|
This Three-in-One principle meets the Characteristics
of the Chinese Grammar.
| Chinese Dictionary -
developed by Zhang Feipeng |
| CHINESE PRONUNCIATION
Chinese
use English alphabet to spell the sounds of Chinese characters.
This standard spelling system is called Pinyin. Most of the letters
are similar to the English sounds. Only a few sounds in Mandarin
do not occur in English. Special attention has to be paid to the
compound vowels.
Modern Chinese
is made of only 405 basic syllables in Standard Pinyin Spelling
Chart. The Chart was divided horizontally into four sections based
on the vowel of the finals: Open-mouth finals, i-class finals, u-class
finals and ?/span>-class finals. Sometimes the first vowel of a
compound vowel, i, u or ?/span> is called a Medial.
Many of them
have different tonal pronunciations in the four tones. The total
amount of syllables with different tones reaches about 1270 differentiable
speech sounds.
The peculiarity of the Chinese syllables is the fact that there
is no pronounced consonant as prefix and suffix except nasal n and
ng at the end. A typical Chinese syllable consists of two sections:
an Initial, usually a consonant, and a Final, usually a compound
vowel. A compound vowel may be pretty long compared with in English.
Please review the Chart in order to get familiar with the division
of the Chinese syllables in a word, for example: jichangth [13]
airport has two syllables (ji←feijih [11] airplane and changth
[3] open ground), one short and one long, visually pretty confused.
"zhuanghuangsk" [12] also has two syllables. Usually the
Chinese syllables are pronounced clearly and separate, without liaison
in speaking in any case, such as Xi'ant [11] city Xi-An, shi'erl
[24] twelve, mian'aoh[23] cotton jacket, etc. Several consonants
(such as j, q, x, zh, ch, sh, r, z, c) are different in pronunciations
than in English. We must read them in the Chinese definitions.
We are learning Putonghua, the National Chinese language. Literal
description as follows does not help correct pronunciation very
much. Listening to and imitate the language in TV broadcasting is
the most efficient way for learning Chinese pronunciation. Using
the Speech Sound Software in our software package to read the examples
is another way to imitate the correct pronunciations. Dictionaries
and textbook notes usually give you the pronunciation when a word
stands alone, but the tones may change during successive reading.
1.
INITIAL SOUNDS
bo, po, mo,
fo;
de, te, ne, le;
ge, ke, he;
yi, wu, s(i).
The above
consonants are pronounced roughly the same as in English
j(i) like
j in jeep. Example: jib [1] chiken, feijih [11] airplane, jiqih
[44] machine
q(i) like
ch in cheap and cheese. Example: qis mab [23]ride horse; qicheh
[41] car
x(i) like
sh in banshee, between the s in see and the sh in she. Example:
xi [1] west
zh(i) like
dg in fudge. Example: zhidaos [14] know, zhishik [11] knowledge
ch(i) like
in English, but curl the tongue up toward the roof of the mouth
while pronouncing the "ch" sound. Example: chis
fanc [14] eat meal
sh(i) like
in English, but curl the tongue up toward the roof of the mouth
while pronouncing the "sh" sound. Example: shiyanshih
[144] laboratory
r(i)
zhr, like in pleasure. Example: rit [4] date, renf [2] human, ruguo
[23] if
z(i)
like ds in cards. Example: zik [4] character, ziyuant [12] resource,
c(i)
like ts in cats. Example: cik [2] word, cizuk [23] phrase, cidiank
[23] diction-
v(u) like
v in vast, its pronunciation is often mixed with w in Mandarin.
2.
FINAL SOUNDS
a
ah, as in father. Ex.: dax [4] big, babaf [40] dad, mamaf [10] mom,
e
uh, begins as the e in error and passes quickly into th o in of.
