9/11, 17, 18/15
Pinyin
Initials
A Chinese character has only one syllable, which consists of two parts: an initial (consonant) and a final (vowel). The consonants always appear initially in a syllable. There are 21 initials for the standard Chinese pronunciation and they fall into six groups as follows:
Bully Cousins: When followed by “i”, “i” is silent
Finals
There are two kinds of finals in the Chinese phonetic alphabet, single finals and compound finals. Their positions are in the rear of a syllable. There are six simple finals which are noted here by a blue link.
Basic Vowels: a o e i u ü (fish eyes)
*“i” change to “y”, “u” to “w” if there is no other initial
Your Friend: Ian (ian)
Tones
In Mandarin, words that have the same pronunciation can have different meanings depending on how the word is said. The "tone" of a word describes how the pitch changes as the word is said. There are four "tones" in Mandarin. The tones are represented in pinyin by marks above the words and are read from left to right. The absence of a tone also has meaning.
For example, the word "ma" can have a number of different meanings depending on how it is said.
The following diagram shows how the tones are pronounced in relation to each other.
— ∕ V \
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
First Tone: ā Sounds like a singing tone
Second Tone: á Sounds likes question: “Huh?” “Me?”
Third Tone: ǎ Sounds like “Well…”
Fourth Tone: à Sounds like “ Hi!” “Yes!”
Where should I put the tone mark?
Tone mark should be placed above the first vowel unless the first vowel is " i " or " u " and there are other vowels in the finals, then put it on the second vowel:
For Pinyin Review:
http://www.yoyochinese.com/content/lesson-1-overview-of-mandarin-Chinese-pinyin-system-http://www.yoyochinese.com/content/lesson-15-mandarin-chinese-review-lesson-7
http://www.yoyochinese.com/content/lesson-16-mandarin-chinese-pinyin-review-lesson-b-7
http://www.yoyochinese.com/mandarin-chinese-lessons-beginner/lesson-12-greetings-in-Chinese-phrases-music-video
Practice Pinyin with song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bdFoA96iTw
北(běi) 京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng) 你(nǐ) Beijing Welcomes You
迎(yíng) 接(jiē) 另(lìng) 一(yī) 个(gè) 晨(chén) 曦(xī) 带(dài)来(lái) 全(quán) 新(xīn) 空(kōng)气(qì)
Welcome another morning that brings in completely fresh air
气(qì)息(xī)改(gǎi) 变(biàn), 情(qíng) 味(wèi)不(bù)变(biàn), 茶(chá) 香(xiāng) 飘(piāo) 满(mǎn)情(qíng) 谊(yì) Atmosphere changes, feelings don’t, the scent of the tea is full of friendship
我(wǒ) 家(jiā)大(dà)门(mén) 常(cháng)打(dǎ)开(kāi), 开(kāi)放(fàng) 怀(huái) 抱(bào) 等(děng)你(nǐ)
My door is always open, with open arms waiting for you
拥(yōng) 抱(bào) 过(guò) 就(jiù) 有(yǒu)了(le)默(mò)契(qì), 你(nǐ)会(huì) 爱(ài)上(shàng) 这(zhè) 里(lǐ)
After the hug, there is understanding, you will love it here
不(bù)管(guǎn) 远(yuǎn) 近(jìn) 都(dōu) 是(shì) 客(kè)人(rén), 请(qǐng) 不(bú) 用(yòng) 客(kè)气(qi)
No matter far or near, you are all guests, please make yourself at home
相(xiāng) 约(yuē) 好(hǎo)了(le)再(zài)一(yì)起(qǐ), 我(wǒ)们(men) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ)
Both agreed will be together again, we welcome you
我(wǒ)家(jiā)种(zhǒng)着(zhe)万(wàn) 年(nián) 青(qīng) 开(kāi) 放(fàng) 每(měi) 段(duàn) 传(chuán)奇(qí) My house plant evergreens blooming every legend
