"Parts of Speech"  

Chinese words are made up of basic parts

the simplest word would be 'a' and the most complicated: 'zhuang" made up of three parts: 'zhi', 'u' and 'ang'

Each one of the Pin Yin "words" below denotes one Chinese character...... 

learning the pronunciation of these words by first breaking them up into their parts will be very useful to get a sound grip of Chinese pronunciation (don't say the 'plus' and 'equals' out loud)

At first you might find this a bit foolish, but rest asssured its a very useful tool for remembering pronuciation

and that's what its all about - to speak like a native speaker!

 

 

o is very like English "or"

a is very like English "ah"  (never as in "at")

(*"fong" in Taiwan ie f + u + eng = fong) 

 

 

ao and ou sounds should be pronounced as if you had a big plum in your mouth. ao needs to be pronounced as the "ou" in "ouch"!

bai  b + ai = bai	bei  b + ei = bei	bie b + ie = bie	bao b + ao = bao
pai  p + ai = pai	pei  p + ei = pei	pie  p + ie = pie	pao p + ao = pao	pou  p + ou   = pou
mai m + ai = mai	mei m + ei = mei	mie  m + ie = mie	mao m + ao = mao	mou m + ou = mou
	fei f + ei = fei

                     

	biao b + yi + ao= biao	bian  b + yi + an + bian
	piao   p + yi + ao = piao	pian p + yi +an = pian
miu m + yi + ou = miu	miao  m + yi + ao = miao	mian m + yi + an =mian

dong  d + u + eng = dong	du  d + u = du		duan d + u + an = duan
tong  t + u + eng = tong	tu  t + u = tu		tuan t + u + an = tuan
nong  n + u + eng = nong	nu n + u = nu	nu  n + ü = nu	nuan n + u + an = nuan
long  l + u + eng = long	lu l + u = lu	lu   l + ü = lu	luan l + u + an = luan
	* this u sound is closest to the 'u' in 'pull'

this ü is represented with two dots over the u,   (Often also written as v if you are typing pinyin)

sounds like the "ew" sound in "new" or "few"

dai    d + ai = dai	dei d + ei = dei	dui   d + u + ei = dui	die   d + ie = die	dao   d + ao = dao	dou  d + ou = dou
tai   t + ai = tai		tui   t + u + ei = tui	tie t + ie = tie	tao  t + ao = tao	tou   t + ou = tou
nai  n + ai = nai	nei   n + ei = nei		nie  n + ie = nie	nao  n + ao = nao
lai   l + ai = lai	lei  l + ei = lei		lie  l + ie = lie	lao  l + ao = lao	lou  l + ou = lou

ao and ou sounds should be pronounced as if you had a big plum in your mouth. ao needs to be pronounced as the "ou" in "ouch"!

diu   d + yi + ou = diu	diao   d + yi + ao = diao	dian  d + yi + an = dian
	tiao  t + yi + ao = tiao	tian  t + yi + an = tian
niu   n + yi + ou = niu	niao  n + yi + ao = niao	nian n + yi + an = nian	niang   n + yi + ang = niang
liu   l + yi + ou = liu	liao l + yi + ao = liao	lian  l + yi + an = lian	liang   l + yi + ang = liang

 

dun   d + u + en = dun	duo d + u + o = duo
tun  t + u + en = tun	tuo t + u + o = tuo
	nuo  n + u + o = nuo	nue n + ü + ie = nue
lun    l + u + en = lun	luo l + u + o = luo	lue l + ü + ie = lue

 

ge  g + e = ge	gen g + en = gen	geng  g + eng = geng	ga  g + a = ga	gan  g + an = gan	gang g + ang = gang
ke   k + e = ke	ken k + en = ken	keng  k + eng = keng	ka k + a = ka	kan  k + an = kan	kang k + ang = kang
he   h + e = he	hen  h + en = hen	heng    h + eng = heng	ha   h + a = ha	han   h + an = han	hang  h + ang = hang

gong  g + u + eng = gong	gu   g + u = gu	gua g + u + a = gua	guan  g + u + an = guan	guang g + u + ang = guang
kong  k + u + eng = kong	ku   k + u = ku	kua k + u + a = kua	kuan  k + u + an = kuan	kuang k + u + ang = kuang
hong    h + u + eng = hong	hu h + u = hu	hua h + u + a = hua	huan h + u + an = huan	huang h + u + ang = huang

