Language/Mandarin-chinese/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation-Pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin is the phonetic system of Mandarin Chinese. It consists of Roman alphabet. It is a great tool for helping you learn how to properly pronounce Mandarin Chinese. It is also good for inputting Chinese characters on your computer or smartphone.

Like English phonetic symbols, Pinyin also uses the modern alphabet to build its system. However, you need to learn how to read Pinyin, as the pronunciation of Pinyin differs from English. Furthermore, Mandarin also contains some sounds that do NOT exist in English phonetic symbols. 

Pronunciation

Pinyin	IPA	English Approximant
b	[p]	unaspirated p, as in spark
p	[pʰ]	strongly aspirated p, as in pit
m	[m]	as in English mummy
f	[f]	as in English fun
d	[t]	unaspirated t, as in stop
t	[tʰ]	strongly aspirated t, as in top
n	[n]	as in English nit
l	[l]	as in English love
g	[k]	unaspirated k, as in skill
k	[kʰ]	strongly aspirated k, as in kill
h	[x], [h]	Varies between hat and Scottish loch.
j	[tɕ]	Alveo-palatal. No equivalent in English, but similar to an unaspirated "-chy-" sound when said quickly. Like q, but unaspirated. Is similar to the English name of the letter G, but curl the tip of the tongue downwards to stick it at the back of the teeth.
q	[tɕʰ]	Alveo-palatal. No equivalent in English. Like punch yourself, with the lips spread wide as when one says ee. Curl the tip of the tongue downwards to stick it at the back of the teeth and strongly aspirate.
x	[ɕ]	Alveo-palatal. No equivalent in English. Like -sh y-, with the lips spread as when one says ee and with the tip of the tongue curled downwards and stuck to the back of the teeth.
zh	[ʈʂ]	Unaspirated ch. Similar to hatching but retroflex, or marching in American English. Voiced in a toneless syllable.
ch	[ʈʂʰ]	Similar to chin, but retroflex.
sh	[ʂ]	Similar to shoe but retroflex, or marsh in American English.
r	[ɻ~ʐ]	No equivalent in English, but similar to a sound between r in reduce and s in measure but with the tongue curled upward against the top of the mouth (i.e. retroflex).
z	[ts]	unaspirated c, similar to something between suds but voiceless, unless in a toneless syllable.
c	[tsʰ]	like the English ts in cats, but strongly aspirated, very similar to the Czech, Polish, Esperanto, and Slovak c.
s	[s]	as in sun
w	[w]	as in water. Before an e or a it is sometimes pronounced like v as in violin.*
y	[j], [ɥ]	as in yes. Before a u, pronounced with rounded lips, as if pronouncing German ü.*

Tones

Tone	Tone Mark	Example using tone mark	Example using number	IPA
First	macron ( ◌̄ )	mā	ma1	ma˥
Second	acute accent ( ◌́ )	má	ma2	ma˧˥
Third	caron ( ◌̌ )	mǎ	ma3	ma˨˩˦
Fourth	grave accent ( ◌̀ )	mà	ma4	ma˥˩
"Neutral"	No mark or middle dot before syllable ( ·◌ )	ma ·ma	ma ma5 ma0	ma

Example: