Search Chinese characters by pinyin. Rules for reading in Chinese

In general, it must be said that you cannot guess the pronunciation of a particular Chinese character just by looking at its image. Although some elements of the hieroglyph may give an idea of ​​how it might be pronounced. Unlike other modern written languages, the Chinese script, which is based on hieroglyphs, has no explicit phonetic basis, and of course there is no alphabet. Instead, pictographic and ideographic signs are used, which are a combination of graphic images and symbols that convey a specific meaning). This writing is vaguely reminiscent of the hieroglyphic writing used in ancient Egypt.

Thus, there must be a system that reflects how each of the characters should be pronounced while learning the language. Over the course of a long history, different systems were used for this until they settled on a system called pinyin. This is the generally accepted system for transcribing Chinese characters in modern written language.

Other pronunciation systems

Before the Pinyin system was developed, there were other systems for transcribing the pronunciation of Chinese words based on the Latin alphabet. The most significant and famous of them is the Wade-Giles system, developed and put into use in 1892. However, after the standardization of the Chinese language in the second half of the last century, many pronunciation options according to these old systems are no longer relevant in mainland China (although there are still many variant pronunciations from the Wade-Giles system that are still widely used in Taiwan). For example, previously the word Beijing was pronounced and written Peking; now, when transcribing the name of the Chinese capital, the spelling Beijing is used, which more correctly reflects how the Chinese themselves pronounce this word. Likewise, the name of Guangdong Province, located in southeast China, used to be Canton. Some of the pronunciation variants used in older systems are still used outside of China.

Chinese word pronunciation system for English speakers

The tables below provide a pronunciation system that corresponds more or less exactly to standard Chinese pronunciation (without tones). It uses letters of the Latin (English) alphabet. This system uses the alphabet to represent the sounds of the Chinese language in a way that is convenient for native English speakers. You can start using this system in just a few minutes. It can be used as a quick guide to start pronouncing Chinese words for those who are not familiar with the Chinese language. This system is sometimes used on the China Highlights China Guide pages to show the pronunciation of place names or people's names.

According to this system, the word Beijing would be written as Bayjing and the word Guangdong as Gwungdong.Although, having heard such a pronunciation, it is quite easy to find out what is meant, in some cases, for example, if a Chinese word is used yue, (written as youair to make it easier to recognize), then this system is not as effective as Pinyin in conveying the pronunciation of some letters. There are also other difficulties. For example, it is not clear how to use a combination of letters ow in a word cow,cow so as not to be mistaken for the pronunciation of the combination ow in a word low.Pinyin is a more efficient system. It only takes a few hours to get used to it. If you learn how to use it, it will definitely be very useful for you.

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

In order to represent the pronunciation of Chinese words (see pronunciation tables according to the Pinyin system), you can also use the international phonetic alphabet, but for this you need to have a good knowledge of the characters themselves. Although this is a clear and more effective way than simply trying to represent Chinese sounds using combinations of Latin (English) letters, the characters of this system are not as easy to write - either by hand or on a computer. Therefore, pinyin is a more convenient system.

Pinyin

The Pinyin system allows you to combine sounds and pronounce them in any combination. The Pinyin system was developed for both those who use Chinese as their first language and those who learn Chinese as a foreign language. This is a very effective way to convey Chinese sounds using letters of the Latin alphabet. Pinyin plays the same role as phonetic transcription signs in dictionaries.

The Pinyin system began to be developed after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. It was first tested and approved by the Chinese government. This happened in 1958. Then, in 1982, the Pinyin system was adopted by the International Standards Organization.

Obviously, the Pinyin system was not developed for the English-speaking world. Many people don't understand this. This is especially noticeable when native English speakers begin to pronounce words written using the Pinyin system without prior familiarity with it. About half the time, the letters that are used in the pinyin system convey completely different sounds than those that would be seen in a typical English word with those letters. In addition, in most cases, vowels sound in a very specific way.

Pinyin is a very useful tool for learning a little about the language before traveling to China. In addition, knowing Pinyin will help you navigate China more easily. Naturally, the Chinese just need to look at the hieroglyph to understand how it is pronounced and what it means, but at the same time, on the streets of Chinese cities, along with hieroglyphs, you can also see Latin letters - this is pinyin. Pinyin accompanies many inscriptions in Chinese characters on maps, road signs and other places. Pinyin is much easier to learn to read, use and remember than characters, especially if you neglect tones. Understanding the principle of reading Chinese words written in pinyin is not that difficult. This can take several hours, while Chinese characters take months to learn, and if the goal is to reach a high level, it will take several years of hard work.

Tones

All Chinese words have a certain tone. There are 4 types of tones in Chinese, which are indicated in the Pinyin system by a small icon above the vowel. The part of the word that does not have this symbol has a weak tone (see table below).

Tone number	Tone name	Tone symbol	Another name for tone
	High tone		Soprano tone
	Rising tone		Questioning tone
	Falling and rising tone at the same time		Sarcastic tone
	Falling tone		Striking tone
Without tone number	Light tone	a (no symbol)	Calm tone

Tones can also be given alternative names according to how they sound in relation to the realities of other languages, such as English.

Often Chinese is spoken so quickly that it can be very difficult to make out individual syllables and determine with what tone they are pronounced. Mispronunciation of tones during the initial stages of language learning is common. If you write Chinese words using the pinyin system and also specify the tones, it will be a rather laborious process. Therefore, Chinese words written using the Pinyin system often do not have tone marks for purposes other than learning. So in this little section on pronunciation, and in other sections of this site, when we write words using the pinyin system, we ignore tones.

Chinese syllables

The standard unit of the Chinese language is the syllable. Each Chinese character is pronounced as one syllable. Words in Chinese consist of one, two or more characters, and, accordingly, one, two or more syllables. Every syllable in Chinese is either a final or an initial followed by a final.

There are only 413 syllables in the Chinese language, and these syllables represent thousands of Chinese characters (see below). e Look up the syllables in the Pinyin system to see how a syllable in that system corresponds to how it is pronounced in the English adaptation.

