The "i" vowel
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Level
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In series Pinyin quick start guide
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Referenced finals
Hopefully you enjoyed mastering the different sounds that the "e" vowel could make, because the "i" vowel turns up the difficulty just a bit more.
Contents
Pinyin's Main "i" Vowel Sound
You should already be familiar with this "i" sound because it's essentially the same one that you encountered when learning the finals -ai and -ei. This "i" sounds like the English "ee" sound in the word "see".
While making this vowel sound is easy, some of the finals in this section are spelled in a way that can catch you off guard. Pay close attention to how the following syllables are spelled.
- -i is easy; just note that the syllable yi rhymes with the others; the "y" makes no special sound. It basically just marks the beginning of the syllable.
- -ia is also easy, but note that the syllable at the top is spelled ya, and this totally rhymes with the syllable lia.
- -iao is also easy, but note that the syllable at the top is spelled yao, and this totally rhymes with the syllables below it (biao, piao, miao, etc.).
- -ie is also easy, but note that the "e" is not the "uh" one; it's the "eh" one. So the syllable at the top is spelled ye and pronounced like the "ye" in the English word "yes", and this totally rhymes with the syllables below it (bie, pie, tie, etc.).
- -iou can throw people off, because: (1) the top syllable is spelled you, but pronounced like the English word "yo" (and not the English word "you"), and (2) all the rhyming syllables under it (miu, diu, niu, liu) are missing an "o" but they are still pronounced as if the "o" were there (rhyming with "yo").
- -ian is also tricky, because while the "i" sound is consistent, the "an" sound sounds more like an "en" (as in "pen") sound. So the syllable yan at the top sounds like the English word "yen", and all the syllables under it (bian, pian, mian, etc.) rhyme with that. So pian does not sound like "pyawn"; it sounds like "pyen".
- -iang sounds very different from -ian; with the addition of the "g" at the end, and "a" vowel sound goes back to sounding like "ah" again. So the yang at the top sounds like the English word "yawn" with an "ng" sound at the end (that would be "yawng", rhyming with the English word "song"). The syllables niang and liang rhyme with yang.
- -in is super easy; the "i" sound is the normal "main" pinyin "i" sound that sounds like "ee". Just remember that the "y" in yin is not pronounced; it sounds like "een", and the syllables under it (bin, min]], nin, lin) rhyme with it.
Pinyin's Other "i" Vowel Sound
Here's the catch: pinyin "i" can make a totally different sound when it comes after certain sounds. In this section it only appears after the -s sound, in the syllable si:
- si is a bit different from any sound we have in English, but it probably sounds most like the "si" in the English word "sit". It's definitely not at all like the English word "see".
Be sure to listen to the audio below to get a feel for the syllable si. You'll be hearing this special "i" sound again in future sections.
Pinyin Chart Fragment
This is just a part of the full pinyin chart, limited to the sounds we've covered in this section.
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Chart Mode: Audio Links (disables audio)
-i- | -i | -i* | -ia | -iao | -ie | -iou | -ian | -iang | -in | -ing | -iong | |
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∅- | [i] i |
[i̯ɑ] ya |
[i̯ɑʊ̯] yao |
[iɛ] yeh |
[i̯ɤʊ̯] yu |
[iɛn] yan |
[i̯ɑŋ] yang |
[yin] yin |
[yiŋ] ying |
yung |
||
b- | [pi] pi |
[pi̯ɑʊ̯] piao |
[piɛ] pieh |
[piɛn] pien |
[pin] pin |
[piŋ] ping |
||||||
p- | [pʰi] p'i |
[pʰi̯ɑʊ̯] p'iao |
[pʰiɛ] p'ieh |
[pʰiɛn] p'ien |
[pʰin] p'in |
[pʰiŋ] p'ing |
||||||
m- | [mi] mi |
[mi̯ɑʊ̯] miao |
[miɛ] mieh |
[mi̯ɤʊ̯] miu |
[miɛn] mien |
[miŋ] ming |
||||||
f- | ||||||||||||
d- | [ti] ti |
[ti̯ɑʊ̯] tiao |
[tiɛ] tieh |
[ti̯ɤʊ̯] tiu |
[tiɛn] tien |
[tiŋ] ting |
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t- | [tʰi] t'i |
[tʰi̯ɑʊ̯] t'iao |
[tʰiɛ] t'ieh |
[tʰiɛn] t'ien |
[tʰiŋ] t'ing |
|||||||
n- | [ni] ni |
[ni̯ɑʊ̯] niao |
[niɛ] nieh |
[ni̯ɤʊ̯] niu |
[niɛn] nien |
[ni̯ɑŋ] niang |
[nin] nin |
[niŋ] ning |
||||
l- | [li] li |
[li̯ɑ] lia |
[li̯ɑʊ̯] liao |
[liɛ] lieh |
[li̯ɤʊ̯] liu |
[liɛn] lien |
[li̯ɑŋ] liang |
[lin] lin |
[liŋ] ling |
|||
s- | [sɿ] ssu |
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g- | ||||||||||||
k- | ||||||||||||
h- |
Now let's move on to the "o" and "u" vowels.
Sources and further reading
- Sinosplice: Chinese Pronunciation
- ChinesePod: I with Easy Consonants, I with Z, C, S, ZH, CH, SH, R