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Compound Finals Ⅲ-1

To help you pronounce compound finals, here we explain the another two compound finals starting with i u.
9.6
NǏhǎo, George. NǏhǎo, Zhū lǎoshī We still have some finals remaining to learn in Chinese pinyin. So should we do them now? Yes. Do you still remember how to pronounce this final? Of course I do. ai. Excellent. ai. When you pronounce ai, your pronunciation should smoothly transition from a to i. Now, let’s learn some compound finals starting with i, u, ü. Now that sounds interesting. Let’s see some compound finals with i in the beginning. ia. ia. ie. ie. iao. iao. Excellent. Now, can you try these syllables? j-ia, jiā, home or family. j-ie, jiě, eldest sister. x-iao, xiǎo, small. jiā, jiě, xiǎo.
77.1
Do you have a jiějie? No, I don’t. But I do have a younger brother. That is dìdi. Ah. dìdi. So how can I say older brother and younger sister? That is gēge and mèimei.
95.9
OK. gēge, mèimei. gēge gēge Good. Next, ian. ian. iang. iang. in. in. ing. ing. iong. iong. Zhū lǎoshī, I’m a little bit confused. So I can’t really feel any difference between in and ing. Oh. in and ing, the difference is comparable to the difference between an and ang. So you open the back of your mouth when you pronounce ing. ing. You got it. So for example, xīn means heart, while xīng means star. xīn xīng. Very good. Now, can you try some more syllables? Sure.
156.7
q ian, qián, money. x iang, xiǎng, think. x iong, xióng, bear. b ing, bīng, ice.
172.6
qián, xiǎng, xióng, bīng.
179.9
Oh, right. bīng means ice, right? Yes. Ah, right, because I can only normally get hot water in restaurants for some reason, right? But I prefer cold water. So next time I go to a restaurant I’ll say, bīng. Smart. OK, we believe hot water is more healthy. OK. Let’s quickly review. ia ia ie ie iao iao ian ian iang iang in in ing ing iong iong
215.8
Here, we have some compound finals starting with u. ua uo uai uan uang ueng.
229.7
Some examples. h ua, huā, flowers. d uo, duō, many. k uai, kuài, fast. ch uan, chuán, boat.
248.9
ch-uan, chuán. chuán. h-uang, huáng, yellow.
257.2
h-uang, huáng. huáng. Good. huā, duō, kuài, chuán, huáng.
270.2
I often hear kuài kuài kuài! So that means like quickly, quickly. Yes. And we’ve learned hěnduō a lot. And you’re learning very fast hěnkuài. So can I have a rest now? Well, you’ve earned it.

After learning initals zh ch sh r ; z c s, let’s have a look at compound finals starting with i and u. Compound finals starting with i and u are “iɑ ie iɑo iɑn iɑng in ing iong uɑ uo uɑi uɑn uɑng ueng” .

As mentioned in the last video, when you pronounce ɑi, your pronunciation should smoothly transition from ɑ to i. We use the same method to pronounce these compound finals. Please practice by reading the following syllables.

  • iɑ, jiā — home or family
  • ie, jiě — elder sister
  • iɑo, xiǎo — small
To address brothers and sisters, we say jiějie, elder sister; gēge, elder brother; dìdi, younger brother; mèimei, younger sister.
  • iɑn, qián — money
  • iɑng, xiǎng — to think
  • in, xīn — heart
  • ing, “bīng” means “ice”. In China normally you get hot water in restaurants, if you prefer cold water, you say “bīng”.
  • iong, xióng — bear
The difference of in and ing is comparable to the difference between ɑn and ɑng. Open the back of your mouth when you pronounce ing.
  • uɑ, huā — flowers
  • uo, duō — many
  • uɑi, kuài — fast
  • uɑn, chuán — boat
  • uɑng, huáng — yellow
  • ueng, usually describe the sound of bee.

When you pronounce compound finals start with i and u, you first pronounce i and u lightly and quickly transition to the main vowel.

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Learn Chinese: Introduction to Chinese Pronunciation and Tone

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