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Mandarin Chi vs Qi vs Ji | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| MixedUpCody Senior Member United States Joined 5261 days ago 144 posts - 280 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 1 of 22 27 February 2012 at 2:03am | IP Logged | ||
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I was trying to find an explanation of the difference between ji, chi, and qi in pinyin. They sound the same to my anglophone ears. Does anyone have any resources dealing with this. Thanks. =)
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| nway Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Vic Joined 5420 days ago 574 posts - 1707 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 2 of 22 27 February 2012 at 2:14am | IP Logged | ||
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"Ji" is not aspirated. "Chi" and "qi" are.
"Ji" is comparable to "jeep". "Chi" is a slightly deeper consonant sound than "qi", but their vowels are as different as "church" (without the last two letters, and avoiding an American strong "r"), and "cheap" (without the last letter) respectively. In short, "ji" and "qi" share identical vowels, while "chi" and "qi" share nearly identical consonants. 10 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| MixedUpCody Senior Member United States Joined 5261 days ago 144 posts - 280 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 3 of 22 27 February 2012 at 2:49am | IP Logged | ||
Thank you! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5386 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 4 of 22 27 February 2012 at 3:48am | IP Logged | ||
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There are 2 pairs of voiced/voiceless consonants.
q and j are pronounced exactly the same way, except for voicing, the first being voiceless. They only occur before i and ü. x is the fricative equivalent. ch and zh are pronounced exactly the same way, except for voicing, the first being voiceless. These two are also retroflex, which means that unlike the first two, they are pronounced with the tongue curled backwards. sh/r are the fricative equivalents. By default, the voiceless affricates are also aspirated. Edited by Arekkusu on 27 February 2012 at 3:50am 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tibbles Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5196 days ago 245 posts - 422 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Korean | Message 5 of 22 27 February 2012 at 7:03am | IP Logged | ||
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Keep in mind that the "i" in "chi" has nothing in relation to the "i" in "ji" or "qi". This is one of the failings of pinyin: vowels can take different sounds, depending on the consonants that surround them. Though the same could be said of English or even Portuguese, I guess.
Anyways, just pronounce the "q" and "ch" like in the word cheese, and you will be understood everywhere. Similarly for "j" and "zh" -> "john". And finally "x" and "sh" -> "sheep". Edited by tibbles on 27 February 2012 at 7:05am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| OneEye Diglot Senior Member Japan Joined 6855 days ago 518 posts - 784 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, Taiwanese, German, French | Message 6 of 22 27 February 2012 at 10:27am | IP Logged | ||
Sorry, but this is incorrect. The difference between ch/zh, q/j, etc. is that the first is aspirated, while the second is not. Neither is voiced. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| stelingo Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5837 days ago 722 posts - 1076 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin | Message 7 of 22 27 February 2012 at 6:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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This site has the best explanation I've read on how to pronounce those tricky Chinese consonants.
Sinosplice Edited by stelingo on 27 February 2012 at 6:37pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| MixedUpCody Senior Member United States Joined 5261 days ago 144 posts - 280 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 8 of 22 27 February 2012 at 7:10pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you everyone for your help. You guys are awesome.
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