Survival Chinese. Boye Lafayette De Mente

different types of things (flat, round), for people, animals, etc. There is, however, one “measure word,” gè (guh) 个 that is more or less universal and may be used for virtually anything if you don’t know the correct one.

      9) “Yes” and “no” are generally not used by themselves. The custom is to use the negative or the positive of the appropriate verb or adjective to express these meanings. In other words, the usual response to “Are you going?” is not “no.” It is the negative form of “going”—that is, “not going,” with the subject [I] understood—i.e. qù? (chwee?) 去 / “Are you going?” Bú qù (boo chwee) 不去 / “I’m not going.”

      There are other “rules” for using Chinese, but rather than trying to remember them individually, it is best to simply use them as they appear in the basic sentences in this book.

      The Chinese “Alphabet”

      The 405 syllables that make up the Chinese language are in effect the Chinese “alphabet.” These syllables are divided into five sets, each of which is based on three or more of the five vowel sounds, a (ah), i (ee), u (uu), e (eh) and o (oh), combined with consonants.

      The initial or first letter in Chinese syllables is always a consonant. The “final” or ending portion of the syllables always begins with a vowel. Example: sànbù (sahn-boo) 散步, which means “walk” or “stroll.” Individual words consist of one or more syllables. And as in English, there are many compound words.

      One example of a compound word is qìchë (chee-cher) 汽车, literally “steam vehicle”; and figuratively, car or automobile. Another commonly seen and used compound word is xièxie (she-eh-she-eh) 谢谢, or “thank you.” [When pronounced at normal speed it sounds like “shay-shay.”]

      With only a few exceptions (as shown above) pronunciation of the initial letters of Chinese syllables is the same as or similar to the English pronunciation. Pronunciation of the so-called “final” portions of the syllables varies slightly. [See the pronunciation guidelines on pages 14 to 23.]

      Running Words Together

      In written Chinese, characters representing the words of the language are not separated by spaces (as individual words are in English).

      However, the custom of not separating words with spaces is frequently carried over into pinyin (the Roman letter version of Chinese), so that what looks like one word may be two or three words, with Tiananmen, Beijing’s famous central square, being an outstanding example. This is actually three words, written in Chinese with three characters, Tiān Ān Mén (Tee-an Ahn Mern), which literally means “Heaven Peace Gate,” and is usually translated as “Gate of Heavenly Peace.”

      In some cases in this book, I have chosen to separate the pinyin spellings of some words to make it easier to identify and pronounce them.

      Pronouncing Chinese “in English”

      The English phonetics used in the following pronunciation guides are designed to approximate the correct Chinese pronunciation as closely as possible. In some cases, the Chinese syllables are pronounced exactly like—or almost exactly like—common English words, and I have chosen to use these English words in an effort to make recognizing and pronouncing syllables and words as simple as possible. The Chinese syllable bai, for example, sounds like “by,” and bao sounds like “bow” (as in “bowing down”). Gai sounds like “guy,” and so on.

      Pronunciation Guide No. 1

      [Pronounce the phonetic spellings as English. Note that the a (ah) vowel sound is repeated in all of the syllables in this group.]

A ah	AI aye	AN in/ahn	ANG ahng	AO ow (as in “ouch”)
BA bah	BAI by	BAN bahn	BANG bahng	BAO bow (as in “bow down”)
CA tsah	CAI tsigh	CAN tsahn	CANG tsahng	CAO tsow
CHA chah	CHAI chigh	CHAN chahn	CHANG chahng	CHAO chow
DA dah	DAI die	DAN dahn	DANG dahng	DAO dow
FA fah		FAN fahn	FANG fahng
GA gah	GAI guy	GAN gahn	GANG gahng	GAO gow
HA hah	HAI hi	HAN hahn	HANG hahng	HAO how
KA kah	KAI kigh	KAN kahn	KANG kahng	KAO kow (as in “cow”)
LA lah	LAI lie	LAN lahn	LANG lahng	LAO lao (as in “Laos”)
MA mah	MAI my	MAN mahn	MANG mahng	MAO mao
NA nah	NAI nigh	NAN nahn	NANG nahng	NAO now
PA pah	PAI pie	PAN pahn	PANG pahng	PAO pow
		RAN rahn	RANG rahng	RAO rao
SA sah	SAI sigh	SAN sahn	SANG sahng	SAO sao
SHA shah	SHAI shy	SHAN shahn	SHANG shahng	SHAO shou
TA tah	TAI tie	TAN tahn	TANG tahng	TAO tao
WA wah	WAI wigh	WAN wahn	WANG wahng
YA yah		YAN yahn	YANG yahng	YAO yee-ow
ZA zah	ZAI zigh	ZAN zahn	ZANG zahng	ZAO zow
ZHA jah	ZHAI jigh	ZHAN jahn	ZHANG jahng	ZHAO jow

      Pronunciation Guide No. 2

      [Note that the e (eh) vowel sound is repeated in all of the syllables.]

E uh

EI a*

EN ern**

ENG erng

ER ur

      *EI is pronounced like the “ei” in eight.

       **EN is pronounced as the “ern” in concern.

	BEI bay	BEN burn	BENG bung
CE tser		CEN tswun	CENG tserng
CHE cher		CHEN churn	CHENG churng
DE der			DENG derng
	FEI fa y	FEN fern	FENG ferng
GE guh	GEI gay	GEN gurn	GENG gurng
HE her	HEI hay	HEN hern	HENG herng
KE ker		KEN kern	KENG kerng
LE ler	LEI lay		LENG lerng
ME mer	MEI may	MEN mern	MENG merng
NE nuh	NEI nay	NEN nern	NENG nerng
	PEI pay	PEN pern	PENG perng
RE rr		REN wren	RENG wreng
SE ser		SEN sern	SENG serng
SHE sher	SHEI shay	SHEN shern	SHENG sherng
TE ter			TENG terng
	WEI way	WEN wern	WENG werng
YE yeh
ZE zuh	ZEI zay	ZEN zern	ZENG zerng
ZHE juh	ZHEI jay	ZHEN jern	ZHENG jehng

      Pronunciation Guide No. 3

      [These syllables are based on the i vowel sound, which is pronounced as ee.]

BI bee

BIAN bee-an*

BIAO bee-ow

BIE bee-eh

BIN bin

BING beeng

      *Phonetic terms divided by hyphens, like bian (bee-an) should be pronounced smoothly as one word.

CHI chee
CI tsu
DI dee	DIU dew/deo	DIAN dee-an	DIAO dee-ow	DIE dee-eh	DING deeng
JI jee	JIA jee-ah	JIAN jee-an	JIAO jee-ow	JIE jee-eh	JIN jeen
JING jeeng	JIU jew/jeo	JIANG jee-ahng
LI lee LING leeng	LIU lew/leo	LIAN lee-an LIANG lee-ahng	LIAO lee-ow	LIE lee-eh	LIN leen
MI me MING meeng	MIU mew	MIAN mee-an	MIAO mee-ow	MIE me-eh	MIN meen
NI nee NING neeng	NIU new	NIAN nee-an NIANG nee-ahng	NIAO nee-ow	NIE nee-eh	NIN neen
PI pee	PIAN pee-an	PIAO pee-ow	PIE pee-eh	PIN peen	PING peeng
QI chee QING cheeng	QIA chee-ah QIU chew	QIAN chee-in QIANG chee-ahng	QIAO chee-ow	QIE chee-eh	QIN cheen
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