Mandarin Chinese Language

Tones

There are five tones in Mandarin Chinese. The first four tones have a tone mark used to represent them in Pinyin (the script used to write Mandarin in order to make it easier for English speakers to say):

Mā in the first tone means ‘mother’. It is said high and level.

Má in the second tone means ‘linen’. It goes up and is abrupt (raise your eyebrows while saying it).

Mă in the third tone means ‘horse’. It is a falling-rising tone (drop your chin onto your neck and raise it up again).

Mà in the fourth tone means ‘to swear’ or ‘to scold’. It falls in pitch from a high to a low level (stomp your foot gently).

Ma in the neutral tone is pronounced very weakly. Ma said at the end of a statement turns that statement into a question. Otherwise the neutral tone is rarely used in Mandarin.

Below is a link to a mini guide on tones where I found this information and then one to a tone game to practise distinguishing the different tones:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/chinese/real_chinese/mini_guides/tones/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/chinese/games/

Pinyin

Consonants

First there are consonants said like they are in English:

f, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, w, and y

Next there are consonants with familiar sounds but different spellings:

b like p in spare, d like t in stand, and g like g in girl

After this the consonants are unfamiliar:

c like ts in tents,

ch like ch in chair (but with the mouth in a round shape and the tongue further back),

h like h in him (but with a bit more friction in the throat, although not as much as in loch),

j like j in joke (but with the tongue nearer the teeth),

q like ch in chair (but with the tongue further forward),

r like r in rough (but with the tongue curled upwards),

sh like sh in ship,

x between s and sh (though there is no sound in English which is the same as the x sound in Chinese – place the front of your tongue behind the lower front teeth, then let air pass through),

z like ds in lads,

and zh like j in jump (but with the tongue further back)

Below is a link to a mini guide on pinyin where I found this information:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/chinese/real_chinese/mini_guides/pinyin/

Phrases

Wikitravel provides phrasebooks in a number of languages including Mandarin Chinese.