Standard Chinese Phonology

19/07/2023, 15:22 Standard Chinese phonology - Wikipedia
Standard Chinese phonology

This article summarizes the phonology (the sound system, or in more general terms, the pronunciation) of Standard
Chinese (Standard Mandarin).
Standard Chinese phonology is based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. Actual production varies widely among
speakers, as they introduce elements of their native varieties (although television and radio announcers are chosen for
their ability to produce the standard variety). Elements of the sound system include not only the segments – the vowels
and consonants – of the language but also the tones that are applied to each syllable. Standard Chinese has four main
tones, in addition to a neutral tone used on weak syllables.
This article represents phonetic values using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), noting correspondences chiefly
with the Pinyin system for transcription of Chinese text. For correspondences with other systems, see the relevant
articles, such as Wade–Giles, Bopomofo (Zhuyin), Gwoyeu Romatzyh, etc., and Romanization of Chinese.
Consonants
The following table shows the consonant sounds of Standard Chinese, transcribed using the International Phonetic
Alphabet. The sounds shown in parentheses are sometimes not analyzed as separate phonemes; for more on these, see
§ Alveolo-palatal series below. Excluding these, and excluding the glides [j], [ɥ], and [w] (for which see § Glides below),
there are 19 consonant phonemes in the inventory.
Denti- Alveolo-
Labial Retroflex Velar
alveolar palatal
Nasal m n ŋ
aspirated pʰ tʰ kʰ
Stop
unaspirated p t k
aspirated t͡ sʰ ʈ͡ ʂʰ (t͡ ɕʰ)

Affricate
unaspirated t͡ s ʈ͡ ʂ (t͡ ɕ)
Fricative f s ʂ (ʐ) (ɕ) x~h
Liquid l ɻ
Between pairs of stops or affricates having the same place of articulation and manner of articulation, the primary
distinction is not voiced vs. voiceless (as in French or Russian), but unaspirated vs. aspirated (as in Scottish Gaelic or
Icelandic). The unaspirated stops and affricates may however become voiced in weak syllables (see § Syllable reduction
below). Such pairs are represented in the pinyin system mostly using letters which in Romance languages generally
denote voiceless/voiced pairs (for example [p] and [b]), or in Germanic languages often denotes fortis/lenis pairs (for
example initial aspirated voiceless/unaspirated voiced pairs such as [pʰ] and [b]). However, in pinyin they denote
aspirated/unaspirated pairs, for example /pʰ/ and /p/ are represented with p and b respectively.
More details about the individual consonant sounds are given in the following table.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese_phonology 1/16
Phoneme Audio Wade–

Approximate description Pinyin Zhuyin Notes
or sound example Giles*
/p/ Like English p but unaspirated – as in spy 邦/bāng b ㄅ p
/pʰ/ Like an aspirated English p, as in pie 旁/páng p ㄆ p῾
/m/ Like English m 明/míng m ㄇ m
/f/ Like English f 非/fēi f ㄈ f
See § Denti-alveolar
/t/ Like English t but unaspirated – as in sty 端/duān d ㄉ t
and retroflex series.
/tʰ/ Like an aspirated English t, as in tie 透/tòu t ㄊ t῾
/n/ Like English n 泥/ní n ㄋ n Can occur in the onset
and/or coda of a
syllable.
Like English clear l, as in RP lay (never dark, i.e.

/l/ 来/來/lái l ㄌ l
velarized)
/k/ Like English k, but unaspirated, as in scar 干/gān g ㄍ k
/kʰ/ Like an aspirated English k, as in car 口/kǒu k ㄎ k῾
Occurs only in the

/ŋ/ Like ng in English sing 江/jiāng ng - ng
syllable coda.
/x/
Varies between h in English hat and ch in
([h ~ 火/huǒ h ㄏ h
Scottish loch.
x])[1]: 27
Like an unaspirated English ch, but with an See § Alveolo-palatal
[t͡ ɕ] 叫/jiào j ㄐ ch
alveolo-palatal (softer) pronunciation series.
See § Alveolo-palatal
[t͡ ɕʰ] As above, with aspiration 去/qù q ㄑ ch῾
series.
Similar to English sh, but with an alveolo-palatal See § Alveolo-palatal

[ɕ] 小/xiǎo x ㄒ hs
(softer) pronunciation series.
Similar to ch in English chat, but with a retroflex See § Denti-alveolar
/ʈ͡ ʂ/ 之/zhī zh ㄓ ch
articulation and no aspiration and retroflex series.
/ʈ͡ ʂʰ/ As above, but with aspiration 吃/chī ch ㄔ ch῾
Similar to English sh, but with a retroflex See § Denti-alveolar

