One of the most unfortunate aspects of the Pinyin system of Chinese romanization is its inherent lack of clues to the differences between the English pronunciation and the way it's been romanized into Chinese.  There is a great lack of pronunciation guides beyond the obvious, "Zh, Ch, Sh, R, Z, C, S".

The same can be said of most systems of romanizing Chinese, so in my mind, the only way to get a clear picture of what we Westerners need to focus on to perfect our pronunciation is to look at all the look at all the systems together and take the best points from each. 

In this lesson, pay special attention to the Wade-Giles system of romanizing Chinese.  While it has been replaced by the more straightforward Pinyin, I believe in many ways it is superior to Pinyin, and a linguistic masterpiece!  Once your initiated into the system, you'll see that it won't fail you as Pinyin has failed on several key points.

One of those points is aspiration, denoted in Wade-Giles by an Apostrophe '. 

What is aspiration?

Aspiration is simply put, a strong puff of air.

Look over the Wade-Giles Pinyin Chart and see the sound marked with an Apostrophe '. 

The Apostrophe is a marker to let us know which sounds are aspirated.  Don't worry that the Wade-Giles system of romanization is different from Pinyin, you can see the corresponding Pinyin in the chart as well. 

While many of us who are more advanced in Chinese know some of the aspirated sounds, namely the "H" as in "hao", (only because these are so prominently aspirated that it becomes obvious to our western ears), however the majority of Chinese learners from the west have no concept of aspiration in their language.  This is primarilly due to the fact that aspiration does not exist in the English langage.

I cannot stress enough how important these aspirated sounds are to sounding authentic in Chinese.

In this lesson we are going to focus on the aspirated sounds, the ones that even the likes of the great Mark Rowswell, aka "大山" say incorrectly, perhaps  due to a failure on the part of the Hanyu Pinyin system.

The aspirated sounds in Chinese, denoted in Hanyu Pinyin as: K, T, P, Q, H, C and Ch.

First, take a closer look at the Wade-Giles Pinyin Chart. 

The fist thing you will notice are a group of sounds that are marked with an apostrophe, these are the Hanyu Pinyin, K, T, P, Q, C and Ch.

One thing that will prove to be a great help would be to download the Chinesepod Pinyin Chart with real voice samples.

After listening to the sounds marked in Pinyin as K, T, P, H, Q, C and Ch, you need to be aware that, with all these aspirated sounds, the aspiration occurs from basically the same place,

From the back of the throat.

Keep this in mind as we continue on our journey in the series on aspiration.  Once you understand the basics of aspiration and can hear the difference between an aspirated and unaspirated sound, you are ready to begin. 

                              The Chinese "Q" Sound

The second in our series about aspiration is one of the most difficult for foreigners to make sound authentic:

• Q

This is because it combines three sounds together that are not native to English.

1. Flat Tongue Sound (舍面音, 平舍)
2. Aspiration
3. Voiceless Sounds

Later we'll get into greater detail about the "Flat Tongue Sound" in Chinese called the 舍面音, but this article will give a short description of how to pronounce this sound.

The 舍面音, Flat Tongue Sound

This sound will require discipline from native English speakers, as English has nothing like it in the phonetic system.

Mastering this sound, (as with many sounds in Mandarin Chinese) is entirely dependent on tongue positioning.

I affectionately refer to this sound as a "reverse Chi"

Take the tip of your tongue and press it against the back of your bottom teeth.  Notice the middle of your tongue (the tongue blade) curving upwards. 

Rest the center of your tongue (the tongue blade) against the bony ridge behind your front teeth (the alveolar ridge).  Be careful not to let the tip of your tongue move while you produce this sound.

Aspiration

As is often described online as a "thin sound" comes, in part from the aspirated quality of this sound.  Remember, aspiration is, simply put just giving the sound an extra puff of air.  Let the air come from your diaphragm, much like in singing, and if you do it right, the sound should sound especially hissy as the air slides down the top of your tongue.

