中文

b (bō) · p (pō) · m (mō) · f (fō) · d (dē) · t (tē) · n (nē) · l (lē) · g (gē) · k (kē) · h (hē) · j (jī) · q (qī) · x (xī) · zh (zhī) · ch (chī) · sh (shī) · r (rī) · z (zī) · c (cī) · s (sī) · a (ā) · o (ō) · e (ē) · ai (āi) · ei (ēi) · ao (āo) · ou (ōu) · an (ān) · en (ēn) · ang (āng) · eng (ēng) · ong (ōng) · i (ī) · ia (iā) · ie (iē) · iao (iāo) · iou (iōu) · ian (iān) · in (īn) · iang (iāng) · ing (īng) · iong (iōng) · u (ū) · ua (uā) · uo (uō) · uai (uāi) · uei (uēi) · uan (uān) · uen (uēn) · uang (uāng) · ueng (uēng) · ü (ǖ) · üe (üē) · üan (üān) · ün (ǖn) · er (ēr) · y (yī; spelling helper) · w (wū; spelling helper) · ā (first tone: high level) · á (second tone: rising) · ǎ (third tone: low, dipping in isolation) · à (fourth tone: falling) Mandarin uses characters; pinyin represents pronunciation. Initial readings above add a vowel for practice; finals iou, uei, uen are written iu, ui, un after initials: 六 liù, 水 shuǐ, 论 lùn. Four tones distinguish words: 妈 mā (mother), 麻 má (hemp), 马 mǎ (horse), 骂 mà (scold); unstressed syllables may have a neutral tone, as in 妈妈 māma. Before another third tone, a third tone becomes rising in speech: 你好 nǐ hǎo is pronounced ní hǎo. Pinyin j, q, x use the tongue near the front of the hard palate: 鸡 jī (chicken), 七 qī (seven), 西 xī (west); q has a strong puff of air. For zh, ch, sh, curl the tongue tip slightly back: 中 zhōng, 吃 chī, 书 shū; z, c, s keep it farther forward: 字 zì, 菜 cài, 三 sān. ü is a rounded “ee” sound: 女 nǚ (female). Its dots disappear after j, q, x and in yu: 去 qù, 鱼 yú.