1. Mandarin Chinese: an Overview
Meichun Liu
Beginning Chinese

2. Mandarin: an easier language
minimal unit of meaning: a character
Character: a mono-syllable word with tone
wǒ ài nǐ
我 　 愛　 你
I 　love 　you

3. What is equivalent to an English word?
A WORD is made of 1, 2, 3 or 4 characters
rén 人 ‘person’
nán-rén 男人 ‘male-person’ → man
nǔ-rén 女人 ‘female-person’ → woman
dà-rén 大人 ‘big-person’ → adult
zhōng-guó-rén 中國人 ‘China-person’→ Chinese
mò-xī-gē-rén 墨西哥人 ‘Mexico-person’ →Mexican

4. tā 他 ‘he’ tá X tǎ 塔 ‘tower’ tà 踏 ‘step on’ Syllable with Tones
Tones are meaning-differentiating:
Not every syllable has four tones:
tā 　他　　‘he’
tá　X
tǎ　塔 ‘tower’
tà　踏 ‘step on’

5. Four tones in English English has tones? YES! T- raod ti Till ti
Thirty ti
Teeth ti

6. Four Tones
yeah -high ‘ah’ mā ‘mom’ yes? -question má ‘hemp’ yes -grudgingly mǎ ‘horse’ Yes! -vehement mà ‘scold’ mā mà mǎ = ? mǎ mà mā = ?

7. Tone Contour

8. Syllable Basic syllable structure: C M V N V : a 啊 ‘wow!’
l i a n liǎn 脸 ‘face’
V : a 啊 ‘wow!’
CV: la 拉 ‘pull’
CMV : lia 俩 ‘two’
CMVN: lian 脸 ‘face’

9. Sounds - Consonants Initial consonants: bo, po, mo, fo lips
de, te, ne, le top front teeth
ge, ke, he throat
ji, qi, xi palatal
Back of the tongue arches upward
zi, ci, si dental sibilant
zhi, chi, shi, ri retroflex
Tongue curled back

10. Sounds - Vowels V : a, e, i, o, u, ǖ VV: ei, ai, ao, ou
VN: an, en, ang, eng, ong
Medials: i/y, u/w, ǖ
Medial + Vowel
ia, iao, ie, iu, ian, iang, in, ing, iong (l-/ch-)
ua, uo, uai, ui, uan, uang, un, ong (l-/sh-)
ǖe, ǖan, ǖn (q-/j-)
Vr: er

11. Similar English Sounds
ji = qi = xi = zi = ci = si = zhi = chi = shi = ri =
jeep
cheap
sheep
adds
bits
s –tongue pressed more forward
adjure
chirp
shirt
measure

12. Writing 狗 gǒu ‘dog’ 苟 gǒu ‘if (archaic)’ English: Alphabetic
Meaning  Unique Sound
dog vs. cat
Mandarin: Ideagraphic
Meaning  Unique Form
狗 gǒu ‘dog’
苟 gǒu ‘if (archaic)’

13. Pictographic
人 rén ‘person’
大 dà ‘big’
木 mù ‘tree’
水 shuǐ ‘water’

14. Basic constructs Basic Word Order: S V O Serial Vs: V1 V2 V3…
wǒ ài nǐ
I love you
Serial Vs: V1 V2 V3…
wǒ yào xué zhōngwén
I want learn Chinese

15. How to make a question? Add Q-word: No auxiliary, No order change
- nǐ ài wǒ ma?
you love me Q
- nǐ ài shéi
you love who?
- nǐ xǐhuān shénmo?
you like what?

16. How to negate? Add Negation marker: bú vs. méi State: NOT True
wǒ bú ài nǐ
I NOT-true love you
Event: NOT happen
wǒ méi ài nǐ
I NOT-happen love you

17. Case and person distinctions
NO case: nominative = accusative
wǒ ài nǐ I love you
nǐ ài wǒ you love I
NO inflections: no –s on the 3rd person singular
wǒ ài tā ài tāmen ài
I love he love they love

18. Number: Singular vs. plural Noun
No number marking on nouns:
yī běn shū
ONE Classifier book ‘a book’
liǎng běn shū
TWO Classifier book ‘two book’
Nouns are classified into ‘classes’ according to semantic type and shape

19. How to distinguish tense?
NO Tense marking on the verb:
wǒ qù I go
wǒ zuótiān qù I yesterday go
wǒ míngtiān qù I tomorrow go
Past: marked by time or completive aspect le
wǒ qù le I go-completed
Future: marked by verb of wanting yào
wǒ yào qù I want go

20. 1 - 100 11 shí-yī 12 shí-èr 13 shí-sān 20 èr-shí 21 èr-shí-yī
5 wǔ
6 liù
7 qī
8 bā
9 jiǔ
10 shí
11 shí-yī
12 shí-èr
13 shí-sān
20 èr-shí
21 èr-shí-yī
30 sān-shí
45 sì-shí-wǔ
67 liù-shí-qī
89 bā-shí-jiǔ
100 yī-bǎi