Help:IPA/Mandarin

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Short description: Wikipedia key to pronunciation

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-cmn}}, {{IPAc-cmn}} 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
f f ㄈ 非 fan
j y-/-i- ㄧ 牙 yes
k g k ㄍ 干 skin
kʰ k k' ㄎ 口 kin
l l ㄌ 來(来) leaf
m m ㄇ 明 moon
n n ㄋ,ㄣ,ㄢ 泥 noon
ŋ -ng ㄥ,ㄤ 江 song
p b p ㄅ 幫(帮) span
pʰ p p' ㄆ 滂 pan
ɻ[lower-alpha 1] r- j ㄖ 日 row, but with tongue curled or pulled back
s s ㄙ 私 same
ʂ sh ㄕ 矢 show, but with tongue curled or pulled back
t d t ㄉ 端 stop
tʰ t t' ㄊ 透 top
ts z ts ㄗ 子 Greek τσ, as in τσάι
tsʰ c ts' ㄘ 此 cats
tɕ j ch ㄐ 叫 [lower-alpha 2]cheap[lower-alpha 2], but more like a y-like sound
tɕʰ q ch' ㄑ 去 Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
ɕ x hs ㄒ 曉(晓) sheep[lower-alpha 2], but more like a y-like sound
ʈʂ zh ch ㄓ 之 cheer, but with tongue curled or pulled back
ʈʂʰ ch ch' ㄔ 吃 Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
w w-/-u- ㄨ 我 water
x h ㄏ 火 loch (Scottish English)
ɥ yu-/-ü-[lower-alpha 3] yü-/-ü- ㄩ 月 between wet and yet
Vowels
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese Example English approximation
a a ㄚ,ㄢ,ㄤ 阿,安,盎 car
er êrh ㄦ 二,兒(儿)
ɤ e ê / o[lower-alpha 4] ㄜ 厄 between boot and but
ɛ~æ yan/-ian yen/-ien ㄧㄢ 言 set or sat
yuan/-üan ㄩㄢ 元
e ye/-ie, yue/-üe eh ㄝ 也,月 hey
ə en,[lower-alpha 5] eng ên, êng ㄣ,ㄥ 本,冷 atop
ɚ er êrh ㄦ 二,兒(儿) fern [lower-alpha 6]
i yi/-i ㄧ 李 city
o wo/-uo[lower-alpha 7] o[lower-alpha 8] ㄛ 末 boy
ɻ̩ zhi, chi, shi, ri ih ㄭ[lower-alpha 9] 之,吃,師(师),日 Below, but retroflex.[lower-alpha 10]
ɹ̩ zi, ci, si ŭ 子,次,私 thousand, 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 beet, but with the lips rounded as for boot.
Diphthongs
ai ai ㄞ 艾 time
au ao ㄠ 凹 somewhat like out
ei ei[lower-alpha 5] ㄟ 杯 face
ou ou[lower-alpha 5] ㄡ 歐(欧) show
Tones
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese Example Tone number Description
á ā a1 ㄚ 巴 tone 1 high level [˥]
ǎ á a2 ㄚˊ 拔 tone 2 mid rising [˧˥]
à ǎ a3 ㄚˇ 把 tone 3 medially, low [˩]; initially, mid falling [˧˩]; finally, low rising [˩˧]; in isolation, dipping [˧˩˧]
â à a4 ㄚˋ 爸 tone 4 high falling [˥˩]
a a a0 ˙ㄚ 吧 tone 0 or 5
(toneless)
mid [˧] after all tones but 4, where it is low [˩]
Note: Pinyin uses the same diacritics as IPA but with different values.

Notes

  1. ↑ Also transcribed as ʐ in older literature.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 [ɕ, tɕ, tɕʰ] are always followed by [i], [j], [y], or [ɥ].
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 ü (/y/) is spelled u after j, q, x in pinyin since /u/ cannot occur after them.
  4. ↑ This sound is spelled ⟨o⟩ after ⟨k, k', h⟩ in Wade-Giles.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 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.
  6. ↑ The rhotic vowel also appears in erhua.
  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