Mandarin syllables are divided into two parts: initials (consonants) and finals (vowels, diphthongs, triphthongs or vowels + n or ng). Most syllables are made up of an inital plus a final, but all the finals can stand alone as can some of the initials.
The pronunciation shown below is for the Mandarin spoken in the north of China, particularly by educated speakers in Beijing. It is considered the 'correct' or 'standard' way to pronounce Mandarin. There are considerable variations in Mandarin pronunciation in other areas. The most noticable difference in southern dialects of Mandarin is that the initials zh, ch and sh sound like z, c and s respectively.
Listen to a recording of these initials by 夏绘 (Xinghua)
Listen to a recording of these finals by 夏绘 (Xinghua)
Listen to a recording of these tones by 夏绘 (Xinghua)
Further information about Mandarin and about these transcription systems
人人生而自由﹐在尊嚴和權利上一律平等。他們賦有理性和良心﹐並應以兄弟關係的精神互相對待。
人人生而自由,在尊严和权利上一律平等。他们赋有理性和良心,并应以兄弟关系的精神互相对待。
Listen to a recording of this text
Rénrén shēng ér zìyóu, zài zūnyán hé quánlì shàng yīlù píngděng. Tāmen fùyǒu lǐxìng hé liángxīn, bìng yīng yǐ xiōngdì guānxì de jīngshén hùxiāng duìdài.
ㄖㄣˊ ㄖㄣˊ ㄕㄥ ㄦˊ ㄗˋ ㄧㄡˊ， ㄗㄞˋ ㄗㄨㄣ ㄧㄢˊ ㄏㄜˊ ㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄌㄧˋ ㄕㄥˋ ㄧ ㄌㄩˋ ㄆㄧㄥˊ ㄉㄥˇ． ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙ ㄈㄨˋ ㄧㄡˇ ㄌㄧˇ ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄏㄜˊ ㄌㄧㄤˊ ㄒㄧㄣ， ㄅㄧㄥˋ ㄧㄥ ㄧˇ ㄒㄩㄥ ㄉㄧˋ ㄍㄨㄢ ㄒㄧˋ ㄉㄜ˙ ㄐㄧㄥ ㄕㄣˊ ㄏㄨˋ ㄒㄧㄤ ㄉㄨㄟˋ ㄉㄞˋ．
Jen2-jen2 sheng1 erh2 tzu4-yu2, tsai4 tsun1-yen2 he2 ch'üan2-li4 shang4 i1-lü4 p'ing2-teng3. T'a1-men fu4-yu3 li3-hsing4 he2 liang2-hsin1, ping4 ying1 i3 hsiung1-ti4 kuan1-hsi4 te ching1-shen2 hu4hsiang1 tui4-tai4
Rén-rén shēng ér dz̀-yóu, dzài dzwūn-yán hé chywán-lì shàng yī-lù píngdĕng. Tā-men fù-yǒu lĭ-syìng hé lyáng-syīn, bìng yīng yĭ syūng-dì gwān-syì de jīng-shén hù-syāng dweì-dài.
Renren sheng erl tzyhyou, tzay tzuenyan her chyuanlih shanq iluh pyngdeeng. Ta.men fuhyeou liishinq her liangshin, binq ing yii shiongdih guanshih .de jingshern huhshiang dueyday.
Жэньжэнь шэн эр цзыю, цзай цзуньянь хэ цюаньли шан илюй пиндэн. Тамэнь фую лисин хэ лянсинь, бин ин и сюнди гуаньси дэ цзиншэнь хусян дуйдай.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with
reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Useful phrases in Mandarin | Numbers in Mandarin
Mandarin language learning materials
Chinese Translation
of names and phrases
A guide to the writing of Mandarin Chinese in romanization
http://www.pinyin.info
Pinyin Joe's Chinese Computing Help Desk - information for typing hanzi and pinyin
http://pinyinjoe.com
Learn Chinese from movies
http://www.learn-chinese-from-movies.com
Omniglot Chinese
learn to read, write and pronounce Chinese characters
A conversion table for Mandarin transcription systems
http://www.pinyin.info/romanization/compare/hanyu.html
Converters: Pīnyīn to Bomopofo and Bopomofo to Pīnyīn
http://www.pinyin.info/tools/converter/hp2bpmf.html
http://www.pinyin.info/tools/converter/bpmf2hp.html
Information about Mandarin pronunciation
http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~pinyin/
http://www.sinosplice.com/lang/pronunciation.html
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