The purpose of this section is to clarify some important issues regarding the pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese. I noticed recently that some sources are publishing incorrect information about Mandarin pronunciation. It is my intent to identify a few of the misconceptions and to make the reality of the pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese crystal clear, both in linguistic terms and in everyday language.
First, I should mention that while I am not a professional linguist, I have had university courses in linguistics, have a solid understanding of all linguistic principles mentioned on these pages, and continue to read up on linguistic issues. The facts which I present here are supported by reputable sources online and have been confirmed by mainland Chinese professionals with M.A. degrees in Chinese (inluding in-depth training in linguistics).
Furthermore, not only do I have a unique history with regards to my linguistic development, but I have also successfully learned to produce all of these sounds myself as an adult. For these reasons I feel that I know what I'm talking about from a practical standpoint (the learner's view) as well as from a technical standpoint (the linguist's view).
In short, a lot of the websites out there which offer instructions on the pronunciation of Mandarin are wrong. I'd like to do something to rectify that situation.
The different pages of this feature can be navigated via the links at the bottom of each page. They are:
- Intro - this page
- Background - some important things to know about Mandarin in general and pinyin specifically
- Misconceptions - an overview of "bad information" I found on the web, and the reasons why I created these pages on pronunciation
- Phonetics - some of Mandarin's unique pronunciation features, described simply, in linguists' terms
- How To - a guide to Mandarin's difficult consonant sounds for the beginner
- My Story - my unique set of circumstances which led to an above average awareness of phonetics from an early age