Ex.: Eguot [22]
i
ee,. Ex.: ni [3] you, nit [2] soil, lit [4] forcr, lyk [4] profit,
-I
after zh, ch, sh, r, z, c, s, it is almost silent. Ex.: zhishik
[11] knowledge.
o
o as in or, like the wa in wall. Ex.: boluop [32] pineapple, luobop
[20] turnip
u
oo as in moo. Ex.: hutux [22] foolish, hushuos [21] talk nonsense,
eu
umlaut, cross between oo and eew as in French tu. Ex.: leux [4]
green, neuf [3]
er
cross between ar and er. Ex.: erf [2] son, erneuf [23] children,
neu'erf [32] ai eye, as in aisle. Ex.: baix
[2] white, caip [4] vegetable, way [4] outside
ei
eigh in sleigh and eight. Ex.: bei [3] north, shei [2] who, mey
[2] no. not
ao
ow, like the au's in sauerkraut (paocaic [44]). Ex: baogaosk [44]
reprot,
ou
oh, as in soul. Ex: goub [3] dog, kouq [3] mouth, zous [3] walk,
shouq [3] hand
an
ahn, between the an in can and the on in con. Ex: anx [1] quiet,
shant [1] hill,
en
un as in run, as en in chicken. Ex: hen [3] very, hens [4] hate,
zhenx [1] real.
ang
ahng, a as in father and ng as in sing. Ex: chang [2]often, shang
[4] up,
eng
ung as in hung and lung. Ex: lengx [3] cold, zhenzhengx [14] genuine,
true
ia
ee-ah (quickly, as one syllable), like the ya in yacht. Ex: jiath
[1] home
ie
ee-eh (quickly), like the ye in yet. Ex: jierit [24] festival, qies
[1] cut
io
yo. Ex:
iu(iou)
eo as in Leo, close to u in union. Ex: lious [2] remain, lius [2]
flow
ian
ee-en (quickly)( an after i sounds between man and men in English)
in(ien)
een as in seen, like then ine in machine. Ex: jint [1] now, jintt
[1] gold
iang
ee-ahng (quickly) . Ex: jiang [1] will, jiangt [1] river, jiangf
[4] general
ing(ieng)
ing as in ring. Ex: bingf [1] soldier, bingc [3] cake, bingj [4]
sickness
ua
wa as in wash, like the wa in wander. Ex: huap [1] flower, guap
[1] squash
ue
the German umlaut u in uber plus e in ie. Ex: yuet [4] month, xuet
[3] snow
uo
wo as in wore, like the wa in waltz. Ex: guoh [1] wok, duox [1]
many, shuos [1]
uai
why, like the wi in wide. Ex: guaix [1] well-behaved, guayx [4]
strange
ui(uei)
way, between we and weigh. Ex: guis [1] return, huix [1] grey, guy,
huy,
uan
wahn, as in wander. Ex: kuanx [1] wide, guans [1] close, suanx [1]
sour
un(uen)
won, somewhat like the wen in Owen. Ex: chunt [1] spring, chunx
[2] pure
uang
wahng. Ex: guangt [1] light, zhuangth [1] village, chaungq [1] window
ong(ueng)
ong, like the ung in German jung or, u as in put plus ng as in sing
iong
ee-ong (quickly), almost like German jung. Ex: qiongx [2] poor,
xiongb [2]
iao
start with ee in see and end with ow in now. Ex. niaob [3] bird,
jiaos [1,4]
3. PRONUNCIATION
DRILLS, suggested to English speakers for comparisons:
| ji |
qi |
xi |
yi |
zhi |
chi |
shi |
ri |
| jia |
qia |
xia |
ya |
zha |
cha |
sha |
| jian |
qian |
xian |
yan |
zhan |
chan |
shan |
ran |
| jiang |
qiang |
xiang |
yang |
zhang |
chang |
shang |
rang |
| jin |
qin |
xin |
yin |
zhen |
chen |
shen |
ren |
| jing |
qing |
xing |
ying |
zheng |
cheng |
sheng |
reng |
| ju |
qu |
xu |
yu |
zhu |
chu |
shu |
ru |
| juan |
quan |
xuan |
yuan |
zhuan |
chuan |
shuan |
ruan |
| jun |
qun |
xun |
yun |
zhun |
chun |
shun |
run |
| jue |
que |
xue |
yue |
zhuo |
chuo |
shuo |
ruo |
| jiong |
qiong |
xiong |
yong |
zhong |
chong |
(shong) |
rong |
| |
|
|
|
zhuang |
chuang |
shuang |
4.
