The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Standard Chinese (also called Mandarin) pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. The representations of these sounds in the standard romanization (pinyin) are also shown.
See Standard Chinese phonology for more detail on the sounds of the language. Please note that English equivalents given in this page may only represent loose approximations to the original pronunciations.
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Vowels
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IPA |
Pinyin |
English approximation
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साँचा:square bracket openopen front unrounded vowel|a]]साँचा:yesno
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a (a, an)
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roughly like cat
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साँचा:square bracket openopen back unrounded vowel|ɑ]]साँचा:yesno
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a (ang), e (er)
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car
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साँचा:square bracket openopen-mid front unrounded vowel|ɛ]]साँचा:yesno
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e (ye), a (yan, yuan, ian)
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yes
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साँचा:square bracket openopen-mid front rounded vowel|œ]]साँचा:yesno
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e (yue)
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roughly like bird; German ö
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साँचा:square bracket openmid-central vowel|ə]]साँचा:yesno
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e (enसाँचा:efn)
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about
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साँचा:square bracket openclose-mid back unrounded vowel|ɤ]]साँचा:yesno
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e (eng)
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roughly like Am.eng. sir
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साँचा:square bracket openclose front unrounded vowel|i]]साँचा:yesno
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yi/-i (yi, yin, ying)
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see
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साँचा:square bracket openclose central unrounded vowel|ɨ]]साँचा:yesno
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i (si, zi, ci, shi, zhi, chi, ri)
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glassesसाँचा:efn
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साँचा:square bracket openopen-mid back rounded vowel|ɔ]]साँचा:yesno
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o (wo, bo, po, mo, fo)
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war
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साँचा:square bracket openclose back rounded vowel|u]]साँचा:yesno
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wu/-u
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shoe
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साँचा:square bracket opennear-close near-back vowel|ʊ]]साँचा:yesno
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o (ong)
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hook
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साँचा:square bracket openclose front rounded vowel|y]]साँचा:yesno
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yu/-üसाँचा:efn (yu, yun)
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somewhat like few; French tu
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Diphthongs
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aɪ
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ai
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bye
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ɑʊ
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ao
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now
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eɪ
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eiसाँचा:efn
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day
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oʊ
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ouसाँचा:efn
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no
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Nasal vowelsसाँचा:efn
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ɑ̃
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ang (angr)
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roughly like croissant
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ə̃
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eng (engr)
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roughly like uh-huh
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ʊ̃
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ong (ongr)
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roughly like own
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IPA
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Pinyin
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Description
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Tones
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ǎ ɤ̌
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á, é
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mid rising: ˧˥
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â ɤ̂
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à, è
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high falling: ˥˩
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á ɤ́
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ā, ē
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high: ˥
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à, ɤ̀
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ǎ, ě
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medially, low: ˩ initially, mid falling: ˧˩ finally, low rising: ˩˧ in isolation, dipping: ˧˩˧
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a, ɤ
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a, e
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"toneless": low after the high falling tone ˥˩ and the high tone ˥ ; mid after all other tones
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Notes
साँचा:notelist
External links
साँचा:IPA keys horizontal