Wikipedia key to pronunciation of Mandarin
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.
Vowels
IPA
Pinyin
Wade–Giles
Bopomofo
Chinese example
English approximation
a
a
ㄚ,ㄢ
阿,安
ca t
e r
ê rh
ㄦ
二,兒(儿)
ɑ
ya ng/-ia ng
ㄤ
阳
ca r
ɛ
ya n/-ia n
ye n/-ie n
ㄧㄢ
言
se t
yua n/-üa n
ㄩㄢ
元
e
ye /-ie , yue /-üe
eh
ㄝ
也,月
he y
ə
e n,[ d] e ng
ê n, ê ng
ㄣ,ㄥ
本,冷
a top
ɚ
er
êrh
ㄦ
二,兒(儿)
fer n[ e]
ɤ
e
ê / o[ f]
ㄜ
厄
between boo t and bu t
i
yi/-i
ㄧ
李
city
o
wo /-uo [ g] /-o u
o[ h]
ㄛ
果 ,狗
go , but without lip rounding
ɻ̩
zhi , chi , shi , ri
ih
ㄭ [ i]
之,吃,師(师),日
Below, but with tongue curled or pulled back [ j]
ɹ̩
zi , ci , si
ŭ
子,次,私
rose s, cousi n
u
wu/-u
ㄨ
土
coo l
ʊ
-o ng
-u ng
ㄨㄥ,ㄩㄥ
冬,用
boo k
y
yu/-ü[ c]
yü/-ü
ㄩ
雨
bee t, but with the lips rounded as for boo t
Diphthongs
aɪ
ai
ㄞ
艾
ti me
aʊ
ao
ㄠ
凹
cow
eɪ
ei[ d]
ㄟ
杯
fa ce
oʊ
ou[ d]
ㄡ
歐(欧)
show
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 /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.
^ a b [ɕ, tɕ, tɕʰ] are always followed by [i] [j] , [y] , or [ɥ] .
^ Also transcribed as ɻ in some literature.
^ a b ü (/y / ) is spelled u after j, q, x in pinyin since /u / cannot occur after them.
^ a b c 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.
^ 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[clarification needed ]
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.
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