User:Pineapplesuitcase/sandbox/Mandarin Analysis Page 1, pinyin style
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| Nucleus | ∅ | /i/ | /u/ | /y/ | /ə/ | /a/ | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medial | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | /j/ | /w/ | /ɥ/ | ∅ | /j/ | /w/ | /ɥ/ | ||
| Coda | ∅ | [ɹ̩~ɻ̩] -i |
[i] ㄧ yi -i |
[u] ㄨ wu -u |
[y] ㄩ yu -ü1 |
[ɤ, o, e] ㄜ，ㄛ，ㄝ e, o2, ê -e, -o2, -e |
[je] ㄧㄝ ye -ie |
[wo] ㄨㄛ wo -uo |
[ɥe] ㄩㄝ yue -üe1 |
[a] ㄚ a -a |
[ja] ㄧㄚ ya -ia |
[wa] ㄨㄚ wa -ua |
|
| /i/ | [ei̯] ㄟ ei -ei |
[wei̯] ㄨㄟ wei -ui |
[ai̯] ㄞ ai -ai |
[wai̯] ㄨㄞ wai -uai |
|||||||||
| /u/ | [ou̯] ㄡ ou -ou |
[jou̯] ㄧㄡ you -iu |
[ɑu̯] ㄠ ao -ao |
[jɑu̯] ㄧㄠ yao -iao |
|||||||||
| /n/ | [ən] ㄣ en -en |
[in] ㄧㄣ yin -in |
[wən] ㄨㄣ wen -un |
[yn] ㄩㄣ yun -ün1 |
[an] ㄢ an -an |
[jɛn] ㄧㄢ yan -ian |
[wan] ㄨㄢ wan -uan |
[ɥɛn] ㄩㄢ yuan -üan1 | |||||
| /ŋ/ | [əŋ] ㄥ eng -eng |
[iŋ] ㄧㄥ ying -ing |
[wəŋ, ʊŋ] ㄨㄥ weng -ong |
[jʊŋ] ㄩㄥ yong -iong |
[ɑŋ] ㄤ ang -ang |
[jɑŋ] ㄧㄤ yang -iang |
[wɑŋ] ㄨㄤ wang -uang |
||||||
- 1 ü is written as u after j, q, or x (the ⟨-u⟩ phoneme never occurs in these positions)
- 2 o is nowadays pronounced [wo] after b, p, m, or f.
More details about the individual vowel allophones are given in the following table.
| Phoneme | Allophone | Description |
|---|---|---|
| /i/ | [i] | Like English ee as in bee |
| /u/ | [u] | Like English oo as in boo |
| [ʊ] | Like English oo in took (varies between [o] and [u] depending on the speaker.) | |
| /y/ | [y] | Like French u or German ü |
| /ə/ | [e] | Somewhat like English ey as in prey |
| [o] | Somewhat like British English awe or Scottish English oh | |
| [ɤ] | Pronounced as a sequence [ɰɤ̞]. | |
| [ə] | Schwa, like English a as in about. | |
| /a/ | [a] | Like English a as in palm |
| [ɛ] | Like English e as in then (varies between [e] and [a] depending on the speaker) |
As a general rule, vowels in open syllables (those which have no coda following the main vowel) are pronounced long, while others are pronounced short. This does not apply to weak syllables, in which all vowels are short.
Effect of coda on central vowels[edit]
In Standard Chinese, the vowels [a] and [ə] harmonize in backness with the coda. For [a], it is fronted [a̟] before /i, n/ and backed [a̠] before /u, ŋ/. For [ə], it is fronted [ə̟] before /n/ and backed [ə̠] before /ŋ/.
Effect of tone on mid vowel[edit]
Some native Mandarin speakers may pronounce [wei̯], [jou̯], and [wən] as [ui], [iu], and [un] respectively in the first or second tone.