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Help:IPA/Mandarin

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}}, Template:IPA 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 晓/曉/xiǎoⓘ sheep,[a] but more y-like
f f ㄈ 非/fēiⓘ fan
j y-/-i- ㄧ 牙/yáⓘ yes
k g k ㄍ 干/gānⓘ skin
kʰ k k' ㄎ 口/kǒuⓘ kin
l l ㄌ 来/來/láiⓘ leaf
m m ㄇ 明/míngⓘ moon
n n ㄋ，ㄣ，ㄢ 泥/níⓘ noon
ŋ -ng ㄥ，ㄤ 江/jiāngⓘ song
p b p ㄅ 帮/幫/bāngⓘ span
pʰ p p' ㄆ 滂/pángⓘ pan
ʐ[b] r- j ㄖ 日/rìⓘ pleasure, but with tongue curled or pulled back
s s ㄙ 私/sīⓘ same
ʂ sh ㄕ 矢/shǐⓘ show, but without lip rounding and with tongue curled or pulled back
t d t ㄉ 端/duānⓘ stop
tʰ t t' ㄊ 透/tòuⓘ top
tɕ j ch ㄐ 叫/jiàoⓘ cheap,[a] but more y-like (without lip rounding)
tɕʰ q ch' ㄑ 去/qùⓘ Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
ts z ts ㄗ 子/zǐⓘ outset
tsʰ c ts' ㄘ 此/cǐⓘ let's help
ʈʂ zh ch ㄓ 之/zhīⓘ cheer, but without lip rounding and with tongue curled or pulled back
ʈʂʰ ch ch' ㄔ 吃/chīⓘ Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
w w-/-u- ㄨ 我/wǒⓘ water
x h ㄏ 火/huǒⓘ loch (Scottish English)
ɥ yu-/-ü-[c] yü-/-ü- ㄩ 月/yuèⓘ between wet and yet
Vowels
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese example English approximation
a a ㄚ，ㄢ 阿，安 cat
er êrh ㄦ 二，兒（儿）
ɑ yang/-iang ㄤ 阳 father
ɛ yan/-ian yen/-ien ㄧㄢ 言 set
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） furry[e]
ɤ e ê / o[f] ㄜ 厄 between bush and but
i yi/-i ㄧ 李 city
o wo/-uo[g]/-ou o[h] ㄛ 果，狗 story
ɻ̩ zhi, chi, shi, ri ih ㄭ[i] 之，吃，師（师），日 Below, but with tongue curled or pulled back[j]
ɹ̩ zi, ci, si ŭ 子，次，私 roses, 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
aɪ ai ㄞ 艾 time
aʊ ao ㄠ 凹 cow
eɪ ei[d] ㄟ 杯 face
oʊ ou[d] ㄡ 歐（欧） goal
Tones
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese example Tone number Description
á ā a1 ㄚ 巴/bāⓘ tone 1 high level [˥]
ǎ á a2 ㄚˊ 拔/拔/báⓘ tone 2 mid rising [˧˥]
à ǎ a3 ㄚˇ 把/bǎⓘ tone 3 medially, low [˩]; initially, mid falling [˧˩]; finally, low rising [˩˧]; in isolation, dipping [˧˩˧]
â à a4 ㄚˋ 爸/bàⓘ tone 4 high falling [˥˩]
a a a0 ˙ㄚ 吧/baⓘ tone 0 or 5
(toneless) 		mid [˧] after all tones but 4, where it is low [˩]
Note: Pinyin uses three of 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 In Pinyin/Wade-Giles wei, you/yu, wen/wên are spelled ui, iu, un respectively when they are preceded by a consonant. It doesn't affect the pronunciation.
  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.

See also