为(wéi)传(chuán) 统(tǒng)的(de)土(tǔ)壤(rǎng) 播(bō)种(zhòng), 为(wéi)你(nǐ)留(liú)下(xià)回(huí)忆(yì) For the ancient soil we seed, for you to leave memories
陌(mò)生(shēng)熟(shú)悉(xī)都(dōu)是(shì)客(kè)人(rén), 请(qǐng)不(bú)用(yòng)拘(jū)礼(lǐ)
Strangers, acquaintances, all are guests, please be at home
第(dì)几(jǐ)次(cì)来(lái)没(méi) 关(guān)系(xi), 有(yǒu)太(tài)多(duō)话(huà)题(tí) How many times come doesn’t matter, have too many conversation topics
北(běi)京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ), 为(wéi)你(nǐ)开(kāi)天(tiān)辟(pì)地(dì)
Beijing welcomes you, for you to open the heaven & earth
流(liú) 动(dòng) 中(zhōng)的(de) 魅(mèi)力(lì) 充(chōng) 满(mǎn)着(zhe) 朝(zhāo) 气(qì)
The flouting charm is full of energy
北(běi)京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ), 在(zài)太(tài) 阳(yáng)下(xià)分(fēn) 享(xiǎng)呼(hū)吸(xī)
Beijing welcomes you; under the sun we share a breath
在(zài) 黄(huáng)土(tǔ) 地(dì) 刷(shuā) 新(xīn) 成(chéng)绩(jì) At the yellow ancient soil, make new records
我(wǒ)家(jiā)大(dà)门(mén) 常(cháng)打(dǎ)开(kāi), 开(kāi) 怀(huái) 容(róng)纳(nà)天(tiān)地(dì)
My door is always open, open arms embrace the heaven and earth
岁(suì)月(yuè)绽(zhàn) 放(fàng) 青(qīng) 春(chūn) 笑(xiào) 容(rón) 迎(yíng) 接(jiē)这(zhè)个(ge)日(rì)期(qī) Time gives out a youthful smile to greet this day
天(tiān)大(dà)地(dì)大(dà)都(dōu)是(shì) 朋(péng) 友(yǒu), 请(qǐng)不(bú)用(yòng)客(kè)气(qi)
Sky is big, earth is big, all are friends, please be at home
画(huà) 意(yì)诗(shī) 情(qíng) 带(dài) 笑(xiào) 意(yì), 只(zhī)为(wéi) 等(děng) 待(dài) 你(nǐ)
Pictures and poetries bring smiles, just for waiting for you
北(běi) 京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ), 像(xiàng) 音(yīn) 乐(yuè) 感(gǎn) 动(dòng) 你(nǐ)
Beijing welcomes you, like music touching you
让(ràng)我(wǒ)们(men)都(dōu)加(jiā)油(yóu)去(qù)超(chāo) 越(yuè)自(zì)己(jǐ)
Let’s all do our best to excel ourselves
北(běi)京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ), 有(yǒu) 梦(mèng) 想(xiǎng) 谁(shuí)都(dōu) 了(liǎo)不(bu)起(qǐ) Beijing welcomes you, with dream everyone is great
有(yǒu) 勇(yǒng)气(qì)就(jiù)会(huì)有(yǒu)奇(qí)迹(jì) Having courage will have miracles
北(běi)京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ), 为(wéi)你(nǐ)开(kāi) 天(tiān)辟(pì)地(dì)
Beijing welcomes you, for you to open the heaven & earth
流(liú) 动(dòng) 中(zhōng)的(de) 魅(mèi)力(lì)充(chōng) 满(mǎn) 着(zhe) 朝(zhāo) 气(qì)
The flouting charm is full of energy
北(běi) 京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ), 在(zài)太(tài) 阳(yáng) 下(xià) 分(fēn) 享(xiǎng) 呼(hū)吸(xī)
Beijing welcomes you; under the sun we share a breath
在(zài) 黄(huáng)土(tǔ)地(dì)刷(shuā) 新(xīn) 成(chéng)绩(jì) At the yellow ancient soil, make new records
北(běi) 京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng) 你(nǐ), 像(xiàng) 音(yīn) 乐(yuè) 感(gǎn) 动(dòng) 你(nǐ)
Beijing welcomes you, like music touching you
让(ràng)我(wǒ)们(men)都(dōu)加(jiā)油(yóu)去(qù)超(chāo) 越(yuè)自(zì)己(jǐ) Let’s all do our best to excel ourselves
北(běi)京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ), 有(yǒu) 梦(mèng) 想(xiǎng) 谁(shuí)都(dōu) 了(liǎo)不(bu)起(qǐ) Beijing welcomes you, with dream everyone is great
有(yǒu) 勇(yǒng)气(qì)就(jiù)会(huì)有(yǒu)奇(qí)迹(jì) Having courage will have miracles
北(běi)京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ)呀(ya)~~
我(wǒ)家(jiā)大(dà)门(mén) 常(cháng)打(dǎ)开(kāi), 开(kāi)放(fàng) 怀(huái)抱(bào)等(děng)你(nǐ)
My door is always open, with open arms waiting for you
拥(yōng) 抱(bào)过(guò)就(jiù)有(yǒu)了(le)默(mò)契(qì), 你(nǐ)会(huì)爱(ài)上(shàng) 这(zhè)里(lǐ)
After the hug, there is understanding, you will love it here
