Standard Chinese phonology

The consonants listed in the first table above as denti-alveolar are sometimes described as alveolars, and sometimes as dentals. The affricates and the fricative are particularly often described as dentals; these are generally pronounced with the tongue on the lower teeth.[1]^:27

The retroflex consonants (like those of Polish) are actually apical rather than subapical, and so are considered by some authors not to be truly retroflex; they may be more accurately called post-alveolar.[2][3] Some speakers not from Beijing may lack the retroflexes in their native dialects, and may thus replace them with dentals.[1]^:26

The alveolo-palatal consonants (pinyin j, q, x) are standardly pronounced [t͡ɕ, t͡ɕʰ, ɕ]. Some speakers realize them as palatalized dentals [t͡sʲ], [t͡sʰʲ], [sʲ]; this is claimed to be especially common among children and women,[1]^:33 although officially it is regarded as substandard and as a feature specific to the Beijing dialect.[4]

In phonological analysis, it is often assumed that, when not followed by one of the high front vowels [i] or [y], the alveolo-palatals consist of a consonant followed by a palatal glide ([j] or [ɥ]). That is, syllables represented in pinyin as beginning ⟨ji-⟩, ⟨qi-⟩, ⟨xi-⟩, ⟨ju-⟩, ⟨qu-⟩, ⟨xu-⟩ (followed by a vowel) are taken to begin [t͡ɕj], [t͡ɕʰj], [ɕj], [t͡ɕɥ], [t͡ɕʰɥ], [ɕɥ]. The actual pronunciations are more like [t͡ɕ], [t͡ɕʰ], [ɕ], [t͡ɕʷ], [t͡ɕʰʷ], [ɕʷ] (or for speakers using the dental variants, [t͡sʲ], [t͡sʰʲ], [sʲ], [t͡sᶣ], [t͡sʰᶣ], [sᶣ]). This is consistent with the general observation (see under § Glides) that medial glides are realized as palatalization and/or labialization of the preceding consonant (palatalization already being inherent in the case of the palatals).

On the above analysis, the alveolo-palatals are in complementary distribution with the dentals [t͡s, t͡sʰ, s], with the velars [k, kʰ, x], and with the retroflexes [ʈ͡ʂ, ʈ͡ʂʰ, ʂ], as none of these can occur before high front vowels or palatal glides, whereas the alveolo-palatals occur only before high front vowels or palatal glides. Therefore, linguists often prefer to classify [t͡ɕ, t͡ɕʰ, ɕ] not as independent phonemes, but as allophones of one of the other three series.[5] The existence of the above-mentioned dental variants inclines some to prefer to identify the alveolo-palatals with the dentals, but identification with any of the three series is possible (unless the empty rime /ɨ/ is identified with /i/, in which case the velars become the only candidate; see below). The Yale and Wade–Giles systems mostly treat the alveolo-palatals as allophones of the retroflexes; Tongyong Pinyin mostly treats them as allophones of the dentals; and Mainland Chinese Braille treats them as allophones of the velars. In standard pinyin and bopomofo, however, they are represented as a separate sequence.

The alveolo-palatals arose historically from a merger of the dentals [t͡s, t͡sʰ, s] and velars [k, kʰ, x] before high front vowels and glides. Previously, some instances of modern [t͡ɕ(ʰ)i] were instead [k(ʰ)i], and others were [t͡s(ʰ)i]. The change took place in the last two or three centuries at different times in different areas. This explains why some European transcriptions of Chinese names (especially in postal romanization) contain ⟨ki-⟩, ⟨hi-⟩, ⟨tsi-⟩, ⟨si-⟩ where an alveolo-palatal might be expected in modern Chinese. Examples are Peking for Beijing, Chungking for Chongqing, Fukien for Fujian (c.f. Hokkien), Tientsin for Tianjin; Sinkiang for Xinjiang, and Sian for Xi'an. The complementary distribution with the retroflex series arose when syllables that had a retroflex consonant followed by a medial glide lost the medial glide.

