This chart outlines the phonemic inventory of Mandarin Chinese, represented using Pinyin transcription, which serves as both a romanization system and phonetic representation. It covers the two major regional standards:
Simplified Chinese (China) – cmn-Hans-CN
Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) – cmn-Hant-TW
The chart includes initials, finals, and compound syllables, with example characters and corresponding tone-marked Pinyin transcription. Mandarin has four lexical tones (plus a neutral tone), which are phonemically significant. These tones are marked by numerals (1–4, 0) following each syllable. This chart is designed for learners, linguists, speech developers, and anyone working with Chinese TTS, ASR, or educational tools.
Note: When using Pinyin phonemes for Mandarin Chinese, the alphabet must be specified aspinyin. For example:<phoneme alphabet="pinyin" ph="chao2 yang2">朝阳</phoneme>
Mandarin Chinese (Simplified, China) – cmn-Hans-CN
| Pinyin | Example | Transcription |
|---|---|---|
| b | 北 | bei3 |
| p | 盘 | pan2 |
| d | 对 | dui4 |
| t | 谈 | tan2 |
| g | 给 | gei3 |
| k | 看 | kan4 |
| f | 放 | fang4 |
| s | 三 | san1 |
| sh | 手 | shou3 |
| h | 花 | hua1 |
| l | 累 | lei4 |
| r | 入 | ru4 |
| m | 马 | ma3 |
| n | 那 | na4 |
| ng | 定 | ding4 |
| z | 在 | zai4 |
| c | 菜 | cai4 |
| zh | 只 | zhi3 |
| ch | 吃 | chi1 |
| j | 讲 | jiang3 |
| q | 强 | qiang2 |
| x | 西 | xi1 |
| w | 哇 | wa1 |
| y | 眼 | yan3 |
| yi/i | 意, 第 | yi4, di4 |
| wu/u | 五, 露 | wu3, lu4 |
| yu/ü/u | 鱼, 绿, 序 | yu2, lü4, xu4 |
| a | 打 | da3 |
| ye/ie | 夜, 杰 | ye4, jie2 |
| er | 二 | er4 |
| e | 饿 | e4 |
| o | 龙 | long2 |
| wo/uo/o | 我, 作, 脖 | wo3, zuo1, bo2 |
| ai | 带 | dai4 |
| ei | 飞 | fei1 |
| ao | 猫 | mao1 |
| ou | 有 | you3 |
| ya/ia | 牙, 强 | ya2, qiang2 |
| you/iu | 油, 六 | you2, liu4 |
| wa/ua | 挖, 花 | wa1, hua1 |
| yue/üe/ue | 月, 略, 学 | yue4, lüe4, xue2 |
| wei/ui | 为, 对 | wei4, dui4 |
| yao/iao | 药, 料 | yao4, liao4 |
| wai/uai | 外, 帅 | wai4, shuai4 |
| yua/ua | 远, 捐 | yuan4, juan1 |
Mandarin Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan) – cmn-Hant-TW
| Pinyin | Example | Transcription |
|---|---|---|
| b | 北 | bei3 |
| p | 盤 | pan2 |
| d | 對 | dui4 |
| t | 炭 | tan4 |
| g | 給 | gei3 |
| k | 看 | kan4 |
| f | 放 | fang4 |
| s | 三 | san1 |
| sh | 瘦 | shou4 |
| h | 華 | hua2 |
| l | 樂 | le4 |
| r | 入 | ru4 |
| m | 媽 | ma1 |
| n | 那 | na4 |
| ng | 定 | ding4 |
| z | 在 | zai4 |
| c | 彩 | cai3 |
| zh | 只 | zhi3 |
| ch | 持 | chi2 |
| j | 講 | jiang3 |
| y | 月 | yue4 |
| q | 槍 | qiang1 |
| x | 西 | xi1 |
| w | 哇 | wa1 |
| j | 具 | ju4 |
| i | 第 | di4 |
| u | 魯 | lu3 |
| ü | 縷 | lü3 |
| a | 搭 | da1 |
| e | 頁 | ye4 |
| er | 二 | er4 |
| e | 餓 | e4 |
| o | 龍 | long2 |
| wo | 我 | wo3 |
| ai | 帶 | dai4 |
| ei | 飛 | fei1 |
| ao | 奧 | ao4 |
| ou | 歐 | ou4 |
Tone Descriptions (Pinyin)
| Tone | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | High tone |
| 2 | Mid Rising tone |
| 3 | Low Dipping tone |
| 4 | High Falling tone |
| 0 | Neutral tone |
Multiple syllables should be separated by a space, e.g., /wo3 de5/ for 我 的.