The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Standard Chinese (also called Mandarin) pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. Representations of the sounds in the standard romanization, pinyin , are also shown. See Standard Chinese phonology for more detail on the sounds of the language.
Note that English equivalents given in this page may represent only loose approximations to the original pronunciations.
Consonants
IPA
Pinyin
English approximation
p
b
sp an
pʰ
p
p an
m
m
m oon
f
f
f an
t
d
st and
tʰ
t
t an
n
n
n oon
l
l
l eaf
k
g
sc an
kʰ
k
c up
x
h
loch (Scottish English), often weakened to /h/ , as in English h it
tɕ
j
like edg y, pronounced further forward toward the teeth (always followed by /i/ or /y/ )
tɕʰ
q
like ch eat, pronounced more forward, toward the teeth (always followed by /i/ or /y/ )
ɕ
x
like sh e, pronounced more forward, toward the teeth (always followed by /i/ or /y/ )
ʈʂ
zh
like j aw, with a flat tongue (retroflex pronunciation )
ʈʂʰ
ch
like ch urch, with a flat tongue (retroflex pronunciation )
ʂ
sh
like sh ow, with a flat tongue (retroflex pronunciation )
ɻ
r-
like r ed, with a flat tongue (retroflex pronunciation )
ts
z
roughly like seats
tsʰ
c
ts unami (with t pronounced)
s
s
s ee
ŋ
-ng
song
Vowels
IPA
Pinyin
English approximation
a
a , a i, a o, a n, a ng, e r
fa ther
ɛ
ya n/-ia n, yua n/-üa n
ye s
e
ye /-ie , yue /-üe , e i[a]
roughly like da y
ə
e n,[a] e ng[b]
a bout
ɤ
e
roughly like American sir
i
yi /-i , yi n/-i n
see
ɨ
si , zi , ci , shi , zhi , chi , ri
roughly like glasse s[c]
o
o , o u[a]
roughly like sho w
u
wu /-u
shoe
ʊ
o ng
hoo k
y
yu /-ü ,[d] yu n/-ü n
French tu ; German ü
Semivowels
i̯
y-, -i-, -i
y ou, boy
u̯
w-, -u-, -u[e]
w ater, show
y̯
yu-, -ü-[d]
(simultaneous y and w ); French nu it
Rhotic vowel
ɚ
-r
air (American English)
Tones
IPA
Pinyin
Description
Careful!
Pinyin has the same diacritics but with different values. [1]
á
ā
tone 1: high: ˥
ǎ
á
tone 2: mid rising: ˧˥
à
ǎ
tone 3: medially, low: ˩
initially, mid falling: ˧˩
finally, low rising: ˩˧
in isolation, dipping: ˧˩˧
â
à
tone 4: high falling: ˥˩
a
a
"toneless":
low after the high falling tone ˥˩ ;
mid after other tones
Quality of open vowel
The key does not represent the full range of allophones of [a] which can be fronted or backed depending on coda but is not reflected here for simplicity.
Notes
^ a b c wei, you, wen are spelled respectively ui, iu, un in pinyin but are pronounced identically when they are preceded by a consonant.
^ While the rime yi ng/-i ng is spelled with an i, it is actually pronounced [jəŋ]
^ Syllabic approximants [ɹ̩, ɻ̩] reflecting the character of the preceding consonant
^ a b ü ([y, ɥ] ) is spelled u after j, q, x since [u, w] cannot occur after them.
^ -u after a is spelled ao in pinyin.
External links
^ However, Thai Romanization uses them like IPA.