LyYenKhang Posted February 15, 2011 at 06:36 PM Report Share Posted February 15, 2011 at 06:36 PM Is it just me or is there a difference in the pronunciation of the Pinyin “i” in 思 (si1) and 李 (li3) and if so, then how do you know which pronunciation to use when reading the Pinyin “i”? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members liubian Posted February 16, 2011 at 09:18 AM New Members Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 at 09:18 AM There certainly is a difference. In si, zi, ci, ri, shi, zhi, and chi, the 'i' just represents a buzzed continuation of the initial consonant. In all other cases 'i' is pronounced like 'ee' in bee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted February 16, 2011 at 01:19 PM Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 at 01:19 PM Besides "si", do you think that the "i" in "zi" and "ci" also differs from the "i" in "li" in the same way? PS - you might wish to take a look at the footnotes of this webpage -> http://pinyin.info/r...als_finals.html † The i in zi, ci, si is different from most other uses of i in that it is short, not long. It is represented in IPA by ɿ . ‡ The i in zhi, chi, shi, ri is different from most other uses of i in that it is short, not long. It is represented in IPA by ʅ . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbradfor Posted February 16, 2011 at 01:36 PM Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 at 01:36 PM how do you know which pronunciation to use when reading the Pinyin “i”? It is based on what the initial is. You just need to learn each sound. The 'u' changes as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LyYenKhang Posted February 18, 2011 at 06:24 AM Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 at 06:24 AM Oh thank you for the answers. I picked up book of basic Chinese vocabulary today and that cleared up my issues. I don't have trouble pronouncing the "i" in si1, etc because that sound is in Vietnamese as well, I just need to memorize which words take that "i" and which words take the "ee". Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneEye Posted February 19, 2011 at 01:03 AM Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 at 01:03 AM It's a matter of where the initial consonant is articulated. The retroflex syllables chi, zhi, and ri all have the same retroflex sound that is simply a continuation of the initial. The dental syllables ci, zi, and si all have the same dental sound that is simply a continuation of the initial. All other syllables ending in 'i' are pronounced like the 'ee' in 'bee'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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