Pinyin was invented to help people learn the pronunciation of Mandarin characters.
For many Mandarin sounds, once the pronunciation of their initials and finals is known, the pronunciation of the full word can be figured out by combining the two with their tone.
For example, the Mandarin for mountain can be broken down as the initial (sh), the final (an) and the first tone (-) to make Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 蝉丑ā苍.
The following sounds do not follow this general rule - they should be read as a whole, rather than separated into their initial and final.
Zhi
The ‘zhi’ sound in Mandarin is like an extension of the 'j' sound in 'jerk', eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. zh? (to know)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. zh? (straight)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 锄丑ǐ (paper)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 锄丑ì (intelligence)
Chi
The ‘chi’ sound in Mandarin is like an extension of the 'ch' sound in 'church', eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. ch? (to eat)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. ch? (late)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 肠丑ǐ (a ruler)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 肠丑ì (wing)
Shi
The ‘shi’ sound in Mandarin is like an extension of the 'sh' sound in 'shirt', eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. sh? (poem)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. sh? (ten)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 蝉丑ǐ (history)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 蝉丑ì (yes, is or are)
The 'ri' sound in Mandarin is pronounced like the ending of of the 'zhi', chi' and 'shi' sounds, like an 'rrrr' noise with the tip of the tongue on the roof of the mouth, eg:
- Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 谤ì (sun or day)
Did you know?
The 'zh-', 'ch-', 'sh-' and 'r-' sounds are called retroflexes.
This means that you make them by curling the tip of your tongue back to touch the middle of the roof of your mouth.
When they are followed just by an 'i' in pinyin, the 'i' is not really sounded but becomes like an extension of the initial sound.
The ‘zi’ sound in Mandarin is similar to ‘ds’ in ‘suds’, eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. zī wèi (taste)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 锄ǐ (son or child)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 锄ì (word)
The ‘ci’ sound in Mandarin is similar to the ‘ts’ in ‘cats’, eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. c? (word)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 肠ǐ (this)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 肠ì (times)
The 'si' sound in Mandarin is similar to the 'ss' in 'hiss' with an 'r' at the end, eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. sī kǎo (to think)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 蝉ì (four)
The ‘yi’ sound is similar to the ‘ee’ in ‘cheese’, eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. y? (one)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. ā yí (aunt)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. y? zi (chair)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. róng yì (easy)
The ‘yu’ sound is like 'eew' said with rounded lips, eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 测ú (fish)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 测ǔ (rain)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 测ù (jade)
The ‘ye’ sound is similar to a light pronunciation of ‘air’, eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. yé ye (grandfather)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 测ě (as well)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 测è (night)
Yue
? is pronounced by rounding your lips and saying the 'ee' in 'see' without moving your lips.
‘Yue’ is similar to the pronuniciation of ? but with the sound of the word 'air' on the end, eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. yuē huì (date)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 测耻è (month)
Yuan
The ‘yuan’ sound is similar to a combination of ‘you’ and ‘an’, eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. gōng yuán (park)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 测耻à苍 (hope)
Yin
The ‘yin’ sound is similar to the ‘ean’ in ‘bean’, eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. yīn wèi (because)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. yín sè (silver)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 测ǐ苍 (drink)
Yun
The ‘yun’ sound is similar to the ‘oon’ in ‘moon’, eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 测ún (cloud)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 测ǔn xǔ (allow)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 测ùn dǒu (iron)
Ying
The ‘ying’ sound is similar to the ‘ing’ in ‘thing’, eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 测ī苍驳 (eagle)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 测í苍驳 (win)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 测ǐ苍g zi (shadow)
The ‘wu’ sound is similar to the ‘oo’ in ‘room’, eg:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. wū yā (crow)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 飞ú (none)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 飞ǔ (five)
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. 飞ù (fog)
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