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This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Mandarin on Wikipedia. It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Mandarin in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing
consensus on the
talk page first.
The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Standard Mandarin pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-cmn }}, {{IPAc-cmn }} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters .
See Standard Chinese phonology for more detail on the sounds of Mandarin Chinese.
Vowels
IPA
Pinyin
Wade–Giles
Bopomofo
Chinese example
English approximation
a
a
ㄚ,ㄢ,ㄤ
阿,安,盎
ca r
e r
ê rh
ㄦ
二,兒(儿)
ɛ ~æ
ya n/-ia n
ye n/-ie n
ㄧㄢ
言
se t or sa t
yua n/-üa n
ㄩㄢ
元
e
ye /-ie , yue /-üe
eh
ㄝ
也,月
he y
ə
e n,[lower-alpha 4] e ng
ê n, ê ng
ㄣ,ㄥ
本,冷
a top
ɚ
er
êrh
ㄦ
二,兒(儿)
fer n[lower-alpha 5]
ɤ
e
ê / o[lower-alpha 6]
ㄜ
厄
between boo t and bu t
i
yi/-i
ㄧ
李
city
o
wo /-uo [lower-alpha 7] /-o u
o[lower-alpha 8]
ㄛ
果 ,狗
go , but without lip rounding
ɻ̩
zhi , chi , shi , ri
ih
ㄭ [lower-alpha 9]
之,吃,師(师),日
Below, but with tongue curled or pulled back
ɹ̩
zi , ci , si
ŭ
子,次,私
rose s, cousi n
u
wu/-u
ㄨ
土
coo l
ʊ
-o ng
-u ng
ㄨㄥ,ㄩㄥ
冬,用
boo k
y
yu/-ü[lower-alpha 3]
yü/-ü
ㄩ
雨
bee t, but with the lips rounded as for boo t
Diphthongs
aɪ
ai
ㄞ
艾
ti me
aʊ
ao
ㄠ
凹
somewhat like ou t
eɪ
ei[lower-alpha 4]
ㄟ
杯
fa ce
oʊ
ou[lower-alpha 4]
ㄡ
歐(欧)
show
Tones
IPA
Pinyin
Wade–Giles
Bopomofo
Chinese example
Tone number
Description
á
ā
a1
ㄚ
巴/bā
tone 1
high level [˥]
ǎ
á
a2
ㄚˊ
拔/bá
tone 2
mid rising [˧˥]
à
ǎ
a3
ㄚˇ
把/bǎ
tone 3
medially, low [˩] ; initially, mid falling [˧˩] ; finally, low rising [˩˧] ; in isolation, dipping [˧˩˧]
â
à
a4
ㄚˋ
爸/bà
tone 4
high falling [˥˩]
a
a
a0
˙ㄚ
吧/ba
tone 0 or 5 (toneless)
mid [˧] after all tones but 4, where it is low [˩]
Note: Pinyin uses the same diacritics as IPA but with different values.
↑ 1,0 1,1 [ɕ, tɕ, tɕʰ] are always followed by [i] [j] , [y] , or [ɥ] .
↑ Also transcribed as ɻ in some literature.
↑ 3,0 3,1 ü (/y / ) is spelled u after j, q, x in pinyin since /u / cannot occur after them.
↑ 4,0 4,1 4,2 wei , you /yu , wen /wên are spelled respectively ui , iu , un in Pinyin and Wade-Giles but are pronounced identically when they are preceded by a consonant.
↑ The rhotic vowel also appears in erhua .
↑ This sound is spelled ⟨o⟩ after ⟨k, k', h⟩ in Wade-Giles.
↑ This sound is spelled ⟨o⟩ after ⟨b, p, m, f⟩ in Pinyin.
↑ ㄨㄛ is spelled as ⟨o⟩, except for ⟨k, k', h, sh⟩ (as ⟨kuo, k'uo, huo, shuo⟩) in Wade-Giles.
↑ This symbol is rarely used and usually omitted during writing.
Duanmu, San (2007). The Phonology of Standard Chinese (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lee, Wai-Sum; Zee, Eric (2003). "Standard Chinese (Beijing)" (PDF) . Journal of the International Phonetic Association . 33 (1): 109–112. doi :10.1017/S0025100303001208 .
Lin, Yen-Hwei (2007). The Sounds of Chinese . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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