Transcription of Chinese
Chinese is a hard language to pronounce and a very hard language to render in the Latin alphabet. Many systems of “romanization” have been used in the past--each one awful in its own special way. In this course, we will primarily use the pinyin system of romanization.
You don’t need to become an expert in the pronunciation of Chinese, but you do need to have some ability to pronounce names and terms--if you pronounce them all “Bleep” in your head as you read you will be unable to remember any, if you pronounce them all “Bleep” in class everyone will think you are cursing, and if you write them all “Bleep” on exams your comments on your grades will also be replaceable by bleeps.
The pinyin system is, in most respects, pretty easy to figure out, but there are a few features that have to be explained. Guidelines for these more difficult aspects pinyin pronunciation appear below. Use them as you begin reading, try to sound out names as you encounter them, and listen in class.
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Pinyin Transcription
Pinyin is relatively easy to figure out; most letters may be pronounced just as they commonly are in English. The following guide focuses only on the few difficult spots:
“q” is pronounced like “ch” (pronounce “qin” like the English word “chin”) “x” is pronounced like “sh” (pronounce “xi” like English “she”) “z” is pronounced like “dz” (pronounce “zu” like “zoo” with a hard “z” sound) “zh” is pronounced like “j” (pronounce “zhan” like “John”) “c” is pronounced like “ts” (pronounce “can” as “tsan”)
Some common problems:
“zhi” = jur / “ji” = jee “chi” = chur / “qi” = chee “shi” = shur / “xi” = shee “ri” = rur
(After “zh-”, “ch-”, “sh-”, and “r-”, an “i” should be read like the “ur” in “fur”; after “j-”, “q-”, and “x-”, “i” should be read “ee”. )
“zi” = dzuh (actually, more like just a buzzing “dz-z-z”) “ci” = tsuh (more like a hissing “ts-s-s”) “si” = ssz (a hiss with a “z” sound after it)
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Why Chinese words seem to “look alike”
Chinese is a “syllable-poor” language. There are only about 450 possible sounds for syllables in Chinese (you can’t make up neat new syllables like “bleah” or “putz” in Chinese). It is this aspect of Chinese which makes Chinese names and terms often seem to be all alike. The incredible variety in Chinese written graphs allow for this. In the ancient Chinese written language virtually every word was one syllable long, and each different word was written with a distinct graph, or “Chinese character.” Homonyms--and in a language of one-syllable words with only 450 possible syllables there are many--were distinguished through their written forms. (It is also true that from an early date Chinese pronunciation employed up to four distinct intonational tones as well as vowel and consonant sounds, thus multiplying the number of possible syllables. However, these tonal distinctions do not show up in most Romanization systems.)
Each of the 450 possible Chinese syllables may be thought of as having an initial consonant sound, a vowel sound in the middle, and a consonant sound at the end, although the initial and/or final consonant sounds are absent in many syllables (for example, the word “ai,” which means “love,” has neither initial nor final consonants).