Mandarin Chinese/Pinyin/U

This lesson you will learn:
 * The letters U and Ü
 * Compound and Nasal finals containing the letter U
 * Tones
 * NG

The Letter U
"U" is pronounced "oo".

Compound and Nasal Finals Containing U

 * ou- oh
 * iou- yo
 * uo- woah
 * uei- way
 * ua- water
 * uai- why
 * uan- wahn
 * uen- wuhn

Like with "i", "u" become "w" initially.

Tones
As many know, Chinese is a tonal language. This means that the way you pronounce a word can change its meaning. For example:


 * The flat line means your voice is Higher and Level: āēīōūǖ
 * The falling line means your voice drops, like you are angry: àèìòùǜ
 * The line going down and up means your voice drops and rises again: ǎěǐǒǔǚ
 * The rising line means your voice goes up, like you are asking a question: áéíóúǘ
 * No line means you voice is Lower and Level: aeiouü

Ü is the ONE vowel sound in Chinese but not English. If you know German, yes, it is the same sound, and to those who know French it is a "U". But for the rest of us...

The Letter Ü
Pronounce this vowel "ee" but with your lips rounded like you were pronouncing "oo"

Rules About, and Compounds With Ü

 * üe- +eh
 * ün- +n
 * üan- +ahn

Like i become y and u becomes w, ü becomes yu. The finals after this rule

NG
NG acts just like N in a nasal final. And here they are: ang, iang, uang, eng, ing, yong, ong