a
No initial
Tones
The 4 tones (+ neutral)
Mandarin uses pitch contour to distinguish words. The classic example: ma can mean five different things depending on the tone.
1 mā
High level
contour: 55
Stay flat and high — like the second note when a doctor says "aaaah".
妈 mā — mother
2 má
Rising
contour: 35
Rise from middle to high — like the English question "huh?".
麻 má — hemp, numb
3 mǎ
Dipping
contour: 214
Dip low then rise. In real speech, often just stays low ("half-third").
马 mǎ — horse
4 mà
Falling
contour: 51
Drop sharply from high to low — like an angry "NO!".
骂 mà — to scold
· ma
Neutral
contour: —
Light, short, unstressed. Carries no tone of its own — pitch comes from the previous syllable.
吗 ma — question particle
Pronunciation starter
Start with the core syllables
Courses normally begin with a smaller sound map. Learn these first, then open the full reference when you need it.
36
starter syllables
144
starter sounds
ai
No initial
an
No initial
ang
No initial
ao
No initial
e
No initial
ei
No initial
en
No initial
eng
No initial
er
No initial
o
No initial
ou
No initial
ba
b
pa
p
ma
m
fa
f
da
d
ta
t
na
n
la
l
ge
g
ke
k
he
h
ji
j
qi
q
xi
x
zhi
zh
chi
ch
shi
sh
ri
r
zi
z
ci
c
si
s
yi
y
yu
y
wu
w
Advanced full syllable reference 411 base syllables · 1644 tone sounds
Full atlas filters 411 shown
Open the reference to load 411 syllables on demand.
Tone changes (sandhi)
A few rules apply automatically when tones meet — natives don't even notice them, but you should:
- 3+3 When two 3rd tones meet, the first becomes 2nd. 你好 is written nǐ hǎo, but said ní hǎo.
- 不 不 (bù) → bú before a 4th tone. E.g. 不是 = bú shì.
- 一 一 is yī alone, yì before tones 1/2/3, and yí before tone 4.