TONES: with numerals as always written in square brackets
after a new word as follows
1st Tone: a relatively high, level tone, as when singing the note
"la".maf [1]
2nd Tone: a rising tone, as in "far" when asking, "
Is it far?" map [2]
3rd Tone: a dipping tone, as when irritably saying, "So?"
mab [3]
4th Tone: a downward tone, as when adamantly saying, "No!"
mas2 [4]
Weak Tone
(the Neutralized Tone, 0th Tone or 5th Tone) is usually not marked,
as the second syllables in "women [30], xiexies [40], mamaf
[10], erduoq [20], pengyouf [20], yuanhz [40], ganjingx [10], piaoliangx
[40], shufux [10]" etc.
5.
SANDHI: the modification or change of tones in successive
pronunciation.
Chinese is a tonal language. Stressed syllables always have one
of the four tones, but some syllables never have stress, such as
the interrogative particles, like "ma, ne, ba". The same
syllables some times occur unstressed, in which case the tone often
disappears. Such unstressed syllables are said to have neutral tone,
or to be toneless or neutral syllable and are written without tone
mark. A disyllabic word that has a strong combination for a proper
meaning often has the second syllable unstressed. such as, women,
nimen, xianshengf, xueshengf, pengyouf, ganjingx, piaoliangx, xiexies,
babaf, mamaf, taitaif, xiaojief, gonggongf, popof, fuqinf, muqinf,
and those with -r and -z as their suffixes, like wuthz, fangthz,
yuanhz, zhuohz2, yihz, kuhz, lingqz, xiuqz, biqz, duqz, taopz, liipz,
huapr, niaobr, xiaohaifr, wanrs etc. But some of the latter are
not well fixed in word formation. One may add or take off the suffixes
-r or -z without change in basic meaning.
When speaking fast with two 3rd tone syllables adjacent, due to
the natural breath restriction or for the convenience of pronunciation,
the previous one is pronounced in the second tone, e.g. ni haox
ma? wo hen haox. ni ye haox ma? wo ye hen haox. yufak, erqiee, koyiy,
suoyiy, pengyouf, laohub, laoshub etc.
(2) When a 3rd tone syllable precedes syllables of the other tones,
its tone is often not fully realized and the tone it actually carries
is thus the half 3rd tone, e.g. yuyint1, yuyank1, yudiaok, etc.
(3) When "yil" precedes a syllable carrying the 4th tone,
it is read in the 2nd tone., but it is read in the 4th tone when
before the other tones, such as, yiding [24], yigong [24], yiqi
[42], yiqii [43], yil -zhang [4-1], yil -tiaor [4-2].
The negative adverb "bu [4]" is pronounced in the second
tone when it precedes a 4th tone, such as, bu shy [2-4], bu zay
[2-4] etc.
(4) The Retroflex r final: The retroflex "r" can be added
to some syllables as a suffix to modify the semantic feeling, e.g.
huapr, niaobr, fengt r, xiaohaifr, laotoufr, wanrs, yidianr etc.
Sometimes the retroflex "r" applies an influence on pronunciation
of finals in different occasions.
All these
changes have given people an impression that the four tones in the
Chinese language are not steady in actual reading or the tones are
not always important in speech communication. |
More Information
Definitions of Functional
Words and Notional Words
A Functional Word or A Function Word
is a word that is used to indicate the function of other words, or the
relationship between other words in a phrase or sentence, as a preposition
or conjunction. Chinese function words include prepositions, conjunctions,
particles, adverbs, and interjections. We add the other items 5-8 in the
following table, because they only have comparative meanings, and comply
with the features of the Functional Words in Chinese grammar. These words
are limited in number, all together less than 1000 words.