A full syllable such as ai, in which the vowel is not preceded by any of the standard initial consonants or glides, is said to have a null initial or zero onset. This may be realized as a consonant sound: [ʔ] and [ɣ] are possibilities, as are [ŋ] and [ɦ] in some non-standard varieties. It has been suggested that such an onset be regarded as a special phoneme, or as an instance of the phoneme /ŋ/, although it can also be treated as no phoneme (absence of onset). By contrast, in the case of the particle 啊 a, which is a weak onsetless syllable, linking occurs with the previous syllable (as described under § Syllable reduction, below).[1]^:43

When a stressed vowel-initial Chinese syllable follows a consonant-final syllable, the consonant does not directly link with the vowel. Instead, the zero onset seems to intervene in between. 棉袄; mián'ǎo ("cotton jacket") becomes [mjɛnʔau], [mjɛnɣau]. However, in connected speech none of these output forms is natural. Instead, when the words are spoken together the most natural pronunciation is rather similar to [mjɛ̃ːau], in which there is no nasal closure or any version of the zero onset, and instead nasalization of the vowel occurs.

Transcriptions of the vowels' allophones (the ways they are pronounced in particular phonetic environments) differ somewhat between sources. The following table provides one fairly typical set of descriptions (not including the values that occur with the rhotic coda).[lower-alpha 3]

¹ ü is written as u after j, q, or x (the ⟨-u⟩ phoneme never occurs in these positions)

² o is nowadays pronounced [wo] after b, p, m, or f.

More details about the individual vowel allophones are given in the following table.

As a general rule, vowels in open syllables (those which have no coda following the main vowel) are pronounced long, while others are pronounced short. This does not apply to weak syllables, in which all vowels are short.[1]^:42

In Standard Chinese, the vowels [a] and [ə] harmonize in backness with the coda.[7][1]^:72–73 For [a], it is fronted [a̟] before /i, n/ and backed [a̠] before /u, ŋ/. For [ə], it is fronted [ə̟] before /n/ and backed [ə̠] before /ŋ/.

Some native Mandarin speakers may pronounce [wei̯], [jou̯], and [wən] as [ui], [iu], and [un] respectively in the first or second tone.[8]^:69

Some linguists prefer to reduce the number of vowel phonemes further (at the expense of including underlying glides in their systems). Edwin G. Pulleyblank has proposed a system which includes underlying glides, but no vowels at all.[1]^:37 More common are systems with two vowels; for example, in Mantaro Hashimoto's system,[9] there are just two vowel nuclei, /ə, a/, which may be preceded by a glide /j, w, ɥ/, and may be followed by a coda /i, u, n, ŋ/ (additional sequences are afforded by the rhotic coda /ɚ̯/; see Erhua). The various combinations of glide, vowel, and coda have different surface manifestations, as shown in the table below. Any of the three positions may be empty, i.e. occupied by a null meta-phoneme ∅; for example, the high vowels [i, u, y] are analyzed as glide + ∅, and the empty rime, i.e. the syllabic consonant [ɹ̩~ɻ̩] or the vowel [ɨ], is analyzed as having all three values null, e.g. si [sɹ̩] is analyzed as an underlying syllabic /s̩/.

¹ ü is written as u after j, q, or x.

² o is nowadays pronounced [wo] after b, p, m, or f.

This system of phonemes is used in the bopomofo phonetic transcription system commonly used in Taiwan.

Syllables can be classified as full (or strong), and weak. Weak syllables are usually grammatical markers such as 了 le, or the second syllables of some compound words (although many other compounds consist of two or more full syllables).