                  * this u sound is closest to the 'u' in 'pull'

gai g + ai = gai	gei  g + ei = gei	gui  g + u + ei = gui	gao  g + ao = gao	gou g + ou  = gou
kai   k + ai = kai		kui  k + u + ei = kui	kao k + ao = kao	kou k + ou  = kou
hai  h + ai = hai	hei  h + ei = hei	hui h + u + ei = hui	hao  h + ao = hao	hou  h + ou  = hou

ao and ou sounds should be pronounced as if you had a big plum in your mouth. ao needs to be pronounced as the "ou" in "ouch"!

                                   xi has a kind of 'sh' sound but lighter on the 'h' - not so sloshy.... 2/3 's'  & 1/3 'sh'

jin  ji + yin = jin	jing ji + ying = jing	ju   ji + ü = ju	juan ji + ü + an = juan
qin qi + yin = qin	qing  qi + ying = qing	qu qi + ü = qu	quan qi + ü + an = quan
xin   xi + yin = xin	xing   qi + ying = qing	xu  xi + ü = xu	xuan xi + ü + an = xuan

when typing the u sound denoted with two dots above the u, we use v instead (for typing characters)
 

	zeng  ze + eng = zeng	zu  zi + u = zu	zun  zi + u + en = zun	zong zi + u + eng = zong
	ceng c + eng = ceng	cu  ci + u = cu	cun  ci + u + en = cun	cong ci + u + eng = cong
sen si + en = sen		su   si + u = su	sun  si + u + en = sun	song si + u + eng = song

(New Zealand accent (short 'i') with the pin yin 'e' and you'll be almost bang on)
                                                        
                                                     
 

                                     

zhe zhe	zhen  zhe + en = zhen	zheng  zhe + eng = zheng
che che	chen  che + en = chen	cheng che + eng = cheng
she she	shen  she + en = shen	sheng  she + eng = sheng
	ren  ri + en = ren	reng  ri + eng = reng

(New Zealand accent (short 'i') with the pin yin 'e' and you'll be almost bang on)

                                     

zhu  zhi + u = zhu	zhun  zhi + u + en = zhun	zhuan  zhi + u + an = zhuan	zhuang zhi + u + ang = zhuang	zhong zhi + u + eng = zhong
chu  chi + u = chu	chun   chi + u + en = chun	chuan chi + u + an = chuan	chuang  chi + u + ang = chuang	chong chi + u + eng = chong
shu    shi + u = shu	shun   shi + u + en = shun		shuang shi + u + ang = shuang
ru   ri + u = ru		ruan ri + u + en = ruan		rong ri + u + eng = rong

                  

                

zhou  zhi + ou = zhou	zhuai zhi + u + ai = zhuai
chou  chi + ou = chou	chuai chi + u + ai = chuai
shou   shi + ou = shou	shuai shi + u + ai = shuai
rou   ri + ou = rou

           

yi  yi

yia  yi + a = yia

yan  yi + an = yan

yang  yi + ang = yang

yong  yi + u + eng = yang

wo  u + o = wo

wa   u + a = wa

wan  u + an = wan

wang u + ang = wang

wei u + ei = wei

wen u + en = wen

weng  u + eng = weng

wu u

e    e

er e + er = er

en  e + en = en

eng  e + eng = eng

                            

an  an	ang ang
en  en	eng eng

note the w and y sounds are not quite like English - they in fact start with a vowel
'w' starts with u (as in u in bull) and 'y' starts with an English e (i)
Just ask a Chinese person to say:  "In winter when the weather is wet and windy I wear my woollen sweater"  (they don't understand the word jersey very often) and you'll pick up the first language interference!  So don't make the same mistake going back the other way!
 
 

and that's about it......  all in all, its not a lot of words for an entire language.....

each one of the "words" above denotes one chinese character

Usage of tones obviously increases the range of meanings, plus the combinations of  characters will create new meanings too

playing around with direct translations can help to pin down grammatical differences in your memory... eg:

"what's your name?"   ni jiao shen me ming zi?  =  you call what name?