/ʂ/ 矢/shǐ sh ㄕ sh
articulation and retroflex series.
Similar to s in pleasure in English, but with a
/ʐ/ For pronunciation in
retroflex articulation. Otherwise, some speakers
日/rì r ㄖ j syllable-final position,
([ʐ ~ ɻ])[a] pronounce it as an English R, but lips are
see § Rhotic coda.
unrounded.
/t͡ s/ Like English ts in cats, without aspiration 子/zǐ z ㄗ ts
/t͡ sʰ/ As above, but with aspiration 此/cǐ c ㄘ ts῾
Like English s, but usually with the tongue on the See § Denti-alveolar
/s/
lower teeth. 私/sī s ㄙ s
*In Wade–Giles, the distinction between retroflex and alveolo-palatal affricates, which are both written as ch and ch῾, is indicated by the
subsequent vowel coda, since the two consonant series occur in complementary distribution; for example, chi and chü correspond to pinyin
ji and ju, respectively, whereas chih and chu correspond to pinyin zhi and zhu (see § Alveolo-palatal series).
All of the consonants may occur as the initial sound of a syllable, with the exception of /ŋ/ (unless the zero initial is
assigned to this phoneme; see below). Excepting the rhotic coda, the only consonants that can appear in syllable coda
(final) position are /n/ and /ŋ/ (although [m] may occur as an allophone of /n/ before labial consonants in fast
speech). Final /n/, /ŋ/ may be pronounced without complete oral closure, resulting in a syllable that in fact ends with a
long nasalized vowel.[1]: 72 See also § Syllable reduction, below.
Denti-alveolar and retroflex series
The consonants listed in the first table above as denti-alveolar are sometimes described as alveolars, and sometimes as
dentals. The affricates and the fricative are particularly often described as dentals; these are generally pronounced with
the tongue on the lower teeth.[1]: 27
The retroflex consonants (like those of Polish) are actually apical rather than subapical, and so are considered by some
authors not to be truly retroflex; they may be more accurately called post-alveolar.[2][3][4] Some speakers not from
Beijing may lack the retroflexes in their native dialects, and may thus replace them with dentals.[1]: 26
Alveolo-palatal series
The alveolo-palatal consonants (pinyin j, q, x) are standardly pronounced [t͡ ɕ, t͡ ɕʰ, ɕ]. Some speakers realize them as
palatalized dentals [t͡ sʲ], [t͡ sʰʲ], [sʲ]; this is claimed to be especially common among children and women,[1]: 33 although
officially it is regarded as substandard and as a feature specific to the Beijing dialect.[5]
In phonological analysis, it is often assumed that, when not followed by one of the high front vowels [i] or [y], the
alveolo-palatals consist of a consonant followed by a palatal glide ([j] or [ɥ]). That is, syllables represented in pinyin as
beginning ⟨ji-⟩, ⟨qi-⟩, ⟨xi-⟩, ⟨ju-⟩, ⟨qu-⟩, ⟨xu-⟩ (followed by a vowel) are taken to begin [t͡ ɕj], [t͡ ɕʰj], [ɕj], [t͡ ɕɥ], [t͡ ɕʰɥ], [ɕɥ].
The actual pronunciations are more like [t͡ ɕ], [t͡ ɕʰ], [ɕ], [t͡ ɕʷ], [t͡ ɕʰʷ], [ɕʷ] (or for speakers using the dental variants, [t͡ sʲ],
[t͡ sʰʲ], [sʲ], [t͡ sᶣ], [t͡ sʰᶣ], [sᶣ]). This is consistent with the general observation (see under § Glides) that medial glides are
realized as palatalization and/or labialization of the preceding consonant (palatalization already being inherent in the
case of the palatals).
On the above analysis, the alveolo-palatals are in complementary distribution with the dentals [t͡ s, t͡ sʰ, s], with the velars
[k, kʰ, x], and with the retroflexes [ʈ͡ ʂ, ʈ͡ ʂʰ, ʂ], as none of these can occur before high front vowels or palatal glides,
whereas the alveolo-palatals occur only before high front vowels or palatal glides. Therefore, linguists often prefer to
classify [t͡ ɕ, t͡ ɕʰ, ɕ] not as independent phonemes, but as allophones of one of the other three series.[6] The existence of
the above-mentioned dental variants inclines some to prefer to identify the alveolo-palatals with the dentals, but
identification with any of the three series is possible (unless the empty rime /ɨ/ is identified with /i/, in which case the
velars become the only candidate; see below). The Yale and Wade–Giles systems mostly treat the alveolo-palatals as
allophones of the retroflexes; Tongyong Pinyin mostly treats them as allophones of the dentals; and Mainland Chinese
Braille treats them as allophones of the velars. In standard pinyin and bopomofo, however, they are represented as a
separate sequence.
The alveolo-palatals arose historically from a merger of the dentals [t͡ s, t͡ sʰ, s] and velars [k, kʰ, x] before high front
vowels and glides. Previously, some instances of modern [t͡ ɕ(ʰ)i] were instead [k(ʰ)i], and others were [t͡ s(ʰ)i];
distinguishing these two sources of [t͡ ɕ(ʰ)i] is known as the "round-sharp" distinction (zh: 尖團音 ). The change took
place in the last two or three centuries at different times in different areas. This explains why some European
transcriptions of Chinese names (especially in postal romanization) contain ⟨ki-⟩, ⟨hi-⟩, ⟨tsi-⟩, ⟨si-⟩ where an alveolo-
palatal might be expected in modern Chinese. Examples are Peking for Beijing ([kiŋ] -> [tɕiŋ]), Chungking for
Chongqing ([kʰiŋ] -> [tɕʰiŋ]), Fukien for Fujian (cf. Hokkien), Tientsin for Tianjin ([tsin] -> [tɕin]); Sinkiang for
Xinjiang ([sinkiaŋ] -> [ɕintɕiaŋ], and Sian for Xi'an ([si] -> [ɕi]). The complementary distribution with the retroflex
series arose when syllables that had a retroflex consonant followed by a medial glide lost the medial glide.
Zero onset
A full syllable such as ai, in which the vowel is not preceded by any of the standard initial consonants or glides, is said
to have a null initial or zero onset. This may be realized as a consonant sound: [ʔ] and [ɣ] are possibilities, as are [ŋ]
and [ɦ] in some non-standard varieties. It has been suggested by San Duanmu that such an onset be regarded as a
special phoneme, or as an instance of the phoneme /ŋ/, although it can also be treated as no phoneme (absence of
onset). By contrast, in the case of the particle 啊 a, which is a weak onsetless syllable, linking occurs with the previous
syllable (as described under § Syllable reduction, below).[1]: 43
When a stressed vowel-initial Chinese syllable follows a consonant-final syllable, the consonant does not directly link
with the vowel. Instead, the zero onset seems to intervene in between. 棉袄 ; mián'ǎo ("cotton jacket") becomes
[mjɛnʔau], [mjɛnɣau]. However, in connected speech none of these output forms is natural. Instead, when the words
are spoken together the most natural pronunciation is rather similar to [mjɛ̃ːau], in which there is no nasal closure or
any version of the zero onset, and instead nasalization of the vowel occurs.[7]
Glides
The glides [j], [ɥ], and [w] sound respectively like the y in English yes, the (h)u in French huit, and the w in English we.
(Beijing speakers often replace initial [w] with a labiodental [ʋ], except when it is followed by [o] or [u].[1]: 25 ) The
glides are commonly analyzed not as independent phonemes, but as consonantal allophones of the high vowels: [i̯ , y̯ ,
u̯ ]. This is possible because there is no ambiguity in interpreting a sequence like yao/-iao as /iau/, and potentially
problematic sequences such as */iu/ do not occur.
The glides may occur in initial position in a syllable. This occurs with [ɥ] in the syllables written yu, yuan, yue, and yun
in pinyin; with [j] in other syllables written with initial y in pinyin (ya, yi, etc.); and with [w] in syllables written with
initial w in pinyin (wa, wu, etc.). When a glide is followed by the vowel of which that glide is considered an allophone,
the glide may be regarded as epenthetic (automatically inserted), and not as a separate realization of the phoneme.
Hence the syllable yi, pronounced [ji], may be analyzed as consisting of the single phoneme /i/, and similarly yin may
be analyzed as /in/, yu as /y/, and wu as /u/.[1]: 274ff It is also possible to hear both from the same speaker, even in the
same conversation.[1]: 274ff For example, one may hear the number "one" 一; yī as either [jí] or [í].
The glides can also occur in medial position, that is, after the initial consonant but before the main vowel. Here they are
represented in pinyin as vowels: for example, the i in bie represents [j], and the u in duan represents [w]. There are
some restrictions on the possible consonant-glide combinations: [w] does not occur after labials (except for some
speakers in bo, po, mo, fo); [j] does not occur after retroflexes and velars (or after [f]); and [ɥ] occurs medially only in
lüe and nüe and after alveolo-palatals (for which see above). A consonant-glide combination at the start of a syllable is
articulated as a single sound – the glide is not in fact pronounced after the consonant, but is realized as palatalization
[ʲ], labialization [ʷ], or both [ᶣ], of the consonant.[1]: 28 (The same modifications of initial consonants occur in syllables
where they are followed by a high vowel, although normally no glide is considered to be present there. Hence a
consonant is generally palatalized [ʲ] when followed by /i/, labialized [ʷ] when followed by /u/, and both [ᶣ] when
followed by /y/.)
The glides [j] and [w] are also found as the final element in some syllables. These are commonly analyzed as
diphthongs rather than vowel-glide sequences. For example, the syllable bai is assigned the underlying representation
/pai̯ /. (In pinyin, the second element is generally written ⟨-i⟩ or ⟨-u⟩, but /au̯ / is written as ⟨-ao⟩.)
Syllabic consonants
The syllables written in pinyin as zi, ci, si, zhi, chi, shi, ri may be described as a sibilant consonant (z, c, s, zh, ch, sh, r in
pinyin) followed by a syllabic consonant (also known as apical vowel in classic literature):
[ɹ̩ ~ z̩ ], a laminal denti-alveolar voiced continuant,[a] in zi, ci, si ([tsɹ̩ tsʰɹ̩ sɹ̩ ]);
[ɻ̩ ~ ʐ̩ ], an apical retroflex voiced continuant,[a] in zhi, chi, shi, ri ([ʈʂɻ̩ ʈʂʰɻ̩ ʂɻ̩ ɻɻ̩ ]).
Alternatively, the nucleus may be described not as a syllabic consonant, but as a vowel:
[ɨ], similar to Russian ы and the vowel in American "roses", in zi, ci, si, zhi, chi, shi, ri ([tsɨ tsʰɨ sɨ ʈʂɨ ʈʂʰɨ ʂɨ ɻɨ]).
Phonologically, these syllables may be analyzed as having their own vowel phoneme, /ɨ/. However, it is possible to
merge this with the phoneme /i/ (to which it is historically related), since the two are in complementary distribution –
provided that the § Alveolo-palatal series is either left unmerged, or is merged with the velars rather than the retroflex
or alveolar series. (That is, [t͡ ɕi], [t͡ sɨ], and [ʈ͡ ʂɨ] all exist, but *[ki] and *[kɨ] do not exist, so there is no problem merging
both [i]~[ɨ] and [k]~[t͡ ɕ] at the same time.)
Another approach is to regard the syllables assigned above to /ɨ/ as having an (underlying) empty nuclear slot ("empty
rhyme", Chinese 空韵; kōngyùn), i.e. as not containing a vowel phoneme at all. This is more consistent with the syllabic
consonant description of these syllables, and is consistent with the view that phonological representations are minimal
(underspecified).[8] When this is the case, sometimes the phoneme is described as shifting from voiceless to voiced, e.g.
sī becoming /sź̩ /.
Syllabic consonants may also arise as a result of weak syllable reduction; see below. Syllabic nasal consonants are also
heard in certain interjections; pronunciations of such words include [m], [n], [ŋ], [hm], [hŋ].
Vowels
Standard Chinese can be analyzed as having between two and six vowel phonemes.[9] /i, u, y/ (which may also be
analyzed as underlying glides) are high (close) vowels, /ə/ is mid whereas /a/ is low (open).
The precise realization of each vowel depends on its phonetic environment. In particular, the vowel /ə/ has two broad
allophones [e] and [o] (corresponding respectively to pinyin e and o in most cases). These sounds can be treated as a
single underlying phoneme because they are in complementary distribution. The mid vowel phoneme may also be
treated as an underspecified vowel, attracting features either from the adjacent

sounds or from default rules resulting in /ə/. (Apparent counterexamples are
provided by certain interjections, such as [ɔ], [ɛ], [jɔ], and [lɔ], but these are
normally treated as special cases operating outside the normal phonemic
system.[b])
Transcriptions of the vowels' allophones (the ways they are pronounced in

