Wednesday, 23 April 2025

Pronounciations (Mandarin Chinese) - Bopomofo ; Hanyu Pinyin; Tones

 

Among the numerous dialects in Chinese-speaking regions, Bei-Ping (北 平)or Peiking was chosen as an official languge, which is now known as  普(pǔ) (tōng) (huà):

普(pǔ) (tōng), in English means unextraodinary, however, more properly here it means something widely-used to communicate.  An adjective goes with the word 普(pǔ) is (pǔ)(biàn); it means, universal.   (tōng), I would put (tōng) (yòng) here, which means something being utilised in common.  Therefore, 普(pǔ) (tōng) doesn't mean unextraodiary in this instance. 

Next,  (huà), language, for example, 

foreign , (wài)(guó)

then you will put the three words together to indicate foreign language 

(wài)(guó) (huà);  now back to the previous paragraphs, here we go, 普(pǔ) (tōng) (huà). 

Any questions?  

Right, additionally, you've probably noticed how people might use different ways to indicate this language - Chinese; however, it goes both with either (wén) or (yǔ), meaning language.  While the word (yǔ) is as simple as it is to understand,  (wén) means more to do with a written form of work, such as (wén)(zhāng), essay/article/composition...

____  (wén) *Hello, this word rarely goes with  汉 (hàn) nowadays, except in a context focusing on the culture, writing or development of Chinese language, etc. 

____  (yǔ) *Excuse me, this word doesn't go with (zhōng), thx.

Fill in the blank with one of the three words in the following, then you get to indicate Mandarin Chinese in your speech.  

 

Fill in the blank with one of the three words in the following, then you get to indicate Mandarin Chinese in your speech. 

(zhōng)

华 (huá),

汉 (hàn)  

 

Likewise, when indicating other languages such as (1) English, (2) French, (3) German, etc., fill in the blanks with one of the words below: (

1. 英 (yīng)

2. 法(fǎ)

3. 德(dé)

 

Bopomofo   (MPS- Mandarin Phonetic Symbols)

ㄆㄇㄈ   

Official pronounciation, applied in Chinese-speaking regions since 1918.   

Hanyu Pinyin 

Official pronouciation of manlaind China since 1958.  

 

Example:     wind

/fo/   ㄈ    ~~~         風 )  .................. bopomofo, traditional Chinese character 

/f/          ~~~            风 (f ēng)    .................. Pinyin, simplified Chinese character

 

he Tones

1st tone       

2nd tone

3rd tone

4th tone

Neutral tone

Tone   Marks (MPS) Marks (Pinyin)
1st

 ā

2nd ㄚˊ á
3rd ㄚˇ ǎ
4th

ㄚˋ

à
Neutral

 

Example:     /ㄚ/ or  /a/  

 

Drill:  /m/ + /a/

 

妈 (mā) 

麻 (má)

马 (mǎ)

骂 (mà)

 

Drill:  /m/ + /ao/

 

猫 (māo)

毛 (máo)

卯 (mǎo)

帽 (mào)

 

Sets of Initials of the Word Sounds

MPS

Pinyin 

ㄅㄆㄇㄈ

/b/, /p/, /m/, /f/

ㄉㄊㄋㄌ

/d/, /t/, /n/, /l/

ㄍㄎㄏ

/g/, /k/, /h/

/j/, /q/, /x/

ㄓㄔㄕㄖ

/zh(i)/, /ch(i)/, /sh(i)/, /r(i)/

/z(i)/, /c(i)/, /s(i)/

 

Sets of Finals of the Word Sounds

MPS

Pinyin

ㄚㄛㄜㄝ

/a/, /o/, /e/, /ê/

ㄞㄟㄠㄡ

/ai/, /ei/, /ao/, /ou/

ㄢㄣㄤㄥ

/an/, /en/, /ang/, /eng/

/er/

ㄧㄨㄩ

/yi/, /wu/, /yu/

Or they can be the others: 

/i/, /u/,  /ü/or/u/

 

Sets of Finals of the Word Sounds (Part II)

MPS

Pinyin

+

/y(i)/ + /a/          →  /ya/ 

/i/     + /a/          →  /ia/

+

/y(i)/ + /o/          →  /yo/

+

/y(i)/ + /e/          →  /ye/ 

/i/     + /e/          →  /ie/

+

/y(i)/ + /ai/          →  ----

+

/y(i)/ + /ao/          →  /yao/ 

/i/     + /ao/          →  /iao/

+

/y(i)/ + /ou/          →  /you/ 

/i/     + /ou/          →  /iu/

+

/y(i)/ + /an/          →  /yan/ 

/i/     + /an/          →  /ian/

+

/y(i)/ + /in/          →  /yin/ 

/i/     + /in/          →  /in/

+

/y(i)/ + /ang/          →  /yang/ 

/i/     + /ang/          →  /iang/

+

/y(i)/ + /eng/          →  /ying/ 

/i/     + /eng/          →  /ing/

NB  This final sound /y(i)/ or /i/ does NOT blend with /e/ & /ei/ and certainly NOT with /er/.

 

 


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Pronounciations (Mandarin Chinese) - Bopomofo ; Hanyu Pinyin; Tones

  Among the numerous dialects in Chinese-speaking regions, Bei-Ping (北 平)or Peiking was chosen as an official languge, which is now known a...