A full syllable carries one of the four main tones, and some degree of stress. Weak syllables are unstressed, and have neutral tone. The contrast between full and weak syllables is distinctive; there are many minimal pairs such as 要事 yàoshì "important matter" and 钥匙 yàoshi "key", or 大意 dàyì "main idea" and (with the same characters) dàyi "careless", the second word in each case having a weak second syllable. Some linguists consider this contrast to be primarily one of stress, while others regard it as one of tone. For further discussion, see under Neutral tone and Stress, below.

There is also a difference in syllable length. Full syllables can be analyzed as having two morae ("heavy"), the vowel being lengthened if there is no coda. Weak syllables, however, have a single mora ("light"), and are pronounced approximately 50% shorter than full syllables.[1]^:88 Any weak syllable will usually be an instance of the same morpheme (and written with the same character) as some corresponding strong syllable; the weak form will often have a modified pronunciation, however, as detailed in the following section.

Apart from differences in tone, length, and stress, weak syllables are subject to certain other pronunciation changes (reduction).[15]

• If a weak syllable begins with an unaspirated obstruent, such as (pinyin) b, d, g, z, j, that consonant may become voiced. For example, in 嘴巴 zuǐba ("mouth"), the second syllable is likely to begin with a [b] sound, rather than an unaspirated [p].
• The vowel of a weak syllable is often reduced, becoming more central. For example, in the word zuǐba just mentioned, the final vowel may become a schwa [ə].
• The coda (final consonant or offglide) of a weak syllable is often dropped (this is linked to the shorter, single-mora nature of weak syllables, as referred to above). If the dropped coda was a nasal consonant, the vowel may be nasalized.[1]^:88 For example, 脑袋 nǎodai ("head") may end with a monophthong [ɛ] rather than a diphthong, and 春天 chūntian ("spring") may end with a centralized and nasalized vowel [ə̃].
• In some cases, the vowel may be dropped altogether. This may occur, particularly with high vowels, when the unstressed syllable begins with a fricative or an aspirated consonant; for example, 豆腐 dòufu ("tofu") may be said as dòu-f, and 问题 wènti ("question") as wèn-t (the remaining initial consonant is pronounced as a syllabic consonant). The same may even occur in full syllables that have low ("half-third") tone.[1]^:258 The vowel (and coda) may also be dropped after a nasal, in such words as 我们 wǒmen ("we") and 什么 shénme ("what"), which may be said as wǒm and shém – these are examples of the merger of two syllables into one, which occurs in a variety of situations in connected speech.

The example of shénme → shém also involves assimilation, which is heard even in unreduced syllables in quick speech (for example, in guǎmbō for 广播 guǎngbō "broadcast"). A particular case of assimilation is that of the sentence-final exclamatory particle 啊 a, a weak syllable, which has different characters for its assimilated forms:

The following table shows the four main tones of Standard Chinese, together with the neutral (or fifth) tone.

Tone number	1	2	3	4	5
Description	high	rising	low (dipping)	falling	neutral
Pinyin diacritic	ā	á	ǎ	à	a
Tone letter	˥ (55)	˧˥ (35)	˨˩, ˩, ˩˧, ˨˩˦ (21, 11, 13, 214)	˥˩ (51)	-
IPA diacritic	/á/	/ǎ/ [a᷄]	/à/[lower-alpha 4] [à̤, a̤᷆, a̤᷅, a̤᷉]	/â/	-
Tone name	yīn píng	yáng píng	shǎng	qù	qīng
Examples	巴/bā	拔/bá	把/bǎ	爸/bà	吧/ba

The four main tones of Standard Mandarin, pronounced with the syllable ma.