particular phonetic environments) differ somewhat between sources. More
details about the individual vowel allophones are given in the following table
(not including the values that occur with the rhotic coda).[c]
Monophthongs of Mandarin Chinese as
Wade– Gwoyeu
Phoneme Allophone Description Example Pinyin they are pronounced in Beijing (from Lee
Giles Romatzyh
& Zee (2003:110)).
Like English ee
[i]
as in bee 比/bǐ i i i
Like English oo
[u] 不/bù u u u
as in boo
Depends
on Like English oo in
analysis took (varies
(see [ʊ] between [o][10] 空/kōng o u o
below) and [u]
depending on the
speaker.)
Like French u or
[y] 女/nǚ ü,u ü iu
German ü
Somewhat like
[e] English ey as in 别/bié e e,eh e Part 1 of Mandarin Chinese diphthongs
prey as they are pronounced in Beijing (from
Lee & Zee (2003:110)).
Somewhat like
southern British
[o] English awe or 火/huǒ o o o
/ə/ Scottish English
oh
Pronounced as a
[ɤ] 和/hé e ê,o e
sequence [ɰɤ̞ ].
Schwa, like
[ə] English a as in 很/hěn e ê,u e
about.
Like English a as
[a]
in palm 巴/bā a a a
Like English e as
/a/ in then (varies Part 2 of Mandarin Chinese diphthongs
[ɛ] between [e] and 边/biān a e,a a as they are pronounced in Beijing (from
[a] depending on Lee & Zee (2003:110)).
the speaker)
Zhuyin represents vowels differently from normal romanisation schemes, and as such is not displayed in the above
table.
The vowel nuclei may be preceded by a glide /j, w, ɥ/, and may be followed by a coda /i, u, n, ŋ/. The various
combinations of glide, vowel, and coda have different surface manifestations, as shown in the tables below. Any of the
three positions may be empty, i.e. occupied by a null meta-phoneme ∅.
Five vowel analysis (pinyin-based)
The following table provides a typical five vowel analysis according to Duanmu (2000, p. 37) and Lin (2007). In this
analysis, the high vowels /i, u, y/ are fully phonemic and may form sequences with the nasal codas /n, ŋ/.
Nucleus /i/ /u/ /y/ /ə/ /a/

∅
Coda ∅ /n/ /ŋ/ ∅ /ŋ/ ∅ /n/ ∅ /i/ /u/ /n/ /ŋ/ ∅ /i/ /u/ /n/ /ŋ/
[ɹ̩ ~ɻ̩ ] [i] [in] [iŋ] [u] [ʊŋ] [y] [yn] [ɤ] [ei̯ ] [ou̯ ] [ən] [əŋ] [a] [ai̯ ] [au̯ ] [an] [aŋ]
∅ yi yin ying wu yu yun e ei ou en eng a ai ao an ang
-i -i -in -ing -u -ong -ü1 -ün1 -e -ei -ou -en -eng -a -ai -ao -an -ang
[jʊŋ] [je] [jou̯ ] [ja] [jau̯ ] [jɛn] [jaŋ]

/j/ yong ye you ya yao yan yang
-iong -ie -iu -ia -iao -ian -iang
Medial
[wo] [wei̯ ] [wən] [wəŋ] [wa] [wai̯ ] [wan] [waŋ]
/w/ wo wei wen weng wa wai wan wang
-uo2 -ui -un -ua -uai -uan -uang
[ɥe] [ɥɛn]
/ɥ/ yue yuan
-üe1 -üan1
1 ü is written as u after j, q, or x (the /u/ phoneme never occurs in these positions)

2 uo is written as o after b, p, m, or f.
Two vowel analysis (bopomofo-based)
Some linguists prefer to reduce the number of vowel phonemes further (at the expense of including underlying glides in
their systems). Edwin G. Pulleyblank has proposed a system which includes underlying glides, but no vowels at all.[1]: 37
More common are systems with two vowels; for example, in Mantaro Hashimoto's system,[11] there are just two vowel
nuclei, /ə, a/. In this analysis, the high vowels [i, u, y] are analyzed as glides /j, w, ɥ/ which surface as vowels before ∅
or /ən, əŋ/.
Nucleus /ə/ /a/

∅
Coda ∅ /i/ /u/ /n/ /ŋ/ ∅ /i/ /u/ /n/ /ŋ/
[ɤ] [ei̯ ] [ou̯ ] [ən] [əŋ] [a] [ai̯ ] [au̯ ] [an] [aŋ]
∅ [ɹ̩ ~ɻ̩ ]
ㄜㄟㄡㄣㄥㄚㄞㄠㄢㄤ
[i] [je] [jou̯ ] [in] [iŋ] [ja] [jau̯ ] [jɛn] [jaŋ]
/j/
ㄧㄧㄝㄧㄡㄧㄣㄧㄥㄧㄚㄧㄠㄧㄢㄧㄤ
Medial
[u] [wo] [wei̯ ] [wən] [wəŋ], [ʊŋ] [wa] [wai̯ ] [wan] [waŋ]
/w/
ㄨㄨㄛㄨㄟㄨㄣㄨㄥㄨㄚㄨㄞㄨㄢㄨㄤ
[y] [ɥe] [yn] [jʊŋ] [ɥɛn]

