Tones:
Part of the Pin-Yin romanization (and other methods) are the unique tones of the Chinese language. It is sometimes referred to as the language that is "sung". Each syllable has a tone or movement of it's pitch which is important to the meaning of the word.
Unfortunately, there is nothing in English that parallels this concept. In English, an incorrect inflection of a sentence can render the sentence difficult to understand... in Chinese an incorrect intonation of a single word can completely change it's meaning.
Initial Sounds:
These initial letters have the same pronunciation as in English:
M-- (as in "man")
N-- (as in "no")
L-- (as in "letter")
F-- (as in "from")
S-- (as in "sheep")
W-- (as in "woman")
Y-- (as in "yes")
The following initial letters have slight differences as noted below. If the comment calls for a strong puff of breath, old your open hand several inches from your mouth and make certain that you can actually "feel" the breath as you pronounce the letter.
P-- (as in "pun") note: use a strong puff of breath
K-- (as in "cola") note: use a strong puff of breath
T-- (as in "tongue") note: use a strong puff of breath
B-- (as in "bum") note: no puff of breath
?D-- (as in "dung") note: no puff of breath
G-- (as in "good") note: no puff of breath
H-- (as in "hot") note: slightly more aspirated than in English
The following initial letters are the more difficult for English speakers:
ZH-- (as in "jeweler")
CH-- (as in ZH above, but with a strong puff of breath)
SH-- (as in "shoe")
R-- (as in "run")
C-- (like the "ts" in "it's high", but with a strong puff of breath)
J-- (as in "Jeff")
Q-- (like the "ch" in "cheese")
X-- (like the "sh" in "sheep")
Final (Ending) Sounds:
The finals connect with the Intitial sounds to create the one syllable words that are the basis of the Chinese language.
Although all Chinese words are one syllable, they are often combined to create terms made from several words.
-a (as in father)
-an (like the sounds of "John" or "ahn")
-ang (like the sound of "an" above (ahng) with the addition of "g")
-ai (as in "high")
-ao (as in "how")
-ar (as in "bar")
-o (like "aw")
-ou (like the "ow" in "low") ?
-ong (like the "ung" in "jungle" with a slight "oo" sound)
-e (sounds like "uh")
-en (like "un" in "under")
-eng (like the "ung" in "lung")
-ei (like a long "a" or the "ei" in "eight")
-er (like the "er" in "herd")
-i (like a long "e" or the "i" in "machine")
-in (as in "bin")
-ing (like "sing")
-u (like the "oo" in "loop")
-un (as in "fun")
Putting It All Together (Initial and Final Sounds):
Try some of these words. You can refer to the individual "Intitial" and "Final" descriptions above if you need.
Ni (sounds like "knee")
Hao (sounds like "how" with a little more aspiration)
Dong (sounds like "doong")
Qi (sounds like "chee")
Gong (sounds like "gung")
Tai (sounds like "tie")
Ji (sounds like "gee")
Quan (sounds like "chwan")
Note that when several words are put together, the meanings often change considerably. For instance "Ni" means "you" and "Hao" means "good", yet "Ni Hao" means "Hello". This particular translation occurs because, in China, a greeting is often the question "Are you well?", which uses the words "you and good". A study of the culture helps one understand many of these phrases which seem to translate strangely to our Western minds. Another greeting is "Have you eaten?", which is often used when greeting someone while at home
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