Pinyin/Pronunciation

Contents

VowelsEdit

Pinyin	IPA
a	[a]
e	[ə]
ê	[ɛ]
i	[i]
-i (after zh,ch,sh,r)	[ʅ]
-i (after z,c,s)	[ɿ]
o	[o]
u	[u]
ü	[y]

• "u" after "j, q, x, y" is pronounced as "ü" (the two dots is omitted in spelling)
• "e" after "i, u, ü, y" is pronounced as "ê" (the hat "^" is omitted in spelling)
• "e" before "i" is pronounced as "ê" (the hat "^" is omitted in spelling)
• "o" before "ng" is pronounced as "u" ("u" is written as "o" in spelling)

ConsonantsEdit

b	p	m	f	w
d	t	n		l
g	k	ng	h
j	q		x	y
zh	ch		sh	r
z	c		s

Basic combinations of vowels and consonantsEdit

ai	ei	ao	ou
an	en	ang	eng	ong

• "ei" is pronounced as "êi" ("êi" is written as "ei" in spelling)
• "ong" is pronounced as "ung" ("ung" is written as "ong" in spelling)

Pronunciation of vowelsEdit

Pinyin	IPA	Explanation	Examples
a	[a]	as the vowel in "star" without the "r" sound	bàba (papa)
e	[ə]	as the vowel in "stir"	gēge (elder brother)
ê	[ɛ]	as the vowel in "their"	xièxie (thank)
i	[i]	as the vowel in "bit"	dìdi (younger brother)
-i (after zh,ch,sh,r)	[ʅ]	similar to the consonant "r" in "rank", but with the lips spread and with the tongue curled upwards	zhīchí (support)
-i (after z,c,s)	[ɿ]	similar to the consonant in "zoo"	zìsī (selfish)
o	[o]	as the vowel in "law"	lǎopo (wife)
u	[u]	as the vowel in "food"	mǔqin (mother)
ü	[y]	as in German "üben" or French "lune" (To get this sound, say "ee" with rounded lips)	lǚyóu (travel), yǔyán* (language)

• The two dots of ü is omitted after "j, q, x, y".

Pronunciation of consonantsEdit

Pinyin	IPA	Explanation	Examples
b	[b]	b, as in bit	Běijīng (capital of China)
p	[p]	as in English	piányi (cheap), piàoliang (beautiful)
m	[m]	as in English	miàntiáo (noodles)
f	[f]	as in English	fācái (get rich)
d	[d]	d, as in dark	dà (big)
t	[t]	as in English	tàipíng (peace)
n	[n]	as in English	nánrén (man)
l	[l]	as in English	lǎorén (old man)
g	[g]	g, as in gill, never as large	guójiā (country)
k	[k]	as in English	kèrén (guest)
h	[x]	like the English h if followed by "a"; otherwise it is pronounced more roughly (not unlike the Scots ch)	hāhā (sound of laughter), hēshuǐ (drink water)
j	[tɕ]	like q, but unaspirated. (To get this sound, first take the sound halfway between joke and check, and then slowly pass it backwards along the tongue until it is entirely clear of the tongue tip.) While this exact sound is not used in English, the closest match is the j in ajar, not the s in Asia; this means that "Beijing" is pronounced like "bay-jing", not like "beige-ing". You may simply pronounce it as zh and a Chinese may understand it.	jiàotáng (church), jiā (home or family)
q	[tɕʰ]	like church, but with less of the "ch"/"h" sound; pass it backwards along the tongue until it is free of the tongue tip	shēngqì (get angry)
x	[ɕ]	like sh, but with less of the "s" sound. Take the sound and pass it backwards along the tongue until it is clear of the tongue tip; very similar to the final sound in German ich, Portuguese enxada, luxo, xícara, puxa, and to huge or Hugh in some English dialects	xiǎohái (child), Xīzàng (Tibet)
zh	[tʂ]	ch with no aspiration (take the sound halfway between joke and church and curl it upwards); very similar to merger in American English, but not voiced	Zhōngguó (China), zháohuǒ (catch fire)
ch	[tʂʰ]	as in chin, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to nurture in American English, but strongly aspirated	chīfàn (have a meal), chǎojià (quarrel)
sh	[ʂ]	as in shinbone, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to undershirt in American English	shāmò (desert), Shànghǎi (city in China)
r	[ɻ]	similar to the English r in rank, but with the lips spread and with the tongue curled upwards	rè (hot), rèqíng (passion)
z	[ts]	unaspirated c (halfway between beds and bets), (more common example is suds)	zǎoshànghǎo (good morning!), qīzi (wife), Zhāng Zǐyí (name of a Chinese actress)
c	[tsʰ]	like ts, aspirated (more common example is cats)	cǎo (grass), cì, time
s	[s]	as in sun	Lhasa (capital of Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region), Suzhou (capital of the province of Jiansu, near Shanghai)
y	[j]	as in English	yuèliang (moon)
w	[w]	as in English	wàiguórén (foreigner)
ng	[ŋ]	as in English	fēngzi (lunatic), ńg (huh?)

