Let’s Learn Chinese Pinyin (1) | |
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Apr 23, 2011 02:12 | |
| The People’s Republic of China has a population of 1.3 billion which is made up of fifty-six ethnic groups.Han is the largest nationality among these ethnic groups and accounts for 90 percent of the Chinese population. The native language that the Han people speak is called Hanyu (the Chinese language). Hanyu pinyin (Chinese Phonetic Alphabet,or Pinyin for short) is the phonetic system adopted by the People’s Republic of China since the 1950s. In order to learn standard Chinese, one must learn its phonetic system first. A Chinese syllable usually consists of three elements: the initial consonant, the simple or compound vowel, and the tone. The initial consonant refers to the consonant which appears in the initial position of a syllable,and the simple or compound vowel comes after it. Some syllables can stand alone without initial consonants. There a total of 21 initial consonants and 36 simple or compound vowels, which include seven simple vowels and twenty-nine complex vowels-compounds. The complex vowels-compounds can be further divided into three categories: compound vowels, front nasal simple or compound vowels and back nasal simple or compound vowels. Now we will learn seven simple vowels and four initial consonants. In explaining the pronunciation, we will provide English equivalents when possible. a —— jar o —— log e —— bird er The two letters form a single sound. Put your tongue and lip in position as when pronouncing Chinese”e” ,then raise the middle part of your tongue slightly and at the same time roll up the tip of your tongue backward. Make sure the position of your tongue stays in the middle of the oral cavity and touches nowhere. i —— east u —— moon ü First, use the same tongue position as in pronouncing Chinese “ i ”, then draw your lips in to form a perfect circle as small as possible. No English equivalent. Next, let’s learn the four initial consonants:b,p,m and f. As we mentioned earlier, initials in Chinese Pinyin are all consonants and when pronouning a consonant, the air stream initially is blocked in the oral cavity; therefore, the sound is light and short, not loud and clear. In order to make a resonant and clear consonant, we often add a vowel(as shown in the parentheses below) to a consonant which will help us pronounce it clearly. b (+o) —— brother p (+o) —— pie m (+o) —— mug f (+o) —— far |
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