不(bù)管(guǎn) 远(yuǎn)近(jìn)都(dōu)是(shì)客(kè)人(rén) ,请(qǐng)不(bú)用(yòng)客(kè)气(qi)
No matter far or near, you are all guests, please make yourself at home
相(xiāng)约(yuē)好(hǎo)了(le)再(zài)一(yì)起(qǐ) 我(wǒ)们(men) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ)
Both agreed will be together again, we welcome you
北(běi)京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ) 为(wéi)你(nǐ)开(kāi)天(tiān)辟(pì)地(dì)
Beijing welcomes you, for you to open the heaven & earth
流(liú) 动(dòng) 中(zhōng)的(de)魅(mèi)力(lì)充(chōng) 满(mǎn) 着(zhe) 朝(zhāo) 气(qì)
The flouting charm is full of energy
北(běi) 京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng) 你(nǐ) 在(zài)太(tài) 阳(yáng) 下(xià) 分(fēn) 享(xiǎng) 呼(hū)吸(xī)
Beijing welcomes you, under the sun we share a breath
在(zài) 黄(huáng) 土(tǔ) 地(dì) 刷(shuā) 新(xīn) 成(chéng)绩(jì) At the yellow ancient soil, make new records
我(wǒ)家(jiā)大(dà)门(mén)常(cháng)打(dǎ)开(kāi) 开(kāi) 怀(huái) 容(róng)纳(nà)天(tiān)地(dì)
My door is always open, open arms embrace the heaven and earth
岁(suì)月(yuè) 绽(zhàn) 放(fàng) 青(qīng) 春(chūn) 笑(xiào) 容(rón) 迎(yíng) 接(jiē)这(zhè)个(ge)日(rì)期(qī) Time gives out a youthful smile to greet this day
天(tiān)大(dà)地(dì)大(dà)都(dōu)是(shì) 朋(péng) 友(yǒu), 请(qǐng)不(bú)用(yòng)客(kè)气(qi)
Sky is big, earth is big, are all friends, be at home
画(huà)意(yì)诗(shī)情(qíng) 带(dài) 笑(xiào)意(yì), 只(zhī)为(wéi) 等(děng) 待(dài)你(nǐ)
Pictures and poetries bring smiles, just for waiting for you
北(běi) 京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng) 你(nǐ), 像(xiàng) 音(yīn) 乐(yuè) 感(gǎn) 动(dòng) 你(nǐ)
Beijing welcomes you, like music touching you
让(ràng)我(wǒ)们(men)都(dōu)加(jiā)油(yóu)去(qù)超(chāo) 越(yuè)自(zì)己(jǐ)
Let’s all do our best to excel ourselves
北(běi) 京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ), 有(yǒu) 梦(mèng) 想(xiǎng) 谁(shuí) 都(dōu) 了(liǎo)不(bu)起(qǐ) Beijing welcomes you, with dream everyone is great
有(yǒu) 勇(yǒng)气(qì)就(jiù)会(huì)有(yǒu)奇(qí)迹(jì) Having courage will have miracles
北(běi)京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ), 为(wéi)你(nǐ)开(kāi) 天(tiān) 辟(pì)地(dì)
Beijing welcomes you, for you to open the heaven & earth
流(liú) 动(dòng) 中(zhōng)的(de)魅(mèi)力(lì)充(chōng) 满(mǎn)着(zh)朝(zhāo)气(qì)
The flouting charm is full of energy
北(běi)京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ) 在(zài)太(tài)阳(yáng)下(xià)分(fēn) 享(xiǎng)呼(hū)吸(xī)
Beijing welcomes you; under the sun we share a breath
在(zài)黄(huáng)土(tǔ)地(dì)刷(shuā)新(xīn)成(chéng)绩(jì)
At the yellow ancient soil, make new records
北(běi)京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ),像(xiàng) 音(yīn) 乐(yuè) 感(gǎn) 动(dòng)你(nǐ)
Beijing welcomes you, like music touching you
让(ràng)我(wǒ)们(men)都(dōu)加(jiā)油(yóu)去(qù) 超(chāo) 越(yuè)自(zì)己(jǐ)
Let’s all do our best to excel ourselves
北(běi)京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ), 有(yǒu) 梦(mèng) 想(xiǎng) 谁(shuí)都(dōu) 了(liǎo)不(bu)起(qǐ) Beijing welcomes you, with dream everyone is great
有(yǒu) 勇(yǒng)气(qì)就(jiù)会(huì)有(yǒu)奇(qí)迹(jì) Having courage will have miracles
北(běi)京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ), 有(yǒu) 梦(mèng) 想(xiǎng) 谁(shuí)都(dōu) 了(liǎo)不(bu)起(qǐ) Beijing welcomes you, with dream everyone is great
有(yǒu) 勇(yǒng)气(qì)就(jiù)会(huì)有(yǒu)奇(qí)迹(jì) Having courage will have miracles
北(běi)京(jīng) 欢(huān) 迎(yíng)你(nǐ), 有(yǒu) 梦(mèng) 想(xiǎng) 谁(shuí)都(dōu) 了(liǎo)不(bu)起(qǐ) Beijing welcomes you, with dream everyone is great
