Pinyin Exercise

Chinese Pronunciation Pronunciation Chinese is not a phonetic language, as a result its pronunciation is not related to the written Chinese words (characters). In order for non-Chinese speakers to learn the correct pronounciation, a system called â€Å"Pinyin† was developed to transcribe the sounds of Standard Chinese. Pinyin uses the letters of the familiar English alphabet to help the student determine the pronounciation of the unfamiliar Chiense words. Most Mandarin sounds are easy for English speakers to pronounce although some require more practice than others.Pinyin is also a useful tool for learning new vocabulary and for looking things up in a dictionary as well as for typing Chinese. Other than this, however, it has no practical usage since Chinese people do not read or write in pinyin. Actually, many Chinese people do not know pinyin at all. Therefore, you should learn to read and write in characters as soon as possible. I. The four tones: Chinese is known as a tonal language. Tones are the results of the variation of pitch levels in the pronunciation of a syllable.Each syllable is composed of three components: (a) Initials; (b) Finals; (c) tones. Except for nasal sound like â€Å"n† and â€Å"m†, all Chinese syllables ends with vowels. So we call them â€Å"Final Sounds†. The consonants at the beginning of a syllable are called â€Å"Initial Sounds†. There are altogether 21 initials as shown in Table 2. Initials only refer to the consonants that appear in the initial position of a syllable. Although it is acceptable to have a syllable without an initial, there must always be a final. A final may have one or more vowel sounds and sometimes a consonant ending like -g and -ng .In fact, other than -g and -ng other consonants can’t appear in a final at all. Altogether, there are thirty seven finals as listed in Table 3. There are 4 tones in Mandarin Chinese as illustrated in Table 1. Each Chinese word (character) carries a tone. Perhaps the most important thing to remember at this stage is the fact that different tones of a certain syllable indicate completely different meanings. The features of the four tones are clearly illustrated in the following diagram: Figure 1: Figure 1: a. The four tonesThe representation of tonal pitch contours as numbers in Figure1 is attributed to Yuen Ren Chao, who devised this scale to cover the tonal aspects of the Chinese language as well as other tonal languages. Unlike the music score, it consists of five arbitrary levels and each is labeled from the bottom upwards, 1 through to 5. As with the music score, the lowest line represents the lowest pitch, and the highest line, the highest pitch. The variance of the pitch could be captured using the reference pitch numbers by observing the starting, middle and end-points of the tone.The numbers were then enclosed in two forward slash marks. For example, /55/ would be a high level tone, whilst /11/ is a low level one. /53/ is a high falling tone, /35/ is a mid rising tone, whilst /31/ is a mid falling tone. /214/ is a tone which starts low, falls and then rises again. Short tones can also be represented as a single number for instance a short mid level is /3/. By using the numbers, Tone one is /55/; Tone two is /35/; Tone Three is /21/4 and Tone Four has the pitch level of /51/. The lines in the above table indicate the pitch contours of the four tones.And the four tones are represented with the following symbols (Table 1): Tones First Second Third Fourth Symbols Examples di di di di Table 1: Symbols of tonal accent If we use the musical notes to illustrate on the five scale, the four tones have the following patterns: Figure 2: b. The Four Tones Tone One: Tone One has the highest pitch level for it starts at five and ends up at five. It is near the top of your comfortable range. As a result, you should be able to sound the first tone syllable continuously without effort. ma: maaaaaa†¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Tone Two: Tone Two starts in the middle of your voice range and rises straight toward the level of the first tone. It is similar to the English tone when you are questioning: What?! ma: ma? Tone Three: Tone Three is the lowest tone of all. It starts