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Languages and Linguistics

HariSeldon

(510 posts)

4. "sh" and "x" are pinyin for different consonants

Reply to raccoon (Original post)

Tue Oct 31, 2023, 07:44 AM

Oct 2023

I'm learning Mandarin, and these two consonants are different. Moreover, they affect the vowel in their syllable differently: "shi" is more like the English word "ship" and "she" is more like the English word "shed", where "xi" is, I suppose, closest to the English word "she".

However, the pinyin "x" is pronounced with the tongue placed behind the lower front teeth, a consonant English does not have. The Mandarin "sh" also puts the tongue further back on the palette than does English's.

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Highlight:

Why isn't "Xi Jinping" spelled phonetically, as "She Jinping"? [View all] raccoon Oct 2023 OP

Is it actually pronounced 'she'? Voltaire2 Oct 2023 #1

That's how I've heard it. raccoon Oct 2023 #2

I think it is more like 'hsi' Voltaire2 Oct 2023 #3

Think of it as "sharp" versus "flat", Igel Nov 2023 #6

"sh" and "x" are pinyin for different consonants HariSeldon Oct 2023 #4

Originally, the Roman spelling of Chinese was not instituted by English speakers. eppur_se_muova Oct 2023 #5

And yet it's the official transliteration endorsed by the PRC's academy of whatever. Igel Nov 2023 #7