Learn Hanyu Pinyin in 24 Days

PREFACE

汉语拼音

Chinese is not a phonetic language. The pronunciation is not related to the writing of Chinese characters. In general, pronunciation pronunciation cannot be derived from looking at Chinese characters, although sometimes characters with common parts have similar pronunciation. pronunciation. Pinyin （拼音） is a way to represent Chinese characters and

Learn Hanyu Pinyin in 24 Days -- A Guide for Beginners --

BY Min Min http://www.learnchineseeveryday.com

express the sounds in the Chinese language using the Roman alphabet. 拼音 means to join together, or spell out sounds. It is a way to transcribe Chinese characters so people can pronounce it. It serves the same purpose as the international phonetic symbols used in dictionaries which show how English words are pronounced. Pinyin was adopted as the official system in China in 1958, and has since become a standard form used by news agencies as well as educational institutions. It is now generally recognized as the standard for Romanization of Chinese throughout most of the world. There are other systems that have been devised for transcribing Chinese sounds into the Roman alphabet, but Pinyin is the most accepted and widely used. Pinyin is the basic foundation of your Chinese study. It teaches you how to pronounce Chinese through phonetic spelling with the English alphabet. (Although Pinyin and English both use the Roman alphabet, many letters are not expressed with the same sounds that English uses. About half the time letters in pinyin

represent different sounds from what they would in a typical English word.) Without any knowledge of Pinyin, you won't be able to learn how to pronounce Chinese characters properly, so this is the absolute must-do course for those starting to learn Chinese. Besides pronunciation, Pinyin is also the most common method to input Chinese characters into a computer.

This PDF e-book contains audios for Pinyin pronunciation. For the audios to work, you need to open this e-book with Acrobat Reader 9 or above. You can download the reader here: ( http://get.adobe.com/reader/ http://get.adobe.com/reader/)) These are the audio icons:

I don‟t think this can be over emphasized enough how important these early stages stages of pronunciation practice practice are. As once you have developed a bad pronunciation habit, it will be very hard for you to break. You will be very glad you you spent the time you did practicing the basic and correct pronunciation of Chinese.

HOW TO USE THIS AUDIO E-BOOK

In order to play the audio, click on these icons. For first time playing the audio, audio, you will be prompted prompted with a security warning: warning:

“Some features have been disabled to avoid potential security risks. Only enable these features if you trust this document”. You have to “trust this document always” in order for the audio to work.

This is a well-organized audio e-book and is a great introduction of Hanyu Pinyin for the beginners. This e-book consists of 24 lessons which are broken down into 5 main sections: Section 1 : Tones Section 2 : S imple Vowels Section 3 : Initials Section 4 : Compound and Nasal Vowels Section 5 : Pinyin Rules

Ok, let‟s get started with Chinese Pinyin course! I hope you find this audio e-book helpful!

NOTICE OF RIGHTS RIGHTS Most of the content of this book are in the public domain. I hereby waive all claim of copyright in this work; it may be used or altered in any manner without attribution or notice to me.

Learn Hanyu Pinyin in 24 Days 2

LearnChineseEveryday.com

represent different sounds from what they would in a typical English word.) Without any knowledge of Pinyin, you won't be able to learn how to pronounce Chinese characters properly, so this is the absolute must-do course for those starting to learn Chinese. Besides pronunciation, Pinyin is also the most common method to input Chinese characters into a computer.

This PDF e-book contains audios for Pinyin pronunciation. For the audios to work, you need to open this e-book with Acrobat Reader 9 or above. You can download the reader here: ( http://get.adobe.com/reader/ http://get.adobe.com/reader/)) These are the audio icons:

I don‟t think this can be over emphasized enough how important these early stages stages of pronunciation practice practice are. As once you have developed a bad pronunciation habit, it will be very hard for you to break. You will be very glad you you spent the time you did practicing the basic and correct pronunciation of Chinese.

HOW TO USE THIS AUDIO E-BOOK

In order to play the audio, click on these icons. For first time playing the audio, audio, you will be prompted prompted with a security warning: warning:

“Some features have been disabled to avoid potential security risks. Only enable these features if you trust this document”. You have to “trust this document always” in order for the audio to work.

This is a well-organized audio e-book and is a great introduction of Hanyu Pinyin for the beginners. This e-book consists of 24 lessons which are broken down into 5 main sections: Section 1 : Tones Section 2 : S imple Vowels Section 3 : Initials Section 4 : Compound and Nasal Vowels Section 5 : Pinyin Rules

Ok, let‟s get started with Chinese Pinyin course! I hope you find this audio e-book helpful!

NOTICE OF RIGHTS RIGHTS Most of the content of this book are in the public domain. I hereby waive all claim of copyright in this work; it may be used or altered in any manner without attribution or notice to me.



While you are under no obligation to do so, I would appreciate it if you give me credit for any work of mine that you use, and ideally, link back to the original. If you feel like spreading a copy of this book, you may do so without payment.

NOTICE OF LIABILITY LIABILITY The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information herein. However, the information contained in this book is distributed distributed without warranty, warranty, either either express or implied. implied.



SUMMARY OF CONTENTS

Day 18 :

ang eng ing ong ……………………… .

56

Day 19 :

ia iao …………………………………… ..

58

Day 1 : Tones .………………………………………

6

Day 20 :

ian iang iong …………………………. ..

60

Day 2 : Rules of Tone Marks ……………………….

10

Day 21 :

ua uo uai ……………………………… ..

62

Day 3 :

a o e ………………………………………

13

Day 22 :

uan uang üan ………………………… ..

64

Day 4 :

i u ü ………………………………………

15

Day 23 : Spelling Rules …………………………… ..

68

Day 5 :

b p m f …………………………………..

19

Day 24 : Changes of Tones …………………………

73

Day 6 :

d t n l ……………………………………

23

Day 7 : g

k h ……………………………………...

26

Day 8 : j

q x ………………………………………

29

ch sh r ……………………………….

31

c s ………………………………………

34

Day 11 :

y w ……………………………………….

37

Day 12 :

ai ei ui ……………………………………

41

Day 13 :

ao ou iu ………………………………….