low and then rises towards the middle high pitch level and has longer duration. Your pitch level should drop until you feel out of breath and then release it. ma Tone Four: Tone Four begins at the top of your comfortable range and proceeds quickly to the bottom. It is short and sounds as if you are being stern. ma Tonal exercise exercise: 1. Listen to the recording and read alound: a-ma ma-ma ma-ma mi-mi mi-mi mi-mi li-li la-ma fa-fa fa-fa fa-fa ni-ni ni-ni bi-di ni-li la-ma ta-ta ta-ta ta-ta ti-ti ti-ti ti-di li-ni ma-la da-da da-da da-da di-di di-di li-ni ni-li la-ma pa-pa pa-pa pa-pa pi-pi pi-pi ni-mi li-ni pa-ma 2. Listen and indicate the tonal accent for the following syllables: ta ting da ding ni ning mi fa ma ping pu hao tu lao hen dong bo nin ming lin II. The initials: As was introduced earlier, there are 21 initials altogether. Initials are similar to the English consonants. However, they differ in that initials only refer to the consonants that appear in the initial position of a syllable.The 21 initials are listed below according to the positioning of one’s mouth in producing the right sounds in Table 2. Table 2 Table of initials Unaspirated Aspirated Labial Dental Guttural Palatal Retroflex Dental Sibilant b(o) d(e) g(e) j(i) zh(i) z(i) p(o) t(e) k(e) q(i) ch(i) c(i) Nasals m(o) n(e) Fricatives fo l(e) h(e x(i) sh(i) s(i) Voiced Continuants r(i) Please note that the initials can not be pronounced without adding certain finals. Please practice with your teacher in class and listen to the audio sounds after class. The initials listed in Row 1 are called labials because the lips must be used to pronounce them.The sounds in Row 2 are dentals because the teeth are employed to produce these sound s. The initials listed in Row 3 are called ‘gutturals†, which means their pronunciation, is controlled by the muscles in the back of the mouth. Actually, since the initials listed in Rows1-3 are very similar to the English consonants, you can achieve their sound very easily. The â€Å"Palatals† in Row 4 needs more practice. When pronouncing j and q, you must first raise the front of the tongue to the hard palate and press the tip of the tongue against the back of the lower teeth, and then loosen the tongue and let the air squeeze out through the channel thus made.The two sounds only differ in that the q is an aspirated sound. To pronounce x, you should raise the front of the tongue towards (almost touching) the hard palate and then let the air squeeze out. In short, j(i) is like j in jeep. q(i) is like ch in cheap and cheese. x(i) like sh in banshee, between the s in see and the sh in she. Refer to Figure 2 for a better understanding. Figure 2: Palatals The initia ls in Row 5 are â€Å"retroflexes†. To pronounce this sound, the tongue is curled back (retroflexed) until the tip touches the front part of the roof of the mouth.The tongue is only a little farther toward the back of the mouth than when pronouncing the initials r in ‘run’. To pronounce zh, ch, the tip of the tongue begins by touching the roof of the mouth, then quickly moving away. The two sounds differ only in that a strong puff of air accompanies with ch sound. zh is kind of like dg in fudge, and ch is like ch in church, but curl the tongue up toward the zh(i) ch(i) roof of the mouth while pronouncing the â€Å"ch† sound. But when produce the sound of sh, r, the tip of the tongue does not ever touch the roof of the mouth but simply rests in a close-by position as illustrated in Figure 3 below. h sounds like sh in English, but you should curl the tongue up sh(i) toward the roof of the mouth while pronouncing the â€Å"sh† sound. r(i) sounds zhr as in pleasure. Please note that r is the only initial that is voiced. zh-ch Figure 3: Retroflexes shi ri Dental sibilants (buzzing or hissing sounds) are listed in the last row. They are called â€Å"Dental sibilants† because the pronunciation of which involves the tip of the tongue placed behind the top of front teeth. The tongue must be farther towards the front than when pronouncing an English s. z, is not too far from ds in â€Å"reads†. , is near the ts in â€Å"carts† though more air should be blown out. Exercises on Initials: 1. Listen and repeat: b: babi baibei p: pipei f: fafang