/ɥ/
ㄩㄩㄝㄩㄣㄩㄥㄩㄢ
Other notes
As a general rule, vowels in open syllables (those which have no coda following the main vowel) are pronounced long,
while others are pronounced short. This does not apply to weak syllables, in which all vowels are short.[1]: 42
In Standard Chinese, the vowels [a] and [ə] harmonize in backness with the coda.[12][1]: 72–73 For [a], it is fronted [a̟ ]
before /i, n/ and backed [a̠ ] before /u, ŋ/. For [ə], it is fronted [ə̟ ] before /n/ and backed [ə̠ ] before /ŋ/.
Some native Mandarin speakers may pronounce [wei̯ ], [jou̯ ], and [wən] as [ui], [iu], and [un] respectively in the first or
second tone.[13]: 69
Rhotic coda
Standard Chinese features syllables that end with a rhotic coda /ɚ/. This feature, known in Chinese as erhua, is
particularly characteristic of the Beijing dialect; many other dialects do not use it as much, and some not at all.[1]: 195 It
occurs in two cases:
1. In a small number of independent words or morphemes pronounced [ɚ] or [aɚ̯ ], written in pinyin as er (with some
tone), such as 二 èr "two", 耳 ěr "ear", and 儿 (traditional 兒) ér "son".
2. In syllables in which the rhotic coda is added as a suffix to another morpheme. This suffix is represented by the
character 儿 [兒] ("son"), to which meaning it is historically related, and in pinyin as r. The suffix combines with the
final sound of the syllable, and regular but complex sound changes occur as a result (described in detail under
erhua).
The r final is pronounced with a relatively lax tongue, and has been described as a "retroflex vowel".[1]: 41
In dialects that do not make use of the rhotic coda, it may be omitted in pronunciation, or in some cases a different
word may be selected: for example, Beijing 这儿 [這兒] zhèr "here" and 那儿 [那兒] nàr "there" may be replaced by the
synonyms 这里 [這裡] zhèlǐ and 那里 [那裡] nàlǐ.
Syllables
Syllables in Standard Chinese have the maximal form (CG)V(X)T,[13]: 48 traditionally analysed as an "initial" consonant
C, a "final", and a tone T.[14] The final consists of a "medial" G (which may be one of the glides [j, w, ɥ]), a vowel V, and
a coda X, which may be one of [n, ŋ, ɚ̯ , i̯ , u̯ ]. The vowel and coda may also be grouped as the "rhyme",[13]: 16 sometimes
spelled "rime". Any of C, G, and X (and V, in some analyses) may be absent. However, in some analyses, C cannot be
absent, due to the zero initial being considered a consonant.
Many of the possible combinations under the above scheme do not actually occur. There are only some 35 final
combinations (medial+rime) in actual syllables (see pinyin finals). In all, there are only about 400 different syllables
when tone is ignored, and about 1300 when tone is included. This is a far smaller number of distinct syllables than in a
language such as English. Since Chinese syllables usually constitute whole words, or at least morphemes, the smallness
of the syllable inventory results in large numbers of homophones. However, in Standard Chinese, the average word
length is actually almost exactly two syllables, practically eliminating most homophony issues even when tone is
disregarded, especially when context is taken into account as well.[15][16] (Still, due to the limited phonetic inventory,
homophonic puns in Mandarin Chinese are very common and important in Chinese culture.[17][18])
For a list of all Standard Chinese syllables (excluding tone and rhotic coda) see the pinyin table or zhuyin table.
Full and weak syllables
Syllables can be classified as full (or strong), and weak. Weak syllables are usually grammatical markers such as 了 le,
or the second syllables of some compound words (although many other compounds consist of two or more full
syllables).
A full syllable carries one of the four main tones, and some degree of stress. Weak syllables are unstressed, and have
neutral tone. The contrast between full and weak syllables is distinctive; there are many minimal pairs such as 要事
yàoshì "important matter" and 钥匙 yàoshi "key", or 大意 dàyì "main idea" and (with the same characters) dàyi
"careless", the second word in each case having a weak second syllable. Some linguists consider this contrast to be
primarily one of stress, while others regard it as one of tone. For further discussion, see under Neutral tone and Stress,
below.
There is also a difference in syllable length. Full syllables can be analyzed as having two morae ("heavy"), the vowel
being lengthened if there is no coda. Weak syllables, however, have a single mora ("light"), and are pronounced
approximately 50% shorter than full syllables.[1]: 88 Any weak syllable will usually be an instance of the same
morpheme (and written with the same character) as some corresponding strong syllable; the weak form will often have
a modified pronunciation, however, as detailed in the following section.
Syllable reduction
Apart from differences in tone, length, and stress, weak syllables are subject to certain other pronunciation changes
(reduction).[19]
If a weak syllable begins with an unaspirated obstruent (/p, t, k, t͡ s, t͡ ʂ, t͡ ʃ, t͡ ɕ/), that consonant may become voiced
(/b, d, ɡ, d͡ z, d͡ ʐ, d͡ ʒ, d͡ ʑ/ respectively). For example, in 嘴巴 zuǐba ("mouth"), the second syllable is likely to begin
with a [b] sound, rather than an unaspirated [p].
The vowel of a weak syllable is often reduced, becoming more central. For example, in the word zuǐba just
mentioned, the final vowel may become a schwa [ə].
The coda (final consonant or offglide) of a weak syllable is often dropped (this is linked to the shorter, single-mora
nature of weak syllables, as referred to above). If the dropped coda was a nasal consonant, the vowel may be
nasalized.[1]: 88 For example, 脑袋 nǎodai ("head") may end with a monophthong [ɛ] rather than a diphthong, and 春
天 chūntian ("spring") may end with a centralized and nasalized vowel [ə̃].
In some cases, the vowel may be dropped altogether. This may occur, particularly with high vowels i, u, ü, when the
unstressed syllable begins with a fricative f, h, sh, r, x, s or an aspirated p, t, k, q, ch, c consonant; for example, 豆
腐 dòufu ("tofu") may be said as dòu-f, and 问题 wènti ("question") as wèn-t (the remaining initial consonant is
pronounced as a syllabic consonant). The same may even occur in full syllables that have low ("half-third")
tone.[1]: 258
The vowel (and coda) may also be dropped after a nasal, in such words as 我们 wǒmen ("we") and 什么
shénme ("what"), which may be said as wǒm and shém – these are examples of the merger of two syllables into
one, which occurs in a variety of situations in connected speech.
The example of shénme → shém also involves assimilation, which is heard even in unreduced syllables in quick speech
(for example, in guǎmbō for 广播 guǎngbō "broadcast"). A particular case of assimilation is that of the sentence-final
exclamatory particle 啊 a, a weak syllable, which has different characters for its assimilated forms:
Preceding sound Form of particle (pinyin) Character
[ŋ], [ɹ̩ ], [ɻ̩ ] a 啊
[i], [y], [e], [o], [a] ya (from ŋja) 呀
[u] wa 哇
[n] na 哪
了 le (grammatical
combines to form la 啦
marker)
Tones
Standard Chinese, like all varieties of Chinese, is tonal. This means that in addition
to consonants and vowels, the pitch contour of a syllable is used to distinguish
words from each other. Many non-native Chinese speakers have difficulties
mastering the tones of each character, but correct tonal pronunciation is essential
for intelligibility because of the vast number of words in the language that only
differ by tone (i.e. are minimal pairs with respect to tone). Statistically, tones are as
important as vowels in Standard Chinese.[d][20]
The following table shows the four main tones of Standard Chinese, together with
the neutral (or fifth) tone. To describe the pitch of the tones, its representation on a
five-level scale is used, visualized with Chao tone letters. The values of the pitch for
each tone described by Chao are traditionally considered standard, however slight
regional and idiolectal variations in tone pronunciation also occur.
Four tones in Mainland Standard
Tone number 1 2 3 4 5 Chinese.
low
Description high rising falling neutral
(dipping)
Pinyin diacritic ā á ǎ à a
˥˩ 51, ˥˧
per Chao (1968)[21] ˥ 55 ˧˥ 35 ˨˩˦ 21(4)
53
Common realization ˥ 55, ˦ ˥˨ 52, ˥˧

˨˥ 25 ˨˩˨ 21(2)
(Beijing) 44 53
Pitch (various,
contour Common realization ˥˨ 52, ˥˧ see
˦ 44 ˧˨˧ 323 ˧˩˨ 31(2)
(Taipei) 53 below)
Other substandard ˥˦ 54, ˦˥ ˧˨˥ 325, ˨˦ ˨˩˧ 21(3), ˨
˦˨ 42
variants[22] 45 24 22
IPA diacritic /á/ /ǎ/ [a᷄ ] /à/ [à̤ , a̤᷆ , a̤᷉ ] /â/
陰平(阴陽平(阳
上去輕(轻) Four tones in Taiwanese Standard
Tone name 平) 平)
shǎng qù qīng Chinese.
yīnpíng yángpíng
Examples 巴/bā 拔/bá 把/bǎ 吧/ba

爸/bà
The Chinese names of the main four tones are

respectively 阴平 [陰平] yīnpíng ("dark level"), 阳
平 [ 陽平 ] yángpíng ("light level"), 上
shǎng[23][24] or shàng[25] ("rising"), and 去 qù
("departing"). As descriptions, they apply rather The four main tones of Standard Mandarin, pronounced with the syllable ma.
to the predecessor Middle Chinese tones than to
the modern tones; see below. 0:06
Most romanization systems, including pinyin, represent the tones as diacritics on the vowels (as does zhuyin), although
some, like Wade–Giles, use superscript numbers at the end of each syllable. The tone marks and numbers are rarely
used outside of language textbooks: in particular, they are usually absent in public signs, company logos, and so forth.
Gwoyeu Romatzyh is a rare example of a system where tones are represented using normal letters of the alphabet
(although without a one-to-one correspondence).
First tone
First tone is a high-level tone. It is a steady high sound, produced as if it were being sung instead of spoken. Its pitch is
usually ˥ 55 or ˦ 44, at the same level where the fourth tone starts, or a little lower. Occasionally, slightly rising or falling
high pitch (˥˦ 54 or ˦˥ 45) is also possible.[22]
In a few syllables, the quality of the vowel is changed when it carries first tone; see the vowel table above.
Second tone
Second tone is a rising tone. It is usually described as a high-rising (˧˥ 35), with the sound that rises from middle to high
pitch (like in the English "What?!"). It starts at around 3 or 2 pitch level, and then rises towards the level of the first
tone pitch (5 or 4).
It may also start with a falling or flat segment, which is quite short in male speakers (a quarter of the total second tone
length), but longer in female speakers, reaching nearly half of the total length of the second tone. This initial dip is
more apparent in Southern China Mandarin accent, including Standard Taiwanese Mandarin, where the second tone is
also lower and alternatively described as dipping or low-rising with overall contour of ˧˨˧ 323 (its start is still slightly
lower than its final pitch).[26][27][28][29]
This tone is usually one of the most difficult to master for Mandarin learners, as well as the speakers of non-Mandarin
Chinese varieties, who often pronounce their second tone close to (full) third tone, especially in the word-final position
before a pause.[29][30][22][31]
Third tone
Third tone is a low tone. It is also often termed a "dipping tone".
This tone is often demonstrated as having a rise in pitch after the low fall; however, third tone syllables that include the
rise are significantly longer than other syllables. When a third-tone syllable is not said in isolation, this rise is normally
heard only if it appears at the end of a sentence or before a pause, and then usually only on stressed
monosyllables.[1]: 222 The third tone without the rise is sometimes called half third tone.
The overall pitch contour of the third tone is traditionally described as ˨˩˦ 214, but for modern Standard Chinese
speakers, the rise, if present, is not that high. The third tone starts lower or around the starting point for the second
tone. In Beijing, its value inclines to ˨˩˧ 213 or ˨˩˨ 212, while in Taiwan it is usually ˧˩˨ 312 (Taiwanese Standard Chinese
speakers also tend to never pronounce the rising part in any context).[32] Unlike the other tones, third tone is
pronounced with breathiness or murmur.[1]: 213
Two consecutive third tones are avoided by changing the first to second tone; see § Third tone sandhi below.
Fourth tone
Fourth tone is a falling tone. It features a sharp fall from high to lower pitch (as is heard in curt commands in English,
such as "Stop!").
It starts at the same pitch level or higher than the first tone, and then drops to the pitch 1 or 2. In connected speech,
when followed by syllables with other full tones, it tends to fall only from high to mid-level. Similarly to the third tone,
the final part is only pronounced before a pause or an unstressed syllable. Two consecutive fourth tones are
pronounced in a zigzag pattern, with the first one higher, and the second one lower (˥˧ 53 - ˦˩ 41).[33][34][22]
Neutral tone
Also called fifth tone or zeroth tone (in Chinese 轻声; 輕聲; qīngshēng, literal meaning: "light tone"), the neutral
tone is sometimes thought of as a lack of tone. It is associated with weak syllables, which are generally somewhat
shorter than tonic syllables.
In Standard Chinese, about 15-20% of the syllables in written texts are considered
unstressed, including certain suffixes, clitics, and particles. Second syllables of some
disyllabic words are also unstressed in Northern Mandarin accents, but many
Mandarin speakers in Southern China tend to preserve their inherent tone.
The pitch of a syllable with neutral tone is determined by the tone of the preceding
syllable. Chao (1968) considered the neutral tone syllables to not have pitch
contour. He introduced special dotted tone letters to denote its pitch. Later studies,
however, found that the neutral tone syllables do have pitch contour. The following
table shows the pitch at which the neutral tone is pronounced in Standard Chinese
after each of the four main tones. For contoured pitch analysis, the first column
shows the pitch contour directly after the full tone syllable, and the second column
shows the pitch contour after another neutral tone syllable.[35][22][36][37][38] Pitch contours of the neutral tone.
Realization of neutral tones
Pitch of neutral tone Example

