Pinyin chart & Phonetic

Syllables	Nb	List
Initial	23	b p m f d t n l g k h j q x zh ch sh r z c s y w
Single	6	a o e i u ü
Compound	9	ai ei ui ao ou iu ie ue er
Special	1	er
Front nasal	5	an en in un ün
Nasal	4	ang eng ing ong

Wohle	16	zhi chi sh ri zi ci si yi wu yu ye yue yin yun yuan ying

Labials (bilabials and labiodentals)

Sounds like “b”, “p”, “m”, and “f” are grouped together because they share the common feature of being produced with the lips. “B” and “p” are bilabials, meaning both lips come together or close to produce the sound, while “m” and “f” are labiodentals, produced by placing the lower lip against the upper teeth.

∅	b-	p-	m-	f-
a	ba	pa	ma	fa	-a
ai	bai	pai	mai		-ai
ao	bao	pao	mao		-ao
an	ban	pan	man	fan	-an
ang	bang	pang	mang	fang	-ang

e			me		-e

-ei -en -eng -er

-o -ou -ong

-i -i* -ia -iao -ie -iou -ian -iang -in -ing -iong

-u -ua -uai -uei -uo -uan -uang -uen -ueng

-ü -üe -üan -ün

Alveolars: Sounds like “d”, “t”, “n”, and “l” are grouped because they are articulated near the alveolar ridge, the bony part of the upper jaw where the front teeth are. “D” and “t” are alveolar stops, produced by briefly stopping the airflow with the tongue near the alveolar ridge. “N” is an alveolar nasal, produced by letting the air flow out through the nose while blocking the airflow with the tongue near the alveolar ridge. “L” is an alveolar lateral, produced by allowing the air to escape over the sides of the tongue while blocking the central airflow. Velars: Sounds like “g”, “k”, and “h” are grouped because they are articulated with the back of the tongue near the soft palate (velar) or uvula. “G” and “k” are velar stops, produced by blocking the airflow with the tongue near the soft palate. “H” is a glottal fricative, produced by allowing the airflow through a constriction in the throat. Dentals: Sounds like “z”, “c”, and “s” are grouped because they are dental fricatives, produced by allowing the airflow through a constriction between the tongue and the teeth. “Z” and “c” are alveolar fricatives, while “s” is an alveolo-palatal fricative, produced with a slightly higher constriction in the mouth than “z” and “c”.

Pinyin Chart

Null Initial

∅	1	2	3	4	Neutral
-a	ā	á	ǎ	à	a
-ai	āi	ái	ǎi	ài
-ao	āo	áo	ǎo	ào
-an	ān	ǎn	àn
-ang	āng	áng	àng

-e	ē	é	ě	è	e
-ei
-en
-eng
-er
-o
-ou
-ong
-i
-i*
-ia
-iao
-ie
-iou
-ian
-iang
-in
-ing
-iong
-u
-ua
-uai
-uei
-uo
-uan
-uang
-uen
-ueng
-ü
-üe
-üan
-ün

Group E Initial

First Tone	Second Tone	Third Tone	Fourth Tone	Neutral Tone
ē	é	ě	è	e
ēn	èn
ēng
ér	ěr	èr

Pinyin chart & Phonetic

Labials (bilabials and labiodentals)

Pinyin Chart

Null Initial

Group E Initial

Sources