Wikipedia:IPA for Mandarin

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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Mandarin Chinese pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.

See Mandarin phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Mandarin. Please note that English equivalents given in this page may only represent very approximate sounds to the original pronunciations.

Consonants
IPA Pinyin Bopomofo English approximation
ɕ x ㄒ she
f f ㄈ fan
j y-, -i- ㄧ you
k g ㄍ scan
kʰ k ㄎ can
l l ㄌ leaf
m m ㄇ moon
n n-, -n ㄋ, ㄣ noon
ŋ -ng ㄥ song
p b ㄅ span
pʰ p ㄆ pan
ɻ -r ㄦ aria (ends syllable)
s s ㄙ see
ʂ sh ㄕ sure
t d ㄉ stop
tʰ t ㄊ top
tɕ j ㄐ itchy
tɕʰ q ㄑ cheer
ts z ㄗ cats
tsʰ c ㄘ tsunami
tʂ zh ㄓ pitcher
tʂʰ ch ㄔ church
w w-, -u- ㄨ water
x h ㄏ house or loch
ɥ yu-, -ü-[1] ㄩ (simultaneous y and w)
ʐ r- ㄖ Zsa Zsa (starts syllable)
Vowels
IPA Pinyin Bopomofo English approximation
a a (a, an) ㄚ, ㄢ Somewhat like car
aɪ ai ㄞ time
ɑ a (ang), e (er) ㄤ, ㄦ car
ɑʊ ao ㄠ how
eɪ ei[2] ㄟ hey
ɛ e (ye), a (yan, yuan) ㄝ,ㄧㄢ , ㄩㄢ yes
œ e (yue) ㄩㄝ No English equivalent; Rounded [ɛ]
ə e (en[2], eng) ㄣ, ㄥ about
ɤ e ㄜ Somewhat like hood
i yi/-i (yi, yin, ying) ㄧ see
ɨ i (si, zi, ci, shi, zhi, chi, ri) (buzzing)[3] ㄭ
oʊ ou[2] ㄡ hoe
ɔ o (wo[4]) ㄛ war
u wu/-u ㄨ woo
ʊ o (ong) ㄨㄥ hood
y yu/-ü[1] (yu, yun) ㄩ Somewhat like cute
Nasal[5]
ɑ̃ ang (angr) No English equivalent; nasal [ɑ]
ə̃ eng (engr) No English equivalent; nasal [ə]
ʊ̃ ong (ongr) No English equivalent; nasal [ʊ]
IPA Pinyin Description
Tones
ǎ ɤ̌ á, é mid rising: ˧˥
â ɤ̂ à, è high falling: ˥˩
á ɤ́ ā, ē high: ˥
à, ɤ̀ ǎ, ě medially, low: ˩
initially, mid falling: ˧˩
finally, low rising: ˩˧
in isolation, dipping: ˧˩˧
a, ɤ a, e "toneless":
low after a falling tone [â];
mid after all other tones

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b ü ([y], [ɥ]) is spelled u after j, q, x as [u], [w] cannot occur after these consonants.
  2. ^ a b c wei, you, wen are spelled ui, iu, un respectively in pinyin, but pronounced identically, when preceded by a consonant.
  3. ^ Slightly "buzzing" vowels. In shi, zhi, chi, ri, the vowel is also retracted: [ɨ˞], rather like the ir in US English bird. These are sometimes transcribed as syllabic fricatives ([z̩], [ʐ̩]), but there is little frication.
  4. ^ uo is spelled o when preceded by b, p, m or f; however, it is pronounced similarly.
  5. ^ Only occurs in erhua and generally not considered part of the main vowel inventory.
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