Pronunciation of Chinese names

English translation: websites

19:10 Mar 1, 2003

Chinese to English translations [PRO]
/ Pronunciation

Chinese term or phrase: Pronunciation of Chinese names

I need to know how to pronounce the Chinese names Zhang and Xie, particularly the sounds of "ZH" and "X". What are the closest approximations that can be found in the consonants used in English? Thank you very much.

Fuad Yahya

English translation:websites

Explanation:
zh is close to English j as in "Joe"
x is close to English sh as in "sheet"

Mandarin Pronunciation:
http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/chin/pinyin1.html

Mandarin Chinese Phonetic Symbols- Initials
http://www.wellgot.ca/phonetic/initials.htm

Mandarin Chinese Phonetic Symbols- Finals
http://www.wellgot.ca/phonetic/finals.htm

Selected response from:

cting

Grading comment

Thanks to all for helping me with the pronunciation. The approximation suggested here was most helpful.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +1

You got something very tough to start with.

Kevin Yang

4 +2

websites

cting

Check the following webpages

Sylvain & Deyanira PROUT

Answers

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

You got something very tough to start with.

Explanation:
Fuad,

You got two tough ones to start with. Let me try to help you and see if you can do the trick. Note well: I cannot hear you saying them so I cannot tell if you got it correctly or not.

"Zh, Ch, Sh" are three tongue-curling sounds in Mandarin Chinese. To pronounce "Zh", you need to curl up your tongue and let the tip of your tongue touching the roof of your mouth and hold there. At this time, protrude and square up your lips, and let the upper and bottom tooth close together. Be sure NOT to clutch the tooth too tight, because you need to let a small amount of air to release between your tooth. If you hold your palm in front of your mouth about an inch, you should be able to feel the air coming out when you pronounce this sound. Now try to say 揨h

Kevin Yang
Local time: 20:27
Native speaker of:

Chinese
PRO pts in pair: 343

6 hrs confidence:

Check the following webpages

Explanation:
Salaam!

You can take a look to the following page http://www.swl.net/radiochina/chinese/fun-3.html. or look for other ones with the key words "learn chinese wav". "wav" is the sound format WinAmp.

Enjoy it!

Zai jian!

The Birdies (Xiao Niao)

Sylvain & Deyanira PROUT
Local time: 05:27
Native speaker of:

Spanish,

French

6 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

websites

cting
PRO pts in pair: 31

Grading comment

Thanks to all for helping me with the pronunciation. The approximation suggested here was most helpful.

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