Hui-Ju Chuang University of Hawaii-Manoa Chinese sound system Hui-Ju Chuang University of Hawaii-Manoa

Pronunciations of initials and finals Chinese tones Spelling rules Overview Pronunciations of initials and finals Chinese tones Spelling rules Numbers Hui-Ju Chuang

Syllabic structure One character one syllable σ σ σ σ σ σ initial final initial final initial final Ø a f a j iang e.g. 啊, 阿 e.g. 發, 伐 e.g. 江, 將 Hui-Ju Chuang

Finals There are six simple finals There are thirty complex finals a o e i u ü There are thirty complex finals ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong ia iao ie iu (iou) ian in iang ing iong ua uo uai ui (uei) uan un (uen) uang ueng üe üan ün er Hui-Ju Chuang

Initials There twenty-one initials b p m f d t n l Labial g k h j q x z c s zh ch sh r Labial Alveolars Velars Palatals Dental Sibilants Retroflexes Hui-Ju Chuang

Initials There twenty-one initials b p m f Labial d t n l Alveolars g k h Velars j q x Palatals z c s Dental Sibilants zh ch sh r Retroflexes Hui-Ju Chuang

Combination of initials and finals Not every initial can combine with every final There are only 413 combinations are used to represent thousands of Chinese characters Hui-Ju Chuang

Pronunciations of initials and finals e Hui-Ju Chuang

Finals i u ü Hui-Ju Chuang

Combination of finals ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong Hui-Ju Chuang

Initials mo fo bo po ne de te le Hui-Ju Chuang

Initials ge ke he ji qi xi Hui-Ju Chuang

Initials zi ci si Hui-Ju Chuang

Initials zhi chi shi ri Hui-Ju Chuang

Practice Initials and finals practice Pinyin song Hui-Ju Chuang

Practice gai kai mu fu zha cha Ji qi ba pa Zi ci nei lei Hui-Ju Chuang

Chinese Tones Four tones Neutral tone A neutral tone is pronounced briefly and softly, and the pitch value is determined by the stressed syllable e.g Māma ‘mother’-- when occurs after the first tone, the tone value is 2 Hui-Ju Chuang

Tone marks Four tones First tone (¯) Second tone (´) Third tone (ˇ) Fourth tone (ˋ) Neutral tone No tone marks on the neutral tone Hui-Ju Chuang

Continue… Tone basically marks on the main vowel of a syllable. Main vowel sequence: a  o  e  i  u  ü Exception: when i and u are combined into a syllable, the tone marks on the second vowel e.g iù , uì Hui-Ju Chuang

Practice tong 痛 Xian 先 ban 板 Jiu 就 nao 腦 chong 從 lei 累 tòng xiān bǎn nǎo chóng lèi Hui-Ju Chuang

Spelling rules 2. ü is written as yu without any initial 1. i and u will be written as y and w when they are in isolation 2. ü is written as yu without any initial 3. ü is written as u after j, q and x but remains the same after n and l 4. ueng is written as ong when preceded by an initial whereas change to weng in isolation Hui-Ju Chuang

Continue… iou, uei and uen are written as iu, ui, and un when preceded by an initial er is written as r when it is in final position Apostrophe is used when two syllables with connecting vowels, e.g nǚ‘ér(daughter) , xī’an (a city in China) Hui-Ju Chuang

Numbers 一 yī 二 èr 三 sān 四 sì 五 wǔ Hui-Ju Chuang

六 liù 七 qī 八 bā 九 jiǔ 十 shí Hui-Ju Chuang