Need help with Chinese non-words

[Xiao Kui]

Quote

think combining existing syllables in a non-existent way would be risky, because ultimately the non-words should not elicit any kind of meaning in the listeners,

I feel like if the syllables don't already exist, then your end-product is nothing like Chinese, or at least not standard Mandarin, because its pronunciation is limited to the syllables that exist. I guess you could still change the tones,  but there are lots of Chinese dialects that already do that - Henanese, Sichuanese, etc.  If you created a non existing syllable like pia or suang, I would feel like that no longer sounds like Mandarin...

[lips]

Maybe something like:

 

Get a list of putonghua initials and finals.  Combine them and assign a random tone (1-4).  Run the resulting pinyin's through a good dictionary that accepts pinyin input or a good Chinese IME.  Throw away the sounds (syllables) that already exist as valid Chinese characters.  Then pick random two- or three- syllables combinations.  Optionally change the tone of the last syllable of some such "words" to the 5th tone.

[Luxi]

This type of Mandarin non-word in an article by Sinosplice doesn't answer the OP's question, I'm just adding it for completeness as it is a type we haven't yet considered.

It uses the correct sound of known characters with their correct tone and is based on local dialects/accent pronunciations. It won't baffle any Internet-savvy native Chinese speaker, but it seems rather fun.

[bURL]

If you want something looks like Chinese Character but not existing in Chinese

try searching Old Vietnamese's Chinese-loan writing system, fun :-)

 

Chữ Nôm ( 字喃 )