The Chinese names of the main four tones are respectively 阴平 [陰平] yīn píng ("dark level"), 阳平 [陽平] yáng píng ("light level"), 上 shǎng[18][19] or shàng[20] ("rising"), and 去 qù ("departing"). As descriptions, they apply rather to the predecessor Middle Chinese tones than to the modern tones; see below. The modern Standard Chinese tones are produced as follows:

1. First tone, or high-level tone, is a steady high sound, produced as if it were being sung instead of spoken. (In a few syllables, the quality of the vowel is changed when it carries first tone; see the vowel table above.)
2. Second tone, or rising tone, or more specifically high-rising, is a sound that rises from middle to high pitch (like in the English "What?!"). In a three-syllable expression, if the first syllable has first or second tone and the final syllable is not weak, then a second tone on the middle syllable may change to first tone.[21]
3. Third tone, low or dipping tone, descends from mid-low to low; between other tones it may simply be low. This tone is often demonstrated as having a rise in pitch after the low fall; however, third tone syllables that include the rise are significantly longer than other syllables; when a third-tone syllable is not said in isolation, this rise is normally heard only if it appears at the end of a sentence or before a pause, and then usually only on stressed monosyllables.[1]^:222 The third tone without the rise is sometimes called half third tone. Also, two consecutive third tones are avoided by changing the first to second tone; see § Third tone sandhi below. Unlike the other tones, third tone is pronounced with breathiness or murmur.[1]^:213
4. Fourth tone, falling tone, or high-falling, features a sharp fall from high to low (as is heard in curt commands in English, such as "Stop!"). When followed by another fourth-tone syllable, the fall may be only from high to mid-level.[22]
5. For the neutral tone or fifth tone, see the following section.

Most romanization systems, including pinyin, represent the tones as diacritics on the vowels (as does zhuyin), although some, like Wade–Giles, use superscript numbers at the end of each syllable. The tone marks and numbers are rarely used outside of language textbooks: in particular, they are usually absent in public signs, company logos, and so forth. Gwoyeu Romatzyh is a rare example of a system where tones are represented using normal letters of the alphabet (although without a one-to-one correspondence).

Also called fifth tone or zeroth tone (in Chinese 轻声; 輕聲; qīngshēng, literal meaning: "light tone"), the neutral tone is sometimes thought of as a lack of tone. It is associated with weak syllables, which are generally somewhat shorter than tonic syllables. The pitch of a syllable with neutral tone is determined by the tone of the preceding syllable. The following table shows the pitch at which the neutral tone is pronounced in Standard Chinese after each of the four main tones.[23] The situation differs by dialect, and in some regions, notably Taiwan, the neutral tone is relatively uncommon.

Although the contrast between weak and full syllables is often distinctive, the neutral tone is often not described as a full-fledged tone; some linguists feel that it results from a "spreading out" of the tone on the preceding syllable. This idea is appealing because without it, the neutral tone needs relatively complex tone sandhi rules to be made sense of; indeed, it would have to have four allotones, one for each of the four tones that could precede it. However, the "spreading" theory incompletely characterizes the neutral tone, especially in sequences where more than one neutral-tone syllable is found adjacent.[24] In Modern Standard Mandarin as applied in A Dictionary of Current Chinese, the second syllable of words with a 'toneless final syllable variant' (重·次輕詞語) can be read with either a neutral tone or with the normal tone.[25][26][27]

The four tones of Middle Chinese are not in one-to-one correspondence with the modern tones. The following table shows the development of the traditional tones as reflected in modern Standard Chinese. The development of each tone depends on the initial consonant of the syllable: whether it was a voiceless consonant (denoted in the table by v−), a voiced obstruent (v+), or a sonorant (s). (The voiced–voiceless distinction has been lost in modern Standard Chinese.)

The principal rule of third tone sandhi is:

• When there are two consecutive third-tone syllables, the first of them is pronounced with second tone.

