Help:IPA/Mandarin

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}}, Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Standard Chinese phonology for more detail on the sounds of Mandarin Chinese.

Consonants
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese example English approximation
ɕ x hs sheep,[a] but more y-like
f f fan
j y-/-i- yes
k g k skin
k k' kin
l l leaf
m m moon
n n ㄋ,ㄣ,ㄢ noon
ŋ -ng ㄥ,ㄤ song
p b p span
p p' pan
ʐ[b] r- j pleasure, but with tongue curled or pulled back
s s same
ʂ sh show, but without lip rounding and with tongue curled or pulled back
t d t stop
t t' top
j ch cheap,[a] but more y-like (without lip rounding)
tɕʰ q ch' Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
ts z ts outset
tsʰ c ts' let's help
ʈʂ zh ch cheer, but without lip rounding and with tongue curled or pulled back
ʈʂʰ ch ch' Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
w w-/-u- water
x h loch (Scottish English)
ɥ yu-/-ü-[c] yü-/-ü- between wet and yet
Vowels
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese example English approximation
a a ㄚ,ㄢ 阿,安 cat
er êrh 二,兒(儿)
ɑ yang/-iang father
ɛ yan/-ian yen/-ien ㄧㄢ set
yuan/-üan ㄩㄢ
e ye/-ie, yue/-üe eh 也,月 hey
ə en,[d] eng ên, êng ㄣ,ㄥ 本,冷 atop
ɚ er êrh 二,兒(儿) furry[e]
ɤ e ê / o[f] between bush and but
i yi/-i city
o wo/-uo[g]/-ou o[h] story
ɻ̩ zhi, chi, shi, ri ih [i] 之,吃,師(师),日 Below, but with tongue curled or pulled back[j]
ɹ̩ zi, ci, si ŭ 子,次,私 roses, cousin
u wu/-u cool
ʊ -ong -ung ㄨㄥ,ㄩㄥ 冬,用 book
y yu/-ü[c] yü/-ü beet, but with the lips rounded as for boot
Diphthongs
ai time
ao cow
ei[d] face
ou[d] 歐(欧) goal
Tones
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese example Tone number Description
á ā a1 tone 1 high level [˥]
ǎ á a2 ㄚˊ tone 2 mid rising [˧˥]
à ǎ a3 ㄚˇ tone 3 medially, low [˩]; initially, mid falling [˧˩]; finally, low rising [˩˧]; in isolation, dipping [˧˩˧]
â à a4 ㄚˋ tone 4 high falling [˥˩]
a a a0 ˙ㄚ tone 0 or 5
(toneless)
mid [˧] after all tones but 4, where it is low [˩]
Note: Pinyin uses three of the same diacritics as IPA but with different values.


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