Unvoiced Sound

The other contributing factor to the "thin sound" of the Mandarin Chinese Q comes from the sound being unvoiced.  An unvoiced sound is one that you can't sing.  Voiceless sounds are those that are not produced by the vocal chords.

Execution

While you produce this sound, put your hand over your Larynx.  Did you notice that it doesn't vibrate?

Now, contrast that with the Americanized "Ch" sound. 

Keep your hand over your Larynx while you say the word "Cheese". Now, just say the first part "Chee", did you notice the difference?

With the correct "Qi" sound you should feel very minimal vibration of your Larynx, while with the Americanized "Chee" sound you will clearly feel the vibration.

Practice your "Q" with all the following sounds

• Qi
• Qia
• Qie
• Qiao
• Qiu
• Qian
• Qin
• Qiang
• Qing  
• Que
• Quan
• Qiong

Once you are comfortable with the Chinese Q, you are ready to move on.

The Chinese "C" Sound

The next in our series about aspiration is one that is deceptively easy to non-native speakers, yet the vast majority of foreigners say wrong:

• C 

This sound combines three sounds together the following factors.

1. Aspiration
2. Voiceless Sounds
3. Fricative Consonants

Great command of fricatives isn't as necessary to master as is aspiration, but it is something one needs to bear in mind.

The 舌尖前音, Tongue Tip Frontal Sound

As I mentioned earlier in the article, most foreigners believe they say this correctly because of the "C" sound's similarity to the English "TS".  In fact, my hero Sir Thomas Francis Wade in his famous "Wade Giles" Chinese Romanization System also denoted this as "TS", which is deceptive because in our English "TS" sound, the tongue tip is in a different position, our "TS" is produced by placing the tongue tip against the Alveolar Ridge.

Mastering this sound, (as with many sounds in Mandarin Chinese) is also dependent on learning new tongue positioning.

Take the tip of your tongue and press it against the back of your front teeth.  Make certain your tongue is flat. 

The tip of your tongue should be placed in the same spot as when English speakers start to say, "Th" but before the tongue flecks in between the teeth.

Aspiration

I'd wager almost no non-native Chinese speaker aspirates this sound, the aspirated quality is vital to sounding natural.  Remember, aspiration is, simply put just giving the sound an extra puff of air.  Let the air come from your diaphragm, much like in singing, and if you do it right, the sound should sound especially hissy as the air slides past your tongue and out your mouth.

Unvoiced Sound

The Mandarin Chinese C is another unvoiced sound.  An unvoiced sound, is one that you can't sing.  Voiceless sounds are those that are not produced by the vocal chords.

Execution

Now, while holding your tongue in position against the back of your front teeth, where the front and lower teeth meet, say the word "Ci" (ironically the Chinese word for "word"), the tip of your tongue should slide a bit upward against the back of your two front teeth, remember to aspirate the sound.

The aspirate is easier to say if you imagine there is an "H" between the "C" and the rest of the letters. 

To practice the aspirate, try saying the Chinese word 菜 "cài" this way, "C-high", then faster and faster without separation between the "C" and the "high".

This will help you get used to the aspirate being there.

Now, contrast this sound with our English, "TS" by saying the "The boats floats in the moats". 

Now, again say, "The boats floats in the moats", but this time substitute our native "ts" for the Chinese "C" complete with the aspirate.

Did you hear the difference?

If you did it correctly, there should be a striking contrast between the two.

Practice your "C" with all the following sounds

• Ci
• Ca
• Ce
• Cai
• Cao
• Cou
• Can
• Cen
• Cang
• Ceng
• Cu
• Cuo
• Cui
• Cuan
• Cun
• Cong

Remember, repetition is key to a natural Chinese accent, don't be afraid to repeat each sound 20 - 30 times.  Once you are comfortable with the Chinese C, you are ready to move on.