h: hehao d: dadao t: titan l: linli r: ruran j: jiaji q: qiqi x: xiaxiang zh zh:zhizhong ch ch:chuchu sh sh:shisheng z: zizu c: s: cengci sisuo paipao fanfa heihai dedao tiaoting lunluo rengran jinji qinqing xixin zhaizhu chengche shushi zuzong cancun susong baobi papo fafu hehu didian tantu lailin renren jingjia qingqi xixia zhangzhou chachao shensheng zaizao caice sansi benbo p opi fangfa huihuang daidong tingtang lingli rongru jingjie qingqing xinxi zhazhen chachang shanshui zizun cuncao sisui ubi pianpang fenfu huahui dongdan tongtian lanling runri jiajin qinqing xianxiang zhuzhai chuanchu shangshu zangzu cuicu susuan 2. Listen and pronounce the following syllables. Please pay attention to the unaspirated initials and aspirated initials: b-p: piaobo paiban bianpai banping pingpao paobing pingbi pengbi pibao peibei panbi pianpi d-t: tongdeng ditou z-c: zaici caozuo g-k: gekai gongkai kaiguo konggang keku guku kangu kuaigan guke guoku kaigong kuguan cizu zanci zice canzan caizi zaice zacao cezi cazao zican deti daiti tidu tida dianti diaotou tidan dantian ditu ditang 3.Please pronounce the following retroflexes: zhuchu shizhang shishi zhizhu chushi reshui ruoshi chicheng shichang shusheng shaoshu zhashe rizhao ruizhi chishui changchu chuanchang zhenzhong chushu shiren renzhi chushou zhenzheng shenzhi chishui zhengshi zhiran renzhi zhichi caishui chuangshan g chouchu changcheng shice chuzhong rushi zhiru chuanchang shashi shangren rengran ruchang 4. Please practice the following palatals with the recording: pijing qijian qicai qixian jingqi xiaqi xiqi jijin qixiang chuqu chaijian jiuji jiaqi pingxi jianqi pingjing jiaoqi xingjin xiqin qijia qinqie jiqi qixi jiaxiao xianxiang qinjian inxing xiaojing xiangxin xiaji xingqi qingjin jingji jingxi qinxin qingjing qiangquan xiangjin jianqi jiqiao jiajie qingxing 5. Read aloud and compare: b—f:bafang p—f:pifu d—l:daili t—l:tuliao f—h:fahui r—l:luru zh—z:zhizao zh— ch—c:canchuan ch— sh—s:shisi sh— zh—j:zhijing zh— ch—q:chaqi ch— sh—x:xishou sh— jizhe qiche shanxi fabiao fupin lidai liti huifa rangli zizhu chuci sishi zhijin chaiqian xiaoshi binfen pifa dalian tilian fanhuan rili zhuzu changci shensi jiazhi qincha shixi fangbian fangping lada lantian hefa ranliao zengzhan g checi shanse zhiji changqing xishu bufu pingfan danliang tianliang fanhua liren zhize chicu shisanIII. The finals: : The basic vowels: There are altogether six basic vowels in Chinese as shown in Figure 4. Figure 4 Basic vowels a is a central vowel. To pronounce it, the tongue remains in a natural, relaxed position, as a in father. o is a rounded semi-high back vowel. It sounds like o as in or, like the wa in wall. You should have the lips rounded to pronounce it. e is an unrounded semi-high back vowel. To produce this vowel, first pronounce o, then change the shape of the mouth from rounded to unrounded. At the same time open the mouth wider.This vowel is different from â€Å"e† in English, which is pronounced with the tongue raised slightly forward. It needs special practice. i is an unrounded high front vowel. The tongue is raised higher than it would be to ea. pronounce its counterpart in English as in tea. u is a rounded high back vowel. The tongue is raised higher tha n it would be to pronounce its counterpart in English. It slightly resembles the o as in English oo To pronounce it: (1) The tongue must be pulled toward the back of the mouth while the lips make a very small opening in front. 2) Imagining that you holds as much water as possible without either swallowing it or spilling any of it out of the lips. (3) Try to whistle the lowest note possible, then vocalize instead of actually whistling. u is a rounded high front vowel. It is a combination of i and u. To produce this vowel, (1) first pronounce i, then modify the shape of the mouth from unrounded to rounded; (2) try to whistle the highest note, but vocalize instead of actually whistling. i also represents two additional special vowels: -i one is an alveolar front vowel, it goes with z, c, s; the other is an alveolar ack vowel, it goes with zh, ch, sh, r. The finals: A final may have one or more vowel sounds and sometimes a consonant ending like -g and ng . In fact, other than -g and -ng other