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 {{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
f f ㄈ 非 fan
j y-/-i- ㄧ 牙 yes
k g k ㄍ 干 skin
kʰ k k' ㄎ 口 kin
l l ㄌ 來（来） leaf
m m ㄇ 明 moon
n n ㄋ，ㄣ，ㄢ 泥 noon
ŋ -ng ㄥ，ㄤ 江 song
p b p ㄅ 幫（帮） span
pʰ p p' ㄆ 滂 pan
ɻ[a] r- j ㄖ 日 row
s s ㄙ 私 same
ʂ sh ㄕ 矢 show
t d t ㄉ 端 stop
tʰ t t' ㄊ 透 top
ts z ts ㄗ 子 buds
tsʰ c ts' ㄘ 此 cats
tɕ j ch ㄐ 叫 somewhat like jean[b]
tɕʰ q ch' ㄑ 去 somewhat like cheese[b]
ɕ x hs ㄒ 曉（晓） somewhat like sheep[b]
ʈʂ zh ch ㄓ 之 jar
ʈʂʰ ch ch' ㄔ 吃 church
w w-/-u- ㄨ 我 water
x h ㄏ 火 horror
ɥ yu-/-ü-[c] yü-/-ü- ㄩ 月 no English equivalent; like French huit
Vowels
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese Example English approximation
a a ㄚ，ㄢ，ㄤ 阿，安，盎 car
er êrh ㄦ 二
ɤ e ê / o[d] ㄜ 厄 wood
ɛ yan/-ian yen/-ien ㄧㄢ 言 set
yuan/-üan ㄩㄢ 元
e ye/-ie, yue/-üe eh ㄝ 也，月 hey
ə en,[e] eng ên, êng ㄣ，ㄥ 本，冷 atop
ɚ er êrh ㄦ 二 far [f]
i yi/-i ㄧ 一 city
o wo/-uo[g] o[h] ㄛ 末 boy
ɻ̩ zhi, chi, shi, ri ih ㄭ[i] 之，吃，師（师），日 somewhat like sir[j]
ɹ̩ zi, ci, si û 子，次，私 no English equivalent
u wu/-u ㄨ 土 cool
ʊ -ong -ung ㄨㄥ，ㄩㄥ 冬，用 only
y yu/-ü[c] yü/-ü ㄩ 雨 no English equivalent; like French lune
Diphthongs
ai ai ㄞ 艾 time
au ao ㄠ 凹 somewhat like out
ei ei[e] ㄟ 杯 face
ou ou[e] ㄡ 歐（欧） show
Tones
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese Example Tone number Description
á ā a1 ㄚ 巴 tone 1 high level [˥]
ǎ á a2 ㄚˊ 拔 tone 2 mid rising [˧˥]
à ǎ a3 ㄚˇ 把 tone 3 medially, low [˩]; initially, mid falling [˧˩]; finally, low rising [˩˧]; in isolation, dipping [˧˩˧]
â à a4 ㄚˋ 爸 tone 4 high falling [˥˩]
a a a0 ˙ㄚ 吧 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. ^ Also transcribed as ʐ in older literature.
  2. ^ a b c [ɕ, tɕ, tɕʰ] are always followed by [i], [j], [y], or [ɥ].
  3. ^ a b ü (/y/) is spelled u after j, q, x in pinyin since /u/ cannot occur after them.
  4. ^ This sound is spelled ⟨o⟩ after ⟨k, k', h⟩ in Wade-Giles.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ The rhotic vowel also appears in erhua.
  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