43

Day 14 :

ie üe ………………………………………

45

Day 15 :

er ………………………………………….

48

Day 16 :

an en ……………………………………. .

51

Day 17 :

in un ün ……………………………….. ..

53

Day 9 : zh Day 10 : z



Section 1 Tones (声调)



DAY 1 Tones In English, tones are used to indicate whether a sentence is a general statement, a request or a command. Changing the tone in English will change the mood or the emphasis of the sentence, but not the meaning of the sentence. In Chinese, each word has a tone. If you do not use the right tone, it could completely change the meaning of the word. Chinese tones ( 声调) are especially difficult for Western learners. Comparing to English which only has rising tone and falling tone, Chinese has four tones, including upper tone ( 阴平), lower even (阳平), falling-rising tone ( 上声) and falling tone ( 去声). There is

Relative pitch changes of the four tones

Chinese is a tonal language. Mastering the tones is the key to speaking Chinese. Every Chinese character is a syllable with a fixed tone. If the tone is wrong, the meaning is changed right away, and in some cases corresponds with no existing Chinese character.

one more neutr al tone, referred to by the Chinese as „light sound‟ ( 轻声 ). Each tone has a distinctive pitch contour which can be graphed using the Chinese 5-level system as shown. The reason for having these tones is probably that the Chinese language has only very few possible syllables, approximately 400, while English has about 12,000. For this reason, there are more homophones, words with the same sound expressing different meanings, in Chinese than in English.



Let‟s see an example. While you are reading a book and your brother (or sister or child) keeps on interrupting you. You are likely to become annoyed and say “I‟m trying to read a book!”. In English, this would be said with an emphatic falling tone at the end.

I am trying to read a book

The Pinyin system uses diacritics to mark the four tones. The diacritic marks are placed over finals ( ɑ o e i u ü) . Table below describes all the Chinese tones in details. Tone

Mark

Description

1 st Tone

ˉ

Flat or High Level Tone.

(阴平) In Chinese, 书 (book) has a flat tone.

ā ō ē ī ū ǖ 2 nd Tone

I want to read a book.

wǒ yào kàn shū

Like the reciting “A B C D”

(阳平)

。

ˊ

Rising or High-Rising Tone

Like a surprised “Huh?”

á ó é í ú ǘ

我要看书。

3 rd Tone (上声)

ˇ

Like an indecisive “Well…”

ǎ ǒ ě ǐ ǔ ǚ

But if you use a falling tone for 书 (book), as in English, the meaning changes completely.

Falling-Rising or Low Tone

4 th Tone (去声)

ˋ

I want to see the tree.

Falling or High-Falling Tone

Like a purposeful “Yes!”

à ò è ì ù ǜ

wǒ yào kàn shù 。

5 th Tone

Neutral Tone

我要看树。

(轻声)

ɑ o e i u ü

Notes:

The tone marks are placed over the vowels. If the letter “ i ” has a tone mark over it, the dot is omitted.



Tone Drills

Below are a few characters that have the same pinyin but with 4 different tones. Try to read each character aloud and make sure you can pronounce them correctly. Sound

Characters

yī

yí

yǐ

yì

一

宜

椅

亿

wū

wú

wǔ

wù

屋

无

五

物

yān

yán

yǎn

yàn

烟

言

眼

燕

mā

má

mǎ

mà

妈

麻

马

骂

bā

bá

bǎ

bà

八

拔

把

爸

xuē

xué

xuě

xuè

靴

学

雪

血


fēi

féi

fěi

fèi

飞

肥

匪

肺

dī

dí

dǐ

dì

低

敌

底

弟

dā

dá

dǎ

dà

搭

答

打

大

t āng

táng

t ǎng

tàng

汤

糖

躺

烫

yāo

yáo

yǎo

yào

腰

遥

咬

要

qi āng

qiáng

qi ǎng

qiàng

枪

强

抢

呛


Neutral tones

Exercise 1.1:

Some syllables in Chinese are toneless or occur in the neutral tone.

Listen to the tongue twisters below. Try to mimic the sound as closely as possible.

i.

Particles are always in the neutral tone. e.g.: 了 ( le )，的 ( de ) 。

ii.

Tongue Twister 1:

The second half of a reduplicated word is often in the neutral tone. e.g.: 哥哥（ gēge ） (elder brother) ，妈妈（ māma ）

iii.

A mother who is riding on a horse thinks that it is slow and so she curses it.

(mum) ，爸爸（ bàba ） (dad) ，妹妹（ mèimei ）

mā ma qí mǎ , mǎ màn , mā ma mà

(younger sister).

mǎ

Syllables such as zi that only have a „fill-in‟ function (i.e. to make the word disyllabic) are toneless.

妈妈骑马，马慢，妈妈骂马。

e.g.: 杯子（ bēizi）(cup), 桌子（ zhuōzi）(table), 椅 iv.

子（yǐzi）(chair). The second syllable in compound words is sometimes toneless and is so indicated in the text. In another context it may have a full tone. Some people may pronounce certain words with a tone, some without, as in the word „east side‟ which may also be pronounced as , particularly when „r‟ is added:

Tones are one of the biggest challenges for Chinese learners, but they are indispensable for speaking and understanding Chinese. Therefore it is very important to make sure that you get the tones right before you start learning Chinese. So practice your tones!


Tongue Twister 2:

A little girl who is herding a cow finds it stubborn and so she pinches it.

niū niū gǎn niú

， niú

nìng ， niū niū

niǔ niú 。妞妞赶牛，牛拧，妞妞扭牛。


DAY 2 Rules for Tone Marks

The possible vowel combinations are listed below, with the vowel that receives the tone marked as second tone.

a

i

o

a

ai

ao

e

ei

i

e







ia, iao 



ie

io





o Tone marks (调号) in Hanyu Pinyin should always be placed over finals (ɑ o e i u ü) , not initials. When there is only one vowel in a syllable, the tone mark is put above the final. However, when there is more than one final in a row, you may be uncertain about which final should take the tone mark. For example, if you are

u ü

ua, uai 



ue 

üe



Here are a few very simple guidelines that help to find the correct final letter for the tone mark (when there is more than one):

3.