有(yǒu) 勇(yǒng)气(qì)就(jiù)会(huì)有(yǒu)奇(qí)迹(jì) Having courage will have miracles
The English translation is intended to match the Chinese words literally. Therefore, some sentences may be grammatically incorrect.
By Julie Tha Gyaw | Date: April 10th, 2014 | Category: Chinese Language
For most of us, the first step to learning Chinese is learning pinyin.
The pinyin that I’m referring to here is actually called Hanyu Pinyin. There are actually several different pinyin systems, but the one that most of us know and use these days, which I’ll just call “pinyin,” was originally created as a tool for helping raise the literacy rate in the “New China” of the 1950s. There are a LOT of different opinionsabout pinyin from lots of different perspectives, especially as it compares to other systems of Romanization, but I think we can all agree that, for people who are trying to learn Chinese as a foreign language, pinyin is generally a helpful resource.
There are, though, some features of pinyin that are a little tricky and can cause some confusion about how to pronounce certain syllables in Chinese.
If you’ve been baffled by some aspect of pinyin, let’s see if we can’t clear up your confusion by taking a look at the tricky quirks of this Romanization system.
Tricky Point One: Same Vowel, Multiple Pronunciations
Some new learners of Chinese (including me, back when I started learning Chinese in the ‘90s) think they can just learn how to pronounce “a” or “e” and then they will know how to pronounce it in any syllable. For instance, it wouldn’t be illogical to assume like I did that that once you learn how to say “e” in Chinese, such as in the syllable è (饿), which means “hungry,” you know how to pronounce the “e” any syllable.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way! Multiple sounds are often represented by a single vowel in pinyin. The two vowels that cause the most confusion for beginner Chinese students are the “a” and “e.”
The “e,” for example, appears in nine different finals: e, er, ei, en, eng, ie, uen, ueng, and üe. The sound represented by the “e” in those finals is NOT the same across the board, so it’s important that you learn each final separately in order to avoid pronunciation mistakes. (By the way, if you don’t know what I mean when I say “finals” or “initials,” you might want to watch Yangyang’s pinyin lessons.)
Let’s look at some examples of how the “e” sound changes depending on the final it’s in. Each of the words below has an “e” in it, but the vowel sound is different in each word.
rè 热 “hot”
fēng 风 “wind”
jǐe 姐 “older sister”
wèn 问 “ask”
Similarly, the letter “a” appears in a whopping 14 different finals, including a, ai, ao, an, ang, ia, iao, ian, iang, ua, uai, uan, uang, and üan (which is actually yuan—more on that later). The “a” in those finals represents several different sounds.
Think, for instance, about the differences in pronunciation of vowel sounds in these words:
yǎn 眼 “eye”
yàng 样 “type/kind”
mǎi 买 “buy”
gāo 高 “tall”
You can see how easy it is to get confused at first.
The key to avoiding pronunciation problems in this area is to focus on how to pronounce each initial and final, rather than singling out the letters. Look beyond the individual letters within an initial or final and instead view each of them as an individual unit that has its own unique pronunciation.