• a, ai, an, ang, ao
• ba, bai, ban, bang, bao, bei, ben, beng, bi, bian, biao, bie, bin, bing, bo, bu
• ca, cai, can, cang, cao, ce, cei, cen, ceng, cha, chai, chan, chang, chao, che, chen, cheng, chi, chong, chou, chu, chua, chuai, chuan, chuang, chui, chun, chuo, ci, cong, cou, cu, cuan, cui, cun, cuo
• da, dai, dan, dang, dao, de, dei, den, deng, di, dian, diao, die, ding, diu, dong, dou, du, duan, dui, dun, duo
• e, ê, ei, en, er
• fa, fan, fang, fei, fen, feng, fo, fou, fu
• ga, gai, gan, gang, gao, ge, gei, gen, geng, gong, gou, gu, gua, guai, guan, guang, gui, gun, guo
• ha, hai, han, hang, hao, he, hei, hen, heng, hm, hng, hong, hou, hu, hua, huai, huan, huang, hui, hun, huo
• ji, jia, jian, jiang, jiao, jie, jin, jing, jiong, jiu, ju, juan, jue, jun
• ka, kai, kan, kang, kao, ke, kei, ken, keng, kong, kou, ku, kua, kuai, kuan, kuang, kui, kun, kuo
• la, lai, lan, lang, lao, le, lei, leng, li, lia, lian, liang, liao, lie, lin, ling, liu, long, lou, lu, luo, luan, lun, lü, lüe
• m, ma, mai, man, mang, mao, mei, men, meng, mi, mian, miao, mie, min, ming, miu, mo, mou, mu
• n, na, nai, nan, nang, nao, ne, nei, nen, neng, ng, ni, nian, niang, niao, nie, nin, ning, niu, nong, nou, nu, nuo, nuan, nü, new
• o, ou
• pa, pai, pan, pang, pao, pei, pen, peng, pi, pian, piao, pie, pin, ping, po, pou, pu
• qi, qia, qian, qiang, qiao, qie, qin, qing, qiong, qiu, qu, quan, que, qun
• ran, rang, rao, re, ren, reng, ri, rong, rou, ru, rua, ruan, rui, run, ruo
• sa, sai, san, sang, sao, se, sei, sen, seng, sha, shai, shan, shang, shao, she, shei, shen, sheng, shi, shou, shu, shua, shuai, shuan, shuang, shui, shun, shuo, si, song, sou, su, suan, sui, sun, suo
• ta, tai, tan, tang, tao, te, teng, ti, tian, tiao, tie, ting, tong, tou, tu, tuan, tui, tun, tuo
• wa, wai, wan, wang, wei, wen, weng, wo, wu
• xi, xia, xian, xiang, xiao, xie, xin, xing, xiong, xiu, xu, xuan, xue, xun
• ya, yan, yang, yao, ye, yi, yin, ying, yong, you, yu, yuan, yue, yun
• za, zai, zan, zang, zao, ze, zei, zen, zeng, zha, zhai, zhan, zhang, zhao, zhe, zhei, zhen, zheng, zhi, zhong, zhou, zhu, zhua, zhuai, zhuan, zhuang, zhui, zhun, zhuo, zi, zong, zou, zu, zuan, zui, zun, zuo

Initials and finals

Initials are what starts a syllable. Finals are either the syllables themselves or their endings.

Unlike pronunciation in English and many other languages, where all phonemes are divided into consonants and vowels, in Chinese it is more convenient to divide them into initial and final sounds, that is, into initials and finals. There are 21 initial sounds in Chinese. All of these sounds can be more or less accurately expressed using the consonants of English or other languages. There are 36 ending sounds, or endings, in the Chinese language. They are either a complete vowel sound or a combination of a vowel and a consonant sound. See the table below for a complete list of initials and finals.

Pinyin classification	Pinyin only	Pinyin combined	Sound in IPA	Sound in English	Example (notes)
Initial	No	b	b	b	be
Initial	No	c	ts	ts	cats
Initial	No	ch	t∫	ch	china
Initial	No	d	d	d	do
Initial	No	f	f	f	fun
Initial	No	g	g	g	go
Initial	No	h	h	h	he
Initial	No	j	dℑ	j	Jay
Initial	No	k	k	k	key
Initial	No	l	l	l	like
Initial	No	m	m	m	me
Initial	No	n	n	n	no
Initial	No	p	p	p	people
Initial	No	q	t∫	ch	china
Initial	No	r	r	r	run
Initial	No	s	s	s	so
Initial	No	sh	∫	sh	she
Initial	No	t	t	t	to
Initial	No	x	s∫	ssh	ssshhh!(average between s and sh)
Initial	No	w	w	w	we
Initial	No	y	y	y	you
Initial	No	z	dz	ds	ads
Initial	No	zh	dℑ	j	Jay
Vowel final	a	a	a	a	cat
Vowel final	ai	ai	ΛI	eye	eye
Vowel final	an	an	an	an	an
Vowel final	ang	ang	aŋ	ung	bung
Vowel final	ao	ao	aa℧	aoww	aoww! (Like the a in at followed by the ow in owl)
Vowel final	e/ê	e	ə:/ə	er/uh	er/uh
Vowel final	ei	ei	ei	ay	day
Vowel final	en	en	ən	nn	runner
Vowel final	eng	eng	əŋ	nng	bung
Vowel final	er	er	ə:r	urr	purr
Vowel final	o	o	o:	or	or
Vowel final	ong	ong	αŋ	ong	long
Vowel final	ou	ou	ə℧	oh	oh
W final	wa	ua	wa:	wah	quark
W final	wai	uai	wΛI	why	why
W final	wan	uan	wan/wən	wan/wen	know ants/went (wen after j, q and x; otherwise as w+an)
W final	wang	uang	wΛŋ	wung	how ungrateful
W final	N/A	ue	wε:	where	where
W final	wen	un	wən	wnn	rowan (note: no "a")
W final	weng	N/A	wəŋ	wnng	rowing (note: no "i")
W final	wei	ui	wei	way	way
W final	wo	uo	wo:	wor	wore
W final	wu	u	u:	oo/yoo	boo/yoohoo (yoo after j, q and x; otherwise oo)
W final	ya	ia	ja	yah	yahoo
W final	yan	ian	jεn	yen	yen
W final	yang	iang	jaŋ	yang	yang
W final	yao	iao	ja℧	yoww	yowwch!
W final	ye	ie	jε:	yeh	yeh (like yeah)
W final	yong	iong	jαŋ	yong	Pyongyang
W final	you	iu	jə℧	yo	yoyo
W final	yu	ü	ju:	yoo	yoohoo
W final	yuan	N/A	jwεn	ywen	y"went
W final	yue	üe	ju:ε:	youair	you air the clothes
W final	yun	N/A	ju:n	yoon	you need
W final	yi	i	ə/i:	uh/ee	uh/bee (uh after c, ch, r, s, sh, z, zh; otherwise ee)
W final	yin	in	In	in	in
W final	ying	ing	Iŋ	ing	king

