8 Syllable structure II: vowels and finals

Introduction

In Mandarin Chinese, syllables are primarily composed of initials (consonant sounds at the beginning of a syllable) and finals (which include vowels and sometimes nasal endings). In this chapter, we focus on the combinations of initials and compound vowels (also known as compound finals) — a key aspect of accurate pronunciation and syllable formation in Pinyin.

Not every initial can combine with every compound final. There are phonotactic constraints in Mandarin Pinyin. Here are the basic rules:

✅ Commonly compatible combinations

• Most initials combine freely with simple compound finals like ai, ei, ao, ou.

  • Examples: bai, pei, dao, kou

🚫 Restricted combinations

• Some initials (especially j, q, x) only combine with finals that start with ‘i’ or ‘ü’, due to tongue position.

  • ✅ e.g., jiā, qióng, xué

  • ❌ not possible: ja, jo, juo