Mandarin Chinese/Pinyin/U

This lesson you will learn:

• The letters U and Ü
• Compound and Nasal finals containing the letter U
• Tones
• NG

The Letter U

"U" is pronounced "oo".

Compound and Nasal Finals Containing U

• ou- oh
• iou- yo
• uo- woah
• uei- way
• ua- water
• uai- why
• uan- wahn
• uen- wuhn

Like with "i", "u" become "w" initially.

Tones

As many know, Chinese is a tonal language. This means that the way you pronounce a word can change its meaning. For example:

• The flat line means your voice is Higher and Level: āēīōūǖ
• The falling line means your voice drops, like you are angry: àèìòùǜ
• The line going down and up means your voice drops and rises again: ǎěǐǒǔǚ
• The rising line means your voice goes up, like you are asking a question: áéíóúǘ
• No line means you voice is Lower and Level: aeiouü

Ü is the ONE vowel sound in Chinese but not English. If you know German, yes, it is the same sound, and to those who know French it is a "U". But for the rest of us...

The Letter Ü

Pronounce this vowel "ee" but with your lips rounded like you were pronouncing "oo"

Rules About, and Compounds With Ü

• üe- +eh
• ün- +n
• üan- +ahn

Like i become y and u becomes w, ü becomes yu. The finals after this rule

NG

NG acts just like N in a nasal final. And here they are: ang, iang, uang, eng, ing, yong, ong