Tone of preceding Contoured analysis
syllable Contourless
first second Characters Pinyin Meaning Transcription
analysis
syllable syllable
(of the)
First ˥ ˨(꜋)2 ˦˩ 41 ˨˩ 21 玻璃(的) bōli (de) [pwo˥ li˦˩ də˨˩]
glass
bóbo [pwo˨˥ bwo˥˨
Second ˧˥ ˧(꜊)3 ˥˨ 52 ˧˨ 32 伯伯(的) (de)
(of an) uncle
də˧˨]
Third ˨˩ ˦(꜉)4 ˧ 33 ~ ˨˧ 23 ˧˨ 32 喇叭(的) lǎba (de) (of a) horn [lä˨˩ bä˨˧ də˧˨]
Fourth ˥˩ ˩(꜌)1 ˨˩ 21 ˩ 11 兔子(的) tùzi (de) (of a) rabbit [tʰu˥˨ d͡ zɨ˨˩ də˩]
Although the contrast between weak and full syllables is often distinctive, the neutral tone is often not described as a
full-fledged tone; some linguists feel that it results from a "spreading out" of the tone on the preceding syllable. This
idea is appealing because without it, the neutral tone needs relatively complex tone sandhi rules to be made sense of;
indeed, it would have to have four allotones, one for each of the four tones that could precede it. However, the
"spreading" theory incompletely characterizes the neutral tone, especially in sequences where more than one neutral-
tone syllable is found adjacent.[39] In Modern Standard Mandarin as applied in A Dictionary of Current Chinese, the
second syllable of words with a 'toneless final syllable variant' (重·次輕詞語) can be read with either a neutral tone or
with the normal tone.[40][41][42]
Relationship between Middle Chinese and modern tones
The four tones of Middle Chinese are not in one-to-one correspondence with the modern tones. The following table
shows the development of the traditional tones as reflected in modern Standard Chinese. The development of each tone
depends on the initial consonant of the syllable: whether it was a voiceless consonant (denoted in the table by v−), a
voiced obstruent (v+), or a sonorant (s). (The voiced–voiceless distinction has been lost in modern Standard Chinese.)
Tone ping (平) shang (上) qu (去) ru (入)

Middle Chinese
Initial v− s v+ v− s v+ v− s v+ v− s v+
yīnpíng yángpíng shǎng qù redistributed qù yángpíng
Tone name
Standard Chinese (1st) (2nd) (3rd) (4th) with no (4th) (2nd)
Tone contour 55 35 21(4) 51 pattern 51 35
Tone sandhi
Pronunciation also varies with context according to the rules of tone sandhi. Some such changes have been noted above
in the descriptions of the individual tones; however, the most prominent phenomena of this kind relate to consecutive
sequences of third-tone syllables. There are also a few common words that have variable tone.
Third tone sandhi
The principal rule of third tone sandhi is:
When there are two consecutive third-tone syllables, the first of them is pronounced with second tone.
For example, lǎoshǔ 老鼠 ("mouse") is pronounced [lau̯ ˧˥ʂu˨˩] as if it were láoshǔ. It has been investigated whether
the rising contour (˧˥) on the prior syllable is in fact identical to a normal second tone. It has been concluded that it is
identical at least in terms of auditory perception.[1]: 237
When there are three or more third tones in a row, the situation becomes more complicated since a third tone that
precedes a second tone resulting from third tone sandhi may or may not be subject to sandhi itself. The results may
depend on word boundaries, stress, and dialectal variations. General rules for three-syllable third-tone combinations
can be formulated as follows:
1. If the first word is two syllables and the second word is one syllable, the first two syllables become second tones.
For example, bǎoguǎn hǎo 保管好 ("to take good care of") is pronounced báoguán hǎo [pau̯ ˧˥kwan˧˥xau̯ ˨˩˦].
2. If the first word has one syllable, and the second word has two syllables, the second syllable becomes second
tone, but the first syllable remains third tone. For example, lǎo bǎoguǎn 老保管 ("to take care of all the time") is
pronounced lǎo báoguǎn [lau̯ ˨˩pau̯ ˧˥kwan˨˩˦].
Some linguists have put forward more comprehensive systems of sandhi rules for multiple third tone sequences. For
example, it has been proposed[1]: 248 that modifications are applied cyclically, initially within rhythmic feet (trochees;
see below) and that sandhi "need not apply between two cyclic branches".
Tones on special syllables
Special rules apply to the tones heard on the words (or morphemes) 不 bù ("not") and 一 yī ("one").
For 不 bù:
1. 不 is pronounced with second tone when followed by a fourth tone syllable.
Example: 不是 (bù+shì, "to not be") becomes búshì [pu˧˥ʂɻ̩ ˥˩]
2. In other cases, 不 is pronounced with fourth tone. However, when used between words in an A-not-A question, it
may become neutral in tone (e.g., 是不是 shìbushì).
For 一 yī:
1. 一 is pronounced with second tone when followed by a fourth tone syllable.
Example: 一定 (yī+dìng, "must") becomes yídìng [i˧˥tiŋ˥˩]
2. Before a first, second or third tone syllable, 一 is pronounced with fourth tone.
Examples：一天 (yī+tiān, "one day") becomes yìtiān [i˥˩tʰjɛn˥], 一年 (yī+nián, "one year") becomes yìnián
[i˥˩njɛn˧˥], 一起 (yī+qǐ, "together") becomes yìqǐ [i˥˩t͡ ɕʰi˨˩˦].
3. When final, or when it comes at the end of a multi-syllable word (regardless of the first tone of the next word), 一 is
pronounced with first tone. It also has first tone when used as an ordinal number (or part of one), and when it is
immediately followed by any digit (including another 一; hence both syllables of the word 一一 yīyī and its
compounds have first tone).
4. When 一 is used between two reduplicated words, it may become neutral in tone (e.g. 看一看 kànyikàn ("to take a
look of")).
The numbers 七 qī ("seven") and 八 bā ("eight") sometimes display similar tonal behavior as 一 yī, but for most modern
speakers they are always pronounced with first tone. (All of these numbers, and 不 bù, were historically Ru tones, and
as noted above, that tone does not have predictable reflexes in modern Chinese; this may account for the variation in
tone on these words.)[1]: 228
Second and fourth tone change
In conversational speech, for the rising tone (tone 2) and falling tone (tone 4), there are some situations (based on
which tones are used immediately before and after) where the pitch contours will change.[43][21][22][1]: 239–241
Tone 2 becomes higher and changes its direction, approaching the tone 1 pitch contour, when put between tone 1 or 2
and any other full tone.
Pitch Pitch
Tone pattern Example words
(nominal) (changed)
1-2-1 ˥ ˧˥ ˥ ˥ ˥˦ ˥ kēxuéjiā (科學家; 科学家)
1-2-4 ˥ ˧˥ ˥˩ ˥ ˥˦ ˥˩ xīhóngshì (西紅柿; 西红柿)
2-2-1 ˧˥ ˧˥ ˥ ˧˥ ˥˦ ˥ liúxuéshēng (留學生; 留学生)
2-2-4 ˧˥ ˧˥ ˥˩ ˧˥ ˥˦ ˥˩ yuáncáiliào (原材料)
1-2-2 ˥ ˧˥ ˧˥ ˥ ˥˦ ˧˥ zhuō mícáng (捉迷藏)
1-2-3 ˥ ˧˥ ˨˩ ˥ ˥˦ ˨˩ shānhúdǎo (珊瑚島; 珊瑚岛)
2-2-2 ˧˥ ˧˥ ˧˥ ˧˥ ˥˦ ˧˥ xuélíngqián (學齡前; 学龄前)
2-2-3 ˧˥ ˧˥ ˨˩ ˧˥ ˥˦ ˨˩ Guómíndǎng (國民黨; 国民党)
Rising tone induced by the tone 3 sandhi also undergoes this transformation.
Pitch Pitch Pitch

