Vowels and Finals
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    Chinese syllables are made up of three parts - initial, final and tone. Finals are also known in linguistics as "rimes" (or rhymes). In the example of ba, the initial is "b" and the final is "a". This section will cover each of the finals, both with and without an initial. The vowel "a" is the same as the a in Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and many other languages. IPA: /a/.


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    Here, "wa" is considered the final. As we see more examples the reason for this will become clear. When an initial is added to wa, the w changes to a u in the spelling. Keep in mind that gua is actually g + wa.


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    A similar spelling convention sees y change to i. Remember that jia is actually j + ya.


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    This is an awkward vowel for which there is no approximation in English. It is the unrounded version of o (IPA: /ɤ/), sounding a bit like a sound of disgust. Note that it is often pronounced as a sequence of two unrounded vowels (ɰɤ).


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    Although yi is spelled with a y, note that no y sound is pronounced. This unpronounced y disappears when an initial is added, so t + yi = ti. The reason for adding the seemingly unnecessary y is to make the spelling system more clear. For example, the word "mayi" is clearly ma + yi. If there was no y, it would create confusion as to whether it was the single syllable mai, or ma + i.


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    The same spelling convention is used for wu. In other words, d + wu = du. However, the situation with wu is more complex than with yi. In yi, the y is absolutely not pronounced, but in wu there is something of a w sound, at least for some speakers. The w is subtle though, the sound is basically just "u" with only a very slight glide. The vowel "u" is straightforward to pronounce, similar to "oo" in most English accents and the same as u in Spanish, Italian, German etc. IPA: /u/.


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    The spelling here is misleading and inconsistent. Yu is the final, qu is q + yu, and lü is l + yu. Yu is actually ü, the same as the ü in German or the French u (IPA: /y/). As with wu, there is a slight glide before the vowel so it may sound a bit like "yü", but strictly speaking it is simply "ü". For ju, qu and xu the umlaut (two dots) are omitted, but it's important to be aware qu is actually q + yu (qü). The reason for this is that q + wu is impossible, so adding the umlaut is considered unnecessary. However, both l + wu and l + yu are possible, so lu and lü have to be distinguished (as do nu and nü).


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    The vowel "o" is fairly similar to "awe" in English (IPA: /o̞/). The w in wo is pronounced. G + wo = guo, but for bo, po, mo and fo the u is not included in the spelling. Don't be confused by this, bo and guo have the same final, it's just the creators of pinyin decided not to use the spelling "buo" (b + wo).


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    The e in ye is not the same as the e in ge. The vowel here is similar to the e in English "bed" (IPA: /ɛ̝/). B + ye = bie.


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    The e here is also like the e in "bed". A lot of beginners mispronounce xue so that it sounds like "xuei". The e in xue is short and sharp. Remember that yue, xue, que and jue are actually üe, xüe, qüe and jüe. x + yue = xue, n + yue = nüe.




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    h + wai = huai.


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    Rhymes with 'hey" in English.


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    Note that dui is actually "duei" (d + wei). This misleads people who are unfamiliar with the pinyin system into pronouncing dui as though it were "d + wi". The creators of pinyin were keen to keep the words as short as possible so they sometimes chose to omit some letters. The system was designed in the 1950s to be used by ordinary Chinese people as a day-to-day writing system, not as a phonetic notation for foreigners, which helps explain some of the irregularities.


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    Note that the pronunciation of ao is actually "au".


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    x + yao = xiao (IPA: /ɕjau/).


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    Here the spelling is phonetically accurate, "o" blending into "u".


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    Note that jiu is actually "jiou". This is another example of misleading spelling. The common family name Liu is actually pronounced "Liou", but people unfamiliar with Chinese are often misled into making it rhyme with the English "few".






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    More misleading spelling. The vowel in yan in actually an e (IPA: /jɛn/). The spelling "yen" and "bien" would probably be better. There are a minority of speakers who pronounce it with a vowel similar to the "a" in US English (/æ/), especially in Beijing, hence the decision to use this spelling.


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    Similar to the previous example, yuan is actually pronounced like "yuen" (üen). The only initials that can be added to yuan are j, q and x (the u here is actually ü). As with yan, a minority of northerners pronounce this with an /æ/ vowel.


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    The vowel here is a schwa, basically the shortest, most neutral vowel you can pronounce (IPA: /ə/).


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    Note that dun is actually d + wen (duen).


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    As with yi, the y in yin is not pronounced at all. b + yin = bin.


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    j + yun (ün) = jun (jün).








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    With the same vowel as in en.


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    The final "weng" cannot take an initial. Something like "dueng" is impossible.




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    "ong" cannot appear as a bare final, it always has an initial. Note that the pronunciation is usually more like "dung" (IPA: -ʊŋ), although some speakers will use an "o" vowel.


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    Similar to the previous example, the pronunciation is generally more like "yung" (IPA: /jʊŋ/)
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