Blog 1- Introduction, Alphabets, Vocabulary and Sample Conversations
An Introduction to the Basics
As means of visual communication, Chinese written characters are fascinating in their ingenuity and originality. The earliest form of Chinese writing was pictographs-stylized pictures of objects. Graphic symbols supplemented pictographs to represent simple abstract thoughts. Later, for transmitting complex ideas, ideographs were created from already existing simple characters, conveying ideas by the juxtaposition of interchangeable events.
Chinese Pin Yin ( Spelling of a character using English alphabets) is quick and the easiest tool to learn Chinese foreigners and also a fundamental tool to develop communication skills. With it, you can type Chinese characters on your computer, can translate and you can pronounce romanized words and also, you can look up the dictionary for further technical details.
To meet the demand for thousands of new characters, the Chinese resorted to phonetic or harmonic writing, relying on the radical for the sense and the phonetics for the sound. Somehow phonetic sounds are the same as Sanskrit and Urdu words because Chinese words also require sharp and clear pronunciations.
Alphabet Pronunciations
A- Pronounced as ‘a’ in father ( For example- Ma 妈 - Mother)
B- Pronounced as ‘p’ in pore ( For example- Ba 爸 - Father)
C- Pronounced as ‘it’ in its ( For example- Ci 词 - Word)
D- Pronounced as ‘D’ in done ( For example- Da 大- Big)
E- Pronounced as ‘ir’ in girl ( For example- Ge 哥 - Elder Brother)
F- Pronounced as ‘F’ in four ( For example- Fa 发 - Hair)
G- Pronounced as ‘c’ in come ( For example- Ge 哥 - Brother)
H- Pronounced as ‘h’ in hunt ( For example- He喝 - Drink)
I- Pronounced as ‘e’ in teeth ( For example- Di 第 - Younger Brother)
J- Pronounced as ‘Che’ in cheat ( For example- Ji 鸡 - Chicken)
K- Pronounced as ‘kh’ in khan ( For example- Ke 渴 - Thirsty)
L- Pronounced as ‘l’ in Lull ( For example- Lai 来 - Come)
M- Pronounced as ‘M’ in more ( For example- Ma 妈 - Mother)
N- Pronounced as ‘n’ in Null ( For example- Ni 你- you)
O- Pronounced as ‘o’ in orange ( For example- ou 呕 - O和)
P- Pronounced as ‘ph’ in phone ( For example- Pa 爬 - Climb)
Q- Pronounced as ‘chee’ in chees ( For example- Qi 七- seven)
R- Pronounced as ‘er’ in bigger ( For example- Re 热 - Hot)
S- Pronounced as ‘s’ in Sun ( For example- Si 四 - Four)
T- Pronounced as ‘th’ in thump ( For example- Ta 他 - He)
U- Pronounced as ‘oo’ in too ( For example- Bu 不 - No)
V- NA
W- Pronounced as ‘wh’ in What ( For example- Wo 我 - I)
X- Pronounced as ‘sh’ in She ( For example- Xi 洗 - to wash)
Y- Pronounced as ‘y’ in Yup ( For example- Ye 夜 - Night)
Z-Pronounced as ‘ds’ in Kids ( For example- Zi 字 - Character)
Note:
1. When ‘I’ comes after ‘Zh’, ‘ch’, and ‘sh’, it sounds like a prolonged ‘r’
For example- Zhi (纸)-Paper
2. When ‘I’ comes after ‘z’, ‘c’, ‘s’, it sounds like a prolonged ‘zzz’
For example- Zi ( 字)- Character
Tones in Chinese
( - ) - First Tone- High, Flat and constant tone For example- Ma (妈）Mother
( / )- Second Tone- Rising tone, similar to ‘what?” For example- Ma ( 麻）Tingle
( v )- Third Tone- Deep down and rise, similar to ‘land’ in ‘island’ For example- ma (马）Horse
( \ )- Fourth Tone- Falling tone, similar to ‘No!’ For example- Ma (骂）Abuse
(No tone)- Fifth Tone- This isn’t a tone, technically, it is soft with no accent For example- Ma (吗）Question Tag
Below are some of the basic words required in daily conversations:
你- Nǐ- You
好- Hǎo- Good
您- Nín- You (With respect)
你们- Nǐmen- You (Plural)
老师- Lǎoshī- Teacher
谢谢- Xièxiè - Thank you
不-Bù - No/Not
客气-kèqì - Polite/ Courteous
不客气- Bukeqi- You’re Welcome
对不起- Duìbùqǐ- I am sorry
没关系- Méiguānxì- Don’t mention it
再见- Zàijiàn- Goodbye
请- Qǐng- Please
进- Jìn- To enter
坐- Zuò- To sit
听- Tīng- To listen
说-Shuō- To say
读-Dú- To read
写-xiě- To write
Sample Conversations
Saying hello to your friends
A: Nǐ Hǎo
B: Nǐ Hǎo
For saying thank you and no problem
A: Xièxiè
B: Bukeqi
For saying sorry
A: Duìbùqǐ
B: Méiguānxì
For greeting the teacher
A: LǎoshīHǎo
Lǎoshī: Nǐmen Hao
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