If there is an „ɑ‟, it will always take the tone mark. If there is no „ɑ‟, „o‟ or „e‟ will take the tone mark. (There are no Chinese syllables in Pinyin that contain both „o‟ and „e‟.) Otherwise, the second vowel takes the tone mark.


iu ou 



given 跳 (tiao), is it tìao, tiào, or tiaò ?

1. 2.

u


uí

uo



ü

Exercise 2.1: Put a correct tone mark on the following syllables: th 1. bao （抱）- 4 tone rd

2. guo （果）- 3 tone 3. tie （铁） - 3rd tone rd 4. ke （可） - 3 tone th 5. jiao （叫） - 4 tone rd 6. mou （某） - 3 tone th

7. que （雀）- 4 tone 8. qiu （球）- 2nd tone 9. gui （龟） - 1st tone



Section 2

There are 6 single finals ( 单韵母 ):

a

Single Finals (单韵母)



o

e

i

u

ü

DAY 3 a o e

Examples 3.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning ah

ā 啊

a

Open your mouth widely with the tongue in the lowest vertically. The lips are not rounded. Like „a‟ in father.

o

Contract the tongue toward the root direction and at the same time raise the tongue to the half-high position and round your lips. The mouth is half open.

oh

ó 哦

Like „oor‟ in poor.

e

Contract the tongue toward the root direction and at the same time raise the tongue to the half-high position. Stretch the corners of the mouth towards two sides slightly. The lips are not rounded. The mouth is half open.

goose

é 鹅

Like „ir‟ in girl.



Examples 3.2:

Word

Exercise 3.1: Choose the correct pinyin for each word:

Pinyin

Meaning (elder) brother

Word

Meaning forehead

gē ge

额

哥哥

Choose One 1). 2). 3).

ã ě â

dad

bàba

evil

恶

爸爸

1). 2). 3).

ã ě â

mother-in-law; (dialect) grandmother crocodile

pópo

鳄

婆婆

1). 2). 3).



ã ě â

DAY 4 i u ü i

Examples 4.1:

Word

u ü

Use the same tongue position as in pronouncing Chinese “i”, then draw your lips in to form a perfect circle as small as possible.

Meaning clothes

yī 衣

Place your tongue in the high position and the tongue should touch the back of the lower front teeth, at the same time, stretch the corners of the mouth towards two sides. Like ea in beat. Contract your tongue toward the root and keep the tongue tip in the low position. Make your mouth shape rounded. Like oo in wood.

Pinyin

crow

wū 乌

fish


yú 鱼


Examples 4.2:

Word

Exercise 4.1: Fill in the blank:

Pinyin

Meaning chicken

Word

Meaning

Choose One

stomach

jī

肚

鸡

cloth

d __

pear

bù

梨

l __

布

donkey

lǘ

girl

女

驴



n __

Notes:

1. ü is written as u (without the 2 dots above) when it is used with initial j, q, x, or y. T ough it is written as u, it is pronounced as ü. Examples:

j

jū ( 居 )

q

qù ( 去 )

x

xū ( 虚 )

y

yú ( 鱼 )

2. In Chinese Pinyin system, there is no syllable with initial j, q, x or y combines with final u.



Section 3 Initials

There are 21 initials ( 声母 ) (excluding y and w ):

b p d t g k j q zh ch z c

(声母)



m n h x sh s

f l

r

DAY 5 b p m f

Examples 5.1: ( b p )

Word

Pinyin

Meaning pen

bǐ 笔

b p

Completely close both lips and then release the compressed air in the mouth suddenly, keep the shape of your lips as in pronouncing "o". Like b in bore but voiceless. Begin as pronouncing "b". But when pronouncing "p", release the compressed air in the mouth to make an aspirated sound. Like p in put, but is invariably produced with a strong puff of air.

m

It is pronounced by keeping the lips tightly closed and the soft palate drops to let the air out through the nose. Like m in money.

f

The upper front teeth touch the lower lip lightly and let the air escape between them. Like f in five.


eight

bā 八

break

pò 破


Examples 5.3: ( m f )

Examples 5.2: ( b p )

Word

Pinyin

Word

Meaning

Pinyin

Meaning rice

steal

mǐ

pá 米

扒

axe

pull up

fǔ

bá

斧

拔

scold nose

mà

bí

骂

鼻



Examples 5.4: ( m f )

Word

Pinyin

Meaning

Exercise 5.1: For each Chinese character, select the correct answer from the box below:

parents

f à fó pá mù

fùmǔ

pō

父母 Word

Meaning hair

rocking horse

发

mùmǎ 木马 Buddha husband and wife

佛

fūfù 夫妇



Answer

Word

Meaning

Answer

climb

爬

wood

木

slope

坡



DAY 6 d t n l

Examples 6.1: ( d t )

Word

Pinyin

Meaning read

dú 读

d t n l

Put the tongue tips against the upper teeth ridge to block the air and then put it down to release the air suddenly. Like d in door but voiceless. It is pronounced in the same position for "d", but explodes with a strong puff of air. It is an aspirated equivalent of "d". Like t in team. When producing this sound, the tip of the tongue presses against the upper gum to completely block the air stream from the oral cavity and let the air out through the nose. Like n in need.

rabbit

tù 兔

ladder

tī 梯

When producing this sound, the tongue tip is a little behind the position for "n" to allow the air to run out from both sides of the tongue. Like l in look. Learn Hanyu Pinyin in 24 Days 23


Examples 6.3: ( n l )

Examples 6.2: ( d t )

Word

Pinyin

Word

Meaning

Pinyin

Meaning donkey

cocks crow

lǘ

tí 驴

啼

women

poison

dú

nǚ

毒

女

pagoda

pear

tǎ

lí

塔

梨



Examples 6.4: ( n l )

Word


Pinyin

Meaning deer

Word

Meaning

Answer

road

lù

路

鹿

1). 2).

pull

lā

spit

吐

1).

拉

2).

怒

1). 2).

