Lesson 6 Compound Vowels : ɑi, ei, ɑo, ou, iɑ, ie, uɑ, uo, üe
In the subsequent lessons, we just use “compound” for short.
ɑi
Falling compound. “Falling” means that the first sound of the compound is pronounced louder with longer duration than the second sound. In producing “ɑi”, the “ɑ” sound in “ɑi” is similar to the simple vowel “ɑ”, except that the mouth is opened slightly smaller than the simple vowel “ɑ”. As soon as the “ɑ” sound is made, close the mouth gradually to the position of producing another simple vowel “i”, and pronounce the “i” very shourly and lightly. Similar to the sound of English letter I. However, English I has a wider opening of the mouth and longer ending sound. For Chinese “ɑi”, the “ɑ” is louder and longer while the “i” is very light and short.
ei
Falling compound. When producing the first part of “ei”, the openness of the mouth is about half of that for producing the simple vowel “ɑ”, then gradually switch to the position of producing another simple vowel “i”, and pronounce it shortly and lightly. Similar to the English letter A. The slight difference between them is that when producing A, the duration and loudness of the first and second sounds are almost equal, but for Chinese “ei”, the first sound “e” is longer and louder.
ɑo
Falling compound. First, pronounce the simple vowel “ɑ” and gradually switch to the sound “u”. The “ɑ” should be produced louder and longer while “u” is lighter and shorter. This compound “ɑo” requires a smaller opening of the mouth than “ou” in doubt, and also Chinese “ɑo” longer and louder than the second sound. While producing “ou” in doubt, the duration and loudness for “o” and “u” are equal.
ou
Falling compound. It is produced by opening the mouth to a point which is smaller than the simple vowel “ɑ” but wider than the simple vowel “o”, then gradually switch to the position of producing the simple vowel “u”. The first sound “o” should be produced louder and longer than the following sound “u”. Similar to oh in english. However, when producing Chinese “ou” the tongue position is slightly moreforwardthan that of the English oh. In addition, in Chinese “ou”, the first sound “o” is louder and longer than the second sound “u”, but there is no such noticeable difference in producing the English oh.
iɑ
Rising compound. Here, “rising” means the second sound of the compound is always pronounced louder and the duration of the sound is also longer than that of the first sound of the compound. When producing “iɑ”, first pronounce the simple vowel “i” and then gradually switchto pronouncing another simple vowel “ɑ”. Since this is a rising compound, we must produce “i” with shorter and lighter than that of “ɑ”.
ie
Rising compound. First, pronounce the simple vowel “i”; then, open the mouth half way to the position when pronounce “ɑ”. Similar to the English “ye” in yell. The only difference is that in pronouncing the Chinese “ie”, “i” is shorter and lighter while “e” is longer and louder. There is no such difference in producing “ye” as in yell.
uɑ
Rising compound. The sound can be firstly produced by pronouncing the simple vowel “u” then followed by another simple vowel “ɑ”. The “ɑ” sound is louder and longer than the “u” sound.
uo
Rising compound. First, pronounce the simple vowel “u”, then, smoothly shift to pronounce another simple vowel “o”. Remember to pronounce “o” louder and longer than “u”.
üe
Rising compound. First, produce the Chinese simple vowel “ü”, then stretch the lips toward the sides slightly and open your mouth half wide as for “ɑ”, lower the tip of the tongue and let it touch the area which is slightly below the gum of the lower teeth.
Tongue Twister
Lanlan and Nannan
兰(lán)兰(lán)和(hé)南(nán)南(nán)
Lanlan is a girl,
兰(lán)兰(lán)是(shì)女(nǚ)孩(hái)儿(ér)，
And Nannan is a boy,
南(nán)南(nán)是(shì)男(nán)孩(hái)儿(ér)。
Lanlan’s family plants orchid,
兰(lán)兰(lán)家(jie)种(zhòng)兰(lán)花(huā)，
And Nannan’ family grows pumpkin.
南(nán)南(nán)家(jie)种(zhòng)南(nán)瓜(guā)。
Orchid blooms with white flowers,
兰(lán)花(huā)开(kāi)白(bái)花(huā)，
And pumpkin blooms with yellow flowers,
南(nán)瓜(guā)开(kāi)黄(huáng)花(huā)。
Lanlan loves the pumpkin blossom at Nannan’s home,
兰(lán)兰(lán)爱(ài)南(nán)南(nán)家(jie)的(de)南(nán)瓜(guā)花(huā)，
And Nannan loves the orchid blossom at Lanlan’s home.
南(nán)南(nán)爱(ài)兰(lán)兰(lán)家(jie)的(de)白(bái)兰(lán)花(huā)。
