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 to work on these sounds quite a bit.

Pinyin's "c" Sound

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 to time to get used to making this sound.

Pinyin's "z" Sound

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 "loadson" 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 to time to get used to making this sound.

	-a	-ai	-ao	-an	-ang	-e	-ei	-en	-eng	-ou	-ong	-i*	-u	-uei	-uo	-uan	-uen
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-
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-