A Notional Word is a word that has an
idea or mental comprehension. The great majority of words in the vocabulary
are notional words. Their number grows with the advance of culture. They
play a role of elements in a sentence.
In English, "has" is a notional
verb in the sentence "He has a sickle." But in the sentence
" He has gone.", "has" is functional, a relational
verb. This is the difference.
Simple Tables of Functional
Words and Notional Words
Functional Words: The number of the
FWs is limited to less than 1000 words.
1. Prepositions: baa, bey, bii, chao, chule, cong,
daw, duy, wey, yiy, xyang, zay.
2. Conjunctions: er, hoe, huozhe, jii, yeu, ruguo,
budann A erqiee B, sueiran, etc.
3. Particles (Auxiliary Words): a, ba, ma, ne, la,
ya, d, de, dy, zho, guo, le, etc.
4. Original Adverbs: bu, cay, dou, hen, mey, tay,
ye, yew, zuy, zhiy, zai, etc.
5. Modal Verbs: ko, neng, ying, gay, gan, gaan, ken,
yuann, xiiang, yaw, bie, u, etc.
6. Proper Measure Words: -ge, -zhi, -zhiy, -pi, -jiann,
-cy, -biann, -tang,-hui, etc.
7. Positional Words: shang, xia, qian, how, zuo, yow,
zhong, liy, way, pang, bian.
8. Pronouns: ni, wo, ta, taa, toa, shei, shenme, zhe,
na, naa, zhexie, naliy, etc.
9. Multi-functional words: shy, fy, yeo, vu, zay,
vy, lay, muo, etc.
Note: The words
in items 5-8 only have comparative meanings. They comply with the features
of the Functional Words in Chinese grammar.
Notional Words: Of course all the suffixes
for the meaning categories are silent, without any influence upon the
pronunciations. (Vowels like "a, e, i, o, u, y, w and n, ng,"
are no good for suffixes.)
1. [-s] Verbs: chis [1]
eat, zous [3] walk, feis [1] fly, ays [4] to love
2. [-x] Adjectives: haox
[3] good, dax [4] big, duox [1] many, meix [3] pretty
3. [-l] Numerals: lingl
[2] zero, shil [2] ten, bail [3] hundred,
4. [-b] Animals: niaob [3]
bird, shoub [4] beast, yub [2] fish, chongb [2] insect
5. [-p] Plants: huap [1]
flower, caop [3] grass, shup [4] tree, guop [3] fruit
6. [-h] Tools: daoh [1]
knife, cheh [1] vehicle, shih [4] room, yifuh [12] clothes
7. [-c] Fabricated Products
(foods and fabrics): fanc [4] meal, zhic [3] paper
8. [-j] Diseases:
jibingj [24] diseases, aij [2] cancer, yanj [2] inflammation
9. [-r] Nouns only
expressing Shapes of Things and Aggregate States of Matters:
dir [1] drop, dianr [3] dot, pianr [4] pill, kuair [4] lump, yuanr [2]
circle
10. [-k] Human Ideas and Cultural
Creations: zhexuek [22] philosophy, dek [2] moral
11. [-q] Parts of a whole thing:
touq [2] head, dingq [3] top, diq [3]bottom
12. [-f] Addresses of People
and Professions, Family Names: jiangjunf [11] general
13. [-v] Proper Nouns of Ancient Cultures:
Dantianv [12] elixir, Baguav [14]
14. [-t] Natural Objects and
Natural phenomena: tiant [1] sky, guangt [1] light
15. [-tt] Mineral and chemical Products,
Chemical Compounds and Chemical Elements:
16. [-th] Immovable Buildings:
louth [2] mansion, bath [4] dam, qiaoth [2] bridge
18. [-qt] Secretions and Extracts
from Animals and Plants: xueqt [4] blood, hanqt[4]
19. [-sk] Verbs used as Nouns:
taolunsk [34] discussion, fenxisk [11] analysis
20. [-ks] Idiomatic Verb-Object
Structure, usually separable: shuijiaoks [44] sleep
[-hs]
When a tool's name is used as a verb: juhs [4] to saw, zuanhs [4]
to drill
More Information
TEXT
Lesson 1
Numerals (with silent meaning suffix -l)
1．New Words:
1
一 yil [1*]
2
二 erl [4]
3
三 sanl [1
4
四 sil [4]
5
五 wul [3]
6 六
liul [4]
7
七 qil [1]
8
八 bal [1
9 九
jiul [3]
0
○ lingl [2]
10 十
shil [2]
100 百bail
[3]
1000 千 qianl
[1]
10000 万 vanl
[4]
1000,0000
亿yill
[4]
More Information
2．Reading: You are required to read
and to write the numbers in the following way, though you may always write
each syllables separately like in the New Words.
