Part 1: Pinyin/拼音(pīn yīn:spell/拼,sound/音)
A Chinese syllable(pinyin) is composed of an initial,a final and a tone.
Chinese language/汉语(hàn yǔ)/中文(zhōng wén:Chinese/中国人的,character/文字)
23 initials:
b p m f d t n l g k h j q x zh ch sh r z c s y w
24 finals:
a o e i u ü ai ei ui ao ou iu ie üe er an en in un ün ang eng ing ong
16 intial&finals as a whole:
zhi chi shi ri zi ci si yi wu yu ye yue yuan yin yun ying.
Part 2 :4 Tones
There are 4 tones for Chinese character:
tone1:high level pitch “ˉ”
soup/汤(tāng):noodle soup/面汤(miàn tāng ),vegetable soup/菜汤(cài tāng),meat soup/肉汤(ròu tāng),drink/喝汤(hē tāng),etc./等等(děng děng)
characters related:cooking/做饭(zuò fàn),food/食物(shí wù)
tone2:rising “ˊ”
sugar/糖(táng):refined sugar/白糖(bái táng),black sugar/红糖(hóng táng),candy/糖(táng guǒ)
character related:colors/颜色(yán sè)
tone3:falling-rising “ˇ”
lie/躺(tǎng):lying/躺着(tǎng zhe),lying down/躺下(lying down)
tone4:falling “ˋ”
hot/烫(tàng):汤烫(tāng tàng),水太烫(shuǐ tài tàng),烫伤(tàng shāng)
practice/练习(liàn xí):
Can you read them?
no,not:不bù you:你nǐ
I,me:我wǒ he,him:他tā
spicy:辣là road:路lù
drink:喝hē green:绿lǜ
horse:马🐴 mǎ chicken:鸡🐓 jī
pig:猪🐽 zhū go:去qù
like:喜欢xǐhuan
washing machine:洗衣机xǐ yī jī
vinegar:醋cù
rent:租zū
eat:吃chī
hot:热rè
tea:茶chá,热茶rè chá
goodbye:再见zài jiàn
please:请qǐng
orange juice:橙汁chéng zhī
wait:等等děngděng
一yī,二èr,三sān,四sì,五wǔ,六liù ,七qī,八bā,九jiǔ,十shí