The Sounds of Chinese

This accessible textbook provides a clear introduction to the sounds of Standard Chinese, designed for English-speaking students with no prior knowledge of linguistics. It explains from scratch the fundamentals of articulatory phonetics (the study of how speech sounds are produced) and phonology (the study of sound systems), and clearly applies them to the phonetic and phonological properties of Chinese. Topics covered include consonants, vowels, syllable structure, tone, stress, intonation, loan words and different varieties of Standard Chinese. Clear comparisons with English sounds are given wherever relevant, along with practical pronunciation advice. All the sounds described are demonstrated by native speakers on the audio CD (included) and over fifty graded exercises are provided, encouraging students to put their knowledge into practice. Building a solid understanding of how Chinese sounds work, this text will be invaluable to students of Chinese wishing to improve their pronunciation, their teachers, and students of Chinese linguistics.

• Accompanying CD to demonstrate pronunciation, and over 50 graded exercises • Useful both to Chinese language students, and those studying Chinese linguistics • First book to introduce Chinese pronunciation by explaining the basics of phonetics and phonology

1. Introduction; 2. Consonants; 3. Vowels and glides; 4. Tone; 5. Syllable structure; 6. Phonetic transcription and Pinyin; 7. Segmental processes I; 8. Segmental processes II; 9. Tonal processes; 10. Stress and intonation; 11. Loanword adaptation; 12. Variation in Standard Chinese; Appendices.