六


tù dù

angry

six

liù

lù nù


lù nù

DAY 7 g k h

Examples 7.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning drum

gǔ 鼓

g

Raise the root of the tongue and let it touch the soft palate so that the air stream is stopped, lower your tongue quickly and let the air out. Like g in girl but voiceless.

k

The tongue position of producing this sound is the same as "g", but explodes with a strong puff of air. Like k in kick.

h

It is pronounced by raising the back of the tongue to the soft palate to make a narrow passage for the air to be expelled with friction. Like h in heart.

cough

ké 咳

tiger

hǔ 虎




Examples 7.2:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning Word

river

Meaning pigeon

hé

鸽

Answer 1). 2).

河

3).

card

cry

卡

kū

1). 2). 3).

哭

drink bone

喝

gǔ

1). 2). 3).

骨



gē kē hē gǎ kǎ hǎ

gē kē hē

Extra Activity: Tongue Twisters

rào kǒu lìng

小兔子做裤子

Listen and practice each phrase slowly, then practice them quickly. Here are the 3 words that you need to pay attention to: 

兔子 (tù

zi )

rabbit



裤子 (kù

zi )

pants



肚子 (dù

zi )

stomach; belly

xiǎo tù zi zuò kù zi 量了裤子量肚子 liàng le kù zi liàng dù zi

做好裤子提不上肚子

小兔子做裤子，

zuò hǎo kù zi tí bú shàng dù zi

量了裤子量肚子，做好裤子提不上肚子，

小兔子看裤子

小兔子看裤子，

xiǎo tù zi kàn kù zi

不知是没量准裤子，

不知是没量准裤子

还是没量准肚子。

bú zhī shì méi liàng zhǔn kù zi

Meaning: A little rabbit was making pants. He measured out the fabric for the pants and measured his waist, made the pants, but can't pull it up. The little rabbit looked at the pants, and doesn't know if he measured the pants wrong or measured his waist wrong.

还是没量准肚子


hái shì méi liàng zhǔn dù zi


DAY 8 j q x

Examples 8.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning saw

jù 锯

j

Raise the front part of the tongue to touch the hard palate, then let the tip of your tongue touch the back of the lower teeth and produce this sound by letting the air squeeze out between the surface of the tongue and the palate. Like j in jeep.

q

The manner and place of articulation are the same as in pronouncing the "j", however, "q" is an aspirated sound. Like cheek, with the lips spread wide with ee.

x

The place of articulation is the same as in producing "j" and "q". However, for "j" and "q", the air stream initially is blocked and then forced out, while for

“x”, the air stream is not blocked

flag

qí 旗

mat

xí 席

during the whole pronouncing process. Like she, with the lips spread and the tip of your tongue curled downwards and stuck to the back of teeth when you say ee. Learn Hanyu Pinyin in 24 Days 29


Exercise 8.1: Fill in the blank with the correct Pinyin

Examples 8.2:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning Word

lift up

jǔqǐ

Sentence

骑

mèimei ____ mùmǎ。

洗

māma ____ dì。

举起

beard

húxū 胡须

hen

mǔjī 母鸡



DAY 9 zh ch sh r zh ch sh

r

Turn up the tongue tip against the front part of the hard palate to block the air and then release the air through the narrow air passage between the tongue tip and the hard palate. Like dge in judge. The place of articulation is very similar to "zh", but the air should be forced out through the narrow passage. It is an aspirated equivalent of "zh". Like ch in teach. It is pronounced by turning up the tongue tip close to the hard palate to make a narrow passage through which the air escapes with friction. Like sh in English.



The sound is produced by rolling up the tip of tongue toward the front end of the hard palate. Then let the tongue tip touch the hard palate lightly. Finally, let the air squeeze out between the tongue tip and the hard palate while vibrating the vocal cords. Like r in round.

Examples 9.1:

Word

Examples 9.2:

Pinyin

Meaning

Word

Pinyin

bamboo

Meaning spider

zhīzhū

zhú shù 蜘蛛

竹树

sunrise

hot tea

rìchū

rèchá

日出

热茶

stone carving lion

bookcase

shíshī

shūchú

石狮

书橱




Word

Notes: 1. These 4 sounds are retroflexed, so make sure you feel your tongue curled when you read them.

Meaning paper

纸

Answer 1). 2). 3). 4).

car

车

1). 2). 3). 4).

sand

沙

1). 2). 3).

zhǐ chǐ shǐ rǐ

2. For r, please be noted that in English when you pronounce something like rain, your tongue is hung in your mouth without touching anywhere inside. But to pronounce the Pinyin r, you just make the front surface of your tongue close to the roof of your mouth, as well as the curling advice.

zhē chē shē rē zhā chā shā



DAY 10 z c s z c s

Examples 10.1:

Word

It is produced by putting forward the tongue tip to a position close to the lower gum to make a narrow passage between the tongue and the teethridge for the air to run out with friction. Like s in sound.


Meaning clean / scrub

cāxǐ 擦洗

It is pronounced by putting forward the tongue to block the air with its tip against the teethridge, and then drop the tip to release the air with friction through the narrow passage. Like ds in clouds The manner of articulation is very similar to "z", but "c" is aspirated. Like ts in cats.

Pinyin

footprint

zújì 足迹

bodhisattva

púsà 菩萨


Examples 10.2:

Word


Pinyin

Meaning driver

Word

sījī

Sentence

撕破

tā bǎ shū ______ le。

狮子

______ de tǐ gé cū dà。

司机

porcelain

cíqì 瓷器

letter

zìmǔ 字母



Extra Activity: Tongue Twisters

rào kǒu lìng

四是四，十是十

Listen and practice each phrase slowly, then practice them quickly. Here are the 3 words that you need to pay attention to: 

四 (sì) four



十 (shì) ten



是 (shì) is

sì shì sì ，shí shì shí

四不是十 sì bú shì shí

四是四，十是十，

十不是四

四不是十，

shí bú shì sì

十不是四，

四乘十是四十

四乘十是四十，

sì chéng shí shì sì shí

四加十是十四。

四加十是十四

Meaning: Four is four, ten is ten. Four is not ten, ten is not four. Four times ten is forty. Four plus ten is fourteen.


