Level 7 · Lesson 5

声母、韵母、音节
Initials, finals, syllables

一个音节有声母、韵母和声调三个部分。

Every syllable is an initial plus a final plus a tone — and there are only about four hundred of them.

读 · Read

汉语的一个字，读出来就是一个音节，不多也不少。音节还能再拆：“好 hǎo”是 h 加 ao 加第三声，“妈 mā”是 m 加 a 加第一声。前面那一小块叫声母，后面那一块叫韵母，声调管着整个音节。汉语的声母只有二十一个，韵母三十多个，配出来的音节四百个左右——一门这么大的语言，声音却少得惊人。

One Chinese character, read aloud, is exactly one syllable — no more, no less. And the syllable itself comes apart: 好 hǎo is h plus ao plus third tone; 妈 mā is m plus a plus first tone. The little piece in front is the 声母, the initial; the piece behind is the 韵母, the final; and the tone rides over the whole thing. Chinese has just twenty-one initials and some thirty-odd finals, which combine into only about four hundred syllables — astonishingly few sounds for so large a language.

讲解 · Explanation

声母都是辅音：b、m、d、h、zh 这一类。韵母以元音为主：a、o、e、i、u、ü，还有 ai、ao、ie 这样两个元音合在一起的。有的韵母后面带一个 n 或者 ng，那也是辅音，比如 an、ang、ong——“中 zhōng”就是 zh 加 ong。至于没有声母的音节，一开口就是韵母：爱 ài、安 ān、饿 è。

The initials are all consonants: b, m, d, h, zh and the rest. The finals are built on vowels — a, o, e, i, u, ü, and combinations like ai, ao, ie. Some finals close with n or ng, which are consonants too: an, ang, ong, so that 中 zhōng is zh plus ong. And where there is no initial, the mouth opens straight onto the final: 爱 ài, 安 ān, 饿 è.

声音少，词多，结果就是同音字特别多。“是”“事”“市”“试”四个字，读音完全一样；“他”“她”“它”三个字，连声调都一样。所以听的时候要靠上下文，写的时候要靠汉字。这也正是汉语大部分词用两个字的原因：一个音节容易听错，两个音节一起说，就几乎不会错了。

Few sounds and many words means a flood of homophones. 是, 事, 市 and 试 are read exactly alike; 他, 她 and 它 match right down to the tone. Listeners lean on context and writers lean on the characters. It is also precisely why most Chinese words run to two characters: one syllable is easy to mishear, two said together almost never are.

规则 · The rules

声母加韵母加声调，就是一个音节；声母可以没有，韵母不能没有。

规则 1

好 hǎo：h 加 ao 加第三声。爱 ài：没有声母，只有韵母 ai 和第四声。

好 hǎo is h + ao + third tone. 爱 ài has no initial at all — only the final ai and a fourth tone. Every syllable has a final; not every syllable has an initial.

汉语的音节只有四百个左右，所以同音字特别多。

规则 2

“是”“事”“市”“试”都念 shì，四个字一个音节。

是, 事, 市 and 试 are all read shì — four characters sharing one syllable. This is why two-syllable words are the norm and why the characters still do real work.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
声母	syllable initial	“好 hǎo”的声母是 h
韵母	syllable final	“好 hǎo”的韵母是 ao
音节	syllable	一个字读一个音节
元音	vowel	a、o、e、i、u、ü
辅音	consonant	b、m、d、h、zh
同音字	characters read alike	是、事、市、试

练习 · Practice

“好 hǎo”的声母是哪一个？ Which part of hǎo is the initial?

汉语的同音字为什么特别多？ Why does Chinese have so many homophones?

“妈 mā”的韵母是 ________。 Fill in the final of mā.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'Initial, final and tone make up one syllable.'

声母、韵母、音节、元音、辅音 Match each term to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

把这五个字念出来，一个一个地拆：妈 mā、好 hǎo、中 zhōng、爱 ài、书 shū。每个字问三个问题：声母是什么？韵母是什么？第几声？“爱”的声母那一栏，就写“没有”——这不是错，这是汉语音节本来的样子。

Read these five aloud and take each one apart: 妈 mā, 好 hǎo, 中 zhōng, 爱 ài, 书 shū. Ask three questions of each — what is the initial, what is the final, which tone? For 爱 the initial column simply says 'none', and that is not a mistake but the shape a Chinese syllable is allowed to have.