Help:IPA/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 {{}}, 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 sheep, but more y-like
f f ㄈ fan
j y-/-i- ㄧ yes
k g k ㄍ skin
kʰ k k' ㄎ kin
l l ㄌ leaf
m m ㄇ moon
n n ㄋ，ㄣ，ㄢ noon
ŋ -ng ㄥ，ㄤ song
p b p ㄅ span
pʰ p p' ㄆ pan
ʐ r- j ㄖ pleasure, but with tongue curled or pulled back
s s ㄙ same
ʂ sh ㄕ show, but without lip rounding and with tongue curled or pulled back
t d t ㄉ stop
tʰ t t' ㄊ top
tɕ j ch ㄐ cheap, but more y-like (without lip rounding)
tɕʰ q ch' ㄑ Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
ts z ts ㄗ outset
tsʰ c ts' ㄘ let's help
ʈʂ zh ch ㄓ cheer, but without lip rounding and with tongue curled or pulled back
ʈʂʰ ch ch' ㄔ Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
w w-/-u- ㄨ water
x h ㄏ loch (Scottish English)
ɥ yu-/-ü- yü-/-ü- ㄩ 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）
ɛ yan/-ian yen/-ien ㄧㄢ 言 set
yuan/-üan ㄩㄢ 元
e ye/-ie, yue/-üe eh ㄝ 也，月 hey
ə en, eng ên, êng ㄣ，ㄥ 本，冷 atop
ɚ er êrh ㄦ 二，兒（儿） fern
ɤ e ê / o ㄜ 厄 between boot and but
i yi/-i ㄧ 李 city
o wo/-uo/-ou o ㄛ 果，狗 go, but without lip rounding
ɻ̩ zhi, chi, shi, ri ih ㄭ 之，吃，師（师），日 Below, but with tongue curled or pulled back
ɹ̩ zi, ci, si ŭ 子，次，私 roses, cousin
u wu/-u ㄨ 土 cool
ʊ -ong -ung ㄨㄥ，ㄩㄥ 冬，用 book
y yu/-ü yü/-ü ㄩ 雨 beet, but with the lips rounded as for boot
Diphthongs
aɪ ai ㄞ 艾 time
aʊ ao ㄠ 凹 somewhat like out
eɪ ei ㄟ 杯 face
oʊ ou ㄡ 歐（欧） show
Tones
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese example Tone number Description
á ā a1 ㄚ tone 1 high level [˥]
ǎ á a2 ㄚˊ tone 2 mid rising [˧˥]
à ǎ a3 ㄚˇ tone 3 medially, low [˩]; initially, mid falling [˧˩]; finally, low rising [˩˧]; in isolation, dipping [˧˩˧]
â à a4 ㄚˋ tone 4 high falling [˥˩]
a a a0 ˙ㄚ 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.
  1. [ɕ, tɕ, tɕʰ] are always followed by [i] [j], [y], or [ɥ].
  2. Also transcribed as ɻ in some literature.
  3. ü (/y/) is spelled u after j, q, x in pinyin since /u/ cannot occur after them.
  4. 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.
  5. The rhotic vowel also appears in erhua.
  6. This sound is spelled ⟨o⟩ after ⟨k, k', h⟩ in Wade-Giles.
  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

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.

See also

  • Category:Pages with Mandarin IPA (190)

External links