sì jiā shí shì shí sì


DAY 11 y w y w

Examples 11.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning crow

wūyā 乌鸦

Like y in yesterday, but it can be produced with slight friction. dentist Like w in wood, but it can be produced with slight friction.

yáyī 牙医

ants nest

yǐ wō 蚁窝



Examples 11.2:

Word


Pinyin

Meaning Mallard duck

Word

椰子

yěyā 野鸭

Sentence

____ zi

roof tiles

wū wǎ 屋瓦娃娃

____ ____

raincoat

yǔyī 雨衣



Notes:

with vowel(s) after u

1. y and w are special sign in Hanyu Pinyin. When acting as initials, they retain their sounds or are silent in the cases of “yi” and “wu”. When they act as the first part of a final, w is represented as u, and y is represented as i or ü. 2. When there is no initial before finals starting with i, y shall be added as initial. i. If there is another vowel after i, i should be changed to y. Example: with vowel(s) after i Final

-ie

-iou

-ian

-ia

-iang

-iao

-iong

Syllable

ye

you

yan

ya

yang

yao

yong

Word

叶

有

眼

牙

羊

要

永

ii.

If there is no other vowel after i, add y before i. Example:

Final

-ua

-uo

-uai

-uei

-uan

-uen

-uang

-ueng

Syllable

wa

wo

wai

wei

wan

wen

wang

weng

Word

娃我外

未

玩

文

网

翁

ii.

If there is no other vowel after u, add w before u. without vowel after u

Final

-u

Syllable

wu

Word

屋

4. In ü column of finals, when the syllable is in zero initial, whether there is another vowel after the u or not, add y before ü, and the two dots on the ü must be omitted.

without vowel after i Final

-i

-in

-ing

Syllable

yi

yin

Word

一

因

ü Final

-ü

-üe

-üan

-ün

ying

Syllable

yu

yue

yuan

yun

应

Word

鱼

月

圆

云

3. When there is no initial before finals starting with u, w shall be added as initial. i. If there is another vowel after u, change u to w.



Compound finals ( 复韵母 ):

Section 4 Compound & Nasal Finals (复韵母 & 鼻韵母)


ai ao ie er ia ua

ei ou üe iao uo

ui iu

uai

Nasal finals ( 鼻韵母 ):

an in ang ian uan


en un ün eng ing iang iong uang

ong

DAY 12 ai ei ui

Examples 12.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning queue up

páiduì 排队

ai

Like eye or vowel sound in fly

boiling water

ei ui

Like the long „a‟ in English vowel as

kāishuǐ

in pay and eight.

开水 Like ay in way.

cover oneself with quilt

gài bèi 盖被



Examples 12.2:

Word


Pinyin

Meaning tortoise

Word

买菜

guī

Sentence

māma qù shìchǎng

______ 。

龟

sea

hǎi 海开会

bàba zài ______ 。

fly

f ēi 飞



DAY 13 ao ou iu ao

Examples 13.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning shake one's head

yáotóu 摇头

Like ow in cow.

beef

ou iu

Like oa in boat.

niúròu 牛肉

Like yo in yo-yo.

morning exercises

zǎocāo 早操



Examples 13.2:

Word


Pinyin

Meaning the right hand

yòushǒu

Word

Sentence

收到

tā ______ hěn duō lǐwù。

一头牛

yǒu ______ zài chī cǎo。

右手

run away

táozǒu 逃走

din; hubbub

chǎonào 吵闹



DAY 14 ie üe ie üe

Like ye in yellow or yes.

Examples 14.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning white snow

báixuě 白雪

butterfly

Nothing really close in English. Listen and repeat.

húdié 蝴蝶

moonlight night

yuèyè 月夜



Examples 14.2:

Word


Pinyin

Meaning sparrow

máquè

Word

Sentence

雪糕

Dìdi ài chī ______ 。

跌倒

Tā ______ zàidì。

麻雀

hunt

dǎliè 打猎

street

jiēdào 街道



Notes:

1. üe is written as ue (without the 2 dots above) when it is used with initial j, q, x, or y. Examples:

j

jué ( 绝 )

q

què ( 雀 )

x

y

xuě (

雪 )

yuè ( 月 )

2. There is no final ue in Pinyin system.



DAY 15 er er

Examples 15.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning ear phone

ěrjī 耳机

Put your tongue and lip in position as when pronouncing Chinese “e”, then raise the middle part of your tongue slightly and at the same time roll up the tip of your tongue backward. Like er in butter in American English pronunciation.

rabbit

tù ér 兔儿

number 2

dì'èr 第二



Examples 15.2:

Word


Pinyin

Meaning ear

Word

Meaning erhu

ěrduo

二胡

耳朵


ear-piercing

cì'ěr

bait

鱼饵

刺耳

1). 2). 3).

daughter

nǚ'ér

donkey

驴儿

女儿

1). 2). 3).



ãrhú ěrhú ârhú

yú'ãr yú'ěr yú'âr

lǘ ãr lǘ ěr lǘ âr

Notes:

1. The final er is different from initial r. 2. The final er cannot follow any initial, but it can be a syllable by itself. e.g.: ér ( 儿, son ) and ěr ( 耳, ear ). 3. The final er can be combined with another final in the preceding syllable to form a retroflex ending. A retroflex final is indicated by the letter r at the end of a syllable. The Chinese character for retroflex final is 儿 (ér). 4. 儿 (ér) can be added to a noun to give the meaning “lovely, small or friendly”, or it can totally change the meaning of the noun. e.g. : 鸟儿（niǎor ） - a small bird, 花儿（huār ）- lovely flowers 头儿（tóur ）- leader. (头 means head. When 儿 is added to 头, it totally changes the meaning of the word)



DAY 16 an en an en

Examples 16.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning beach

hǎitān 海滩

The „a‟ sound with an „n‟. guard the entrance/door

kānmén

The „e‟ sound with an „n‟.