Pinyin syllable tableEdit

	a	e	i	o	u/ü*		ai	ei	ao	ou		an	en	ang	eng	ong	n	ng
	a	e		o			ai	ei	ao	ou		an	en	ang			n	ng
b	ba		bi	bo	bu		bai	bei	bao			ban	ben	bang	beng
p	pa		pi	po	pu		pai	pei	pao	pou		pan	pen	pang	peng
m	ma	me	mi	mo	mu		mai	mei	mao	mou		man	men	mang	meng
f	fa			fo	fu			fei		fou		fan	fen	fang	feng
w	wa			wo	wu		wai	wei				wan	wen	wang	weng
d	da	de	di		du		dai	dei	dao	dou		dan	den	dang	deng	dong
t	ta	te	ti		tu		tai		tao	tou		tan		tang	teng	tong
n	na	ne	ni		nu/nü*		nai	nei	nao	nou		nan	nen	nang	neng	nong
l	la	le	li	lo	lu/lü*		lai	lei	lao	lou		lan		lang	leng	long
g	ga	ge			gu		gai	gei	gao	gou		gan	gen	gang	geng	gong
k	ka	ke			ku		kai	kei	kao	kou		kan	ken	kang	keng	kong
h	ha	he			hu		hai	hei	hao	hou		han	hen	hang	heng	hong		hng
j			ji		ju*
q			qi		qu*
x			xi		xu*
y	ya	ye	yi	yo	yu*				yao	you		yan		yang		yong
zh	zha	zhe	zhi		zhu		zhai	zhei	zhao	zhou		zhan	zhen	zhang	zheng	zhong
ch	cha	che	chi		chu		chai		chao	chou		chan	chen	chang	cheng	chong
sh	sha	she	shi		shu		shai	shei	shao	shou		shan	shen	shang	sheng
r		re	ri		ru				rao	rou		ran	ren	rang	reng	rong
z	za	ze	zi		zu		zai	zei	zao	zou		zan	zen	zang	zeng	zong
c	ca	ce	ci		cu		cai	cei	cao	cou		can	cen	cang	ceng	cong
s	sa	se	si		su		sai		sao	sou		san	sen	sang	seng	song
bi		bie							biao			bian					bin	bing
pi		pie							piao			pian					pin	ping
mi		mie			miu				miao			mian					min	ming
di		die			diu				diao			dian						ding
ti		tie							tiao			tian						ting
ni		nie			niu				niao			nian		niang			nin	ning
li	lia	lie			liu				liao			lian		liang			lin	ling
ji	jia	jie			jiu				jiao			jian		jiang		jiong	jin	jing
qi	qia	qie			qiu				qiao			qian		qiang		qiong	qin	qing
xi	xia	xie			xiu				xiao			xian		xiang		xiong	xin	xing
yi																	yin	ying
du			dui	duo								duan					dun
tu			tui	tuo								tuan					tun
nu		nue		nuo								nuan
lu		lue		luo								luan					lun
gu	gua		gui	guo			guai					guan		guang			gun
ku	kua		kui	kuo			kuai					kuan		kuang			kun
hu	hua		hui	huo			huai					huan		huang			hun
ju*		jue										juan					jun
qu*		que										quan					qun
xu*		xue										xuan					xun
yu*		yue										yuan					yun
zhu	zhua		zhui	zhuo			zhuai					zhuan		zhuang			zhun
chu	chua		zhui	chuo			chuai					chuan		chuang			chun
shu	shua		shui	shuo			shuai					shuan		shuang			shun
ru			rui	ruo								ruan					run
zu			zui	zuo								zuan					zun
cu			cui	cuo								cuan					cun
su			sui	suo								suan					sun

• "u" after "j, q, x, y" is pronounced as "ü" (the two dots is omitted in spelling), but the two dots of "nü" and "lü" cannot be omitted.

TonesEdit

There are four tone marks in Hanyu Pinyin and they are essential to correct pronunciation: ā, á, ǎ, à, written above the first vowel of the word (the vowel "a" in this example). (See also the Chinese wikibook page on using tones).

Unstressed syllables may also have "zero tone" which is unmarked, for example yuèliang (moon). Alternative methods are used when diacritics are not convenient.