Wednesday, August 29, 2012

How to Pronounce Chinese Pinyin Alphabet


Learn Chinese Online - How to pronounce Chinese pinyin

A couple days ago, one of my foreign friends asked me a question on Facebook, and that is: Could you write the Chinese alphabet with English pronunciation for me? I was a little confused at first, for it is nearly impossible to list the pronunciation of Chinese alphabet by English letters or words. As all of us known that the Latin alphabet is widely used all over the world, but they all have their own unique pronunciation in different countries. However, I found out a way to help him learning the Chinese pinyin alphabet.
Below is what the Chinese pinyin alphabet looks like along with the letter's pronunciation in some English words. 

A ei (pronounced like the "a" in "car")
B bi (pronounced as an unaspirated "p")
C xi (pronounced as a aspirated sharp "dz")
D dí (pronounced as an unaspirated "t")
E yi (pronounced as in the French "schwa")
F ài fú (pronounced as in the "f" in "father")
G jí (pronounced as an unaspriated "k")
H ài chi (pronounced as in the "h' of "house")
I ài (pronounced as in "eye")
J jié (pronounced as an unaspirated "ts" as in the "tu" in "picture")
K kai (pronounced as an aspirated "k")
L ài lè (pronounced as in the "l" or "lorry")
M ài ma (pronounced as in the "m" of "mother")
N ài nà (pronounced as in the "n" of "nook")
O ó (pronounced as in the "o" in "long")
P pì (pronounced as an aspirated "p")
Q jí wú (pronounced as an aspirated "ts")
R ài ér (pronounced as the Spanish "r")
S ài si (pronounced as a hard "s", between an "s" and a "z")
T tí (pronounced as an aspirated "t")
U yi wú (pronounced as in the French "u")
V wéi (pronounced with a "w" as there is no "v" in the Chinese alphabet)
W dòu bèi er wéi (pronounced as the "oo" in "boo")
X yi kè si (pronounced as the "s" in "silk")
Y wú ài (pronounced as the French "u")
Z zéi dé (pronounced an unaspirated sharp "dz") 

You can adopt various ways to learn Chinese pinyin alphabets. No matter what method you use, you should bear in mind that practice makes perfect!

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