consonants can’t appear in a final at all. Putting altogether, there are thirty six finals as listed in Table 3. Table 3: The finals: Row -a -i -u -i i a ia e ie -i ai Ending -o/-u ei ao ou iao iu ui -n an en -ng -r ang eng ong er iang ing iong uang ueng ian in uan un u ua uo uai -u u ue uan un ei sounds like eigh in sleigh and eight. ao reads as ow like the au in sauerkraut. u sounds like oh, as in soul. an has the sound of ahn, between the an in can and the on in con. en sounds like un as in run, as en in chicken. ang sounds like ahng, a as in father and ng as in sing. eng has the sound of ung as in hung and lung. ong ong(ueng) is like the ung in German jung or, u as in put plus ng as in sing. er crosses between ar and er. ia sounds like ee-ah (quickly, as one syllable), like the ya in yacht. ie reads as ee-eh (quickly), like the ye in yet. iao starts with ee in see and end with ow in now. u iu(iou) sounds like yo as in you or eo as in Leo, close to u in union. ian r eads as ee-en (quickly)( an after i sounds between man and men in English) in in(ien) sounds like een as in seen, like the ine in machine. iang sounds like ee-ahng (quickly) . ing ing(ieng) is similar to ing as in ring. iong goes like ee-ong (quickly), almost like German jung. ua sounds like wa as in wash and the wa in wander. uo sounds like the wo as in wore and the wa in waltz. uai sounds like why or like the wi in wide. ui( ui(uei) goes like way, between we and weigh. uan is similar to wahn, as in wander . n un(uen) is similar to when or the wen in Owen. uang sounds like wahng. ueng starts with u as in put then quickly goes to eng. ue goes like the German umlaut u in uber plus e in ie. uan starts with u and then wan as in wander. un starts with u and then goes on to en quickly. Please note that the vowel quality of some finals varies with different tones. For example, the final iu (you) with the first and the third tone will sound different. Therefore, our focus should be on the accuracy of the tones instead of on the distinctions. Exercises on Finals: 1.Please read the following syllables aloud: o: pomo bopo fotuo e: u: u: er er: ei ei: ao ao: lehe bufu yuju erjiu feiche paomao keke pubu xuqu erhu xuefei gaozhao ou ’zhou nuoruo tongxue zhuisui tanpan renzhen qinxin hundun tese zhuchu quju erxi beihou baodao dou ’ou guocuo hulue huigui ganhan genben pinyin kunlun moluo hege tushu quyu ji ’er leihen laobao shougou tuoluo yuanyue cuihui canzan menzhen xinxin shuncong mopo ji ’e fuwu yunu ersai weisuo baochao goushou cuoluo yuenan hesui shanshi shenchen xinyin zungui ou ou: shouhou uo uo: zuocuo ue: ui ui: xuexiao huicui n an: canlan en en: in in: zhenren binlin un un: chunsun 2. Contrasts: ou—(u)o ou—(u)o:doushuo u—u —u: ei—ui ei—ui: lushu duilei gouduo luxu cuifei shoucuo juzu beiwei tuolou lutu leitui rouguo quchu leizhui ao—ou ao— ou: baochou an—ang an—ang:dan gran en—eng en— eng:zhenzheng in—ing xinxing in—ing: ong—-iong ong—-iong:longxiong uan—un:yuanjuan an— uan—un: luanlun uan— ie— ue: ie— u—iu u—iu iu: jieyue jiuju laorou nanfang zhencheng xinqing yonggong qunxuan chuannuan xuejie qujiu chanshen jiaohao chaoshou bangwan chengren jinling qionglong yuanjun tuandun quexie luxiu shancen qiaogao houtao hangang zhengshen pinqing xiongyong xuanyun shunshuan xieyue jiuqu zhenchan liaokao roudao kangzhan lengshen yingxin jiongpo quanjun chunguan juelie xuliu nanfen daoqiao en—an en— an: sanzhen ao—iao ao— iao:xiaoyao III. Pinyin Romanization-spelling rules: rules: Pinyin Romanization has been the official romanization system in the People's Republic of China since 1958. Some of the finals (in boldface) listed in Table 3 are spelled differently as shown below in Table 4. Row -a -i -u -u -i a e -i ai Ending -o/-u ei ao o u yao you -n an en -ng -r ang eng ong er yang ying yong wang weng i ya ye wu wa wo yu yue wai wei yan yin wan wen yuan yun Table 4: Finals in Pinyin Romanization The spelling rules are summarized as below: Tone marks: We know that the four tones are indicated by the diacritical marks: -, /, /, that appear above the vowels of spelled syllables. There are rules to follow about where to put the diacritical marks. First, if there is a single vowel in the syllable, put it over the vowel. Second, if there