For example, lǎoshǔ 老鼠 ("mouse") comes to be pronounced láoshǔ [lau̯˧˥ʂu˨˩]. It has been investigated whether the rising contour (˧˥) on the prior syllable is in fact identical to a normal second tone; it has been concluded that it is, at least in terms of auditory perception.[1]^:237

When there are three or more third tones in a row, the situation becomes more complicated, since a third tone that precedes a second tone resulting from third tone sandhi may or may not be subject to sandhi itself. The results may depend on word boundaries, stress, and dialectal variations. General rules for three-syllable third-tone combinations can be formulated as follows:

1. If the first word is two syllables and the second word is one syllable, then the first two syllables become second tones. For example, bǎoguǎn hǎo 保管好 ("to take good care of") takes the pronunciation báoguán hǎo [pau̯˧˥kwan˧˥xau̯˨˩˦].
2. If the first word is one syllable, and the second word is two syllables, the second syllable becomes second tone, but the first syllable remains third tone. For example: lǎo bǎoguǎn 老保管 ("to take care of all the time") takes the pronunciation lǎo báoguǎn [lau̯˨˩pau̯˧˥kwan˨˩˦].

Some linguists have put forward more comprehensive systems of sandhi rules for multiple third tone sequences. For example, it is proposed[1]^:248 that modifications are applied cyclically, initially within rhythmic feet (trochees; see below), and that sandhi "need not apply between two cyclic branches".

Special rules apply to the tones heard on the words (or morphemes) 不 bù ("not") and 一 yī ("one").

For 不 bù:

1. 不 is pronounced with second tone when followed by a fourth tone syllable.

   Example: 不是 (bù+shì, "to not be") becomes búshì [pu˧˥ʂɻ̩˥˩]

2. In other cases, 不 is pronounced with fourth tone. However, when used between words in an A-not-A question, it may become neutral in tone (e.g., 是不是 shìbushì).

For 一 yī:

1. 一 is pronounced with second tone when followed by a fourth tone syllable.

   Example: 一定 (yī+dìng, "must") becomes yídìng [i˧˥tiŋ˥˩]

2. Before a first, second or third tone syllable, 一 is pronounced with fourth tone.

   Examples：一天 (yī+tiān, "one day") becomes yìtiān [i˥˩tʰjɛn˥], 一年 (yī+nián, "one year") becomes yìnián [i˥˩njɛn˧˥], 一起 (yī+qǐ, "together") becomes yìqǐ [i˥˩t͡ɕʰi˨˩˦].

3. When final, or when it comes at the end of a multi-syllable word (regardless of the first tone of the next word), 一 is pronounced with first tone. It also has first tone when used as an ordinal number (or part of one), and when it is immediately followed by any digit (including another 一; hence both syllables of the word 一一 yīyī and its compounds have first tone).
4. When 一 is used between two reduplicated words, it may become neutral in tone (e.g. 看一看 kànyikàn ("to take a look of")).

The numbers 七 qī ("seven") and 八 bā ("eight") sometimes display similar tonal behavior as 一 yī, but for most modern speakers they are always pronounced with first tone. (All of these numbers, and 不 bù, were historically Ru tones, and as noted above, that tone does not have predictable reflexes in modern Chinese; this may account for the variation in tone on these words.)[1]^:228

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• Chao, Yuen Ren (1968). A Grammar of Spoken Chinese (2nd ed.). University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-00219-7.
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• ——— (2007). The Phonology of Standard Chinese (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Lin, Yen-Hwei (2007). The Sounds of Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Ladefoged, Peter; Wu, Zongji (1984). "Places of Articulation: An Investigation of Pekingese Fricatives". Journal of Phonetics. 12: 267–78. doi:10.1016/S0095-4470(19)30883-6.
• ———; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell.
• Lee, Wai-Sum; Zee, Eric (2003). "Standard Chinese (Beijing)" (PDF). Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 33 (1): 109–112. doi:10.1017/S0025100303001208.
• Norman, Jerry (1988). Chinese. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29653-3.
• Zhu, Xiaonong; Wang, Caiyu (2015). "Tone". In Wang, William S.-Y.; Sun, Chaofen (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Chinese Linguistics. Oxford University Press. pp. 503–515. ISBN 978-0-19-985633-6.
• 國立台灣師範大學, 國音教材編輯委員會 (2008). 國音學 (8th ed.). 正中书局. ISBN 978-9-570-91808-3.