(nominal) (with sandhi) (changed)
3-3-3 ˨˩ ˨˩ ˨˩ ˧˥ ˧˥ ˨˩ ˧˥ ˥˦ ˨˩ pǎomǎchǎng (跑馬場; 跑马场)
2-3-3 ˧˥ ˨˩ ˨˩ ˧˥ ˧˥ ˨˩ ˧˥ ˥˦ ˨˩ nóngchǎnpǐn (農產品; 农产品)
1-3-3 ˥ ˨˩ ˨˩ ˥ ˧˥ ˨˩ ˥ ˥˦ ˨˩ kānshǒusǔo (看守所)
The status of this tone change is ambiguous. Some authors consider it a tone sandhi akin to the third tone sandhi: Yuen
Ren Chao considered the changed tone 2 to be identical to tone 1, and Cao Wen treated it as tone 1 (before tones 1 or 4)
or tone 4 (before tones 2 or 3).[21][22] Both views are overgeneralizations to some extent, and the exact pitch contour of
the changed tone 2 varies between mid-level ˧ (in isolated words, at a slower speaking rate) and slighly falling high ˥˦ (in
a carrier sentence, at a faster speaking rate).[43]
Tone 4 becomes lower and flatter, but still slightly falling, akin to Cantonese tone 3, when put between tone 3 or 4 and
tone 1 or 4.
Pitch Pitch
(nominal) (changed)
4-4-1 ˥˩ ˥˩ ˥ ˥˧ ˧ ˥ jìsuànjī (計算機; 计算机)
4-4-4 ˥˩ ˥˩ ˥˩ ˥˧ ˧ ˥˩ bìmùshì (閉幕式; 闭幕式)
3-4-1 ˨˩ ˥˩ ˥ ˨˩ ˧ ˥ lǐbàitiān (禮拜天; 礼拜天)
3-4-4 ˨˩ ˥˩ ˥˩ ˨˩ ˧ ˥˩ gǎn xìngqù (感興趣; 感兴趣)
Unlike with changed tone 2, the changed tone 4 pitch contour was only insignificantly influenced by the change of
speaking rate, provided it was still at conversational speed.
The resulting pitch contours, especially that of the changed tone 4, are not associated with a phonemic tone in
Mandarin. In perceptual experiments, native Beijing Mandarin speakers could easily recognize the intended tone in the
original word, but could not recognize it when it was stripped from the context (when the adjacent syllables were
replaced by white noise):[43]
changed tone 2 was perceived as tone 1 in over 70% of responses;

changed tone 4 was perceived as tone 1 in over 50% of responses;
both of them were properly recognized in only 20% of responses.
Besides the speech rate, the frequency of expression may also play a role in triggering this tone change. The changed
tone 2 (that normally required tone 1 or 2 to precede it) is also said to occur in Gòngchǎndǎng ( 共產黨 ; 共产党
"communist party") in place of sandhied tone 3, but it remains to be seen whether there are more examples with initial
tone 4.[1]: 240
Stress, rhythm and intonation

