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Pronunciation guide

The imitated pronunciation should be read as if it were English, bearing in mind the following main points:

Consonants

b, d, f, g, h, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, w, y as in English

c	like English ts in its
j	like English j in jeep
q	like English ch in cheer, with a strong puff of air
r	like English ur in leisure, with the tongue rolled back
x	like English see (whole word)
z	like English ds in kids
ch	like English ch in church, with the tongue rolled back and a strong puff of air
sh	like English sh in she, with the tongue rolled back
zh	like English j, with the tongue rolled back

Vowels

a	like English a in far
e	like English u in fur
i	like English ee in fee
o	like English o in for
u	like English ue in sue
ü	like French u

Tones

A tone is a variation in pitch by which a syllable can be pronounced. In Chinese, a variation of pitch or tone changes the meaning of the word. There are four tones each marked by a diacritic. In addition there is a neutral tone which does not carry any tone marks. Below is a tone chart which describes tones using the 5-degree notation. It divides the range of pitches from lowest (1) to highest (5). Note that the neutral tone is not shown on the chart as it is affected by the tone that precedes it.

The first tone is a high-level tone represented by a level tone mark

The second tone is a high-rising tone represented by a rising tone mark

The third tone is a low-dipping tone represented by a dish-like tone mark

The fourth tone is a high-falling tone represented by a falling tone mark

The neutral tone is pronounced light and soft in comparison to other tones and is not marked by any tone mark. A syllable is said to take on a neutral tone when it forms part of a word or is placed in various parts of a sentence.