You were probably taught to read English phonetically, by first learning the sound that each letter makes, and then putting them together. C –A –T. Together those three letters form the sounds of the word “cat.” Do NOT try to read pinyin in the same way.
Instead, think of when you started learning that certain combinations of letters form certain sounds, such as “tion” and “ph” and “ing.” That’s how you ought to think about the initials and finals in pinyin.
For instance, “e” is one final sound, “en” is another separate final sound, and “eng” is yet another final sound.”
“A” is one final sound, “an” is another, “ang” is another, and “uan” and “yuan” are totally different too. So, rather than thinking of the syllable “gei” as G+E+I, instead think of it as the initial “g” + the final “ei.” And, rather than thinking of “ruan” as R+U+A+N, instead think of it as the initial “r” + the final “uan.”
Speaking of the syllable “ruan,” have you ever wondered WHY IN THE WORLD is it pronounced so differently from the syllable “yuan?” Aren’t they both the “uan” final? Actually, they’re not the same final.
And that leads me to the next point…
Tricky Point Two: The Usage of “y” and “w” as separation letters
If you’ve ever wondered why pinyin seems kind of inconsistent sometimes, that’s because it is. Most of those inconsistencies exist due to some spelling rules.
You need to be aware of those rules, because once you understand them, it might help answer questions like “why are ‘yan’ and ‘wan’ pronounced differently when they appear to have the same final?”
The first spelling rule that you should be aware of is how “y” and “w” are used at the beginning of a syllable.
The basic idea is this: if a syllable begins with “i,” the “i” is replaced with a “y.” Here’s what that means for the following syllables:
Lesson 3 Practice Mandarin Chinese Tones (Tone Pairs)
Learn 3rd, 4th and neutral tones through practical examples
Review the graphics associated with the 3rd and 4th tones
Learn what Chinese tones are
Understand the important of Chinese tones
Learn how to correctly pronounce the 1st and 2nd tones through practical examples
Have you ever wondered why the vowel sound in “men” and “meng” isn’t quite the same? And why does the “e” in “fen” and “feng” sound different? If so, then you’ve got to stop thinking of the “e” as a single vowel that you can add “n” or “ng” onto without changing the vowel sound. Instead, think of “en” and “eng” as totally separate finals, with different pronunciations, even though they are spelled so similarly.
Spelling sounds
pīn (拼) “put together; spell”
yīn (音) “sound”
Also, when a syllable begins with “ü”, a “y” is added and the umlaut is dropped. Why is the umlaut dropped? That is an excellent question and I would love to know the answer! It really bugs me.
Here are the syllables that are affected by this rule:
Here’s another one: When a syllable begins with “u,” it is replaced with a “w.” Here’s how that looks:
And finally, when “i” is a syllable by itself, a “y” is added before it. When “u” is a syllable by itself, a “w” is added before it. And so you get:
Original spelling
i
u
Actual spelling
yi
wu
Once you know these rules, things start to make a little more sense. For example, maybe you’re like me and you wondered for ages why “wo” rhymes with “luo.” Now you know! Because “wo” is actually “uo!”
You might also be asking, “But, why? Why not keep the original spellings? Doesn’t this just add unnecessary complication?”
Well, actually, there is a good reason for it. When used like this, the “y” and “w” are called “separation letters.” Using them helps to avoid ambiguity in words that contain multiple syllables.
For example, without the “y” added to the word for “aunt,” “āyí” would be just “ai,” which is an entirely different word.
And here’s another example: without the “y” and the “w,” the word for English, “yīngwén,” becomes “inguen,” which doesn’t have a clear separation of syllables. It could even be interpreted as a three-syllable word: “in-gu-en.”
By Julie Tha Gyaw | Date: April 17th, 2014 | Category: Chinese Language
If you haven’t noticed yet, pinyin can be pretty tricky! It’s not intuitive for foreigners because it wasn’t designed for foreigners.
Hopefully, the two pinyin pitfalls that I shared last week have answered a few of your burning questions and helped you clear a few hurdles.
This week, I’m going to introduce one of the trickiest pinyin quirks you’ll come across: rules for omission.
Tricky Point Three: Rules for Omission
Now, last week the “pinyin pitfalls” I talked about all served some kind of purpose. Separation letters, for example, are there so we don’t get lost in all those vowels!