Basic Numerals:
0 ○ lingl [2]
1 一 yil [1*],
11 shiyil [21], 10 yishil [42],
100 yibail [43],
2 二 erl [4],
12 shi'erl [14], 20 ershil [42], 200
erbail [23],
3 三 sanl [1],
13 shisanl [21], 30 sanshil [12], 300 sanbail [13],
4 四 sil [4],
14 shisil [24], 40 sishil [42],
400 sibail [43],
5 五 wul [3],
15 shiwul [23], 50 wushil [3'2], 500 wubail [3'3],
6 六 liul [4],
16 shiliul [14], 60 liushil [42],
600 liubail [43],
7 七 qil [1],
17 shiqil [21], 70 qishil [12],
700 qibail [13],
8 八 bal [1],
18 shibal [21], 80 bashil [12], 800
babail [13],
9 九 jiul [3],
19 shijiul [23], 90 jiushil [3'2], 900
jiubail [3'3],
10十 shil [2],
20 ershil [22], 100 yibail [43], 1000 yiqianl
[41],
****
****
****
The Chinese larger units of numeration
are " shil [10] 十, bail [100] 百, qianl [1,000] 千,
vanl [10,000] 万and yill [100,000,000] 亿 ", while million
[bail vanl] and billion [shil yill] are not Chinese basic numeral units.
Therefore, we have to be very careful in translating big numbers, such
as: 5 yill (五亿) is 500 million.
Numbers are essential in any language.
Numerals are basic knowledge in daily life. When counting, we may rely
on instant counting with our fingers for additions and subtractions, but
we must depend on using our memory for multiplication. Those who recite
the table faster calculate faster. Most of people have mastered the basic
calculation techniques in their own native language in primary school.
You may memorize the calculation process in English but translate the
result into Chinese.
Reading the numerals aloud in Chinese
is an efficient way to practice the pronunciation of the language. Chinese
numeration system is regular and the numerals are clearly pronounced.
Read syllable by syllable without any "liaison".
It is important to memorize the pronunciations
of the basic numbers from 0 to 9 at the unit place, the names of the ten's
place (shil), the hundred's place (bail), the thousand's place (qianl),
the ten-thousand's place (vanl) and the hundred-million's place (yill).
If you may do so, then you are able to follow the rule from big place
to smaller place to read all integers. But just remember that million
[bail vanl] and billion [shil yill] are not Chinese basic numeral units.
Chinese are very strict with the sequence
from big to small in saying numbers. For example: you must read 3500 as
three thousand five hundred, but never read as thirty-five hundred. The
latter is not the concept that Chinese can accept.
3. Speaking Practice:
You may read the following Multiplication
Table in Chinese: in which des [3] means to get or to obtain (to make).
| yil yil des yil |
|
|
|
| yil erl des erl |
erl erl des sil |
|
|
| yil sanl des sanl |
erl sanl des liul |
sanl sanl des jiul |
|
| yil sil des sil |
erl sil des bal |
sanl sil [1] shi'erl |
sil sil [1] shiliul |
| yil wul des wul |
erl wul yishil |
sanl wul [1]shiwul |
sil wul ershil |
| | | 
