The "c" and "z" sounds

Level

A1
Related to
1. Tough sounds c-s-z- (A2)
2. Tough sounds s-sh-, c-ch-, z-zh- (A2)
In series Pinyin quick start guide
1. 1. Easy sounds
2. 2. The "a" vowel
3. 3. The "e" vowel
4. 4. The "i" vowel
5. 5. The "o" and "u" vowels
6. 6. The "c" and "z" sounds
7. 7. The "ch" "sh" and "zh" sounds
8. 8. The "r" sound
9. 9. The "ü" vowel
10. 10. The "j" "q" and "x" sounds
Referenced Initials
- c-
- z-

Although the sounds that pinyin "c" and "z" make are not actually super foreign to speakers of English, there are two reasons they deserve special attention:

The sounds "c" and "z" make are not the sounds they make in English
Pronouncing the "c" and "z" sounds in Chinese is difficult for some learners

If you find these sounds easy, great! Many learners do. Other learners will need to work on these sounds quite a bit.

Pinyin's "c" Sound

C-Diagram

Pinyin's c- initial is simply a "ts" sound. It's like the "ts" you hear in the English words "cats" and "Watson" and "robots". The only thing that makes this Chinese sound challenging is that in English the "ts" always appears in the middle or at the end of words, whereas in Chinese it is an initial sound. For this reason, some learners need some time to get used to making this sound.

Pinyin's "z" Sound

Z-Diagram

Very similar to the c- initial, the z- initial sounds very similar to an English "dz" sound (although the "d" is not voiced). It's like the "ds" you hear in the English words "kids" and "loads" and "odds". The main thing that makes this Chinese sound challenging is that in English the "dz" always appears in the middle or at the end of words, whereas in Chinese it is an initial sound. For this reason, some learners need some time to get used to making this sound.

Key Syllables

If you're still getting the hang of the Mandarin "c-" and "z-" sounds, these are some good syllables to concentrate on initially:

Audio	Pinyin	Audio	Pinyin	Audio	Pinyin
ci4	cì	cu1	cū	cuo4	cuò
zi4	zì	zu1	zū	zuo4	zuò

Finals Revisited

In the chart fragment below, there are no new finals. You just need to familiarize yourself with the combinations c- and z- show up in. One thing worth noting, though, is that the -i final, when combined with c- and z-, makes the same vowel sound that it did in si.

ci and zi contain an -i sound which is not "ee". It's like the vowel sound in si, which probably sounds most like the "si" in the English word "sit". The syllables zi, ci, si all rhyme.

Pinyin Chart Fragment

This is just a part of the full pinyin chart, limited to the sounds we've covered so far. There are no new finals in the chart below, just new combinations adding in the c- and z- finals, and including the similar s- final for good measure.

	-a-	-a	-ai	-ao	-an	-ang	-e-	-e	-ei	-en	-eng	-er	-o-	-o	-ou	-ong	-i-	-i	-i*	-ia	-iao	-ie	-iou	-ian	-iang	-in	-ing	-iong	-u-	-u	-ua	-uai	-uei	-uo	-uan	-uang	-uen	-ueng	-ü-
z-		za za [tsɑ] ㄗㄚ tsa	zai zai [tsaɪ̯] ㄗㄞ tsai	zao zao [tsɑʊ̯] ㄗㄠ tsao	zan zan [tsan] ㄗㄢ tsan	zang zang [tsɑŋ] ㄗㄤ tsang		ze ze [tsɯ̯ʌ] ㄗㄜ tse	zei zei [tseɪ̯] ㄗㄟ tsei	zen zen [tsən] ㄗㄣ tsen	zeng zeng [tsəŋ] ㄗㄥ tseng				zou zou [tsɤʊ̯] ㄗㄡ tsou	zong zong [tsʊŋ] ㄗㄨㄥ tsung			zi zi [tsɿ] ㄗ tzu											zu zu [tsu] ㄗㄨ tsu			zui zui [tsu̯eɪ̯] ㄗㄨㄟ tsui	zuo zuo [tsu̯ɔ] ㄗㄨㄛ tso	zuan zuan [tsu̯an] ㄗㄨㄢ tsuan		zun zun [tsu̯ən] ㄗㄨㄣ tsun			z-
c-		ca ca [tsʰɑ] ㄘㄚ ts'a	cai cai [tsʰaɪ̯] ㄘㄞ ts'ai	cao cao [tsʰɑʊ̯] ㄘㄠ ts'ao	can can [tsʰan] ㄘㄢ ts'an	cang cang [tsʰɑŋ] ㄘㄤ ts'ang		ce ce [tsʰɯ̯ʌ] ㄘㄜ ts'e	cei cei [tsʰeɪ̯] ㄘㄟ ts'ei	cen cen [tsʰən] ㄘㄣ ts'en	ceng ceng [tsʰəŋ] ㄘㄥ ts'eng				cou cou [tsʰɤʊ̯] ㄘㄡ ts'ou	cong cong [tsʰʊŋ] ㄘㄨㄥ ts'ung			ci ci [tsʰɿ] ㄘ tz'u											cu cu [tsʰu] ㄘㄨ ts'u			cui cui [tsʰu̯eɪ̯] ㄘㄨㄟ ts'ui	cuo cuo [tsʰu̯ɔ] ㄘㄨㄛ ts'o	cuan cuan [tsʰu̯an] ㄘㄨㄢ ts'uan		cun cun [tsʰu̯ən] ㄘㄨㄣ ts'un			c-
s-		sa sa [sɑ] ㄙㄚ sa	sai sai [saɪ̯] ㄙㄞ sai	sao sao [sɑʊ̯] ㄙㄠ sao	san san [san] ㄙㄢ san	sang sang [sɑŋ] ㄙㄤ sang		se se [sɯ̯ʌ] ㄙㄜ se		sen sen [sən] ㄙㄣ sen	seng seng [səŋ] ㄙㄥ seng				sou sou [sɤʊ̯] ㄙㄡ sou	song song [sʊŋ] ㄙㄨㄥ sung			si si [sɿ] ㄙ ssu											su su [su] ㄙㄨ su			sui sui [su̯eɪ̯] ㄙㄨㄟ sui	suo suo [su̯ɔ] ㄙㄨㄛ so	suan suan [su̯an] ㄙㄨㄢ suan		sun sun [su̯ən] ㄙㄨㄣ sun			s-
	-a-	-a	-ai	-ao	-an	-ang	-e-	-e	-ei	-en	-eng	-er	-o-	-o	-ou	-ong	-i-	-i	-i*	-ia	-iao	-ie	-iou	-ian	-iang	-in	-ing	-iong	-u-	-u	-ua	-uai	-uei	-uo	-uan	-uang	-uen	-ueng	-ü-

Now let's move on to the "ch" "sh" and "zh" sounds.

Sources and further reading

Sinosplice: Chinese Pronunciation
ChinesePod: I with Z, C, S, ZH, CH, SH, R