Chinese Pronunciation: Vowel Combinations

Posted on | March 19, 2009 | 1on1 Mandarin | Comments Off

Last time we looked at pronunciation of vowels. This time we will look at how to pronounce a combination of consonants and vowels. In Chinese pronunciation, basic vowels can form vowel combinations with each other or with a nasal consonant. Here are there pronunciations:

ai like eye
an sounds like “ah” with an emphatic “n” at the end (NOT like “an” in can)
ang sounds like “ah” with a soft “ng” (NOT like “ang” in hang)
ao is like “ao” in Tao
ei is like “ay” in bay
en is like “u” in sun
eng is like “ung” in sung
er like “ur” in purse
ia is like ya
iang is like young
ie is like yeah
iu is like the “ou” in you
ian like yen
iao is like “eow” in meow
in as in “in” in gin
ing as in “ing” in sing
iong is like pinyin “yong”
ong is like “ong” in kong
ou is like “ow” in low
ua is like “ua” in guava
uan like one
uang like “oo” + ang
ui is like way
un is like “wou” in would and ending in “n” sound (woon)
uo sounds like “wo” as in wall
uai is like why
ua is like “wa”
üan like yuan and written without two dots
üe is like “yue” (“we” in “wet”)

Related posts

• Correcting news anchors’ pronunciation
• Chinese Pronunciation: Vowels
• Chinese Pronunciation: Consonants
• Inputting Chinese characters
• Learn Chinese Through Listening to Chinese Music

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