Stress within words (word stress) is not felt strongly by Chinese speakers, although contrastive stress is perceived
easily (and functions much the same as in other languages). One of the reasons for the weaker perception of stress in
Chinese may be that variations in the fundamental frequency of speech, which in many other languages serve as a cue
for stress, are used in Chinese primarily to realize the tones. Nonetheless, there is still a link between stress and pitch –
the range of pitch variation (for a given tone) has been observed to be greater on syllables that carry more
stress.[1]: 134, 231
As discussed above, weak syllables have neutral tone and are unstressed. Although this property can be contrastive, the
contrast is interpreted by some as being primarily one of tone rather than stress. (Some linguists analyze Chinese as
lacking word stress entirely.)[1]: 134
Apart from this contrast between full and weak syllables, some linguists have also identified differences in levels of
stress among full syllables. In some descriptions, a multi-syllable word or compound[e] is said to have the strongest
stress on the final syllable, and the next strongest generally on the first syllable. Others, however, reject this analysis,
noting that the apparent final-syllable stress can be ascribed purely to natural lengthening of the final syllable of a
phrase, and disappears when a word is pronounced within a sentence rather than in isolation. San Duanmu[1]: 136ff
takes this view, and concludes that it is the first syllable that is most strongly stressed. He also notes a tendency for
Chinese to produce trochees – feet consisting of a stressed syllable followed by one (or in this case sometimes more)
unstressed syllables. On this view, if the effect of "final-lengthening" is factored out:
In words (compounds) of two syllables, the first syllable has the main stress, and the second lacks stress.
In words (compounds) of three syllables, the first syllable is stressed most strongly, the second lacks stress, and
the third may lack stress or have secondary stress.
In words (compounds) of four syllables, the first syllable is stressed most strongly, the second lacks stress, and the
third or fourth may lack stress or have secondary stress depending on the syntactic structure of the compound.
The positions described here as lacking stress are the positions in which weak (neutral-tone) syllables may occur,
although full syllables frequently occur in these positions also.
There is a strong tendency for Chinese prose to employ four-syllable 'prosodic words' consisting of alternating stressed
and unstressed syllables which are further subdivided into two trochaic feet. This structure, sometimes known as a
'four-character template' (四字格), is particularly prevalent in chengyu, which are classical idioms that are usually four
characters in length.[44] Statistical analysis of chengyu and other idiomatic phrases in vernacular texts indicates that
the four-syllable prosodic word had become an important metrical consideration by the Wei and Jin dynasties (4th
century CE).[45]
This preference for trochaic feet may even result in polysyllabic words in which the foot and word (morpheme)
boundaries do not align. For example, 'Czechoslovakia' is stressed as 捷克/斯洛/伐克 and 'Yugoslavia' is stressed as 南
斯 / 拉夫 , even though the morpheme boundaries are 捷克 / 斯洛伐克 'Czech[o]/slovak[ia]' and 南 / 斯拉夫
'South/slav[ia]', respectively. The preferred stress pattern also has a complex effect on tone sandhi for the various
Chinese dialects.[46]
This preference for a trochaic metrical structure is also cited as a reason for certain phenomena of word order variation
within complex compounds, and for the strong tendency to use disyllabic words rather than monosyllables in certain
positions.[1]: 145–194 Many Chinese monosyllables have alternative disyllabic forms with virtually identical meaning –
see Chinese grammar § Word formation.
Another function of voice pitch is to carry intonation. Chinese makes frequent use of particles to express certain
meanings such as doubt, query, command, etc., reducing the need to use intonation. However, intonation is still
present in Chinese (expressing meanings rather similarly as in standard English), although there are varying analyses
of how it interacts with the lexical tones. Some linguists describe an additional intonation rise or fall at the end of the
last syllable of an utterance, while others have found that the pitch of the entire utterance is raised or lowered
according to the desired intonational meaning.[1]: 234
Notes
a. Lee & Zee (2003) and Lin (2007) transcribe these as approximants, while Duanmu (2007) transcribes these as
voiced fricatives.
b. Compare the normal treatment in English phonology of "hmm", "unh-unh", "shhh!", and other exclamations that
violate usual phonotactic and allophonic rules.
c. The values of the vowels are discussed in Lee & Zee (2003:110–111), Duanmu (2007:55–58), and Lin (2007:65)
d. "A word pronounced in a wrong tone or inaccurate tone sounds as puzzling as if one said 'bud' in English, meaning
'not good' or 'the thing one sleeps in.'" Chao (1948), p. 24
e. The concepts of "word" and "compound" in Chinese are not easily defined.
References
Citations
1. Duanmu (2000). 9. Wu, Chen-Huei; Shih, Chilin (2009). "Mandarin Vowels
2. Ladefoged & Wu (1984). Revisited: Evidence from Electromagnetic
3. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), pp. 150–154. Articulography" (https://www.researchgate.net/publicati
on/291246853). Annual Meeting of the Berkeley
4. Lee, Wai‐Sum. "An articulatory and acoustical analysis Linguistics Society. 35 (1): 329–340.
of the syllable-initial sibilants and approximant in doi:10.3765/bls.v35i1.3622 (https://doi.org/10.3765%2
Beijing Mandarin" (https://www.internationalphoneticas Fbls.v35i1.3622).
sociation.org/icphs-proceedings/ICPhS1999/papers/p1
4_0413.pdf) (PDF). Proceedings of the 14th 10. Wan, I-Ping; Jaeger, Jeri J. (2003). "The Phonological
Representation of Taiwan Mandarin Vowels: A
International Congress of Phonetic Sciences.
Psycholinguistic Study". Journal of East Asian
5. 普通话是以北京语音为标准音的。那么北京人为什么还 Linguistics. 12 (3): 205–257.
要学习普通话语音呢？这是因为北京话也是一种汉语方 doi:10.1023/A:1023666819363 (https://doi.org/10.102
言。普通话采取北京语音系统作为标准音，并不是不加 3%2FA%3A1023666819363). S2CID 118189894 (http
分析、不加选择地采用，而是要排除北京话的特殊土语 s://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:118189894).
成分。北京话的特殊土语成分可以表现在语音的许多方
面。例如：在声母上，一部分年轻女性把普通话舌面前 11. Hashimoto, Mantaro (1970). "Notes on Mandarin
Phonology". In Jakobson, Roman; Kawamoto, Shigeo
音j、q、x读作舌尖前音z、c、s。[...] 所以，北京人也
有一个学习普通话语音的问题。" (Translation) (eds.). Studies in General and Oriental Linguistics.
"Putonghua takes the Beijing pronunciation as the Tokyo: TEC. pp. 207–220. ISBN 978-0-404-20311-5.
standard pronunciation. Then why would Beijingers 12. Mou, Xiaomin (2006). Nasal Codas in Standard
need to learn Putonghua's pronunciation? Because Chinese: A Study in the Framework of the Distinctive
Beijing Chinese is a Chinese dialect. Putonghua does Feature Theory (Ph.D. thesis). Massachusetts Institute
not absorb the Beijing pronunciation indiscriminately, of Technology. hdl:1721.1/35283 (https://hdl.handle.ne
but has to exclude special dialectal constituents. t/1721.1%2F35283).
Special dialectal constituents of Beijing may exhibit in 13. Duanmu (2007).
many aspects in pronunciation. For instance, in terms 14. Norman (1988), pp. 138–139.
of initials, some young females pronounce anterior 15. Mair, Victor H. (1990). Two Non-Tetragraphic Northern
dorsal j, q, and x as anterior coronal z, c, and s. [...] Sinitic Languages: a) Implications of the Soviet
Therefore, Beijingers still have the problem of learning Dungan Script for Chinese Language Reform (http://si
Putonghua pronunciation." (北京市语言文字工作委员 no-platonic.org/complete/spp018_dungan_gyami.pdf)
会办公室(2005). 普通话水平测试指导用书（北京版）. (PDF). Sino-Platonic Papers, no. 18. Philadelphia, PA:
Beijing: 商务印书馆. p. 6. ISBN 978-7-100-04553-7.) University of Pennsylvania. pp. A-10.
6. Norman (1988), pp. 140–141. 16. Mair, Victor (November 29, 2014). "[reply to comment
7. Duanmu, San. The phonology of standard Chinese (ht in "Punning banned in China"]" (http://languagelog.ldc.
tps://www.worldcat.org/oclc/314220133) (2nd ed.). upenn.edu/nll/?p=16011#comment-1484288).
Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 72–75. ISBN 0- Language Log. Retrieved 30 November 2014. "At the
19-152699-1. OCLC 314220133 (https://www.worldca monosyllabic level, there are a lot of homophones, but
t.org/oclc/314220133). the average length of a word is approximately two
8. Richard Wiese (1997). Underspecification and the syllables. So, at the level of the word, there's no
description of Chinese vowels. In: Wang Jialing & problem with homophony."
Norval Smith (eds.): Studies in Chinese Phonology.
Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin, 219-249.
17. Pollack, John (2011). "Chapter 5 - More than Some 29. Zhang, Ling 張凌 (2018). 香港人學習普通話的聲調偏
Antics: Why Puns Matter". The Pun Also Rises: How 誤之聲學分析 (https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publicatio
the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed ns/%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E4%BA%BA%E5%A
History, and Made Wordplay More Than Some Antics. D%B8%E7%BF%92%E6%99%AE%E9%80%9A%E
New York, NY: Gotham Books. ISBN 978-1-592- 8%A9%B1%E7%9A%84%E8%81%B2%E8%AA%B
40623-4. F%E5%81%8F%E8%AA%A4%E4%B9%8B%E8%8
18. Wines, Michael (11 March 2009). "A Dirty Pun Tweaks 1%B2%E5%AD%B8%E5%88%86%E6%9E%90).
China's Online Censors" (https://www.nytimes.com/20 30. Khoo, Hui-lu 許慧如 (2020). 「台中腔」－台灣中部華
09/03/12/world/asia/12beast.html?em). The New York 語的聲調特徵及其成因初探 (http://tjl.nccu.edu.tw/main/
Times. Retrieved 12 March 2009. uploads/TJL_18.1_.4_version_11_.pdf) [A Preliminary
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ISBN 0-415-15174-0. Chinese). 18 (1): 115–157.
20. Surendran, Dinoj; Levow, Gina-Anne (2004). "The doi:10.6519/TJL.202001_18(1).0004 (https://doi.org/1
Functional Load of Tone in Mandarin Is as High as 0.6519%2FTJL.202001_18%281%29.0004).
That of Vowels" (http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/~dinoj/re 31. Hsu, Huiju (2004). "Taiwan Mandarin - Does It Remain
search/fltonemandarin.pdf) (PDF). Proceedings of the Homogeneous?" (https://scholar.lib.ntnu.edu.tw/en/pu
International Conference on Speech Prosody 2004. blications/taiwan-mandarin-does-it-remain-homogeneo
Nara, Japan. pp. 99–102. Archived (https://web.archiv us-2). 2004 International Symposium on Chinese
e.org/web/20210319202408/http://people.cs.uchicago. Spoken Language Processing: Proceedings:
edu/~dinoj/research/fltonemandarin.pdf) (PDF) from December 15-18, 2004, the Chinese University of
the original on March 19, 2021. Retrieved Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Piscataway, N.J.: IEEE.
November 16, 2021. pp. 129–132. ISBN 0-7803-8678-7.
21. Chao (1968). 32. Zhu & Wang (2015), p. 514.
22. Cao, Wen 曹文, ed. (2007). 汉语语音教程 (https://book 33. Chao (1968), p. 28.
s.google.com/books?id=LSREzgEACAAJ) (in 34. Shen, Xiaonan Susan (1990). "On Mandarin Tone 4".
Chinese). Beijing Shi: 北京语言大学出版社. Australian Journal of Linguistics. 10 (1): 41–59.
23. 上聲 - 國語辭典 (https://www.moedict.tw/%E4%B8%8 doi:10.1080/07268609008599431 (https://doi.org/10.1
A%E8%81%B2) (in Chinese). 中華民國教育部. 080%2F07268609008599431).
Retrieved 2018-11-28. 35. Wang Jialing, The Neutral Tone in Trisyllabic
24. 《古代汉语词典》编写组 (2002). 古代汉语大词典大字 Sequences in Chinese Dialects, Tianjin Normal
本 (in Chinese). Beijing: 商务印书馆. p. 1369. University, 2004
ISBN 978-7-100-03515-6. 36. Zhang, Jie (2007). "A Directional Asymmetry in
25. 中国社会科学院语言研究所词典编辑室 (2006). 现代汉 Chinese Tone Sandhi Systems". Journal of East Asian
语词典（第5版） (in Chinese). Beijing: 商务印书馆. Linguistics. 16 (4): 259–302. doi:10.1007/s10831-007-
p. 1193. ISBN 978-7-100-04385-4. 9016-2 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10831-007-9016-
2). JSTOR 25702296 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/257
26. Fon, Yee-Jean (1999). "What Does Chao Have to Say
02296). S2CID 2850414 (https://api.semanticscholar.o
about Tones? A Case Study of Taiwan Mandarin" (http
rg/CorpusID:2850414).
s://scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw/handle/123456789/349307).
AH. 37. Huang, C.-T. James; Li, Y.-H. Audrey; Simpson,
Andrew (2014). The Handbook of Chinese Linguistics
27. Shi, Feng 石鋒; Deng, Dan 鄧丹 (2006). 普通話與台灣 (https://books.google.com/books?id=t8TDAgAAQBA
國語的語音對比. In Ho, Dah-an 何大安; Cheung, H. J). Wiley Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-470-65534-4.
Samuel 張洪年; Pan, Wuyun 潘悟雲; Wu, Fuxiang 吳
38. Lin 2007.
福祥 (eds.). 山高水長：丁邦新先生七秩壽慶論文集 /
Linguistic Studies in Chinese and Neighboring 39. Yiya Chen and Yi Xu, Pitch Target of Mandarin Neutral
Languages: Festschrift in Honor of Professor Tone (abstract (http://www.ling.yale.edu:16080/labpho
Pang-hsin Ting on His 70th Birthday (http://www.lin n8/Poster_Abstracts/Chen.pdf) Archived (https://web.a
rchive.org/web/20070630040601/http://www.ling.yale.
g.sinica.edu.tw/Files/LL/Docments/Monographs/Lingui
stics%20Studies%20in%20Chinese%20and%20Neigh edu:16080/labphon8/Poster_Abstracts/Chen.pdf)
2007-06-30 at the Wayback Machine), presented at
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3%E9%8B%92&%E9%84%A7%E4%B8%B9.pdf) the 8th Conference on Laboratory Phonology (http://w
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Citation Contours" (https://naccl.osu.edu/sites/naccl.os
u.edu/files/00_sanders-r.pdf) (PDF). In Chan, Marjorie 40. 凡例, section 3.5: "一般读轻声、间或重读的字
K. M.; Kang, Hana (eds.). Proceedings of the 20th {...}"Xiàndài Hànyǔ cídiǎn 现代汉语词典 [A Dictionary
North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics of Current Chinese] (in Chinese) (7th ed.). Beijing: 商
(NACCL-20). Vol. 1. Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio State 务印书馆. 2016. p. 3. ISBN 978-7-100-12450-8.
University. pp. 87–107. 41. "重·次轻词语后一音节的读音不太稳定，有"轻化"倾
向，是"可轻读词语"。"Xing, Fuyi 邢福义 (2011).
Pǔtōnghuà péixùn cèshì zhǐyào 普通话培训测试指要
(in Chinese) (2nd ed.). Wuhan: 华中师范大学出版社.
p. 172. ISBN 978-7-562-24795-1.
42. "4{...}一般读轻声、间或重读的音节{...}"。"Pǔtōnghuà 45. Feng, Shengli (2018). Prosodic Morphology of

