vowels in Mandarin

Meanings

1. 1phrasepluraltechnical

   The vowel sounds used in Mandarin Chinese, usually written with the letters a, e, i, o, u and sometimes ü in pinyin.

   Grammar: Treated as a plural noun phrase; use a plural verb: vowels in Mandarin include ...

   Patterns

   • vowels in Mandarin include something
   • the vowels in Mandarin are ...
   • a vowel in Mandarin

   The vowels in Mandarin include a, e, i, o, u, and ü.

   Learners often find the vowels in Mandarin difficult because one letter can represent several sounds.

   A textbook on Chinese phonetics explains how the vowels in Mandarin change with tone.

2. 2phrasepluraltechnical

   The set of vowel-like sounds that form the core of Mandarin syllables, including some that are pronounced differently from English vowels.

   Grammar: Often used when comparing languages: the vowels in Mandarin are shorter than ...

   Patterns

   • the vowels in Mandarin are pronounced ...
   • compare the vowels in Mandarin with ...

   The vowels in Mandarin are generally shorter than the long vowels of English.

   Some vowels in Mandarin, such as the 'i' in 'shi', have no exact English equivalent.

   She studied how the vowels in Mandarin combine with consonants to form syllables.

Common combinations

Mandarin vowels

Mandarin vowels are usually taught together with tones.

pinyin vowels

Pinyin vowels can be confusing because 'i' has several pronunciations.

front vowels

Front vowels like 'i' and 'ü' are made with the tongue forward.

vowel sounds

The vowel sounds in Mandarin differ from those in Cantonese.

vowel system

The Mandarin vowel system is simpler than the English one in some ways.

Synonyms and how they differ

Mandarin finals

Finals include vowels plus any final consonant or glide, so they cover more than vowels alone.

vowel sounds

A more general term; it does not specify which language the sounds belong to.

Opposites

Word family

vowel noun

A speech sound made without blocking the breath.

Mandarin proper noun

The standard form of Chinese spoken in northern and central China.

pinyin noun

The official system for writing Mandarin with Latin letters.

Commonly confused: vowels in Mandarin or Cantonese vowels?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “vowels in Mandarin”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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