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1,300 different syllables
- The pronunciation of Modern Standard Chinese is based on the Beijing dialect, which is of the Northern, or Mandarin, type. It employs about 1,300 different syllables.
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Standard Chinese (simplified Chinese: 现代标准汉语; traditional Chinese: 現代標準漢語; pinyin: Xiàndài biāozhǔn hànyǔ; lit. 'modern standard Han speech') is a modern standard form of Mandarin Chinese that was first codified during the republican era (1912‒1949).
- Signed Chinese
Aug 9, 2015 · This answer is for Standard Chinese, aka Mandarin. It also depends on what sort of stuff you include. Counting the distinct lines in the syllable index of the Pinyin Chinese-English Dictionary, I get 420 "lines" but this includes some very marginal stuff such as tei, kei, den, etc.
In Standard Chinese, about 15-20% of the syllables in written texts are considered unstressed, including certain suffixes, clitics, and particles. Second syllables of some disyllabic words are also unstressed in Northern Mandarin accents, but many Mandarin speakers in Southern China tend to preserve their inherent tone.
Aug 7, 2020 · From San Duanmu, The Phonology of Standard Chinese: While Middle Chinese (about AD 600) had over 3,000 syllables (including tonal distinctions), modern Standard Chinese (SC) has just over 1,300. Thus, over a period of 1,500 years, Chinese lost more than half of its syllables.
- Overview
- Modern Standard Chinese (Mandarin)
The pronunciation of Modern Standard Chinese is based on the Beijing dialect, which is of the Northern, or Mandarin, type. It employs about 1,300 different syllables. There are 22 initial consonants, including stops (made with momentary, complete closure in the vocal tract), affricates (beginning as stops but ending with incomplete closure), aspirated consonants, nasals, fricatives, liquid sounds (l, r), and a glottal stop. The medial semivowels are y (i), ɥ (ü), and w (u). In final position, the following occur: nasal consonants, ṛ (retroflex r), the semivowels y and w, and the combinations ŋr (nasalization plus r) and wr (rounding plus r). There are nine vowel sounds, including three varieties of i (retroflex, apical, and palatal). Several vowels combine into clusters.
There are four tones: (1) high level, (2) high rising crescendo, (3) low falling diminuendo with glottal friction (with an extra rise from low to high when final), and (4) falling diminuendo. Unstressed syllables have a neutral tone, which depends on its surroundings for pitch. Tones in sequences of syllables that belong together lexically and syntactically (“sandhi groups”) may undergo changes known as tonal sandhi, the most important of which causes a third tone before another third tone to be pronounced as a second tone. The tones influence some vowels (notably e and o), which are pronounced more open in third and fourth tones than in first and second tones.
A surprisingly low number of the possible combinations of all the consonantal, vocalic, and tonal sounds are utilized. The vowels i and ü and the semivowels y and ɥ never occur after velar sounds (e.g., k) and occur only after the palatalized affricate and sibilant sounds (e.g., tś), which in turn occur with no other vowels and semivowels.
Many alternative interpretations of the distinctive sounds of Chinese have been proposed; the interaction of consonants, vowels, semivowels, and tones sets Modern Standard Chinese apart from many other Sinitic languages and dialects and gives it a unique character among the major languages of the world. The two most widely used transcription systems (romanizations) are Wade-Giles (first propounded by Sir Thomas Francis Wade in 1859 and later modified by Herbert A. Giles) and the official Chinese transcription system today, known as the pinyin zimu (“phonetic spelling”) or simply Pinyin (adopted in 1958). For a comparison of these romanization equivalents, see the table. In Wade-Giles, aspiration is marked by ’ (p’, t’, and so on). The semivowels are y, yü, and w in initial position; i, ü, and u in medial; and i and u (but o after a) in final position. Final retroflex r is written rh. The tones are indicated by raised figures after the syllables (1, 2, 3, 4).
