ChinesephoneticsCertifiedMandarinChineseTeacherOnline.docVIP

Pin Yin phonetics, spelling sound a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z ü 21 initials/initial sounds: b p m f d t n l g k h j q x zh ch sh r z c s y w 35 finals/final sounds: a e i o u ü—6 simple finals standard vowels ai ao ei ia iao ie iou ou ua uai 黣 uei uo 13 compound finals an en ian in uan 黙n uen un 8 front nasals ang eng iang ing iong ong uang ueng 8 back nasals Chinese syllables: Type 1: 3 elements: initial, final and tone Type 2: 2 elements: final and tone Additional syllables in Mandarin Special cases: er— important Interjections: hm, hng, ng—just ignore as they are rarely used. Without tones about 413/411 syllables With tones about 1600 unique syllables silent tones are not included Spelling rules of a syllable 一1 vowels in “i” line of Vowel form should begin with “y” in zero initial consonant of a syllable A If there are other vowels after “i” change “i” into “y” Example: ia→ya ie→ye ia ie iao iou ian iang iong B If there are no other vowels after “i” add “y” in front of “ i ” Example: i→yi i in ing 2 Vowels in “u” line of Vowel Form should begin with “W” in zero initial consonant of a syllable A If there are other vowels after u， change “u” into “w” Example: ua→wa ua uo uai uei uan uen uang ueng B If there are no other vowels after “u” add “w” →”wu” to make it become a syllable 3 Vowels in “ü” line of Vowel Form should also begin with “y” in zero initial consonant. Example: üe→yue üe ün üan 二 Usage of sound insulation symbol When syllables beginning with “a, o, e” are linked after other syllables, sound insulation symbol “ ’ ” should be used if the dividing line of syllables are confused. Example: xi’an 西安 —the name of a city in china 三 Ellipsis 1 iou× iu√ uei× ui√ uen× un√ × means never exist in syllables 2 Two points above “ü” are usually omitted when “u” is combined with initial consonants except for “l” and “n”. 四 Marking Tones