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Help:IPA/Mandarin

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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 //xiǎo sheep,[a] but more y-like
f f /fēi fan
j y-/-i- /yá yes
k g k /gān skin
k k' /kǒu kin
l l //lái leaf
m m /míng moon
n n ㄋ,ㄣ,ㄢ /ní noon
ŋ -ng ㄥ,ㄤ /jiāng song
p b p //bāng span
p p' /páng pan
ʐ[b] r- j /rì pleasure, but with tongue curled or pulled back
s s /sī same
ʂ sh /shǐ show, but without lip rounding and with tongue curled or pulled back
t d t /duān stop
t t' /tòu top
j ch /jiào cheap,[a] but more y-like (without lip rounding)
tɕʰ q ch' /qù Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
ts z ts /zǐ outset
tsʰ c ts' /cǐ let's help
ʈʂ zh ch 之/zhī cheer, but without lip rounding and with tongue curled or pulled back
ʈʂʰ ch ch' 吃/chī Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
w w-/-u- /wǒ water
x h /huǒ loch (Scottish English)
ɥ yu-/-ü-[c] yü-/-ü- /yuè between wet and yet
Vowels
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese example English approximation
a a ㄚ,ㄢ 阿,安 cat
er êrh 二,兒(儿)
ɑ yang/-iang father
ɛ yan/-ian yen/-ien ㄧㄢ set
yuan/-üan ㄩㄢ
e ye/-ie, yue/-üe eh 也,月 hey
ə en,[d] eng ên, êng ㄣ,ㄥ 本,冷 atop
ɚ er êrh 二,兒(儿) furry[e]
ɤ e ê / o[f] between bush and but
i yi/-i city
o wo/-uo[g]/-ou o[h] story
ɻ̩ zhi, chi, shi, ri ih [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 cool
ʊ -ong -ung ㄨㄥ,ㄩㄥ 冬,用 book
y yu/-ü[c] yü/-ü beet, but with the lips rounded as for boot
Diphthongs
ai time
ao cow
ei[d] face
ou[d] 歐(欧) goal
Tones
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese example Tone number Description
á ā a1 巴/bā tone 1 high level [˥]
ǎ á a2 ㄚˊ /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

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  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

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  • 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

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