Beang:Za̱FBS/Mandarin

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Mandarin on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Mandarin in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.

Mat a̱son tyai kwak a̱son tazwa nyian ta̱m ma̱ng a̱yaalama Za̱FBS ba, nwuan Beang:Za̱FBS a li. Mat vwuon hu tsi̱tsak [ ], / / ma̱ng ⟨ ⟩, nwuan Za̱FBS § Nkyangtakgak zwúnzwuo-a̱ta ma̱ng bwan-lyuut.

Shortcut

H:IPA-CMN

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	ㄒ	晓/曉/xiǎo	sheep,^{[lower-alpha 1]} but more y-like (without lip rounding)
f	f		ㄈ	非/fēi	fan
j	y-/-i-		ㄧ	牙/yá	yes
k	g	k	ㄍ	干/gān	skin
kʰ	k	k'	ㄎ	口/kǒu	kin
l	l		ㄌ	来/來/lái	leaf
m	m		ㄇ	明/míng	moon
n	n		ㄋ，ㄣ，ㄢ	泥/ní	noon
ŋ	-ng		ㄥ，ㄤ	江/jiāng	song
p	b	p	ㄅ	帮/幫/bāng	span
pʰ	p	p'	ㄆ	滂/páng	pan
ʐ^{[lower-alpha 2]}	r-	j	ㄖ	日/rì	pleasure, but with tongue curled or pulled back
s	s		ㄙ	私/sī	same
ʂ	sh		ㄕ	矢/shǐ	show, but without lip rounding and with tongue curled or pulled back
t	d	t	ㄉ	端/duān	stop
tʰ	t	t'	ㄊ	透/tòu	top
tɕ	j	ch	ㄐ	叫/jiào	cheap,^{[lower-alpha 1]} but more y-like (without lip rounding)
tɕʰ	q	ch'	ㄑ	去/qù	Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
ts	z	ts	ㄗ	子/zǐ	outset
tsʰ	c	ts'	ㄘ	此/cǐ	let's help
ʈʂ	zh	ch	ㄓ	之/zhī	Below, but unaspirated
ʈʂʰ	ch	ch'	ㄔ	吃/chī	cheer, but without lip rounding and with tongue curled or pulled back, with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
w	w-/-u-		ㄨ	我/wǒ	water
x	h		ㄏ	火/huǒ	loch (Scottish English)
ɥ	yu-/-ü-^{[lower-alpha 3]}	yü-/-ü-	ㄩ	月/yuè	between wet and yet

Vowels
IPA	Pinyin	Wade–Giles	Bopomofo	Chinese example	English approximation
a	a		ㄚ，ㄢ	阿，安	plastic (UK Received Pronunciation)
a	er	êrh	ㄦ	二，兒（儿）	plastic (UK Received Pronunciation)
ɑ	yang/-iang		ㄤ	亮	farther
ɛ	yan/-ian	yen/-ien	ㄧㄢ	言	set
ɛ	yuan/-üan		ㄩㄢ	元	set
e	ye/-ie, yue/-üe	eh	ㄝ	也，月	hey
ə	en,^{[lower-alpha 4]} eng	ên, êng	ㄣ，ㄥ	本，冷	atop
ɚ	er	êrh	ㄦ	二，兒（儿）	furry^{[lower-alpha 5]}
ɤ	e	ê / o^{[lower-alpha 6]}	ㄜ	厄，餓	between bush and but
o	wo/-uo^{[lower-alpha 7]}	o^{[lower-alpha 8]}	ㄛ	果，我	story
i	yi/-i		ㄧ	李	city
ɻ̩	zhi, chi, shi, ri	ih	ㄭ^{[lower-alpha 9]}	之，吃，師（师），日	Below, but with tongue curled or pulled back^{[lower-alpha 10]}
ɹ̩	zi, ci, si	ŭ	ㄭ^{[lower-alpha 9]}	子，次，私	roses, cousin
u	wu/-u		ㄨ	土	cool
ʊ	-ong	-ung	ㄨㄥ，ㄩㄥ	冬，用	book
y	yu/-ü^{[lower-alpha 3]}	yü/-ü	ㄩ	雨	refute, beet, but with the lips rounded as for boot
Diphthongs
aɪ	ai		ㄞ	艾	time
aʊ	ao		ㄠ	凹	cow
eɪ	ei^{[lower-alpha 4]}		ㄟ	杯	face
oʊ	ou^{[lower-alpha 4]}		ㄡ	又，狗，歐（欧）	goal or go (modern UK), realized with or without backing

Tones
IPA	Pinyin	Wade–Giles	Bopomofo	Chinese example	Tone number	Description
á	ā	a¹	ㄚ	巴/bā	tone 1	high level [˥]
ǎ	á	a²	ㄚˊ	拔/拔/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

1 2 [ɕ, tɕ, tɕʰ] are always followed by [i] [j], [y], or [ɥ].
↑ Also transcribed as ɻ in some literature.
1 2 ü (/y/) is spelled u after j, q, x in pinyin since /u/ cannot occur after them.
1 2 3 In Pinyin/Wade-Giles wei, you/yu, wen/wên are spelled ui, iu, un respectively when they are preceded by a consonant. It doesn't affect the pronunciation.
↑ The rhotic vowel also appears in erhua.
↑ This sound is spelled ⟨o⟩ after ⟨k, k', h⟩ in Wade-Giles.
↑ This sound is spelled ⟨o⟩ after ⟨b, p, m, f⟩ in Pinyin.
↑ ㄨㄛ is spelled as ⟨o⟩, except for ⟨k, k', h, sh⟩ (as ⟨kuo, k'uo, huo, shuo⟩) in Wade-Giles.
↑ This symbol is rarely used and usually omitted during writing.
↑ Voiced continuants (also transcribed [ɨ, ɯ] or [ʐ̩, z̩]) reflecting the character of the preceding consonant^{[ku na myim á̱ wa̱i ansham]}

References

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.

External links

Chinese Phonetic Transcription Converter—Free Online Tool to convert Chinese Text to Pinyin and International Phonetic Transcription

[palatal-1] 1 2 [ɕ, tɕ, tɕʰ] are always followed by [i] [j], [y], or [ɥ].

[r_sym-2] Also transcribed as ɻ in some literature.

[v-3] 1 2 ü (/y/) is spelled u after j, q, x in pinyin since /u/ cannot occur after them.

[short_form-4] 1 2 3 In Pinyin/Wade-Giles wei, you/yu, wen/wên are spelled ui, iu, un respectively when they are preceded by a consonant. It doesn't affect the pronunciation.

[5] The rhotic vowel also appears in erhua.

[eo-6] This sound is spelled ⟨o⟩ after ⟨k, k', h⟩ in Wade-Giles.

[py-o-7] This sound is spelled ⟨o⟩ after ⟨b, p, m, f⟩ in Pinyin.

[wg-o-8] ㄨㄛ is spelled as ⟨o⟩, except for ⟨k, k', h, sh⟩ (as ⟨kuo, k'uo, huo, shuo⟩) in Wade-Giles.

[rare_sym-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^{[ku na myim á̱ wa̱i ansham]}

[lower-alpha 1]

[lower-alpha 2]

[lower-alpha 3]

[lower-alpha 4]

[lower-alpha 5]

[lower-alpha 6]

[lower-alpha 7]

[lower-alpha 8]

[lower-alpha 9]

[lower-alpha 10]

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See also

Notes

References

External links