Yabla Chinese

Mandarin Chinese Pinyin Chart with Audio

a o e i i er ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong i ia iao ie iu ian in iang ing iong u ua uo uai ui uan un uang ueng ü üe üan ün
a o e er ai ao ou an en ang eng yi ya yao ye you yan yin yang ying yong wu wa wo wai wei wan wen wang weng yu yue yuan yun
b ba bo bai bei bao ban ben bang beng bi biao bie bian bin bing bu
p pa po pai pei pao pou pan pen pang peng pi piao pie pian pin ping pu
m ma mo me mai mei mao mou man men mang meng mi miao mie miu mian min ming mu
f fa fo fei fou fan fen fang feng fu
d da de dai dei dao dou dan den dang deng dong di diao die diu dian ding du duo dui duan dun
t ta te tai tei tao tou tan tang teng tong ti tiao tie tian ting tu tuo tui tuan tun
n na ne nai nei nao nou nan nen nang neng nong ni niao nie niu nian nin niang ning nu nuo nuan nü nüe
l la le lai lei lao lou lan lang leng long li lia liao lie liu lian lin liang ling lu luo luan lun lü lüe
g ga ge gai gei gao gou gan gen gang geng gong gu gua guo guai gui guan gun guang
k ka ke kai kei kao kou kan ken kang keng kong ku kua kuo kuai kui kuan kun kuang
h ha he hai hei hao hou han hen hang heng hong hu hua huo huai hui huan hun huang
z za ze zi zai zei zao zou zan zen zang zeng zong zu zuo zui zuan zun
c ca ce ci cai cao cou can cen cang ceng cong cu cuo cui cuan cun
s sa se si sai sao sou san sen sang seng song su suo sui suan sun
zh zha zhe zhi zhai zhei zhao zhou zhan zhen zhang zheng zhong zhu zhua zhuo zhuai zhui zhuan zhun zhuang
ch cha che chi chai chao chou chan chen chang cheng chong chu chua chuo chuai chui chuan chun chuang
sh sha she shi shai shei shao shou shan shen shang sheng shu shua shuo shuai shui shuan shun shuang
r re ri rao rou ran ren rang reng rong ru rua ruo rui ruan run
j ji jia jiao jie jiu jian jin jiang jing jiong ju jue juan jun
q qi qia qiao qie qiu qian qin qiang qing qiong qu que quan qun
x xi xia xiao xie xiu xian xin xiang xing xiong xu xue xuan xun

About Pinyin

Hanyu Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Mandarin Chinese sounds into a Latin alphabet. It was invented in 1950s, and adopted as a standard in mainland China in 1958. Pinyin is used for several purposes such as: teaching Chinese, transcribing names and places into words accessible to european language speakers, and used as an input method for typing Chinese characters.

Pinyin is not the only system devised to transcribe Chinese sounds into roman letters. An older system called Wade-Giles was used in the first half of the 20th century and it has left its mark on the English language. For instance, 功夫 is romanized as "kungfu" in Wade-Giles, but "gongfu" in Pinyin. Also, 北京 (the capital of China) was in the past romanized as "Peking", but is "Beijing" in Pinyin. It is a common misconception that the city changed names, but the sound never changed, only how we spell the sound with letters.

The j, q, x vs. zh, ch, sh sounds

Native English speakers often have trouble distinguishing between these sounds. For instance, 'x' and 'sh' sound similar to native English ears, but to native Chinese speakers, the sounds are completely different. The tongue and lip positions are very different. For 'sh', the tip of the tongue should be on the roof of the mouth, and 'x' the tip of the tongue should be behind the lower teeth.

Below are links to videos in the Yabla format that illustrate the difference. Watch these videos carefully and practice making the correct sounds

Mastered the Pinyin Table?

Study Tone Pairs