What is the difference sound between zi and ze?

[reinard_wu]

I am currently learning the difference between zi and ze sound, and it is so hard for me to learn this.

 

1. Could somebody tell the difference between them ?

2. How to distinguish between zi and ze sound ?

3. Please hear this recording (https://soundcloud.com/reinard-wu/zi-or-ze) and tell me this sound zi2 or ze2 ?

 

zi or ze_lesson 5 part 3_.mp3

[Shelley]

I would say this ze.

 

Zi is a shorter vowel sound.

 

I may have got it wrong, but I suggest you get the audio of each and listen carefully to the two. It does become clearer with practice and time.

[lechuan]

Check out the YoYo Chinese Video Pinyin Chart.

On the left hand side, click on i as filler* and e* for video explanations of how to make each sound.

As for the recording, It sounds to me like it starts as zi and then morphs into ze. Where is that recording from?

[reinard_wu]

 

Check out the YoYo Chinese Video Pinyin Chart.

On the left hand side, click on i as filler* and e* for video explanations of how to make each sound.

As for the recording, It sounds to me like it starts as zi and then morphs into ze. Where is that recording from? 

 

from this book :

 

[Demonic_Duck]

Zi is a shorter vowel sound.

It's nothing to do with the length of the vowel. If anything, [zi] doesn't have a vowel at all, only a syllabic consonant (though that's no shorter in duration than the equivalent vowel it replaces).

I agree that the recording is [ze], but I think it's one of those cases (someone mentioned in that recent thread about -n vs. -ng finals) where the over-enunciation of the sample recording actually makes it less easy to identify. The speaker emphasizes the [z], causing it to become drawn out, making it sound like [zi].

[Wurstmann]

I don't agree. It's clearly a slowly spoken ze. zi would sound completely different as you can hear on the website lechuan postet.

[Apollys]

Definitely ze!

 

The difference I feel when I pronounce ze versus zi is that in ze the initial sound comes from the front of my mouth (the teeth) and then the sound movies towards the back of my mouth.  In zi, the sound after the initial consonant still feels like it's coming from very near the front of my mouth (not quite at the teeth like the 'z' but almost).