Mandarin Chinese Pronunciation, Video 3: Mandarin's Vowels

[@Li.Siyuan]

By far the best pronunciation guide to Mandarin I've come across. Thank you, especially for the second video :-)

[@FluentForeverApp]

Thanks!! Great to hear!

[@facorread]

I appreciate the amount of work in putting this lesson together. Thanks!

[@L4TEKNIGHT]

Thanks Gabe! That video is perfect and just the right timing. I am trying to be prepare for my mandarin course.

[@ramzy-6566]

practice makes perfect. i hope you make new videos for every language and see you face and mouth. Thank you. best channel.

[@FluentForeverApp]

We are happy you have found the videos helpful! We will take your recommendations into account for future videos.

[@ramzy-6566]

Great video.

[@FluentForeverApp]

We appreciate that, thank you!

[@Ziranzhao]

ɤ was pronounced wrongly in this video 8:02

[@陈瑞娜]

how should it be then?

[@Jimmylai-q2p]

@@陈瑞娜 I speak Mandarin, and he’s right. The pronounce in 8:02 is sɰ(tone 4). The right pronounce is in 10:36. It’s no doubt that this video is gorgeous ,though. I learn a lot from it.

[@melissalucas857]

Really helpful! Engaging, and exactly what I was looking for. Quick and very CLEAR for American speakers who are familiar with the IPA (of which I am one). Many thanks!!

[@derbar7051]

I really really love your work, Gabe. As a Received Pronunciation speaker, seeing all the american IPA symbols really confuses the learning process. I know all of your videos are for American speakers but I will get used to it. Thanks Gabe!

[@ihaveseverefrootsnackism]

Hey, fun fact! If you're having problems with ü, so was I, for like an entire year. Apparently I was saying "ee" wrong in English. Tip of tongue should touch the bottom teeth from behind, not sit on top of it. Sounds the exact same in english either way but then when you try to say ü it doesn't work. aaaand finally my german, french, and mandarin pronunciation have all greatly improved at once! Yay xDDD Edit: Swedish too

[@BroxStudio]

Many people wouldn't pronounce the i in ci, zi, si, ri, chi, zhi, shi as [ɯ]. It's true there are people pronounce it like [ɯ] but I think it would be more accurate with [ɨ]. Your example with u and ɯ are right but ʉ and ɨ is also more suitable. The English "[u:]" is more an [ʉ]. I also think to mention [ɻ] as a vowel for zhi, chi, shi, would confused the viewer, because I also never thought about it now...

[@AnthonyFokTungLing]

I think Gabe and Lily did great in this video, and the use of [ɻ̩] over [ɨ] actually makes it easier to understand, and is commonly used among Chinese phonologists too. For a look at the "two camps", see the "Syllabic consonant" section in the Wikipedia article on Standard Chinese phonlogy: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese_phonology#Syllabic_consonants

[@BroxStudio]

oh I've forgotten I wrote a comment here xD well now I notice that my past Me was actually not well informed about Mandarin Chinese and yes indeed Gabe and Lily did a great work here! I'm Chinese by the way and I think because of my family doesn't use the [ɻ] often I thought it's not that common in mainland China. But well I'm still confused about [ɯ] sadly ^^". In addition, yue [ɥœ] can also be [ɥɛ]. Younger speakers can't distinguish between [ɛ] and [œ], at least in my tiny research with younger speakers outside and inside China.

[@MaestroRigale]

This is a topic of interest for me, as I’m trying to come up with an intuitive IPA transcription system for classical singers to study/perform Mandarin vocal repertoire. We typically transcribe phonemes and top-level allophones in the languages we study, and I’m trying to find an analysis that most clearly indicates the quality of these vowels/syllabic consonants/approximants, without going into overanalysis of details that won’t be evident in singing.

[@cgao800]

@@MaestroRigale See github.com/untunt/PhonoCollection/blob/master/Standard%20Chinese.md

[@lisowzki]

Hi Gabriel! Those sounds are soo over the top! Especially the r that's actually become a vowel? Tricky. Anyway. I love your videos. I love your voice. I love your accent. I love your face. I love you and am so crushing on you!:-):-):-):-)

[@Pabna.u]

I was using the Minimal pairing deck and I noticed that there is one for wai4 vs. why, and they have the same IPA. What's the difference? I can't find any mention in either video.

[@MaestroRigale]

Is it referring to /w/ vs. /ʍ/?

[@seymauney360]

Perfect😂

[@michaeltheboombringer2848]

Isn't yù in Mandarin [jy]?

[@Emile.gorgonZola]

Michael The BoomBringer No

[@tylerruff6302]

No It's y

[@cgao800]

This is a special spelling in pinyin. Basically, yu = ü = /y/.

[@jasonzy425]

These vowels are very much like those in French.

[@EGMusic12]

ɤ and ɯ though??

[@spook2171]

Not at all

[@spook2171]

French doesn't have diphtongs and out of the 8 new vowels 5 appear in French (but they also appear in most European languages)

[@onward771]

As a fun side note. ri4 日 (sun) Does mean sun however these days it's more often used to mean fuck. lol.

[@mateusf.duarte893]

and how is it used?

[@cgao800]

@@mateusf.duarte893 It's simply used as a verb in that case.

[@mateusf.duarte893]

@@cgao800 他日她?

[@cgao800]

@@mateusf.duarte893 我日 means f**k! / damn it. Though these days young people tend to say 我艹 (which has the same meaning literally) to express his / her surprise or frustration. 日 你/他 妈 is very coarse language and should be avoided.

[@cgao800]

I guess "yuè" should be more like /ɥɛ/ instead of /ɥœ/.

[@michaeltheboombringer2848]

女 means girl in Cantonese.

[@jacksonlee8300]

Skarlet 女 means female people instead of girl