Chinese (Mandarin)/Pronunciation of Initials

Remember, since hearing is very important for learning to speak, audio samples and the voices of native speakers should be your constant companions. Pronunciation of initials Pinyin IPA Explanation Examplesb [p] noicon|180px unaspirated p, as in spit 帮 bāng, to help包 bāo, (Chinese) bunp [pʰ] as in English炮 pào, gun; cannonm [m] as in English马 mǎ, horsef [f] as in English风 fēng, windd [t] noicon|180px unaspirated t, as in stand大 dà, big刀 dāo, knifet [tʰ] as in English头 tóu, headn [n] as in English男 nán, malel [l] as in English老 lǎo, oldg [k] noicon|180px unaspirated k, as in skill格 gé, grid歌 gē, songk [kʰ] as in English 看 kàn, to seeh [x] noicon|180px like the English h if followed by "a"; otherwise it is pronounced more roughly (not unlike the Scots ch)好 hǎo, good喝 hē, to drink画 huà, to drawj [tɕ] noicon|180px like q, but unaspirated. (To get this sound, first take the sound halfway between joke and check, and then slowly pass it backwards along the tongue until it is entirely clear of the tongue tip.) While this exact sound is not used in English, the closest match is the j in ajar, not the s in Asia; this means that "Beijing" is pronounced like "bay-jing", not like "beige-ing".叫 jiào, to call家 jiā, home, family近 jìn, close尖 jiān, sharpq [tɕʰ] like j above, but with strong aspiration. Similar to church; pass it backwards along the tongue until it is free of the tongue tip气 qì, air, gas桥 qiáo, bridgex [ɕ] noicon|180px like sh, but take the sound and pass it backwards along the tongue until it is clear of the tongue tip; very similar to the final sound in German ich, Portuguese enxada, luxo, xícara, puxa, and to huge or Hugh in some English dialects小 xiǎo, little, small心 xīn, heart想 xiǎng, to think; to wantzh [tʂ] noicon|180px ch with no aspiration (take the sound halfway between joke and church and curl it upwards); very similar to merger in American English, but not voiced 长 zhǎng, to grow中 zhōng, center, middle重 zhòng, heavych [tʂʰ] Like zh above, but with strong aspiration. Similar to chin, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to nurture in American English, but strongly aspirated吃 chī, to eat茶 chá, teash [ʂ] noicon|180px as in shinbone, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to undershirt in American English沙 shā, sand手 shǒu, hand上 shàng, up, onr [ɻ] noicon|180px similar to the English r in rank, but with the lips spread and with the tongue curled upwards日 rì, sun热 rè, hotz [ts] unaspirated c (halfway between beds and bets), (more common example is suds)紫 zǐ, purplec [tsʰ] like ts, aspirated (more common example is cats)草 cǎo, grass次 cì, time(s)s [s] as in sun送 sòng, to send