The Magic Tortoise Taijiquan School
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| Initial Sounds | ||
| p | as in 'pie' | |
| b | as in 'bun' ('p' is breathy, 'b' is not) | |
| t | as in 'tie' | |
| d | as in 'dear' ('t' is breathy, 'd' is not) | |
| k | as in 'cough' | |
| g | as in 'gamble' (the 'g' is hard) | |
| c | as the ts in 'nuts' | |
| z | as the dds in 'adds' | |
| h | as in 'loch' but very softly | |
| f | as in 'stuffy' | |
| zh | as the J in 'January' | |
| j | as the g in 'genuine' | |
| ch | as in 'challenge' | |
| q | as the ch in 'chew' | |
| x | as the sie in 'siesta,' a cross between 'see' and 'she' | |
| sh | as in 'shelter' but with lips withdrawn | |
| r | as in 'rent,' but first make an 'sh' sound, vibrate the vocal chords, then change to 'r' while keeping the voiced vibration | |
| Finals | ||
| a | between 'father' and 'at' | |
| an | as in 'bun' rather than 'ban' | |
| ang | as the ung in 'bung' | |
| ai | as in 'aisle' | |
| ao | as in 'out' | |
| e | between the e in 'exit' and ear in 'earth' | |
| en | as the n in 'rock'n'roll' | |
| eng | as the un in 'hunger' | |
| ei | as in 'lay' | |
| ou | as the ou in 'soul' not as the ow in 'cow' | |
| i | as the i in 'chlorine' but after 'r' 's(h)' 'c' or 'z' more of a grunted 'eh' | |
| u | as in 'zoo' | |
| ong | as in the German 'Jung' | |
| ian | 'yen' | |
| ui | 'way' | |
| ü | 'yew' | |
| [adapted from: About Chinese by Richard Newnham] | ||
| Tones. There are four tones in spoken Chinese. The first is a high steady pitch, often marked with a flat line "- " above the primary vowel. The second is a rising tone, marked with a "/" above the primary vowel. The third is a dipping tone, from mid pitch to low and back, marked with a "v" above the primary vowel. The fourth is a falling tone, marked with a "\" above the primary vowel. | ||
The Magic Tortoise Taijiquan School
c/o Dr. Jay Dunbar, Director 15 Timberlyne Road Chapel Hill, NC 27514-1522 919.968.3936 |
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