Chinese sound system
Hui-Ju Chuang
University of Hawaii-Manoa
Overview
 Pronunciations of initials and finals
 Chinese tones
 Spelling rules
 Numbers

Hui-Ju Chuang
Syllabic structure

One character one syllable
σ
σ
initial
final
initial
final
Ø
a
f
a
e.g. 啊, 阿
e.g. 發, 伐
Hui-Ju Chuang
σ
initial
j
final
iang
e.g. 江, 將
Finals

There are six simple finals
a o e i u ü

There are thirty complex finals
ai
an
ia
ua
üe
er
ei
en
iao
uo
üan
ao
ou
ang eng ong
ie
iu (iou) ian in iang ing iong
uai ui (uei) uan un (uen) uang ueng
ün
Hui-Ju Chuang
Initials

There twenty-one initials
b
d
g
j
z
zh
p
t
k
q
c
ch
m
n
h
x
s
sh
Labial
Alveolars
f
l
Velars
Palatals
Dental Sibilants
r
Retroflexes
Hui-Ju Chuang
Initials

There twenty-one initials
b
d
g
j
z
zh
p
t
k
q
c
ch
m
n
h
x
s
sh
f
l
Labial
Alveolars
Velars
Palatals
Dental Sibilants
Retroflexes
r
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

Finals
a
o
Hui-Ju Chuang
e

Finals
i
u
Hui-Ju Chuang
ü

Combination of finals
ai
ei
ao
ou
an en ang eng
ong
Hui-Ju Chuang

Initials
bo po
mo
fo
de te
ne
le
Hui-Ju Chuang

Initials
ge ke
he
ji
xi
qi
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
 mu
 zha
 Ji
 ba
 Zi
 nei

kai
fu
cha
qi
pa
ci
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
jiù
nǎo
chóng
lèi
Hui-Ju Chuang
Spelling rules
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…
5.
6.
7.
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 二 三 四 五
yī
èr
sān
Hui-Ju Chuang
sì
wǔ
六 七 八 九 十
liù
qī
bā
Hui-Ju Chuang
jiǔ
shí