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    I. Tones: LEVEL 0 - Pinyin: Chinese Phonetic Alphabets

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    YiFei
    This document provides an overview of pinyin and Chinese phonetic alphabets at the beginner level. It discusses tones and gives examples of how tone changes the meaning of words. It then details the pronunciation of individual consonants and vowels, providing English examples and notes on pronunciation. The document is intended to accompany audio lessons to help learners properly pronounce Mandarin Chinese.

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    I. Tones: LEVEL 0 - Pinyin: Chinese Phonetic Alphabets

    Uploaded by

    YiFei
    46 views4 pages
    This document provides an overview of pinyin and Chinese phonetic alphabets at the beginner level. It discusses tones and gives examples of how tone changes the meaning of words. It then details the pronunciation of individual consonants and vowels, providing English examples and notes on pronunciation. The document is intended to accompany audio lessons to help learners properly pronounce Mandarin Chinese.

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    level0_lesson_B

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    This document provides an overview of pinyin and Chinese phonetic alphabets at the beginner level. It discusses tones and gives examples of how tone changes the meaning of words. It then details the pronunciation of individual consonants and vowels, providing English examples and notes on pronunciation. The document is intended to accompany audio lessons to help learners properly pronounce Mandarin Chinese.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    46 views4 pages

    I. Tones: LEVEL 0 - Pinyin: Chinese Phonetic Alphabets

    Uploaded by

    YiFei
    This document provides an overview of pinyin and Chinese phonetic alphabets at the beginner level. It discusses tones and gives examples of how tone changes the meaning of words. It then details the pronunciation of individual consonants and vowels, providing English examples and notes on pronunciation. The document is intended to accompany audio lessons to help learners properly pronounce Mandarin Chinese.

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    ilovelearningchinese.

    com – Lesson Notes

    LEVEL 0 – Pinyin: Chinese Phonetic Alphabets

    I. Tones
    As Chinese is a tonal language, it's important try to correctly pronounce the
    tones, as an incorrect pronunciation of a tone can change the meaning of a
    word or confuse your listener.

    Hanzi Pinyin Pitch contour Meaning Just like you say...

    妈 mā high level "mother" ah...

    麻 má high rising "hemp" Huh??

    马 mǎ low falling-rising "horse" Really?

    骂 mà high falling "scold" Hey!

    吗 ma neutral question particle

    II. Consonants and Vowels

    Letter English words Example 1 Example 2 Notes

    b bay bā bǐ

    p pay péi pǐ

    m may mò mén

    f fair fā fèn

    d day duō dāng

    (tian and dian can be confused


    t take tā tiān
    when listening)
    n nine nǐ nà

    l lay lán lǎo

    g grey gāi gōng

    k kay kē kaò

    (often said with a rasp at the


    h hay hái Huáng Hé
    back of the throat)

    j jeep jiē jia1 (palatial)

    q cheer qián qiē

    x she xiān xièxie (palatial)

    zh junk zhaō zhěng (retro - devoiced)

    ch church chángcháng chéng (retro)

    sh shirt shì shū (retro)

    (retro) (can include a bit of the s


    r leisure rén ròu
    on leisure)

    z reads zaì zǎn (devoiced)

    c hats cǎo cí

    s say sān sòng

    y yea yǎn yéye

    w way wèn wǔ

    Vowels

    a father tā mǎ

    o poor mò pō Like “or” in poor.


    e British "her" zhè chē (in the back of the throat)

    i see tǐ qi1

    u rude lù zhu2

    Use the same tongue position as


    in pronouncing Chinese "i", then
    ü lǜ nǚ
    draw your lips in to form a
    perfect circle as small as possible

    er are èr ér

    ai eye hái baǐ

    ei eight méi geǐ

    ao now hǎo zaō

    ou oh doū zhoū

    an can sǎn wǎn

    en lend wén fen3

    ang Like ong in long wàng tāng

    eng like on in won't. zhèng céng

    like ong in ding-


    ong zhōng sòng
    dong

    ia Asia jiā xià

    ie yes jiē qiē

    iao yeowl qiǎo jiaō


    iu yoke jiù / jiǔ liú / xiū (varies with consonant)

    ian yen tiān diǎn

    (the j creates slightly more ee


    in in qīn jin4
    sound)

    (approximately - with the 'a' in


    iang e+yang liáng xiǎng
    papa)

    ing sing tīng bìng

    iong German Jünger xióng qióng rén

    ua guano huà zhuā

    uo wall guó cuò

    uai wife kuaì guaǐ

    uan one yuán zhuǎn

    un went cùn kǔn

    uang oo+ahng zhuàng guǎng

    This PDF is recommended to be used along with the MP3 audio lesson available at ilovelearningchinese.com. Feel free to share
    ilovelearningchinese Chinese lessons and PDF files with anybody who loves studying Chinese. If you have any questions or
    feedback, visit ilovelearningchinese.com and leave a message or email us at illc@ilovelearningchinese.com

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