Chinese vowel diagram
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A Chinese
Unlike the trapezoidal English vowel diagram (right), the Chinese vowel diagram (left) is triangular. The phonetic symbols used in this diagram are known as the "National Phonetic Alphabet [注音字母]" or "National Phonetic Symbols [注音符號]" or simply "Bopomofo". Six vowels or monophthongs (simple rhyme or 單韻) are depicted in this diagram. They are:
- ㄧ (IPA [i]), as in ㄧˋ (易, easy)
- ㄨ (IPA [u]), as in ㄨˋ (霧, fog)
- ㄦ (IPA [ɚ]), as in ㄦˋ (二, two)
- ㄛ (IPA [o]), as in ㄆㄛˋ (破, broken)
- ㄜ (IPA [ɤ]), as in ㄜˋ (餓, hungry)
- ㄚ (IPA [a]), as in ㄆㄚˋ (怕, fear)
Note that this chart utilizes four degrees of
The same vowel chart is used to depict diphthongs (compound rhyme or 複韻), with an arrow indicating the starting position and ending position of each diphthong. Six
- ㄩ (IPA [y]), as in ㄩˋ (玉, jade)
- ㄝ (IPA [e̞]), as in ㄧㄝˋ (夜, night)
- ㄟ (IPA [ei̯]), as in ㄌㄟˋ (累, tired)
- ㄡ (IPA [oʊ̯]), as in ㄉㄡˋ (豆, bean)
- ㄞ (IPA [ai̯]), as in ㄉㄞˋ (帶, belt)
- ㄠ (IPA [ɑʊ̯]), as in ㄉㄠˋ (道, way)
The reason why apparent monophthongs ㄩ [y] and ㄝ [e̞] are included in this chart is purely phonological and historical. According to this theory, those two vowels are really diphthongs, i.e. ㄧㄨ [i̯u] and ㄧㄝ [i̯e̞]. Even so, those vowels should be considered "rising diphthongs" on a par with those in the next diagram.
The next diagram depicts four rising diphthongs, as follows:
- ㄧㄛ (IPA [i̯o]), as in ㄧㄛˋ (唷, an interjection)
- ㄨㄛ (IPA [u̯o]), as in ㄨㄛˋ (臥, lie)
- ㄧㄚ (IPA [i̯a]), as in ㄧㄚˋ (亞, Asia)
- ㄨㄚ (IPA [u̯a]), as in ㄨㄚˋ (襪, socks)
Symbols of Mandarin vowels
The exact number of vowels in Mandarin may vary depending on the phonological theory and methodology. The major systems for Mandarin (Putonghua) transliteration are listed below
Year | System | Vowels | Count | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IPA | [ ͡ɨ] | [ ͡ɯ] | [a] | [o] | [ɤ] | [ɛ] | [i] | [u] | [y] | [ɚ] | ||
1888 | Palladius system | и | ы | а | о | э | е | и | у | юй | эр | 10 |
1892 | Wade–Giles | ih | û | a | o | ê | e | i | u | ü | êrh | 10 |
1918 | Zhuyin fuhao |
ㄭ | ㄚ | ㄛ | ㄜ | ㄝ | ㄧ | ㄨ | ㄩ | ㄦ | 9 | |
1928 | Gwoyeu Romatzyh | y | a | o | e | è | i | u | iu | el | 9 | |
1958 | Hanyu Pinyin |
-i | a | o | e | ê | i | u | ü | er | 9 |
The first two vowel columns contain the syllabic consonants (also known as "apical vowels"), often represented as [ɿ] and [ʅ] by sinologists, that appear after apical dental and retroflex fricatives/affricates. Notice that those two IPA symbols are now considered Obsolete and nonstandard symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet.