Spelling and Pronunciation of Mandarin


Most Chinese words on these pages are spelled in Pinyin, the PRC's official system of transcription from Mandarin into the Western alphabet. In a few cases, a more familiar English spelling (such as Confucius instead of Kongzi) may be used instead. A simplified guide to Mandarin pronunciation, for speakers of American English, is given below. For example, ZHOU is pronounced like the English name "Joe."

Mandarin-English Simplified Pronunciation:

C - its
Q - chin
X - she
Z - odds
ZH - joe
(other consonants as in English)
CI - ts/U/
SI - s/U/
ZI - dz/U/
CHI - chirr
SHI - shirr
ZHI - jirr
A - father AI - kite AO - how
E - but EI - fadeER - are
I - seeIAN - ee-enIE - ee-eh
O - aweONG - /U/ng OU - joe
U - zooUE - you-ehUI - way
UA - wahUO - wawUAN - wan

Notes:

  1. Pronounce the boldface examples like standard American English. /U/ is the short "u" sound in (American English) "put."
  2. There are many similar tables, on websites and in books, no two of them alike! Mandarin and English are so different that it is hard to decide what sounds the English speakers should use. Even educated native speakers can exhibit very different accents depending on their gender, individual background, etc.. Readers can find more information at New Concept Mandarin and similar websites.
  3. The older Wade-Giles (soft "g," as in "jam") system of romanization is still (2006) used on Taiwan and in many books and articles. The following tables describe the differences between Wade-Giles and Pinyin. For example, the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, "Chung Ch'iu Chieh" in Wade-Giles, is spelled "Zhong Qiu Jie" in Pinyin.

Consonants
Wade-GilesPinyinPronunciation
p, p'b, pbee, pee
t, t'd, tdee, tee
k, k'g, kgoo, koo
ch, ch'zh, ch (before ih, a,o,u,e)jar, char
ch, ch'j, q (before i, in, ing, ien, ü)gin, chin
ts, ts'z, cdzoo, tsoo
tzu, tz'uzi, cidz/U/, ts/U/
ssusisoot
jrrun
hsxshun
final "h"(drop)(drop)
hyphens(drop)(drop)
Vowels
Wade-GilesPinyinPronunciation
ien, yenian, yanyen
üuzoo
ueiuiway
ungong/U/ng
i (alone)yiyee
Dynasty Names
Wade-GilesPinyinPronunciation
ShangShangshahng
ChouZhouJoe
Ch'inQinchin
HanHanhahn
SuiSuisway
T'angTangtahng
SungSongs/U/ng
ChinJingin
YüanYuanyou-uhn
MingMingming
Ch'ingQingching