Getting started with Chinese pronunciation system
Welcome to the Chinese pronunciation system.
This book introduces you to pinyin (Chinese pronunciation system), a romanization system that acts as a bridge between the Chinese writing system and spoken Mandarin. Mastering pinyin is the first step in learning the language and an essential step in effective communication. At the end of each chapter, there are interactive H5p exercises designed for the second language learners to practice.
History
This Romanization system is used to write Mandarin Chinese pronunciation using the Latin alphabet. It was developed in the 1950s and officially adopted in 1958 in mainland China. The United Nations formally adopted Pinyin in the 1980s. In history, there are several other systems, namely Fanqie spelling, Rime Tables, and Wade-Giles and Zhuyin special symbols (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ…), which have existed and been widely used among international scholars and recorded in documents, literature.
The Building Blocks of Pinyin
The original Fanqie system was used in dictionaries like the Qieyun (切韵, 601 CE). It indicated how to pronounce a character by combining the initial sound of one character with the final sound of another. For example, 东 (dōng) might be explained as: 德 + 红 (initial of 德 “d” + final of 红 “-ong”). Fanqie reflected the sound system of Middle Chinese, and modern scholars used it to reconstruct historical pronunciations.
Chinese scholars developed Rhyme Tables to analyze the initials, finals, and tones of Chinese syllables. These were organized in a grid showing as follows. These tables were essential for poetry, reading classics, and teaching pronunciation.
- Rows: initials
- Columns: finals and rhyme categories
- Tone divisions: level, rising, departing, entering
European missionaries introduced Romanization systems to help foreigners learn Chinese:
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Wade–Giles (developed in the 19th century): Developed by Thomas Wade, a British diplomat and sinologist, in the mid-19th century. Later refined and standardized by Herbert Giles, a British scholar, in his 1892 Chinese-English Dictionary. It is widely used in academic works, maps, textbooks, and diplomatic documents before Pinyin. Some words are still kept in the names of location. Like Peking, Chungking (Chongqing), Tientsin (Tianjin).
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Zhuyin (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ): Created in the early 20th century by Chinese scholars as a phonetic script using special symbols (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ…). Zhùyīn uses 37 symbols + 4 tone marks to represent the basic sounds of Mandarin. For example, ㄇ (m) + ㄚ (a) + ˉ (1st tone).
Modern Chinese pronunciation syllables are constructed from three main components:
- Initials: These represent consonant sounds at the beginning of a syllable. There are 23 initials in pinyin. The sound of the consonants is silent; we purposely add the vowel [uo] or [e] to make the sound louder. (e.g., b->buo, p-puo, m-muo, f-fuo).
- Finals: These represent vowel sounds, including combinations of vowels and ending consonants (e.g., -i, -an, -iao, ing, ong).
- Tones: Mandarin Chinese has four tones and one neutral tone.
Introducing Tones
Tones are the musical pitch of your voice while speaking. Mastering tones is crucial for clear communication, as each significantly affects the meaning of a word, as the same syllable with different tones can represent entirely different words.
