Chinese phonology
Chinese phonology studies the sounds and sound patterns of Chinese varieties, including their syllables, tones, and sound changes.
Syllable: A syllable is a unit of speech organized around a vowel or other sonorous center. Chinese syllables organize the combinations of initials, finals, and tones analyzed in phonology.
Tone sandhi: Tone sandhi is a regular change in a tone triggered by its linguistic environment. Tone sandhi explains why a Chinese syllable’s spoken tone can differ from its citation tone.
Standard Chinese phonology: Standard Chinese phonology describes the sound system of the standardized variety based primarily on Beijing speech. It provides the best-known reference system for initials, finals, and lexical tones.
Mandarin Chinese: Mandarin Chinese is a major group of Sinitic languages, including Standard Chinese. Its phonology is often mistaken for the sound system of all Chinese varieties.
Phoneme: A phoneme is a sound category that distinguishes words in a language. Phoneme analysis identifies which sound differences distinguish words in each Chinese variety.
Erhua: Erhua is a Chinese sound process in which an r-like element combines with a preceding syllable. Erhua alters syllable finals and can distinguish forms in varieties such as Beijing Mandarin.
Cantonese phonology: Cantonese phonology describes the consonants, vowels, syllables, and tones of Cantonese. Cantonese preserves a richer set of tone categories and syllable-final stops than Standard Mandarin.
Sinitic languages: Sinitic languages are a branch of Sino-Tibetan that includes Mandarin, Yue, Wu, Min, Hakka, and others. The family includes the distinct sound systems studied under Chinese phonology.
Tone (linguistics): Tone is the use of pitch patterns to distinguish words or grammatical forms. Lexical tone is a defining contrast in most major Chinese varieties.
Neutral tone: Neutral tone is a reduced, context-dependent tone found on certain unstressed syllables in Mandarin. Its pitch depends on surrounding tones rather than following the full lexical tone pattern.