看门

stripe

bānwén 斑纹



Examples 16.2:

Word


Pinyin

Meaning the root of a tree

shù ɡēn

Word

Sentence

满身

T ā rè de ______ shì hàn。

难看

T ā zhēn de hěn ______ 。

树根

set out

qǐshēn 起身

bus stop

chēzhàn 车站



DAY 17 in un ün in un ün

Examples 17.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning handkerchief

shǒujīn 手巾

Like „in‟ in bin.

get married Like „oon‟ in spoon, but said faster.

jiéhūn 结婚

Nothing really close in English. Listen and repeat. white clouds

bái yún 白云



Examples 17.2:

Word


Pinyin

Meaning stick

Word

gùn

Sentence

军训

Gēgē zài shòu ______ 。

提琴

T ā zài lā dà ______ 。

棍

skirt

qún 裙

wheel

lún 轮



Notes:

1. ün is written as un (without the 2 dots above) when it is used with initial j, q, x, or y. Tough it is written as un, it is pronounced as ün. Examples:

j

jūn ( 军 )

q

qún ( 裙 )

x

xún ( 寻 )

y

yún ( 云 )

2. In Chinese Pinyin system, there is no syllable with initial j, q, x or y combines with final un.



DAY 18 ang eng ing ong ang eng ing ong

Examples 18.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning lantern

dēnglong 灯笼

Pronounce „a‟ first and then „ng‟. fall ill

shēngbìng

Pronounce „e‟ first and then „ng‟.

生病 Pronounce „i‟ first and then „ng‟. mantis

Pronounce „o‟ first and then „ng‟.


tángláng 螳螂


Examples 18.2:

Word


Pinyin

Meaning dirty

Word

āngzāng

Sentence

风筝

kite.

叮当

clank.

______

肮脏

fly

cāngying 苍蝇

worm

chóng 虫



__________

DAY 19 ia iao ia

Examples 19.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning house

jiā 家

Combination of i and a.

Like „ya‟ in Yahoo. plus

iao

Combination of i and ao. Like „eow‟ in meow.

jiā 加

shrimp

xiā 虾



Examples 19.2:

Word


Pinyin

Meaning laugh

Word

Meaning watch

xiào

手表

笑


shǒubiāo shǒubiǎo shǒupiǎo

jump shout

tiào

叫喊

跳

1). 2). 3).

bird

summer

niǎo

夏天

鸟

1). 2). 3).



jiāohǎn jiǎohǎn jiàohǎn

xiātiān xiátiān xiàtiān

DAY 20 ian iang iong

Examples 20.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning homesick

xiǎngjiā 想家

ian

Like the Japanese currency word Yen.

noodles

iang iong

Combination of i and ang. Like young.

miàntiáo 面条

Combination of i and ong. fierce look

xiōngxiàng 凶相



Examples 20.2:

Word

Exercise 20.1:

Pinyin

Meaning

Fill in the blank with the correct Pinyin

gun Word

qiāng 枪

Pinyin

小熊

little bear. ______

大象

elephant. ______

electricity

diàn 电

poor

qióng 穷



DAY 21 ua uo uai ua uo uai

Examples 21.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning flower

huāduǒ 花朵

Like wah.

break

shuāi huài

Like war.

摔坏 Combination of u and ai. Like why. talk

shuōhuà 说话



Examples 21.2:

Word

Exercise 21.1: Fill in the blank:

Pinyin

Meaning sit

Word

Meaning

Pinyin

table

zuò

zh ____ zi

桌子

坐

melon

claw

guā

zh ____

爪

瓜

happy

handsome

快乐

shuài 帅



k ____ lâ

DAY 22 uan uang üan

Examples 22.1:

Word

Pinyin

Meaning go sightseeing

guānguāng 观光

uan

Combination of u and an. Like „wan‟ in wand.

circle

uang üan

Combination of u and ang.

yuánquān 圆圈

Combination of ü and an.

kuānguǎng 宽广



broad

Examples 22.2:

Word

Exercise 22.1:

Pinyin

Meaning

Fill in the blank with the correct Pinyin

welcome Word

huānyíng

Pinyin

船

ship. ____

床

bed.

欢迎

nervous

huān gzhāng 慌张

window

chuāngkǒu 窗口



____

Notes:

1. üan is written as uan (without the 2 dots above) when it is used with initial j, q, x, or y. Tough it is written as uan, it is pronounced pronounced as üan. Examples:

j

jūan ( 捐 )

q

qúan ( 全 )

x

xúan ( 玄 )

y

yúan ( 圆 )

2. In Chinese Pinyin system, there is no syllable with initial j, q, x or y combines with final uan.



Section 5 Pinyin Rules



DAY 23 Spelling Rules In 1988, Basic Spelling Rules for Pinyin Orthography ( 汉语拼音

正词法基本规则 ) (ZhengCiFa) was jointly promulgated by the National Education Commission and National Language Commission of China. By the spelling rules, spacing in pinyin is based on whole words, not single syllables. Example :

Although several manuals for word segmentation have been published, [ including RLG Chinese Aggregation Guidelines (The Research Libraries Group, Inc., 1987), Basic Rules of Chinese Pinyin Orthography (State Education Commission and State Language Commission, 1988), and Contemporary Chinese Language Word Segmentation Specification for Information Processing (National Standard, PRC, 1992) ], none of them would cover every single detail in this process, due to the complex nature of modern Chinese morphology and syntax. In principle, it's possible to write Pinyin texts syllable by syllable. I have been using non-ZhengCiFa method (syllable by syllable) for Pinyin writing on my website (www.learnchineseeveryday.com) . I believe it is easier to read and understand for beginners who just started learning Chinese.

If you don‟t like rules, you can just skip this long-winded lesson.

Chinese words

妈妈的手袋

Pinyin based on Spelling Rules (ZhengCiFa)

māma de shǒudài

Pinyin with syllable by syllable

mā ma de shǒu dài

English meaning

Mom's handbag

You can use syllable by syllable for you pinyin writing.

Admittedly, word segmentation is not an easy task. There are often ambiguities in partitioning a word and grouping the syllable. Learn Hanyu Pinyin in 24 Days 68


Rules of Pinyin Orthography

kànkàn ( 看看, to have a look );

1. General

niánnián ( 年年, every year )

i.

Single meaning:

ii.