The Pinyin system indicates unaspirated stops and affricates by means of traditionally voiced consonants (e.g., b, d) and aspirated consonants by voiceless sounds (e.g., p, t). The semivowels are y, yu, and w initially; i, ü, and u medially; and i and u (o after a) finally. Final retroflex r is written r. The tones are indicated by accent markers, 1 = ¯, 2 = ´, 3 = ˇ, 4 = ˋ (e.g., mā, má, mǎ, mà = Wade-Giles ma1, ma2, ma3, ma4).
Pinyin is used in the following discussion of Modern Standard Chinese grammar.
The pronunciation of Modern Standard Chinese is based on the Beijing dialect, which is of the Northern, or Mandarin, type. It employs about 1,300 different syllables. There are 22 initial consonants, including stops (made with momentary, complete closure in the vocal tract), affricates (beginning as stops but ending with incomplete closure), aspirated consonants, nasals, fricatives, liquid sounds (l, r), and a glottal stop. The medial semivowels are y (i), ɥ (ü), and w (u). In final position, the following occur: nasal consonants, ṛ (retroflex r), the semivowels y and w, and the combinations ŋr (nasalization plus r) and wr (rounding plus r). There are nine vowel sounds, including three varieties of i (retroflex, apical, and palatal). Several vowels combine into clusters.
There are four tones: (1) high level, (2) high rising crescendo, (3) low falling diminuendo with glottal friction (with an extra rise from low to high when final), and (4) falling diminuendo. Unstressed syllables have a neutral tone, which depends on its surroundings for pitch. Tones in sequences of syllables that belong together lexically and syntactically (“sandhi groups”) may undergo changes known as tonal sandhi, the most important of which causes a third tone before another third tone to be pronounced as a second tone. The tones influence some vowels (notably e and o), which are pronounced more open in third and fourth tones than in first and second tones.
A surprisingly low number of the possible combinations of all the consonantal, vocalic, and tonal sounds are utilized. The vowels i and ü and the semivowels y and ɥ never occur after velar sounds (e.g., k) and occur only after the palatalized affricate and sibilant sounds (e.g., tś), which in turn occur with no other vowels and semivowels.
Many alternative interpretations of the distinctive sounds of Chinese have been proposed; the interaction of consonants, vowels, semivowels, and tones sets Modern Standard Chinese apart from many other Sinitic languages and dialects and gives it a unique character among the major languages of the world. The two most widely used transcription systems (romanizations) are Wade-Giles (first propounded by Sir Thomas Francis Wade in 1859 and later modified by Herbert A. Giles) and the official Chinese transcription system today, known as the pinyin zimu (“phonetic spelling”) or simply Pinyin (adopted in 1958). For a comparison of these romanization equivalents, see the table. In Wade-Giles, aspiration is marked by ’ (p’, t’, and so on). The semivowels are y, yü, and w in initial position; i, ü, and u in medial; and i and u (but o after a) in final position. Final retroflex r is written rh. The tones are indicated by raised figures after the syllables (1, 2, 3, 4).
The Pinyin system indicates unaspirated stops and affricates by means of traditionally voiced consonants (e.g., b, d) and aspirated consonants by voiceless sounds (e.g., p, t). The semivowels are y, yu, and w initially; i, ü, and u medially; and i and u (o after a) finally. Final retroflex r is written r. The tones are indicated by accent markers, 1 = ¯, 2 = ´, 3 = ˇ, 4 = ˋ (e.g., mā, má, mǎ, mà = Wade-Giles ma1, ma2, ma3, ma4).
Pinyin is used in the following discussion of Modern Standard Chinese grammar.
The anatomy of a Mandarin syllable. Mandarin Chinese syllables generally contain two or three integral parts: Initials: The consonant sound appearing at the beginning of a syllable. Mandarin has 21 initial consonant sounds in its phonetic inventory. These include stops like b, d, g and fricatives like h, s, and z.
In Chinese languages: Modern Standard Chinese (Mandarin) The pronunciation of Modern Standard Chinese is based on the Beijing dialect, which is of the Northern, or Mandarin, type. It employs about 1,300 different syllables. There are 22 initial consonants, including stops (made with momentary, complete closure in the vocal… Read More; use in ...