Initial sounds

There are 23 starting sounds in total. Most of the initial sounds in Chinese syllables have exactly the same pronunciation as English consonant sounds. In such cases, there is no need to further comment on the Pinyin symbols. It is worth mentioning four cases that are exceptions. In the Pinyin system, the sign is Sound c represents sound ts,sign q represents sound ch,sign x represents sound ssh and sign zh represents sound j.

Pinyin sounds w And y are called halves of finals. When they act as initials, they have their usual sound, and in such combinations as wu And yi. Wu and yi they have no sound. When they appear as the first part of the finale, the w sound is represented as w is represented as u, but continues to sound like w and the sound y presented as i or two dots over a u, but the sound remains y See below.

Final sounds

In Chinese, final sounds in syllables always end with a vowel sound, with the sound n sound ng or in some cases to sound r if it's a syllable er

Finals are divided into simple (single vowel sounds), complex (two or three vowel sounds) and nasal finals (vowel sound plus ending in n or ng Four finals which, according to Chinese education, never appear in the Pinyin system ( ün, üan, uen And ueng), nevertheless have endings w And y forms ( yun, yuan, wen And weng)See table below.

Finals can also be divided into three categories, as shown in the table above: those that begin with a vowel sound, those that begin with the sound w and those that begin with a sound y .

There are 13 finals in total that begin with a vowel sound and which can be used to fully represent hieroglyphs. These 13 endings all begin with the letters a, e or o. Other endings require that they be preceded by a w sound or a y sound.

There are also 9 finals, that start with a sound w . Sound w presented as u when is the final w wai matches the sound g in a syllable guai. Sound w is completely omitted from the combination wu in combinations and is not pronounced, for example g + wu = gu. To use fewer letters, wei written as ui, not uei, And wen written as un, not how uen.

There are also 14 finals that start with a sound y .Sound y presented as i when is the final y accompanied by an initial: for example, when the final yao matches the sound m in a syllable miao. Sound y is completely omitted from combinations yi, yin and ying in combinations (to save letters) and is not pronounced, for example m + ying = ming.To use fewer letters, you are written as you A iu, not like iou. Final yu presented as ü in combinations.

Sounds that are exceptions

There are a few very rarely used syllables in the Pinyin system that are exceptions and do not follow the above rules. These are syllables hmm, hng, m, n And ng.

* In the northern dialects of Chinese, you can often hear an overtone at the end of words rr To express this sound in writing, an additional hieroglyph is used (which means the concept of son or child). This additional character is pronounced as er. However, the additional syllable that is usually associated with the character er, not pronounced. Instead the sound rr changes and becomes part of the preceding syllable. In this case, there is one more hieroglyph in the word or sentence, and their total number exceeds the number of syllables.

Example table

Below are tables in which you can see examples of the use of the Pinyin system. See below for detailed

Description of the Pinyin system.

Combinations of vowels and consonants

Mandarin has quite a few diphthongs (compound sounds) and combinations of vowels and consonants.

Consonants

Pinyin tones

Tones play a very important role when it comes to the meaning of a character. Different tones of the same syllable in the Pinyin system mean that this syllable is the meaning of a different word and is expressed by a different character. In the Pinyin system there are four main tones: High, rising, falling and rising simultaneously and falling.

High, high rising, low falling and rising at the same time, high falling, neutral.

Example:

A different tone in a Pinyin character will mean a different character, and, accordingly, the meaning of this word will be different.

The total number of all existing hieroglyphs is about 80 thousand. However, not all of them are used in modern Chinese. To freely read literature and the press in Chinese, it is enough to know about 3 thousand characters. The average Chinese person with a higher education can easily recognize approximately 5-6 thousand characters.

Each hieroglyph corresponds to one syllable. For example, the word MAMA (which sounds the same in Chinese as in Russian) will consist of two syllables or two hieroglyphs. In Chinese, most words consist of two characters-syllables, but this is not a necessary rule. There are words that consist of one hieroglyph, just as there are words that consist of three or more hieroglyphs.

So, the rule. One hieroglyph is one syllable. There are a limited number of syllables in the Chinese language. There are about 320 syllables in total and knowing how all these syllables are pronounced we can pronounce absolutely any word in Chinese.

In order for anyone to be able to read hieroglyphs, the Pinyin transcription system (PīnYīn 拼音) was created. The system consists of a Latin written interpretation of the sound of each existing hieroglyph syllable. There are other transcription systems, but we will not consider them here. Let's look at pinyin only. Everyone who learns Chinese should know Pinyin. Even the Chinese themselves study it in elementary school. Each syllable consists of a beginning - an initial (the consonant with which the syllable begins) and the end of the syllable - a final. There are a total of 21 initials and 36 finals in the Chinese language. The combination of initials and finals forms all syllables. Below is the entire table of pinyin syllables. All Chinese

I have provided the entire table of syllables along with the Russian translation, which is as close as possible to the real pronunciation. This translation does not correspond to most of the translations given on various sites, but it seems to me that it conveys the real sound as accurately as possible. To write Chinese words in Russian beautifully and correctly, use.

