The Sounds of Chinese

Description

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. Contents List of figures and tables Preface 1 Introduction 2 Consonants 3 Vowels and glides 4 Tone 5 Syllable structure 6 Phonetic transcription and pīnyīn 7 Segmental processes I 8 Segmental processes II 9 Tonal processes 10 Stress and intonation 11 Loanword adaptation 12 Variation in SC Appendix A. The International Phonetic Alphabet Appendix B. Tables for SC syllables: pīnyīn spelling and phonetic transcriptions Appendix C. Internet resources Further reading References Glossary Index