is more than one vowel, put it over the vowel in this order: a, o, e, i, or u. When two vowels i and u are together, you put it over the last vowel.Third, if the diacritical mark is over an i, omit the dot. xin –new (adj. ) re –hot (s. v. ) ren – person (n. ) dui – correct (adj. ) leng – cold (s. v. ) liu – to stay (v) Spelling rules: u 1. When the uo final combines with the labial initials b, p, m, f, the â€Å"u† drops out. bo – wave (n. ) po – broken or worn out (adj. ) mo – to rub (v. ) fo – Buddha (n. ) u But the â€Å"u† stays when any other initial is used. duo – much or many (adj. ) cuo -wrong (adj. ) 2. When the u final combines with the palatal initials j, q, or x, the umlaut drops out. This is u because only the u final can go with j, q, or x, but not the u final.Therefore, any time a â€Å"u† comes after j, q, or x, one knows it has to be the u final even though the umlaut is not there. ju (ju) – office or bureau (n. ) qu (qu) – to go (v. ) xu (xu) – to permit (v. ) The only other initials that u combines with are l and n. In these cases, the umlaut stays: nu – female (adj. ) lu – green(adj. ) i i y 3. When the finals beginning with â€Å"i† occur without an initial, the â€Å"i† changes to â€Å"y†. ie > ye – also (adv. ) iao > yao – want (v. ) The three finals i, in and ing are excepti ons to rule three, in which case a â€Å"y† is in, i added while the â€Å"i† remains: i> yi one (num. in > yin to print (v. ) ing > ying hard (s. v. ) i y When the final iu (iou) goes without an initial, the â€Å"i† changes to a â€Å"y† by rule four o and an â€Å"o† is added: iu > you to have (v. ) u u w 4. When the finals beginning with â€Å"u† occur without an initial, the â€Å"u† changes to â€Å"w†. uo > wo – I or me uan >wan – bowl w The u final is an exception to rule five. When it occurs without an initial, the ‘w’ is added: u>wu five (number) u When the ui (uei) and un (uen) finals occur without an initial, the â€Å"u† changes to a w e â€Å"w† by rule five and an â€Å"e† is added: ui > wei – stomach (n. un >wen – to ask (v. ) 5. When the finals beginning with u occur without an initial, the umlaut drops out and a y â€Å"y is added in front. u> yu f ish (n. ) uan > yuan distant (adj. ) 6. If the noun is a place name, then capitalize the first letter. If it is a Chinese name, capitalize the first letter of the surname and given name. beijing> Beijing (Peking) wang xiaoxiao> Wang Xiaoxiao niuyuu> Niuyue (New York) zhang zhong > Zhang Zhong (a name) Spelling exercises: 1. Please correct the spellings for the following syllables: uan> uan> diu> buo> ian> wun > zo> ie> uen> wuei > iu> jan> qong> chuen> wui> yuan > 2. Spell the dictated syllables and add the diacritical marks. ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ IV. Tone sandhi Tone sandhi refers to the sound change in tones when different sounds come together. Sandhi in Sankrit means â€Å"putting together†. Third tone Sandhi: In Mandarin Chinese, the most common tone sandhi rule is that the leading syllable in a set of two third-tone syllables is raised to the second t one. For example, nihao ( , the most common Mandarin greeting, is pronounced nihao. If there are more than two third tones, the same rule applies although other rules may apply. Exercise: Please read the following syllables. hen hao mai jiu shuijiao qi zao caozi yunxu chao mi mijiu jiugui suoyi zao zou liaojie yufa Lao Li yuanzu xiang zou yaogou xizao shuiguo ni hao laohu da gu bie zou xiao jiao Half third tone: If a third tone is followed by the first, second or the fourth tone, the third tone will only keep the falling pitch and remains there instead of rising. Since it is half realized, it is called a half third tone.Actually, a full third tone is only possible when it is phrase final or when it is by itself. The following figure (Figure 5) will indicate the change. Figure 5: Half third tone Exercises Please read the following syllables. Exercises: Niuyue (New York) Beijing (Beijing) laoshi (teacher) caihong (rainbow) wo lai (I will do it. ) wangqiu (tennis) zoulu (to walk) keshi (but ) qing wen (May I ask? ) Faguo nuhai ni shuo (France) (girl) (You speak) Meiguo (America) haokan (good-looking) falu (law) qing zuo (Please sit. ) qing shuo (Please speak. ) hao shu (good