But make no mistake, not everything is as simple as it seems. Just knowing how to read Chinese syllables is not enough. The most difficult thing about pronunciation, which I will talk about in another article.

According to this link There is a wonderful Pinyin table where you can listen to the sound of each syllable in Chinese. You can compare it with the Russian transcription in the table below.

A	er - ar	L	pin - phin	tu - thu
a - a	F	la - la	ping - phing	tuan - thuan
ai - ah	fa - fa	lai - bark	po - pho	tui - thui
an - an	fan - fan	lan - doe	pou - phou	tun - thun
ang - an	fang - fan	lang - lan	pu - phu	tuo - thuo
ao - ao	fei - fey	lao - lao	Q	W
B	fen - fen	le - le	qi - chi	wa - wa
ba - ba	feng - feng	lei - lei	qia - chia	wai - wai
bai - bai	fo - fo	leng - leng	qian - chien	wan - wan
ban - bath	fou - fou	li - whether	qiang - chian	wang - van
bang - ban	fu - fu	lia - la	qiao - chiao	wei - wei
bao - bao	G	lian - linen	qie - whose	wen - wen
bei - bay	ga - ha	liang - liang	qin - chin	weng - wen
ben	gai - guy	liao - liao	qing - rank	wo - in
beng - ben	gan - gan	lie - lie	qiong - chion	wu - at
bi - bi	gang - gan	lin - lin	qiu - chiu	X
bian	gao - gao	ling - ling	qu - chu	xi - si
biao - biao	ge - ge	liu - liu	quan - chuan	xia - xia
bie - beat	gei - gay	long - long	que - chue	xian - sien
bin - bin	gen - gen	lou - low	qun - chun	xiang - xian
bing - bin	geng - gen	lu - lu	R	xiao - xiao
bo - bo	gong - gong	lü - lyu	ran - jan	xie - sie
bu - bu	gou - go	luan - luan	rank - jean	xin - blue
C	gu - gu	lüe - lue	rao - zhao	xing - sin
ca - tskha	gua - gua	lun - harrier	re - same	xiong - sion
cai - tskhai	guai - guai	luo - luo	ren - zhen	xiu - Sioux
can - tshan	guan - guan	M	reng - zhen	xu - xu
cang - tshan	guang - guan	ma - ma	ri - zhy	xuan - xuan
cao - tshao	gui - gui	mai - May	rong	xue - xue
ce - tse	gun - gun	man - man	rou - zhou	xun
cen - tshen	guo - guo	mang - man	ru - zhu	Y
ceng - tshen	H	mao - mao	ruan - zhuan	ya - I
cha - cha	ha - ha	mei - may	rui - chew	yan - yen
chai - chhai	hai - hai	men - man	run - zhun	yang
chan - chhan	han - han	meng - man	ruo - zhuo	yao - yao
chang - chang	hang - khan	mi - mi	S	ye - e
chao - chhao	hao - hao	mian - mien	sa - sa	yi - and
che - chhe	he - he	miao - miao	sai - sai	yin - yin
chen - chhen	hei - hey	mie - mie	san - san	ying - in
cheng - cheng	hen	min - min	sang - san	yo - yo
chi - chshy	heng - heng	ming - min	sao - sao	yong
chong - chon	hong - hon	miu - miu	se - se	you - yo
chou - chou	hou - hou	mo - mo	sen - sen	yu - yu
chu - chu	hu - hu	mou - mou	seng - sen	yuan - yuan
chua - chhua	hua - hua	mu - mu	sha - sha	yue - yue
chuai - chhuai	huai - huai	N	shai - shai	yun - yun
chuan - chhuan	huan - huan	na - on	shan - shan	Z
chuang - chhuang	huang - Huang	nai - nay	shang - shan	za - dza
chui - chui	hui - dick	nan - nan	shao - shao	zai - dzai
chun - chhun	hun - hun	nang - nan	she - she	zan - dzan
chuo - chhuo	huo - huo	nao - nao	shei - shay	zang - zan
ci - tsy	J	ne - ne	shen - shen	zao - zao
cong - tshon	ji - ji	nei - ney	sheng - sheng	ze - ze
cou - tshou	jia - jia	nen - nen	shi - shi	zei - zei
cu - tshu	jian - jien	neng - nen	shou - show	zen - zen
cuan - tshuan	jiang - jian	ni - neither	shu - shu	zeng - zen
cui - tshui	jiao - jiao	nian - nien	shua - shua	zha - ja
cun - tshun	jie - dzie	nang - nan	shuai - shuai	zhai - jai
cuo - tshuo	jin - ding	niao - neither	shuan - shuan	zhan - jan
D	jing	nie - nie	shuang - shuang	zhang - jan
da - yes	jiong	nin - nin	shui - shui	zhao - zhao
dai - give	jiu - jiu	ning - nin	shun - shun	zhe - je
dan - tribute	ju - ju	niu - niu	shuo - shuo	zhei - jay
dang - given	juan - juan	nong - non	si - sy	zhen - dzhen
dao - dao	jue - jue	nou - know	song - dream	zheng - jen
de - de	jun	nu - well	sou - sou	zhi - ji
dei - day	K	nü - nude	su - su	zhong - john
den - day	ka - kha	nuan - nuan	suan - suan	zhou - jo
deng - Dan	kai - khai	nüe - nude	sui - sui	zhu - ju
di - di	kan - khan	nuo - nuo	sun - sun	zhua - jua
dian	kang - khan	O	suo - suo	zhuai - juai
diao - diao	kao - khao	o - o	T	zhuan - juan
die - die	ke - khe	ou - oh	ta - tha	zhuang - juan
ding - ding	ken - khen	P	tai - thai	zhui - jui
diu - diu	keng - khen	pa - pha	tan - tan	zhun - jun
dong - don	kong - khon	pai - phai	tang - than	zhuo - juo
dou - dou	kou - khou	pan - phan	tao - thao	zi - dzi
du - du	ku - khu	pang	te - te	zong - dzon
duan - duan	kua - khua	pao - phao	teng - ten	zou - zou
dui - blow	kuai - khui	pei	ti - thi	zu - dzu
dun - blow	kuan - khuan	pen - phen	tian	zuan
duo - duo	kuang - khuan	peng - peng	tiao - thiao	zui - dzui
E	kui - cock	pi - phi	tie - thye	zun - dzun
e - e	kun - khun	pian - phien	ting - thin	zuo - zuo
ei - hey	kuo - khuo	piao - pyao	tong - thon
en - en		pie	tou - thou

Chinese writing is a well-established expression that we are used to denoting something that is completely incomprehensible. But in the modern world, learning the main language of the East, spoken by the most populous country in the world, is becoming the norm. Many states are “going east” in tourism, trade, manufacturing, and other areas. To relieve the fear of learning a speech that is so different from all European ones, let’s look at the Chinese alphabet in an accessible form.