shuǐpíng cèshì shíshī gāngyào 普通话水平测试实施纲 Mandarin Chinese. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
要 (in Chinese). Beijing: 商务印书馆. 2004. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-315-39276-9.
ISBN 7-100-03996-7. 46. Duanmu, San (2005). "The Tone-Syntax Interface in
43. Xu, Yi (1993). Contextual tonal variation in Mandarin Chinese: Some Recent Controversies". In Kaji, Sigeki
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darinprimerin00chao). Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-73288-9.
Chao, Yuen Ren (1968). A Grammar of Spoken Chinese (https://archive.org/details/grammarofspokenc0000chao)
(2nd ed.). University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-00219-7.
Duanmu, San (2000). The Phonology of Standard Chinese. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ISBN 9780199258314.
——— (2007). The Phonology of Standard Chinese (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lin, Yen-Hwei (2007). The Sounds of Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-60398-0.
Ladefoged, Peter; Wu, Zongji (1984). "Places of Articulation: An Investigation of Pekingese Fricatives" (https://doi.o
rg/10.1016%2FS0095-4470%2819%2930883-6). Journal of Phonetics. 12: 267–78. doi:10.1016/S0095-
4470(19)30883-6 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0095-4470%2819%2930883-6).
———; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell.
Lee, Wai-Sum; Zee, Eric (2003). "Standard Chinese (Beijing)" (https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambr
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eijing.pdf) (PDF). Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 33 (1): 109–112.
doi:10.1017/S0025100303001208 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100303001208).
Norman, Jerry (1988). Chinese. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29653-3.
Zhu, Xiaonong; Wang, Caiyu (2015). "Tone". In Wang, William S.-Y.; Sun, Chaofen (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of
Chinese Linguistics. Oxford University Press. pp. 503–515. ISBN 978-0-19-985633-6.
國立台灣師範大學; 國音教材編輯委員會 (2008). 國音學 [Mandarin Chinese Phonetics] (in Chinese) (8th ed.). 正中
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External links
Media related to Mandarin pronunciation at Wikimedia Commons
Media related to Chinese pronunciation at Wikimedia Commons
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19/07/2023, 15:22 Standard Chinese phonology - Wikipedia

aspirated t͡ sʰ ʈ͡ ʂʰ (t͡ ɕʰ)

Fricative f s ʂ (ʐ) (ɕ) x~h

Phoneme Audio Wade–

/p/ Like English p but unaspirated – as in spy 邦/bāng b ㄅ p

/pʰ/ Like an aspirated English p, as in pie 旁/páng p ㄆ p῾

/m/ Like English m 明/míng m ㄇ m

/f/ Like English f 非/fēi f ㄈ f

Like English clear l, as in RP lay (never dark, i.e.

/k/ Like English k, but unaspirated, as in scar 干/gān g ㄍ k

/kʰ/ Like an aspirated English k, as in car 口/kǒu k ㄎ k῾

Occurs only in the

Similar to English sh, but with an alveolo-palatal See § Alveolo-palatal

Similar to English sh, but with a retroflex See § Denti-alveolar

Denti-alveolar and retroflex series

treated as an underspecified vowel, attracting features either from the adjacent

Transcriptions of the vowels' allophones (the ways they are pronounced in

Five vowel analysis (pinyin-based)

Nucleus /i/ /u/ /y/ /ə/ /a/

[jʊŋ] [je] [jou̯ ] [ja] [jau̯ ] [jɛn] [jaŋ]

1 ü is written as u after j, q, or x (the /u/ phoneme never occurs in these positions)

Two vowel analysis (bopomofo-based)

Nucleus /ə/ /a/

[y] [ɥe] [yn] [jʊŋ] [ɥɛn]

Full and weak syllables

Preceding sound Form of particle (pinyin) Character

[ŋ], [ɹ̩ ], [ɻ̩ ] a 啊

[i], [y], [e], [o], [a] ya (from ŋja) 呀

Common realization ˥ 55, ˦ ˥˨ 52, ˥˧

Examples 巴/bā 拔/bá 把/bǎ 吧/ba

The Chinese names of the main four tones are

Third tone is a low tone. It is also often termed a "dipping tone".

Realization of neutral tones

Pitch of neutral tone Example

Relationship between Middle Chinese and modern tones

Tone ping (平) shang (上) qu (去) ru (入)

Tone contour 55 35 21(4) 51 pattern 51 35

Third tone sandhi

The principal rule of third tone sandhi is:

Tones on special syllables

1. 不 is pronounced with second tone when followed by a fourth tone syllable.

Example: 不是 (bù+shì, "to not be") becomes búshì [pu˧˥ʂɻ̩ ˥˩]

1. 一 is pronounced with second tone when followed by a fourth tone syllable.

Example: 一定 (yī+dìng, "must") becomes yídìng [i˧˥tiŋ˥˩]

Second and fourth tone change

1-2-1 ˥ ˧˥ ˥ ˥ ˥˦ ˥ kēxuéjiā (科學家; 科学家)

1-2-4 ˥ ˧˥ ˥˩ ˥ ˥˦ ˥˩ xīhóngshì (西紅柿; 西红柿)

2-2-1 ˧˥ ˧˥ ˥ ˧˥ ˥˦ ˥ liúxuéshēng (留學生; 留学生)

2-2-4 ˧˥ ˧˥ ˥˩ ˧˥ ˥˦ ˥˩ yuáncáiliào (原材料)

1-2-2 ˥ ˧˥ ˧˥ ˥ ˥˦ ˧˥ zhuō mícáng (捉迷藏)

1-2-3 ˥ ˧˥ ˨˩ ˥ ˥˦ ˨˩ shānhúdǎo (珊瑚島; 珊瑚岛)

2-2-2 ˧˥ ˧˥ ˧˥ ˧˥ ˥˦ ˧˥ xuélíngqián (學齡前; 学龄前)

2-2-3 ˧˥ ˧˥ ˨˩ ˧˥ ˥˦ ˨˩ Guómíndǎng (國民黨; 国民党)

Pitch Pitch Pitch

3-3-3 ˨˩ ˨˩ ˨˩ ˧˥ ˧˥ ˨˩ ˧˥ ˥˦ ˨˩ pǎomǎchǎng (跑馬場; 跑马场)

2-3-3 ˧˥ ˨˩ ˨˩ ˧˥ ˧˥ ˨˩ ˧˥ ˥˦ ˨˩ nóngchǎnpǐn (農產品; 农产品)

1-3-3 ˥ ˨˩ ˨˩ ˥ ˧˥ ˨˩ ˥ ˥˦ ˨˩ kānshǒusǔo (看守所)

4-4-1 ˥˩ ˥˩ ˥ ˥˧ ˧ ˥ jìsuànjī (計算機; 计算机)