Two characters duplicated (ABAB) are written separated.

capitalized. Examples:

Examples:

rén ( 人, person )

yánjiū yánjiū ( 研究研究 , to study, to research ); xuěbái xuěbái ( 雪白雪白, snow-white )

péngyou ( 朋友, friend )

qiǎokèlì ( 巧克力, chocolate ) ii.

ABAB:

Words with a single meaning are written together and not

iii.

AABB:

Combined meaning (2 characters):

A hyphen is used with the schema AABB. Examples:

Words combined of two words to one meaning are written

láilái-wǎngwǎng ( 来来往往, go back and forth );

together. Examples:

qiānqiān-wànwàn ( 千千万万, numerous )

hǎifēng ( 海风, sea breeze ); wèndá ( 问答, Q&A ); iii.

3. Nouns and Names

quánguó ( 全国, the whole nation )

Nouns are written in one. Example:

Combined meaning (4 or more characters):

zhuōzi ( 桌子, table );

Words with four or more characters having one meaning

mùtou ( 木头, wood )

are split up with their original meaning if possible.

i.

Even if accompanied by a prefix and suffix. Examples:

Examples:

fùbùzhǎng ( 副部长, vice minister )

wúfèng gāngguǎn ( 无缝钢管, seamless steel-tube); huánjìng bǎohù guīhuà ( 环境保护规划 , environmental

chéngwùyuán ( 乘务员, conductor );

protection planning)

háizimen ( 孩子们, children ) ii.

Words of position are separated. Examples: mén wài ( 门外, outdoor );

2. Duplicated Words i.

hé li ( 河里, in the river );

AA:

huǒchē shàngmian ( 火车上面 , on the train)

Duplicated characters (AA) are written together. Examples: rénrén ( 人人, everybody );

iii.

Surnames are separated from the given name. Examples:

Lǐ Huá ( 李华 ); Wáng Jiàngguó ( 王将国 ); Learn Hanyu Pinyin in 24 Days 69


iv.

Titles following the name are separated and are not

Verbs and their suffixes (-zhe ( 着), -le (了) and -guo ( 过)) are


written as one. Example:

Wáng bùzhǎng ( 王部长, minister Wang ); Lǐ xiānsheng ( 李先生, Mr. Li ); Tián zhǔrèn ( 田主任, director Tian )

kànzhe/kànle/kànguo ( 看着/看了/看过, to see/saw/seen ); jìnxíngzhe ( 进行着 to implement ) Note: le (了) as it appears in the end of a sentence is separated

v.

The forms of addressing people with Lǎo ( 老 ), Xiǎo

though. Example:

(小), Dà (大) and A (阿) are capitalized. Examples:

Huǒchē dào le ( 火车到了, The train [has] arrived).

Xiǎo Liú ( 小刘, [young] Ms./Mr. Liu ); Dà Lǐ ( 大李, [great;elder] Mr. Li ); A Sān ( 阿三, Ah San ); Lǎo Wú ( 老吴, [senior] Mr. Wu )

i.

kàn xìn ( 看信, read a letter );

chī yú ( 吃鱼, eat fish); kāi wánxiào ( 开玩笑, to be kidding) ii.

vi.

If verbs and their complements are each monosyllabic, they

Proper names and general geographical names of places are

are written together, if not, separated. Examples:

separated and the first letter of each of the names is

gǎohuài ( 搞坏, "to make broken" ); dǎsǐ ( 打死, hit to death );


Běijīng Shì ( 北京市, City of Beijing ), Héběi Shěng ( 河北省, Province of Hebei ) vii.

Verbs and their objects are separated. Examples:

huàwéi ( 化为, "to become damp" );

zhěnglǐ hǎo ( 整理好, to straighten out ); gǎixiě wéi ( 改写为, rewrite a screenplay );

Non-Chinese names translated back from Chinese are written either in the original language or transcribed in

5. Adjectives

Roman letters. Example:

A monosyllabic adjective and its reduplication are written as

Ài‟īnsītǎn ( 爱因斯坦, Einstein ); Lúndūn ( 伦敦, London )

one. Example:

mēngmēngliàng ( 蒙蒙亮, daybreak ); liàngtāngtāng ( 亮堂堂, shining bright )

4. Verbs



i.

Complements of size or degree (as xiē ( 些 ), yīxiē ( 一

gè guó ( 各国, every nation );

些), diǎnr (点儿), yīdiǎnr (一点儿)) are written separated.

gè gè ( 各个, everyone );

Examples:

měi nián ( 每年, every year ); mǒu gōngchǎng ( 某工厂, a certain factory ); wǒ xiào ( 我校, our school ).

dà xiē ( 大些, a little bigger ); kuài yīdiānr ( 快一点儿, a bit faster ) 6. Pronouns ( i.

ii.

8. Function Words

)

The plural suffix -men ( 们) directly follows up. Examples:

Function words, like 很，最，和，的，吗 , are separated from

wǒmen ( 我们, we ); tāmen ( 他们, they )

other words. Examples:

The demonstrative pronoun zhè ( 这, this), nà ( 那, that)

zuì dà ( 最大, be the biggest );

and the question pronoun nǎ ( 哪 , which) are separated.

zài qiánmiàn ( 在前面, in the front );

Examples:

nǐ hé wǒ ( 你和我, you and I );

zhè rén ( 这人, this person );

mànmàn de zou ( 慢慢地走 , walk slowly );

nà cì huìyì ( 那次会议, that meeting );

Nǐ zhīdào ma? ( 你知道吗？, Do you know? ); A, zhēn měi! ( 啊，真美！, Ah, It‟s really beautiful! );

hěn hǎo ( 很好, be good/fine );

nǎ zhāng bàozhǐ ( 哪张报纸, which newspaper) Note: Exeptions are: nàli ( 那里 there), zhèbian ( 这边 , over here), zhège ( 这个, this piece), zhème ( 这么, so),

9. Set Phrases / Idioms i.

zhèmeyàng ( 这么样 , that way), and similar ones. 7. Numerals and Measure Words ( i.

halves are linked by a hyphen. Examples:

céngchū-bùqióng ( 层出不穷, happened endlessly); guāngmíng-lěiluò ( 光明磊落, be righteous )

)

Words like gè /měi ( 各 , every / 每 , each), mǒu ( 某 ,

Four-character Set Phrases that can be divided into two

ii.