Phonetics or alphabet?

Let's define the terminology. The Chinese did not know such concepts as the alphabet or alphabet. The written language of the Celestial Empire consists, according to various estimates, of 50-100 thousand hieroglyphs, each of which is assembled from keys - elements of writing (which cannot be called the word “alphabet”), they, in turn, can be used separately and have their own meaning. This writing is hieroglyphic, not alphabetic.

There is still an opinion that only a person born in the country can master the technique of Chinese writing. But foreigners are able, and there is a lot of evidence of this, to master the technique of reading, understanding, and speaking. In writing, with today's level of development of gadgets, many hours of exercises with paper, ink and a brush, which were previously used to study hieroglyphs, have been replaced.

Now about the “letters” - this system was invented specifically for foreigners seeking to master the Chinese alphabet. In order for people who are accustomed to reading and writing Latin or Cyrillic letters to be able to effectively learn the basics, what can be called the alphabet has been created. At its core, these are the rules for reading keys and hieroglyphs, that is, transcription, phonetics of the Chinese language. Its Europeanization greatly simplifies the knowledge of the Chinese alphabet.

Chinese has been and remains one of the most complex languages ​​on the planet, so for ease of understanding, we will include the terms “letters” and “alphabet” in our review and analyze it as clearly as possible.

What is "pinyin"?

The Celestial alphabet has a more correct name “pinyin” - it is a system of phonetic writing or transcribing keys using Latin letters. The “alphabet” was approved 60 years ago – in 1958. Today, this addition to classical writing is studied by Chinese children without fail, to say nothing of foreigners: without the Pinyin alphabet, few will be able to continue moving forward in mastering Chinese literacy.

• The first rule: if in Western languages ​​and in Russian one letter of the alphabet corresponds to one sound, in China a letter often sounds like a combination of several. Basic Pinyin Alphabet Table:

Chinese	Latin	Transcription
诶	A	ēi
比	B	bǐ
西	C	xī
迪	D	di
伊	E	yī
艾弗	F	ài fú
吉	G	jí
艾尺	H	ài chǐ
艾	I	ài
杰	J	jie
开	K	kāi
艾勒	L	ài lè
艾马	M	ài mǎ
艾娜	N	ài nà
哦	O	ó
屁	P	pì
吉吾	Q	jí wú
艾儿	R	ài er
艾丝	S	ài sī
提	T	tí
伊吾	U	yī wú
维	V	wei
豆贝尔维	W	dòu bèi ěr wéi
艾克斯	X	yī kè sī
吾艾	Y	wú ài
贼德	Z	zéi dé

• Second rule: there are more main and consonant sounds in the alphabet than Latin letters. We will present them later. This table is for informational purposes only.
• Third rule: the dashes above the letters of the transcription are tones. In Chinese there are 4+1, and the meaning of what is said in different tones changes dramatically depending on how you pronounce them. The sound of tones is the next stage in learning the alphabet. At the initial level, accessible even for children, it is enough to watch the video pronunciation lesson and find out what the “alphabet” sounds like.

• Fourth rule: each Chinese syllable is divided into two. Let's look at examples.

Initials

The beginning of a syllable is called an initial. Here and further we will consider the words that are the first in the lives of people around the world: “mom” and “dad”:

• 妈妈 māma (mother);
• 爸爸 bāba (father).

Both words are made up of repeating syllables, each of which has its own letter of the alphabet as an initial. For mā it is m, for bā it is b.

Fifth rule: initials are consonant sounds (letters of the alphabet and their combination). But there is a nuance: in the Chinese alphabet there are 22 consonants, and there are 21 initials. The exception is the sound ng (pronounced -pang, is an ending similar to the English -ing). Here is the table:

b	c	d	f	g	h	j	k
l	m	n	p	q	r	s	t
x	z	zh	сh	sh	ng (pang)

All syllables in the letter begin with 21 given sounds, there are exceptions when reading

Finals

The final is the ending of a syllable, and in addition to the consonant ng, the main sounds are used in these cases. For those familiar to us, ma and ba are the symbol a. The number of finals in Chinese phonetics is 35, and they have their own gradation:

• monophthongs - one letter;
• compound - a sequence of vowels or vowel and consonant(s).

This is what the table for studying the finals looks like:

monophthongs – 6 sounds
a	e	i	o	u	ü
compound – 29 sounds
ai	ei	ia	ou	ua	üe
ao	en	ie	ong	uo	ün
an	eng	in		ui(uei)	üan
ang		iu(iou)		un(uen)
		iao		uai
		ing		uan
		ian		uang
		iang		ueng
		iong

Learning syllables using the beginning-to-end principle is not a difficult task, and these are the basics of Chinese pronunciation.

Sixth rule: there are fewer real combinations of initials and finals than the mathematically probable ones for 57 characters; syllables are also connected to each other according to the rules given in tabular form:

Pinyin at its core is a phonetic constructor for those who are beginning to study literary Chinese. The system does not take into account dialects, but for the school curriculum of Chinese residents, and especially for foreigners starting to learn the language, this linguistic lego greatly simplifies understanding.

Tones in Chinese phonetics

Having figured out the combinations of letters, sounds and syllables in the tables, you need to multiply them by four, and then add one more.