book) daqiu (to play a game) ni kan (You look. luyou (to travel) Fourth-tone Sandhi: When a fourth tone is followed by another fourth tone, the first one becomes a variant of the regular fourth tone as illustrated below in Figure 6. Figure 6: Fourth Tone Sandhi As indicated in Figure 6, the modified fourth tone starts as a regular fourth tone does. But its pitch level only drops to Scale 3, half as far as a full fourth. Exercise: Please read the following syllables. duihua (dialogue) guixing (honorable surname) Yidali (Italy) zaijian (goodbye) dianshi (T. V. ) sushe (dormitory) shuijiao (to sleep) shang ke (to go to class) zhaogu (to take care of) ieshao (to introduce) kanbao (to read newspaper) jiaoshi (classroom) Tone Sandhi for yi and bu: Yi (one; once) and bu (no, not) will also undergo t one sandhi under certain conditions. Preceding a syllable with the first, second or third tone, yi becomes yi. Bu keeps the fourth tone without any change. yiqi (together) bu hao (not good) yi jia (a family) butong (not same) yinian (one year) buting (not listen) When preceding a syllable with a fourth tone, both yi and bu become a second tone. yigong (altogether) buhui (can not) yixia (a little bit) buguo (but) yiyang (same) bukan (not to look)When yi and bu are phrase final or used alone, they keep their original tones: yi and bu. Please note that the tone of yi and bu will change only when they mean yi (one; once) bu (no; not). Exercise: Please read the following syllables syllables. yitian (a day) bu leng (not cold) yiding (definitely) yihuir (a moment) bu zhidao (I don’t know. ) yizu (a group) bu zao (not early) yi. ge (one + measure word) bu re (not hot) bu dui (not correct) buqu (not to go) di yi (the first) bu shi (not to be) bu mai (not to sell) bu xing (not okay) bu tai hao(not that good) buda (not big) u lai (not to come) Neutral tone tone: In actual speech, all unstressed syllables are pronounced with a â€Å"neutral tone†, which is sometimes considered as a lack of tone. In most varieties of Mandarin, the second syllable in two-syllable compounds is weaker in tonal prominence than the first one. A neutralized tone takes very little time to pronounce and does not hold or stick to its original tone. When actually pronouncing a neutral tone, one should not consider how a neutral tone sounds but focus on the tonal feature of the syllable that goes before it.Generally speaking, the pitch level of a neutral tone differs when following different tones as indicated in Figure 7. Figure7: Pitch level of neutral tones From Figure 6, we know that when following the first tone, the pitch level of a neutralized syllable is around the middle low pitch, i. e. at Scale 2. When it is after a second tone, the pitch level settles around middle pitch, i. e. Scale 3. When it goes after a third tone (half third tone actually), the pitch level is around middle high pitch, i. e. Scale 4. Its pitch level is the lowest, when a neutral tone is right after the fourth tone, i. . Scale 1. Whether a syllable is neutralized or not, one can’t tell from the Pinyin. In this book, we will either put a dot before a neutralized syllable or simply indicate it without a tone mark. Exercises: Please read the following syllables. xue. sheng (student) xi. huan (to like) di. fang (place) he. qi (gentle) tian. qi (weather) shu. fu (comfortable) ren. shi (to know sb. ) ta. men (they/them) women (we/ us) peng. you (friend) shen. me (what) jue. de ming. zi ge. ge fu. qin ma. ma ye. ye sun. zi (to feel) (name) (elder brother) (father) (mom) (grandfather) (grandson) yin. ei (because) di. di (younger brother) xie. xie (Thank you. ) jie. jie (elder sister) cong. ming (smart) er. zi (son) mu. qin (mother) ba. ba (dad) nai. nai (grandmother) ming. bai (clear ) xing. fu (happy) shi. qing (things) ke. yi (may) suoyi (therefore) ai. hao (hobby) gezi (height) dui. fu (to deal with) gongfu (Konfu) shuo. chu. lai (to speak out) er. duo (ear) guaibude (no wonder) kan. qi. lai (it seems that) xi. huan. shang(to begin to like) shuo. bude (can’t be blamed) The fickle ‘r’ sound: sound: Northerners, especially Beijingese tend to add the fickle ‘r’ to a word. uar (flower) menr(door) baimianr (drug, cocain) nar (where) qiur (ball) dianyingr (movie) dahuor (everybody) xiangweir (fragnant) hua huar (to draw) ge menr (buddy) miantiao (noodles) yucir (fish bone) yi kuair (together) xiao niaor (little bird) xiaohair ( little kid) yi dianr ( a bit) liaotianr (to chat) fan guanr (restaurant) mei zhunr (not sure) mei shir (nothing) xiao huar (joke) changger (to sing) guai wanr ( to make a turn) More Pinyin exercises: 1. Please read the following syllables: tongxue (classmate) waiguo (foreign country) xiao. iao (a Chinese name ) Shanghai (Shanghai) Jiazhou (California) gaoxing (happy) Zhongguo (China) Meiguo (America) peng. you (friend) liuxuesheng (international student) Yingguo (Britain) Lundun (London) xi. huan (to like) zhi. dao (to know) 2. Please read the following sentences: Jintian tian. qi hen hao. (The weather is good today. ) Bu leng bu re. (It is neither cold nor hot. ) Xin tongxue dou hen gao. xing. (New students are very happy. ) Robert shi Meiguo xue. sheng (Robert is an American student. ) Robert , ta you hen duo tongxue. you Meiguo tongxue, ye you waiguo tongxue (He has many classmates. (There are American students. ) (and there are also foreign students. ) , , Ta you yi ge Zhongguo pengyou, (He has a Chinese friend,) xing Wang jiao Wang Xiaoxiao. (whose surname is Wang and is called Xiaoxiao. ) Zhang Yizhong ye. shi Robert de xin peng. you. Robert (Zhang Yizhong is also Robert’s new friend. ) Ta bu . shi Meiguo xue. sheng. (He is not an American student. ) Ta shi Zhong guo liuxuesheng. (He is an international student from China. ) Wang Xiaoxiao shi Beijingren. (Wang Xiaoxiao is from Beijing. Zhang Yizhong bu. shi Beijingren, shi Shanghairen. , (ZhangYizhong is not from Beijing. He is from Shanghai. ) Robert hai you yi. ge Yingguo tongxue jiao Alex. Robert ,? Alex. (Robert also has a classmate from Britain, whose name is Alex. ) Ta ye shi liuxuesheng. (He is also an international student. ) Robert gen Alex dou hen xi. huan Zhongguo. (They both like China. ) Robertand Alex ye dou hen xi. huan Zhongwen. (Also they both like Chinese. ) Ni. shi Meiguo shenme di. fang ren? (Where are you from in the U. S.? ) ren. hi nimen hen gao. xing. (It is my pleasure to know you. ) 3. Please read the following poems: Jing ye si (Li Bai) Chuang qian ming yue guang, Yi shi di shang shuang. ju tou wang ming yue, di tou si gu xiang. (In the quiet night So bright a gleam on the foot of my bed – Could there have been a frost already? Lifting myself to look, I found that it was moonlight. Sinking back again, I thought suddenly of home. ) Chun xiao (Meng Haoran) Chun mian bu jue xiao, Chu chu wen ti niao. Ye lai feng yu sheng, hua luo zhi duo shao. A Spring morning Awake light-hearted this morning of spring, Everywhere round me the singing of birds – But now I remember the night, the storm, And I wonder how many blossoms were broken. Yong e (Luo Bin Wang) e e e, Qu xiang xiang tian ge, Baimao fu lu shui, Hong zhang bo qing bo. (Twisting its neck, , , , the goose is singing to the sky. With its white feather on the green water, the red palms are striking on the clear water. ) Hui xiang ou shu (He Zhizhang) Shao xiao li jia lao da gui, Xiang yin wei gai bin mao cui. er tong xiang jian bu xiang shi, Xiao wen ke cong he chu lai. (Coming home I left home young. I return old; Speaking as then, but with hair grown thin; And the children, meeting me, do not know me. They smile and say: â€Å"Stranger, where do you come from? â€Å") 4. Tongue twisters: Si shi si. Shi shi shi. Shi si shi shi si. Si shi shi si shi. Si shi si shi si shi si. Four is four. Ten is ten. Fourteen is fourteen. Forty is forty. Forty four is forty four. Che shang you ge pen, Pen li you ge ping, ping ping ping, pang pang pang, bu zhi shi pen peng ping hai shi ping peng pen. , , , , , There is a basin in the car, and a bottle in the basin. Bin bin bin, bang bang bang, Not knowing which is hitting which. Shu. shang you zhi xiao taozi, Shu xia you zhi xiao houzi. Feng chui tao shu hua hua xiang, Shu. shang diao xia xiao taozi. Taozi da zhao xiao houzi, Houzi chi diao xiao taozi. (There is a peach on the tree, There is a monkey under the tree. The wind blows and the tree talks, With the wind, the peach falls, Right onto the monkey. And the monkey eats the peach. ) , , ,