4. Phonological System of Mandarin

This part is the sub topic of Theoretical Framework in Chapter II Theoretical Approach and Framework of the research entitled "A Comparative study between Mandarin and English phonological System".
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The phonemic structure of Mandarin is quite simple. Each character corresponds to one syllable (which corresponds to a part of an English word, and entire word or more than one word). Chinese syllables consist of three elements: initial sound, final sound and tone. The initial sounds are consonants and the final sounds contain at least one vowel. Some syllables consist only of an initial sound or a final sound.

a) Consonant (Initial sound)

In Mandarin Chinese there are 21 initial sounds:

	Unaspirated	Aspirated	Nasal	Voiceless fricative	Voiced fricative
Labial	b	p	m	f
Alveolar	d	t	n		l
Velar	g	k		h
Palatal	j	q		x
Dental sibilant	z	c		s
Retroflex	zh	ch		sh	r

(“Mandarin Chinese Phonetics”, 2008: par.2)

b) Vowel (Final sound)

In Mandarin Chinese there are 29 final sounds:

6 simple finals:	a, e, i, o, u, ü
13 compound finals:	ai, ao, ei, ia, iao, ie, iou, ou, ua, uai, üe, uei, uo
10 nasal finals:	6 front nasals: an, en, ian, in, üan, ün 4 back nasals: ang, eng, ing, ong

(“Mandarin Chinese Phonetics”, 2008: par.2)

c) Tone

In Chinese it is always very important to pronounce words with correct tone. In transliterated Chinese, tone markings are written over the central vowels in most syllables. Some syllables have no specific tone or zero tone, and then no sign is put above any vowel. In Mandarin Chinese there are four tones:

1) The 1^st tone is marked with a line ("ma" + "^-" = "mā"). This is a high, even and constant tone.

2) The 2^nd tone is marked with a rising line ("ma" + "´" = "má"). This is a rising tone that grows stronger.

3) The 3^rd tone is marked with a hook ("ma" + "^v" = "mă"). This tone is first falling and fading, then rising and growing strong.

4) The 4^th tone is marked with a falling line ("ma" + "`" = "mà"). This is a quickly falling and fading tone. (“Tones and Marking of Tones”, 2006: par.1)

There is a tone which is different from those four tones, it sounds like gliding tone. It is also known as “neutral tone”. The tone is usually placed at the end where the previous syllable ended. The neutral tone is particularly difficult for non-native speakers to master correctly because it is so rarely used.

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