Seventh rule: meaning depends on tones. This will not be found in Russian or in any of the Romance or Celtic languages. The closest in meaning phenomena of the Russian language are:

• Homonyms are words with the same spelling and different meaning depending on the context. Example - key (tool or spring);
• Homographs are homonyms with different accents. Example: lock or padlock.

Now let's return to our first word in life and in the Chinese language: “mother”. It is such only in the first tone. The table shows how the value changes in the future:

As can be seen from the spelling, tones are indicated by dashes above the letter (in Russian there are only three such signs - an arc over Y, dots over Y and an accent mark). How to pronounce these dashes is determined by their shape. Pictures will help here. An enlarged view is shown in the figure:

Let us also give a simple and resourceful modern rule: the tones of Chinese can be easily remembered by the McDonald's emblem:

In original Chinese writing, different tones correspond to different characters:

As the pictures show, there are four main tones in the language. The fifth is the neutral pronunciation of short syllables, usually denoting particles.

How to read correctly?

The phonetic construct of initials, finals, and tones becomes more complex as you move on to actually reading Chinese. Here it is important to remember a number of rules and formulas that explain the sounds of the Chinese language.

Eighth rule: “invisible letters” are used when reading. These are y and w - many will notice their absence in the tables of syllables. These letters - y and w - are initials, but special ones. They are knocked out from their spelling by ü, u, i. But when reading, the “invisible” initials must take their places. Basic rules for how an exception syllable is written and sounds:

Tenth rule: the arrangement of tones has its own logic. Basic rules:

• Vowels are marked with a special tone sign. When there are two or more of them in a row, the sign is given to the letter that is closer to the beginning of the sequence a→o→e→i→u→ü.
• with a tone above the letter i, the sign replaces the dot;
• with a sequence of two syllables, the third tone changes by -1. The first syllable is assigned a second tone, the second - a third;
• when combining syllables when the first of them is the third, and the second is any other, a change of -0.5 occurs and a semitone appears between the second and third. But only in pronunciation. The third tone sign remains in the writing;
• the exclusive word bù (negation: not or not) with the addition of a second four-tone word changes its to -2 and is pronounced with a second intonation.

These are just a few exceptions that confirm the general rules of the beautiful Chinese constructor Pinyin, which is a conductor between Western and Eastern languages.

What the alphabet looks like - table with transcription

We have given the basics of a unique alphabet in the basic version of translating Chinese characters into Latin letters. There is also a native Russian table with transcription - Slavic pinyin (used by computer translators). It will not help much in learning the language, since reading transcriptions will require knowledge of international rules, but it will be useful for your horizons and/or a tourist trip. Here is the Chinese alphabet in Russian in tabular form with international transcription and tones:

Russian	Chinese	transcription
A	阿	ā
B	贝	bèi
IN	非	fēi
G	给	gěi
D	得	děi
E	也	yě
Yo	用	yong
AND	热	rè
Z	赛	sài
AND	伊	yī
Y	伊可罗肯	yīkěluókěn
TO	卡	kǎ
L	艾了	àile
M	艾姆	àimǔ
N	恩	ēn
ABOUT	哦	ò
P	佩	pèi
R	艾和	àihe
WITH	艾斯	àisī
T	泰	tài
U	吴	wú
F	艾弗	àifú
X	哈	hā
C	册	cè
H	切	qiē
Sh	沙	shā
SCH	夏	xià
Kommersant	图路迪斯尼亚克	túlùdísīníyàkè
Y	俄	é
b	灭斯迪斯尼亚克	mièsīdísīníyàkè
E	诶	ēi
Yu	哟	yō
I	亚	yà

The Russian transcription of the adapted alphabet can simplify the task even further - a kind of translation:

A a	A
B b	ba
C c	tskha
CH ch	chha
D d	Yes
E e	uh
F f	F
G g	ha
H h	Ha
—i	And
Jj	ji
K k	haha
L l	la
Mm	m
Nn	n
O o	O
P p	pha
Q q	qi
R r	jan
Ss	sa
SH sh	sha
T t	tha
- u	at
— ü	yu
W w	va
X x	si
Y y	I
Z z	tsa
ZH zh	zha

Important clarification: some are shown in lowercase only because they are never used at the beginning of words in Chinese. Therefore, there are no uppercase variants.

Conclusion

The Chinese language is rightfully one of the leaders in terms of inaccessibility for foreigners. But learning it at the everyday and even professional level is not as difficult as it seems. What is needed: attention, scrupulousness and time to study the phonetic constructor. For this, the Pinyin system is indispensable, which is actively used even by a translator. And when “Europeanized” writing, reading and pronunciation have been mastered, the Chinese language is ready to begin to reveal to you its original meaning in beautiful hieroglyphs.

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Hello dear friends! It's time to expand our horizons and therefore, I suggest you get acquainted with the Chinese language :)

I think there is no point in describing in detail all the delights and benefits that you will get by learning Chinese. But even if you do not intend to seriously study Chinese, knowing its basics will still not hurt you.

Where to start learning Chinese?

If you thought that you need to start learning Chinese with hieroglyphs, then you are not entirely right. The fact is that in our time an integral part of the Chinese language is pinyin- romanization system for the Chinese language. In other words, pinyin is like an alphabet. We need Pinyin in order to use it to read hieroglyphs. You can learn more about pinyin from my video:

Once you are familiar with the basic initials and finals of pinyin, you can move on to tones :)

Tones in Chinese

Tones are one of the “features” of the Chinese language. Most likely you have heard something about them. So, remember that in Chinese tones clearly expressed. To verify this, search the Internet for spoken Chinese, Korean and Japanese and “feel the difference” between them :)

There is no need to be afraid of tones; just a little practice and you will be able to use them in speech.

Chinese characters

Once you've mastered pinyin and become familiar with the tones, it's time to take a closer look at the characters. After all, even if you know pinyin perfectly, you cannot do without hieroglyphs. After all, pinyin serves only as a “bridge” to hieroglyphs, while hieroglyphs are the main form of Chinese writing.