Pinyin spelling rules for omitting certain letters in finals serve a much less obvious purpose, other than to simplify spellings.
It’s my personal opinion that, rather than simplifying things, these rules actually complicate pinyin and pronunciation. But hey, it is what it is.
Rule 1: When the final “iou” has an initial, the “o” is dropped.
And so, you get “diu” instead of “diou” and “jiu” instead of “jiou.”
Ever wondered why “you” actually rhymes with “xiu” and “niu?” That’s because of this rule, combined with the rule about changing “i” to “y.”
Once I made that connection, it was like the heavens opened and my world became a bit clearer.
Rule 2: When the final “uen” has an initial, the “e” is dropped.
Thus you get “dun” instead of “duen” and “zhun” instead of “zhuen.”
Also, because of this rule and the rule about changing “u” to “w”, the syllable “wen” is actually the same sound as the final
in “tun” and “kun”, even though it is spelled the same as “fen” and “shen”.
Whaaa?
Is it just me, or do these rules actually make it MORE difficult to know how to pronounce some syllables properly?
Rule 3: When the final “uei” has an initial, the “e” is dropped.
Here’s another thing that baffled me for years:
Because of this rule and the previously mentioned rule in Pinyin Pitfalls Part 1 about changing “u” to “w”, the syllable “wei” actually rhymes with such syllables as “hui”, “tui”, and “rui”, even though they are spelled so differently.
Also, this rule and the first rule for omission listed above mean that there are two very similar finals: “ui” and “iu”, which are WAY too easy to confuse!
Rule 4: Drop the umlaut when the final “ü” is combined with the initials “j”, “q”, and “x”.
Of all the rules for omission, this one irks me the most. Why drop the umlaut at all? I wish I’d had the chance to ask the people who made up these rules.
By dropping those two little dots as well as the “e”, so many of us end up botching the pronunciation of words like “yuan” and “xuan,” because the distinction between “lu” and “lü” or between “nu” and “nü” is made obvious by the umlaut.
Dropping the umlaut makes it easy to confuse, for example, “ju” and “zhu”, “qu” and “chu”, and “xu” and “shu”.
Also, so many of us struggle with pronouncing “xue” as “shui”, and leaving the umlaut above the “u” in “xue” would encourage a stronger distinction between these syllables in our minds.
This spelling rule also states that the umlaut is dropped on the syllable “üen,” and so, combined with the rule for adding a “y” mentioned above, “üen” becomes “yun”. Totally different from the original spelling!
Rule 5: Drop the “u” in the final “uo” when preceded by a “b”, “p”, “m”, or “f”.
Again, why? It seem so unnecessarily confusing.
This means that the two syllables in the word “bōluó” (菠萝, which means “pineapple”) rhyme, even though they appear to have different final sounds based on spelling.
It's because they actually share a common final!
What’s a Chinese Language Learner to do?
Okay, I promise to stop ranting and whining.
After all, pinyin wasn’t really created with Chinese language learners like you and me in mind. Let’s just accept the fact that pinyin has its quirks, and even if it seems unnecessarily complicated at times, it just takes some time to get used to them.
The best thing to do is practice often. In fact, let’s do a little practice now. Can you pick out the two syllables below that rhyme ?
Guai, dui, xue, wei
Now, can you say these two syllables quickly without thinking about it?
shǒu (手, “hand”) shuō (说/說, “speak”)
Dōu (都, “all/both”) duō (多, “many/much”)
Luó (骆/駱, “mule”) lóu (樓, “floor (in a building)")
And finally, practice saying these pairs correctly:
lù (路, “road”) lǜ (绿/綠, “green”)
xù (序, “sequence”) shù (树, “tree”)
chūqù (出去, “go out”) zhùjū (住居, “live/reside”)
How did you do?
Like I said before, while there are some quirks that we might find annoying, as a whole, I think pinyin is a pretty reasonable and fairly “user-friendly” system.
Once you’re aware of the tricky points, just take the time to master those particular areas, and with some practice, you’ll be confident that you can perfectly pronounce any syllable written in pinyin.
If you're still having trouble understanding how this all works, or if you want some great tips on pronouncing things correctly, Yangyang did a Google Hangout lesson about challenging pinyin pronunciations.
It's extremely helpful, even for someone like me who's been speaking Chinese for years now! So, you should definitely check it out here: