretty easy.
- Dipthongs follow from vowels.
- Normal consonants are just like English.
- Special consonants are what make you sound silly if you haven't read here.
Vowels
Vowel sounds are very similar to Spanish pronunciation
rules, using soft sounds.
|
Vowel
|
Sound
|
Chinese Word
|
Sound
|
Meaning
|
|
a
|
"ah"
|
ba ba
|
"bah bah"
|
father
|
|
e
|
"uh"
|
ge ge
|
"guh guh"
|
older brother
|
|
i
|
"ee"
|
di di
|
"dee dee"
|
younger brother
|
|
o
|
"oah"
|
wo
|
"woah"
|
me
|
|
u
|
"ooh"
|
bu
|
"boo"
|
no
|
Dipthongs
Dipthongs follow directly from normal vowel sounds.
They are just two or three vowel sounds all mashed together.
English-speakers have a tendency to say these backwards.
For example, qiu is pronounced "choo" and not "kwee".
Similarly, guo is "gwoah" and not "gow".
|
Dipthong
|
Sound
|
Chinese Word
|
Sound
|
Meaning
|
|
ai
|
"I"
|
tai tai
|
"tie-tie"
|
wife
|
|
ao
|
"ow"
|
hao
|
"how"
|
good
|
|
ei
|
"A"
|
mei mei
|
"may-may"
|
younger sister
|
|
ou
|
"oh"
|
you
|
"yo"
|
to have
|
|
ia
|
"yah"
|
jia
|
"jyah"
|
home
|
|
iao
|
"yow"
|
jiao
|
"jyow"
|
to teach
|
|
ie
|
"yay"
|
jie jie
|
"jyeh-jyeh"
|
older sister
|
|
iu
|
"you"
|
liu
|
"lyoo"
|
six
|
|
ua
|
"wa"
|
hua
|
"hwah"
|
flower
|
|
uo
|
"woah"
|
guo
|
"gwoah"
|
country
|
|
uai
|
"why"
|
kuai
|
"kwy"
|
quick
|
|
ui
|
"we"
|
shui
|
"shwee"
|
water
|
Normal Consonants
Normal consonants are pronounced just like they are in
English.
|
Consonant
|
Sound
|
Chinese Word
|
Sound
|
Meaning
|
|
b
|
"b"
|
ba ba
|
"bah-bah"
|
father
|
|
p
|
"p"
|
peng you
|
"pung-yo"
|
friend
|
|
m
|
"m"
|
ma ma
|
"mah-mah"
|
mother
|
|
f
|
"f"
|
fei ji
|
"fay-jee"
|
airplane
|
|
d
|
"d"
|
dian hua
|
"deean-hwa"
|
telephone
|
|
t
|
"t"
|
tian
|
"tyan"
|
day
|
|
n
|
"n"
|
ni
|
"nee"
|
you
|
|
l
|
"l"
|
liu
|
"lyoo"
|
six
|
|
s
|
"s"
|
san
|
"sahn"
|
three
|
|
ch
|
"ch"
|
cha
|
"chah"
|
tea
|
|
sh
|
"sh"
|
shu
|
"shoo"
|
book
|
|
r
|
"r"
|
ren
|
"ren"
|
man
|
|
j
|
"j"
|
jie jie
|
"jyeh-jyeh"
|
older sister
|
|
g
|
"g"
|
ge ge
|
"guh guh"
|
older brother
|
|
k
|
"k"
|
ka fei
|
"kah-fay"
|
coffee
|
|
h
|
"h"
|
hua
|
"hwah"
|
flower
|
Special Consonants
There are only five special consonant sounds, but they
are very common.
Mastering these five will make you sound like a pro!
|
Consonant
|
Sound
|
Chinese Word
|
Sound
|
Meaning
|
|
c
|
"ts"
|
cuo
|
"tswoah"
|
mistake
|
|
q
|
"ch"
|
qiu
|
"choo"
|
autumn
|
|
x
|
"sh"
|
xin
|
"shin"
|
new
|
|
z
|
"dz"
|
zao
|
"dzow"
|
early, morning
|
|
zh
|
"j"
|
zhong
|
"jong"
|
middle
|
| 