So, after you have learned what graphemes, simple and complex hieroglyphs are, you can safely start learning Chinese on your own :)

If you have any questions, do not hesitate and

 Listen to the audio lesson with additional explanations

The official language of the People's Republic of China is Mandarin(普通话 рǔtōnghuà, lit. "universal language"), whose phonetics and vocabulary are based on the pronunciation norm of the Beijing dialect.

The basic phonetic unit of the Chinese language is the syllable. A syllable consists of a consonant part - initial(声母 ，shēng mǔ) – at the beginning of the syllable and vowel part – final(韵母 ，yùn mǔ) – at the end of a syllable, as well as a tone. There are about 400 basic syllables in modern Mandarin. To record the sounds of the Chinese language, the Pinyin phonetic alphabet (拼音, pīn yīn) is used, a transcription system based on the Latin alphabet.

Tones

The main distinguishing feature of the phonetics of the Chinese language is tones. Chinese has 4 tones + a light unstressed tone. Tone is needed in order to distinguish the meaning of syllables that sound the same.

For example:

First tone: high and level, designated ā.

Second tone: rising, indicated by á.

The third tone: first falling and then rising, is designated ǎ.

Fourth tone: falling from high to low, indicated by à.

The tone sign is always placed above the final. If the tone sign is placed above the final i, then the period is not written: nǐ, nín. In syllables with compound finals, the tone sign is placed above the one at the moment of pronunciation of which the mouth is opened wider (a, o, e, i, u, ü): māo, ​​dài, péi.

Light tone

A light tone is also sometimes called a "null" tone. A light tone is pronounced weaker and shorter. In transcription, a light tone is not indicated by any sign.

For example:

好吗？	你呢？	爸爸	谢谢
Hǎo ma?	Nǐne?	baba	xièxie
Fine?	And you?	dad	Thank you

Initials

Initial can be expressed with only one consonant sound.

Before you start studying initials, let's get acquainted with the concept of "aspiration", because in Chinese initials divided into aspirated and unaspirated. In order to learn to pronounce initials with aspiration, try when pronouncing, bring a piece of paper to your lips and pronounce the sound with a strong exhalation. The piece of paper should move away from you due to the flow of air during intense exhalation. When spoken initials without aspiration, the sheet of paper should not move. Thus, it turns out that the sound “x” is added to the sound, however, you should avoid pronouncing aspirates like the Russian sound + “x”; you should try to achieve this effect with the help of exhalation.

There are a total of 21 initials in Chinese:

	Pronunciation method	Pronounced like	Examples
b		Something between Russian voiced[b] and deaf [n]	爸爸 – dad
p		Russian [n][n x]	怕 – to be afraid
m		Chinese [m]different from Russian[m]greater intensity and duration	妈妈 – mother
f		Similar to Russian sound[f]	发 – send
d		Chinese [d]looks like Russian[d], but is deaf	都 – everything
t		Russian [T], which is pronounced with aspiration -[t x]	他 – he
n		Unlike Russian[n]while speaking Chinese[n]the tip of the tongue is raised	你 – you
l		Chinese [l]different from Russian[l]lowering the back of the tongue	来 – to come
g		Chinese [g]looks like Russian[G], but is deaf	狗 – dog
k		Russian [To], which is pronounced with aspiration -[k x]	看 – watch
h		Russian sound [X], but more intense	很 – very
j	When spoken[j], [q]And[x]The tongue should lie below, slightly touching the lower teeth with the tip. The middle of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth when spoken. There are no such sounds in Russian. Please note that the initials[j], [q], [x]not compatible with finals[u], [a]	Sound [j]approximately equal to Russian[dzh], pronounced softly and without aspiration	几 – how much
q		Average between Russians and soft[T] And [h](something like soft[tchi]), pronounced aspirated	七 – seven
x		Similar to sizzling[With](something like hissing[smiling])	星 – star
z	These are hissing sounds. When spoken[z], [c]And[s]the tip of the tongue touches the back surface of the front teeth	Looks like Russian[ts], but pronounced louder (something like a combination[dz])	在 – in; on
c		Voiceless combination[ts]heavily aspirated	从 – s; from
s		Looks like Russian[With], just a little more intense	三 – three
zh	When spoken , , And[r]the tip of the tongue curls back towards the palate	Combination [j](for example, as in [jam]), but is pronounced as a single sound.	这 is
ch		Combination [chsh]heavily aspirated	车 – car
sh		Close to Russian[w], but more fizzy	书 – book
r		Looks like Russian[and]	人 – person

The initial may be absent, in which case the syllable consists only of the final and is called a syllable with a zero or omitted initial.

Finals

The final can consist of either one vowel sound (simple) or several (compound). There are a total of 38 endings in Chinese:

	Pronounced like	Examples	Transcription rules
a	Looks like Russian[A], only pronounced more intensely	那 – that one
e	When spoken[e]the tongue is in the same position as when pronouncing Russian[O], but without rounding the lips. The sound itself is something between[e] And [s]	呢 interrogative particle
i	Pronounced like Russian[And], but more intense; softens the consonant that precedes it	骑 – to ride on horseback	If[i] [y], For example,一 – one After[z], [c], [s], , , And[r]finals[-i]reads as solid[s], For example:吃 – eat, 词 – word, 日 – day, etc.
o	Pronounced like Russian[O], but more intense	摸 – touch
u	Pronounced like Russian[y]	不 – no, no	If[u]forms an independent syllable[w], For example:五 – five
ü	There is no such sound in Russian. Sound[ü] combines sounds[i] And [u], pronounced together as one sound. To make this sound try saying[yiu], only rounding the lips as when pronouncing[yu]	女 – woman	If[ü] forms an independent syllable, then an unpronounceable initial is added before it[y], and two points above[ü] are not written, for example:语 – language If the finals[ü] comes after the initials[j], [q]or[x],then two dots above[ü] are not written, but the sound is still read as[ü] . And if before[ü] worth an initial[n]or[l], then the dots must be written, for example:去 – go
ai	[ouch]	还 – yet
ao	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[ao]	猫 – cat
ei	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[Hey], but softly	杯 – glass
ia	Pronounced like Russian[I]	家 – home, family	[i], That[i]changes to[y], For example:鸭 – duck, 要 – want, 也 – too
iao	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[yao]	小 – small
ie	Reads like [ie]but without stretching sounds, similar to Russian sound[e]	姐姐 – older sister
iou/iu	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[yo]	六 – six	Composite final , when placed after any initial, is written as , and the tone sign is written above[u], For example:丢 – to lose
ou	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[oh]	走 – to walk
ua	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[wa], Where [y] very short	抓 – grab	If a syllable consists only of a final that begins with[u], That[u]changes to[w], For example:挖 – dig
uai	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[wow], Where [y] very short.	块 – yuan	If a syllable consists only of a final that begins with[u], That[u]changes to[w], For example:外 – external
üe	Pronounced close to a combination of Russian sounds[yue]	学 – to teach	If a syllable consists only of a final that begins with[ü] , then an unpronounceable initial is added before it[y], and two points above[ü] are not written, for example: 月 [ü] , comes after the initials[j], [q], [x], then two points above[ü] are not written, for example:雪 – snow
uei/ui	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[way], only together and with emphasis on[e]which is pronounced very short	水 – water	Composite final , when placed after any initial, is abbreviated as , and the tone sign is written above[i], For example:贵 – dear
uo	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[oo], only pronounced as a single sound	说 – to speak	If a syllable consists only of a final that begins with[u], That[u]changes to[w], For example:我 – I
an	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[en]	看 – watch
en	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[en]	很 – very
ian	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[ian]	钱 – money	If a syllable consists only of a final that begins with[i], That[i]changes to[y], For example:烟 – smoke
in	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[in]	新 – new	If forms an independent syllable, then an unpronounceable initial is added before it[y], For example:银 – silver
uan	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[one]; when pronouncing[y]tube lips	馆 – hotel, restaurant	If a syllable consists only of a final that begins with[u], That[u]changes to[w], For example:玩 – play
üan	It doesn't seem like a combination of Russian sounds[yuen]	选 – choose	If a syllable consists only of a final that begins with[ü] , then an unpronounceable initial is added before it[y], and two points above[ü] are not written, for example:元 – yuan If the ending that begins with[ü] , comes after the initials[j], [q], [x], then two points above[ü] are not written, for example:全 – all
uen/un	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[wen], Where [e]soft and short	婚 – wedding	Composite final , when placed after an initial, is abbreviated as , For example:困 – sleepy In case the final forms a syllable independently, then[u]replaced[w], For example:问 – to ask
ün	[jun]	群 – crowd	If a syllable consists only of a final that begins with[ü] , then an unpronounceable initial is added before it[y], and two points above[ü] are not written, for example:云 – cloud If the ending that begins with[ü] , comes after the initials[j], [q], [x], then two dots above[ü] are not written, for example:迅 – fast
ang	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[en], only sound [n]– nasal	忙 – busy
eng	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[en], only sound [n]– nasal	冷 – cold
iang	Sounds like a combination of Russian sounds[yan], only sound [n]– nasal	想 – want, think	If a syllable consists only of a final that begins with[i], That[i]changes to[y], For example:羊 – ram
ing	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[in], only sound [n]– nasal	病 – to be sick	If forms an independent syllable, then an unpronounceable initial is added before it[y], For example:影 – shadow
iong	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[yon], only sound [n]– nasal	穷 – poor	If a syllable consists only of a final that begins with[i], That[i]changes to[y], For example:用 – to use
ong	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[He], only sound [n]– nasal	红 – red
uang	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[one], only sound [n]– nasal	床 – bed	If a syllable consists only of a final that begins with[u], That[u]changes to[w], For example:网 – network
ueng	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[wen], only sound [n]– nasal	翁 – old man	If a syllable consists only of a final that begins with[u], That[u]changes to[w]. Syllable - this is the only syllable that is formed with the help of this final
er	Pronounced as a combination of Russian sounds[ar]; When pronouncing, the tip of the tongue bends up and back	二 [èr] – two	When added to a syllable the process of erization occurs. Final can form an independent syllable, for example:儿子 [érzi] – son If stands at the end of a syllable, it loses its independence and merges with the syllable. In transcription, it is added to the syllable[r], a hieroglyph is added to the hieroglyphic notation儿 , For example:哪儿 – where In this case, the pronunciation of the last consonant sound is usually lost, for example:玩儿 – to play

The tables provide examples of monosyllabic words, during the pronunciation of which you must pay attention to the tones. In words that consist of two or more syllables, the tones are sometimes modulated. Now we will look at the most common cases of modulation.

3rd tone modulation

When reading two syllables of the 3rd tone together, the first syllable is read in the second tone. If there are three or more consecutive words of the third tone, then all tones except the last one change. The transcription retains the sign of the 3rd tone.

For example:

你好 (nǐ hǎo) (that's how it's written)– ní hǎo (that's how it reads)). - Hello!
我很好 (wǒ hěn hǎo (that's how it's written)– wó hén hǎo (that's how it reads)). – I'm fine.

Modulation of negative particle 不 (bù)

The negation 不 (bù) is pronounced in the fourth tone. But if 不 (bù) is followed by a syllable with a fourth tone, then 不 (bù) is read in the second tone. For example:

不是 (bú shì) – no
不去 (bú qù) – not to go
不要 (bú yào) – not to want

In sentences with repetition of a verb (affirmative-negative), when 不 (bù) stands between identical verbs, we read 不 (bù) in a light tone; in the transcription the tone sign is not placed, for example:

是不是 – yes or no
去不去 – to go – not to go

Modulation "一" (yī)

The initial tone "一" is the first tone. “一” is pronounced as the first tone if it is pronounced in isolation, if it is at the end of a phrase or sentence, if it is used as an ordinal number. In other cases, “一” is modulated: before the first, second and third tones, “一” is modulated into the fourth tone, and before the fourth tone - into the second tone.

Apostrophe

An apostrophe is used in transcription for syllable separation in cases where a regular syllable is followed by a syllable with a zero initial, for example:

先 – first
西安 – Xi'an

When learning Chinese phonetics, try to listen and repeat more. It’s like in sports: there are many techniques, but the key to success is practice.