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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-cmn}}, {{IPAc-cmn}} 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 Nfurmazions sun chësta usc晓/曉/xiǎo sheep,[lower-alpha 1] but more y-like
f f Nfurmazions sun chësta usc非/fēi fan
j y-/-i- Nfurmazions sun chësta usc牙/yá yes
k g k Nfurmazions sun chësta usc干/gān skin
k k' Nfurmazions sun chësta usc口/kǒu kin
l l Nfurmazions sun chësta usc来/來/lái leaf
m m Nfurmazions sun chësta usc明/míng moon
n n ㄋ,ㄣ,ㄢ Nfurmazions sun chësta usc泥/ní noon
ŋ -ng ㄥ,ㄤ Nfurmazions sun chësta usc江/jiāng song
p b p Nfurmazions sun chësta usc帮/幫/bāng span
p p' Nfurmazions sun chësta usc滂/páng pan
ʐ[lower-alpha 2] r- j Nfurmazions sun chësta usc日/rì pleasure, but with tongue curled or pulled back
s s Nfurmazions sun chësta usc私/sī same
ʂ sh Nfurmazions sun chësta usc矢/shǐ show, but without lip rounding and with tongue curled or pulled back
t d t Nfurmazions sun chësta usc端/duān stop
t t' Nfurmazions sun chësta usc透/tòu top
j ch Nfurmazions sun chësta usc叫/jiào cheap,[lower-alpha 1] but more y-like (without lip rounding)
tɕʰ q ch' Nfurmazions sun chësta usc去/qù Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
ts z ts Nfurmazions sun chësta usc子/zǐ outset
tsʰ c ts' Nfurmazions sun chësta usc此/cǐ let's help
ʈʂ zh ch Nfurmazions sun chësta usc之/zhī cheer, but without lip rounding and with tongue curled or pulled back
ʈʂʰ ch ch' Nfurmazions sun chësta usc吃/chī Above, but with a strong burst of breath (aspiration)
w w-/-u- Nfurmazions sun chësta usc我/wǒ water
x h Nfurmazions sun chësta usc火/huǒ loch (Scottish English)
ɥ yu-/-ü-[lower-alpha 3] yü-/-ü- Nfurmazions sun chësta usc月/yuè between wet and yet
Vowels
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese example English approximation
a a ㄚ,ㄢ,ㄤ 阿,安,盎 car
er êrh 二,兒(儿)
ɛ~æ yan/-ian yen/-ien ㄧㄢ set or sat
yuan/-üan ㄩㄢ
e ye/-ie, yue/-üe eh 也,月 hey
ə en,[lower-alpha 4] eng ên, êng ㄣ,ㄥ 本,冷 atop
ɚ er êrh 二,兒(儿) fern[lower-alpha 5]
ɤ e ê / o[lower-alpha 6] between boot and but
i yi/-i city
o wo/-uo[lower-alpha 7]/-ou o[lower-alpha 8] go, but without lip rounding
ɻ̩ zhi, chi, shi, ri ih [lower-alpha 9] 之,吃,師(师),日 Below, but with tongue curled or pulled back
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[lower-alpha 3] yü/-ü beet, but with the lips rounded as for boot
Diphthongs
ai time
ao somewhat like out
ei[lower-alpha 4] face
ou[lower-alpha 4] 歐(欧) show
Tones
IPA Pinyin Wade–Giles Bopomofo Chinese example Tone number Description
á ā a1 Nfurmazions sun chësta usc巴/bā tone 1 high level [˥]
ǎ á a2 ㄚˊ Nfurmazions sun chësta usc拔/bá tone 2 mid rising [˧˥]
à ǎ a3 ㄚˇ Nfurmazions sun chësta usc把/bǎ tone 3 medially, low [˩]; initially, mid falling [˧˩]; finally, low rising [˩˧]; in isolation, dipping [˧˩˧]
â à a4 ㄚˋ Nfurmazions sun chësta usc爸/bà tone 4 high falling [˥˩]
a a a0 ˙ㄚ Nfurmazions sun chësta usc吧/ba tone 0 or 5
(toneless)
mid [˧] after all tones but 4, where it is low [˩]
Note: Pinyin uses the same diacritics as IPA but with different values.

Notes

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  1. 1,0 1,1 [ɕ, tɕ, tɕʰ] are always followed by [i] [j], [y], or [ɥ].
  2. Also transcribed as ɻ in some literature.
  3. 3,0 3,1 ü (/y/) is spelled u after j, q, x in pinyin since /u/ cannot occur after them.
  4. 4,0 4,1 4,2 wei, you/yu, wen/wên are spelled respectively ui, iu, un in Pinyin and Wade-Giles but are pronounced identically when they are preceded by a consonant.
  5. The rhotic vowel also appears in erhua.
  6. This sound is spelled ⟨o⟩ after ⟨k, k', h⟩ in Wade-Giles.
  7. This sound is spelled ⟨o⟩ after ⟨b, p, m, f⟩ in Pinyin.
  8. ㄨㄛ is spelled as ⟨o⟩, except for ⟨k, k', h, sh⟩ (as ⟨kuo, k'uo, huo, shuo⟩) in Wade-Giles.
  9. This symbol is rarely used and usually omitted during writing.

References

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  • Duanmu, San (2007). The Phonology of Standard Chinese (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Lee, Wai-Sum; Zee, Eric (2003). "Standard Chinese (Beijing)" (PDF). Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 33 (1): 109–112. doi:10.1017/S0025100303001208.
  • Lin, Yen-Hwei (2007). The Sounds of Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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