Chinese Pronunciation Basics II (Vowels)

Following up on my earlier post on the basics of Chinese consonant pronunciation, this time I want to tackle vowels.  While the consonants like "x", "c", and "q" are the most botched by non-Chinese speakers, combination vowels can be tricky as well.  

{Yuan floating in a wishing well, a temple in Inner Mongolia}

• Ai - This is often incorrectly pronounce "ay", when in fact the combination of "a" and "i" takes on a hard "i" sound.  So, "Hai" is pronounced like the English greeting "hi." 
• Ao (or au) - Ao (or au, in Cantonese) is a common vowel sound in Chinese, present in words like "Lao" (old) or "Bao" (bun). Non-Chinese speakers are tempted to read phonetically, like a-o. Instead, the vowel sound is just like "Ow!" Everyone knows how to pronounce the "Mao" of Chairman Mao, right? Same sound here.
• Ia - A bit more intuitive, "ia" is pronounced "ya" with a soft "a."  "Jia", or home, sounds like "Jya."  "Xiansheng", or sir, a common greeting or title for a man, is "shyansheng" phonetically. 
• Iao - The addition of an "o" after the "ia" changes the vowel sound.  Rather than "ya", the sound is "eeyow" - the i starts the sound, but with an "ee", and then the "ao" takes over.  This one is tricky, but try it out with "Xiao", or small - "Sheeyow."
• Ui - The common phonetic approach for "ui" is something like "ewy" - that's not right at all.  "Ui" is generally closer to "ey."  For example, "hui", to return, sounds just like the English word "whey." 
• Ua - Lastly, "ua" so frequently throws off non-Chinese speakers, just with the simple "yuan", Chinese money.  Rather than sounding like "awn", it is a more of a two part sound.  Think "yoo-en", not "yawn." But, if "ua" appears in a word with "ng" at the end, like "chuang", or bed, the vowel sound is similar to "wong", like "chwong."

Chinese has the additional complication of being a tonal language, and the sounds are changed slightly with the tones. But for a non-Chinese speaker, it is more than sufficient to get the pronunciation alone, or even in the ballpark. As I said in my first pronunciation post, the minimal effort it takes to learn these few pronunciation rules is well spent to engender the respect from your Chinese clients and friends. 

Other pronunciation questions? Leave them in the comments, write me through the contact page or at chinafulblog@gmail.com. I'd love to help you out!