Chinese Phonetics

Phonemes and Symbols

Vowel

Pinyin	Bopomofo	IPA (Mandarin)	Jyutping	IPA (Cantonese)	TL	IPA (Hokkien)
a	ㄚ	[a]			a	[a]
			aa	[aː]
					ann	[ã]
					annh
o	ㄛ	[wo]
					oo	[ɔ]
			o	[ɔː]
					onn	[ɔ̃]
			oe	[œː]
e	ㄜ	[ɤ]			o	[ə]
			e	[ɛː]
					e	[e]
					ee
					eeh
					enn	[ẽ]
					ennh
i	ㄧ	[i]			i	[i]
			i	[iː]
					inn	[ĩ]
					innh
u	ㄨ	[u]			u	[u]
			u	[uː]
ü	ㄩ	[y]
			yu	[yː]

Pinyin	Bopomofo	IPA (Mandarin)	Jyutping	IPA (Cantonese)	POJ	IPA (Hokkien)
ai	ㄞ	[ai̯]	ai	[ɐi]	ai	[aɪ]
					aih
			aai	[aːi]
					ainn
					ainnh
			am	[ɐm]	am
			aam	[aːm]
an	ㄢ	[an]	an	[ɐn]	an
			aan	[aːn]
ang	ㄤ	[aŋ]	ang	[ɐŋ]	ang
			aang	[aːŋ]
ao	ㄠ	[au̯]	au	[ɐu]	au	[aʊ]
					auh
					aunnh
			aau	[aːu]
					ah
			ap	[ɐp̚]	ap
			aap	[aːp̚]
			at	[ɐt̚]	at
			aat	[aːt̚]
			ak	[ɐk̚]	ak
			aak	[aːk̚]
ei	ㄟ	[ei̯]	ei	[ei]
			em	[ɛːm]
en	ㄣ	[ən]
eng	ㄥ	[əŋ]	eng	[ɛːŋ]	eng
			eu	[ɛːu]
					eh
			ep	[ɛːp̚]
			et	[ɛːt̚]
			ek	[ɛːk̚]
er	ㄦ	[ɚ]			er
					erh
					ere
					ereh
ia	ㄧㄚ	[ja]			ia	[ɪa]
					iap
					iat
					iak
					iah
iao	ㄧㄠ	[jau̯]			iau	[ɪaʊ]
					iauh
					iaunn
					io	[io]
					ionn
					ioo
					ioh
					iok
					iam
ian	ㄧㄢ	[jan]			ian
					iann
					iannh
iang	ㄧㄤ	[jaŋ]			iang
ie	ㄧㄝ	[je]
			im	[iːm]	im
in	ㄧㄣ	[in]	in	[iːn]	in
ing	ㄧㄥ	[iŋ]	ing	[ɪŋ]	ing
iong	ㄩㄥ	[jʊŋ]			iong
iu	ㄧㄡ	[jou̯]	iu	[iːu]	iu	[iu]
					iuh
					iunn
					ir
					irm
					irn
					irng
					irp
					irt
					irk
					ih
			ip	[iːp̚]	ip
			it	[iːt̚]	it
			ik	[iːk̚]	ik
			oeng	[œːŋ]
			oek	[œːk̚]
			eoi	[ɵy]
			eon	[ɵn]
			eot	[ɵt̚]
			oi	[ɔːi]
					om
			on	[ɔːn]
ong	ㄨㄥ	[ʊŋ]	ong	[ɔːŋ]	ong
ou	ㄡ	[ou̯]	ou	[ou]
					oh
					op
			ot	[ɔːt̚]	ot
			ok	[ɔːk̚]
					ooh
ua	ㄨㄚ	[wa]			ua	[ua]
					uah
					uat
uai	ㄨㄞ	[wai̯]			uai	[uai]
					uainn
uan	ㄨㄢ	[wan]			uan
					uann
uang	ㄨㄤ	[waŋ]			uang
ui	ㄨㄟ	[wei̯]	ui	[uːi]	ui	[ui]
					uih
					uin
					ue	[uɛ]
					ueh
un	ㄨㄣ	[wən]	un	[uːn]	un
			ung	[ʊŋ]
uo	ㄨㄛ	[wo]
					uh
			ut	[uːt̚]	ut
			uk	[ʊk̚]
üe	ㄩㄝ	[ɥe]
-üan	ㄩㄢ	[ɥɛn]
ün	ㄩㄣ	[yn]	yun	[yːn]
			yut	[yːt̚]
			m	[m̩]	m	[m̩]
					mh
			ng	[ŋ̩]	ng	[ŋ̍]
					ngh

Consonants

Pinyin	Bopomofo	IPA (Mandarin)	Jyutping	IPA (Cantonese)	TL	IPA (Hokkien)
b	ㄅ	[p]	b	[p]	p	[p]
p	ㄆ	[pʰ]	p	[pʰ]	ph	[pʰ]
					b	[b]
m	ㄇ	[m]	m	[m]	m	[m]
f	ㄈ	[f]	f	[f]
d	ㄉ	[t]	d	[t]	t	[t]
t	ㄊ	[tʰ]	t	[tʰ]	th	[tʰ]
n	ㄋ	[n]	n	[n]	n	[n]
			ng	[ŋ]	ng	[ŋ]
l	ㄌ	[l]	l	[l]	l	[l]
g	ㄍ	[k]	g	[k]	k	[k]
					g	[g]
			gw	[kʷ]
k	ㄎ	[kʰ]	k	[kʰ]	kh	[kʰ]
			kw	[kʷʰ]
h	ㄏ	[x]	h	[h]	h	[h]
j	ㄐ	[t͡ɕ]
q	ㄑ	[t͡ɕʰ]
x	ㄒ	[ɕ]
zh	ㄓ	[ʈ͡ʂ]			ts	[t͡s]
ch	ㄔ	[ʈ͡ʂʰ]			tsh	[t͡sʰ]
sh	ㄕ	[ʂ]
r	ㄖ	[ʐ]
z	ㄗ	[t͡s]	z	[t͡s]
c	ㄘ	[t͡sʰ]	c	[t͡sʰ]
s	ㄙ	[s]	s	[s]	s	[s]
					j	[dz]
y	ㄧ	[j]	y	[j]
w	ㄨ	[w]	w	[w]

Tones

Description	Mandarin	Cantonese	Hokkien
High level	1	1	1
High falling	4	-	2
High entering	-	7 (denoted as 1)	8
Medium level	-	3	7
Medium falling	-	-	3 (merged with 6)
Medium rising	2	2	-
Medium entering	-	8 (denoted as 3)	4
Medium dipping	-	-	5
Low level	-	6	-
Low falling	-	4	3
Low rising	-	5	-
Low entering	-	9 (denoted as 6)	-
Low dipping	3	-	-

• To memorize Cantonese tones, try 三九四零五二 (san1 gau2 sei3 ling4 ng5 yi6)
• Cantonese has 9 tones, but the last 3 are entering tones which are denoted as the corresponding flat tones: 7=1, 8=3, 9=6.
• Hokkien originally has eight tones but the 6th tone is merged with 3rd (七聲八調).