Integrated Chinese 1 - Basics (Video Notes)

A set of vocabulary-style flashcards covering core concepts from the lecture notes on Mandarin, pinyin, tones, initials/finals, and the Chinese writing system.

Pinyin

System for writing Mandarin sounds with the Latin alphabet (Hanyu Pinyin); uses 25 of the 26 English letters; actual sounds may differ from English.

Modern Standard Chinese

Standard form of Chinese used for education and official communication; based on the Beijing dialect.

Putonghua

Mainland China term meaning 'common language' for Modern Standard Chinese.

Guoyu

Taiwanese term meaning 'national language' for Modern Standard Chinese.

Huayu

Term used in some Chinese-speaking communities (e.g., Singapore, Malaysia) for language spoken by ethnic Chinese.

Syllable

A Chinese syllable consists of an initial consonant, a final (vowel or vowel plus -n/-ng), and a tone; may have no initial.

Initial

Consonant at the start of a Chinese syllable.

Final

The vowel part of a syllable, which may end with -n or -ng.

Tone

The pitch contour that is superimposed on a syllable in Chinese; Modern Standard Chinese has four tones plus a neutral tone.

First Tone

High-level tone; steady pitch across the syllable.

Second Tone

Rising tone; pitch moves from mid to high.

Third Tone

Low-dipping tone; often realized as a half-third in natural speech; can change with tone sandhi.

Fourth Tone

Falling tone; pitch moves from high to low.

Neutral Tone

Unstressed tone with no contour; pitch determined by the preceding syllable.

Tone Marks

Diacritical marks placed on the main vowel of a syllable in pinyin to indicate tone; main vowel is determined by a-o-e-i-u-ü.

Tone Sandhi

Phonological change where two consecutive third-tone syllables cause the first to change to second tone.

Hanyu Pinyin

The standard romanization system for Mandarin; uses 25 letters; pronunciation may differ from English.

Simple Finals

Single-vowel sounds in pinyin: a, o, e, i, u, ü.

a (simple final)

Central vowel; sounds like the 'a' in 'fa la la' with a relaxed tongue.

o (simple final)

Rounded semi-high back vowel; often combines with initials; can resemble a short u sound in between b/p/m/f and o.

e (simple final)

Unrounded semi-high back vowel; pronounce with tongue near o but unrounded and smiling lips.

i (simple final)

Unrounded high front vowel; like the 'ee' in 'sheep' with a higher tongue.

u (simple final)

Rounded high back vowel; lips puckered; similar to 'oo' in 'food' with higher tongue.

ü (simple final)

Rounded high front vowel; indicated with umlaut; tongue position similar to i.

Initials (Overview)

Consonants that begin Chinese syllables; 21 in pinyin; categorized by place and manner of articulation.

b (initial)

Unvoiced, unaspirated; similar to the English 'p' in 'speak'.

p (initial)

Aspirated and voiceless; like the English 'p' in 'pork'.

m (initial)

Voiced bilabial nasal; similar to English 'm'.

f (initial)

Voiceless labiodental fricative; pronounced like English 'f'.

d (initial)

Unvoiced, unaspirated; similar to 't' in 'stand'.

t (initial)

Aspirated; voiceless; similar to 't' in 'tea'.

n (initial)

Alveolar nasal; similar to English 'n'.

l (initial)

Alveolar lateral approximant; similar to English 'l'.

g (initial)

Unaspirated, voiceless; like the 'k' of 'sky' without voice.

k (initial)

Aspirated, voiceless; like the 'k' of 'kite'.

h (initial)

Frictional sound produced with the back of the tongue near the soft palate; not like English 'h'.

j (initial)

Unaspirated, voiceless; tongue behind lower incisors; like 'j' in 'jeep'.

q (initial)

Aspirated; similar to 'ch' in 'cheese'; tongue behind lower incisors.

x (initial)

Unaspirated; like 'sh' in some contexts; tongue behind lower incisors.

z (initial)

Like the 'ds' in 'lids'.

c (initial)

Like the 'ts' in 'students'; aspirated.

s (initial)

Like the English 's'.

zh (initial)

Unaspirated, voiceless; like the first sound in 'jerk'; retroflex.

ch (initial)

Aspirated version of zh; like 'ch' in 'chirp'.

sh (initial)

Unaspirated; like 'sh' in 'shirt'.

r (initial)

Voiced version of 'sh' sound; vocal cords vibrate.

Apostrophe in pinyin

Used to separate two syllables when their vowels would otherwise connect; e.g., nu'er, Xi'an.

Writing System

Chinese uses characters; two sets exist: simplified and traditional; characters encode syllables.

Character Categories

Classification of characters into pictographs, simple ideograms, compound ideograms, pictophonetic, mutually explanatory, and phonetic loan.

Pictographs

Characters based on pictures representing objects (e.g., 人 ren, 山 shan, 日 ri, 月 yue).

Simple Ideograms

Characters representing simple ideas; e.g., 上 shàng (above), 下 xià (below).

Compound Ideograms

Characters combining two or more simple ideas to express a meaning; e.g., 明 ming (bright) and rest.

Pictophonetic Characters

Characters that combine meaning component with a sound component to indicate pronunciation.

Mutually Explanatory Characters

Characters whose parts explain both meaning and pronunciation together.

Phonetic Loan Characters

Characters derived from using phonetic loans for pronunciation.

Myth About Chinese Writing

A common belief that Chinese characters are purely pictographic; in fact most are pictophonetic with radicals.