Pronunciation of Pinyin "i"

[LyYenKhang]

Is it just me or is there a difference in the pronunciation of the Pinyin “i” in 思 (si1) and 李 (li3) and if so, then how do you know which pronunciation to use when reading the Pinyin “i”?

[liubian]

There certainly is a difference. In si, zi, ci, ri, shi, zhi, and chi, the 'i' just represents a buzzed continuation of the initial consonant. In all other cases 'i' is pronounced like 'ee' in bee.

[skylee]

Besides "si", do you think that the "i" in "zi" and "ci" also differs from the "i" in "li" in the same way?

PS - you might wish to take a look at the footnotes of this webpage -> http://pinyin.info/r...als_finals.html

† The i in zi, ci, si is different from most other uses of i in that it is short, not long. It is represented in IPA by ɿ .

‡ The i in zhi, chi, shi, ri is different from most other uses of i in that it is short, not long. It is represented in IPA by ʅ .

[jbradfor]

how do you know which pronunciation to use when reading the Pinyin “i”?

It is based on what the initial is. You just need to learn each sound.

The 'u' changes as well.

[LyYenKhang]

Oh thank you for the answers. I picked up book of basic Chinese vocabulary today and that cleared up my issues. I don't have trouble pronouncing the "i" in si1, etc because that sound is in Vietnamese as well, I just need to memorize which words take that "i" and which words take the "ee". Thank you.

[OneEye]

It's a matter of where the initial consonant is articulated.

The retroflex syllables chi, zhi, and ri all have the same retroflex sound that is simply a continuation of the initial.

The dental syllables ci, zi, and si all have the same dental sound that is simply a continuation of the initial.

All other syllables ending in 'i' are pronounced like the 'ee' in 'bee'.