Tuttle Dictionary Martial Arts Korea, China & Japan. Daniel Kogan

like the "j" in jump

      Mandarin vowel-sound equivalents are as follows:

      a as in armor

      ai like the "i" in size

      an like on

      ang like the "ong" in song

      ao like the "ow" in how

      e like the "ea" in treasure

      ei like the "ay" in hay

      en like the "un" in run

      eng like "ung" in hunger

      er as in mother

      i like the "ea" in eat

      ia is a sound between the "ea" in eat and the "a" in armor

      ian is a sound between the "ea" in eat and the "e" in pen

      iang is a sound between the "ea" in eat and the "ong" in song

      iao is between "ea" in eat and the "o" in how

      ie like the "ea" in treasure

      in like the "ee" in keen

      ing as in ring

      iong is a sound between the"ea"ineatandthe"ow" in how and "n" and "g"

      iu is a sound between the "ea" in eat and "you"

      o as in office

      ong is a combination the "ow" in how and "ng"

      u like the "oo" in fool

      ua is a sound between the "oo" in fool and "a"

      uai is a sound between the "oo" in fool and the "i" in size

      uan is a combination of you and "en" in end

      uang is a sound between the "oo" in fool and the "ong" in song

      ue is a sound between the "oo" in fool and the "ea" in each

      ui is a sound between the "oo" in fool and the "ay" in say

      un is a sound between the "oo" in fool and the "oon" in soon

      uo is a sound between the "oo" in fool and the "o" in office

      Cantonese consonants are as follows:

      b as in boy

      ch as in chew

      d as in do

      f as in food

      g as in go

      h as in how

      j as in jump

      k as in kick

      l as in lunch

      m as in moon

      n as in no

      p as in put

      s as in so

      t as in to

      w as in why

      y as in you

      gw like the "gu" in guava

      kw like the "qu" in quick

      ng as in ring

      Cantonese vowel-sound equivalents are as follows:

      a as in armor

      ai like eye

      ak like the "ock" in sock

      am like the "om" in mom

      an like "on" in onward

      ang like the "ong" in song

      ap like the "op" opponent

      at like the "ot" in dot

      au like the "ow" in now

      e like the "ea" in treasure

      ei like the "ay" in say

      ek like,the "eck" in check

      eng as in Bengal

      eu like the "ork" in cork

      eui between the "o" in cork and "ee" in seen

      euk like the "o" in cork

      eun like the "o" in cork with an "n" sound

      eung like the "o" in cork with an "ng" sound

      eut like the "o" in cork with a "t" sound

      i like the "ee" in seen

      ik like the "ick" in sick

      im like the "eem" in seem

      in like the "een" in been

      ing like the "ing" in sing

      ip like the "eep" in keep

      it like the "eat" in meat

      iu like the "ew" in pew

      o like the "aw" in brawl

      oi like the "oy" in toy

      ok like the "ock" in mock

      on like the "awn" in pawn

      ong as in song

      ot like the "ought" in bought

      ou like the "o" in two

      u like the "oo" in too

      ui like the "ooey" in gooey

      uk like the "uke" in fluke

      un like the "oon" in baboon

      ung like the "oon" in Loon with a "g" sound

      ut like the "oot" in soot

      yu as in you

      yun like the "oon" in Loon with an "y" sound

      yut like you with an "it" sound

      In Cantonese, some vowels can be pronounced in a more drawn-out way. In the next section we will show how these sounds are pronounced.

      aai like eye

      aak like the "ock" in sock

      aam like the "om" in mom

      aan like the "on" in onward

      aang like the "ong" in song

      aap like the "op" in opponent

      at like the "ot" in dot

      au like the "ow" in now

      Pronunciation Guide to Japanese and Okinawan

      Japanese syllables are from the point of view of a native English speaker easier to pronounce (excluding perhaps the consonant "r" that is rolled) than many other Asian languages, but efforts to write them using roman letters are somewhat hampered by the large number of homonyms that appear. Though these words appear identical when written in roman letters, their meanings, which are often very different, are readily apparent when using Chinese characters. Nonetheless using roman letters one can easily approximate the Japanese pronunciation of any word.

      The following table explains how to pronounce the letters used for the Japanese and Okinawan entries in this book.

      a as in the "a" in father

      e as in echo

      i as in it

      o as in open

      u as in the "ew" in dew

      ba as in ball

      be like bay

      bi like bee

      bo as in boat

      bu as in Buddhist

      bya is a sound between bi and a

      byo is a sound between bi and o

      byu as in the "bu" in bureau

      cha as in cha-cha

      che as in check

      chi