All other four-character set phrases and well-known

any), běn ( 本, that), gāi ( 该, that), wǒ ( 我, mine, our), are

expressions that cannot be readily segmented are linked.

separated from the measure words following them.

Examples:

Examples:



bùyìlèhū ( 不亦乐乎 , Isn‟t it a happy thing? ); àimònéngzhù ( 爱莫能助 , Sorry that I can‟t help you ) 10. Capital Letters i.

The letter at the beginning of a sentence is capitalized. Examples:

Míngtian nǐ qù ma? ( 明天你去吗？ , Are you going tomorrow? ) ii.

The first letter of a proper noun is capitalized. Examples:

Běijīng Dàxué ( 北京大学, Peking University ); Huáng Hé ( 黄河, Yellow River ) 11. Hyphenations Care should be taken to hyphenate only between the syllables of words and other linked expressions at the ends of lines of running texts. 12. Apostrophes In order to avoid confusion, an apostrophe is used before any syllable that begins with a, e, or o, unless that syllable comes at the beginning of a word or immediately follows a hyphen or other dash. Examples:

Cháng'ān ( 长安, Chang'an ); chāo'é ( 超额, above quota ); dì-èr ( 第二, number two )



DAY 24

Rule #1 1. If a 3rd tone is followed by a 3rd tone, the first 3rd tone becomes a 2nd tone.

Changes of Tones In Chinese, it happens that sometimes the tones of words change depending on the tone of the word that precedes or comes after it.

Examples: Sound

Meaning

Words / Prases

We change the tones of certain Pinyin syllable to improve the

nǐ (ní)

hǎo

pronunciation clarity. Today, we will learn when we need to make

你

好

hěn (hén)

hǎo

很

好

hǎo (háo)

jiǔ

好

酒

those changes. Here are some rules and examples.

shuǐ (shuí) guǒ 水

hello

very good

good wine

fruit

果

2. Although the first syllable is read in second tone, both of the syllables are still written with third tones



Rule #2

2.

1. The word 不 (bù)（no / not ） is pronounced in the 2nd tone (bú) when it is put before a syllable in the 4th tone. (or a syllable in neutral tone developed from 4th tone.)

Example: Sound

Words / Prases

bú

xiè

不

谢

bú

shì

不

是

bú

cuò

不

错

bú

duì

不

对

“不” is still pronounced in the 4th tone (bù) when it precedes a syllable in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd tone. Example: Sound

Words / Prases

bù

xī n

不

新

bù

lái

不

来

bù

hǎo

不

好

Meaning not new

not come

Meaning

don‟t mention it.

no, it isn‟t.

not good

3. To simplify, “不” is marked in the fourth tone “bù” in Chinese dictionary entries. In some Chinese textbooks, on the other

not bad

hand, it is marked according to the actual pronunciation.

wrong



Rule #3

2. The word 一 ( yī ) (one) is pronounced in the 4th tone (yì) when

1. The word 一 (yī ) (one) is pronounced in the 2nd tone (yí) when

it precedes a syllable in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd tone.

it precedes a syllable in the 4th tone. (or a syllable in the neutral tone developed from the 4th tone.)

Example: Sound

Words / Prases

yí

kuài

一

块

yí

gè

一

个

yí

cì

一

次

yí

wàn

一

万

Meaning a block

a piece

one time

ten thousand


Example: Sound

Words / Prases

yì

tiān

一

天

yì

nián

一

年

yì

bǎi

一

百


Meaning one day

one year

one hundred

3. The word 一 (yī ) (one) is pronounced in the first tone (yī) when i.

yī comes at the end of a word.

Example: Sound

ii.

4. To simplify, “一” is marked in the first tone “yī” in Chinese dictionary entries. In some Chinese textbooks, on the other hand, it is marked according to the actual pronunciation.

Words / Prases

wàn

yī

万

一

wéi

yī

唯

一

Meaning in case

only

it acts as an ordinal number to indicate the number “one.”

Example: Sound

Words / Prases

yī nián

jí

一

级

年

Meaning first grade

the first day of month

yī hào 一

号

dì

yī míng

第

一

the first place

名



鸽 gē 卡 kǎ 喝 hē

ANSWER Exercise 2.1: 1. bào 2. guǒ 3. tiě 4. kě 5. jiào 6. mǒu 7. què 8. qiú 9. guī Exercise 3.1: 额é 恶è 鳄è Exercise 4.1: 肚 dù 梨 lí

Exercise 8.1: 骑 qí

洗 xǐ Exercise 9.1:

纸 zhǐ 车 chē 沙 shā Exercise 10.1: 撕破 sī pò

狮子 shīzǐ Exercise 11.1:

椰子 yēzǐ 娃娃 wáwa Exercise 12.1: 买菜 mǎicài 开会 kāihuì Exercise 13.1:

女 nǚ Exercise 5.1: 发fà 佛 fó 爬 pá 木 mù

收到 shōudào 一头牛 yī tóu niú

坡 pō

Exercise 15.1: 二胡 èrhú

Exercise 14.1:

雪糕 xuěgāo 跌倒 diēdǎo

Exercise 6.1: 路 lù

鱼饵 yúěr 驴儿 lǘér

吐 tǔ 怒 nù

Exercise 16.1:

满身 mǎnshēn

Exercise 7.1: Learn Hanyu Pinyin in 24 Days 77


难看 nánkàn Exercise 17.1:

军训 jūnxùn 提琴 tíqín Exercise 18.1: 风筝 fēngzheng

叮当 dīngdāng Exercise 19.1:

手表 shǒubiǎo 叫喊 jiàohǎn 夏天 xiàtiān Exercise 20.1:

小熊 xiǎo xióng 大象 dà xiàng Exercise 21.1:

桌子 zhuō zǐ 爪 zhuǎ 快乐 kuài lè Exercise 22.1: 船 chuán 床 chuáng



Learn Hanyu Pinyin in 24 Days

Recommend Documents