Chinese Alphabet

Letter		Sound in Chinese
a		father
b		boy
c		k sound in cow
d		dog (but slightly shorter like t sound)
e		eh sound in egg
f		frog
g		go
h		hard (more aspiration)
i		ee sound in street
j, zh		jump
k		kit
l		long
m		monkey
n		nose
o		long (but more nasal)
p		pan
q		tch sound in watch
r		ride
s		sing
t		time (but with stronger aspiration)
u		ou sound in you or too
v		violin
w		water (or u sound)
x		ch (or s sound in some dialects)
y		yellow
z		ts sound incats (softer z)

One aspect of Chinese that is different is its use of tones. Some dialects of Chinese have up to nine tones, while Mandarin has only four. The first tone ¯ has a high pitch. The second tone ´ rises from mid to high. The third ˇ dips low than rises unless it comes before another third tone (in which case it is pronounced as a second tone), OR if a third tone comes before another one (in which case it starts mid and goes down). The fourth ˋ starts high and falls low. A neutral fifth tone is unstressed and unmarked.

Chinese writing is not phonetic, so no real alphabet exists. Characters (hanzi) that express words exist. Spelling out the Chinese sounds, as it's done on this site, is called Pinyin. There are other methods, like Wade-Giles (which is older). Here's a comparison chart of Pinyin phonetic spelling versus that of Wade-Giles:

Pinyin Ba Bai Ban Bang Bao Bei Ben Beng Bi Bian Biao Bie Bin Bing Bo Bu	Wade-Giles Pa Pai Pan Pang Pao Pei Pen Peng Pi Pien Piao Pieh Pin Ping Po Pu	Pinyin Ca Cai Can Cang Cao Ce Cen Ceng Cha Chai Chan Chang Chao Che Chen Cheng Chi Chong Chou Chu Chuai Chuan Chuang Chui Chun Chuo Ci Cong Cou Cu Cuan Cui Cun Cuo	Wade-Giles Ts'a Ts'ai Ts'an Ts'ang Ts'ao Ts'e Ts'en Ts'eng Ch'a Ch'ai Ch'an Ch'ang Ch'ao Ch'e Ch'en Ch'eng Ch'ih Ch'ung Ch'ou Ch'u Ch'uai Ch'uan Ch'uang Ch'ui Ch'un Ch'o Tz'u Ts'ung Ts'ou Ts'u Ts'uan Ts'ui Ts'un Ts'o	Pinyin Da Dai Dan Dang Dao De Dei Deng Di Dian Diao Die Ding Diu Dong Dou Du Duan Dui Dun Duo	Wade-Giles Ta Tai Tan Tang Tao Te Tei Teng Ti Tien Tiao Tieh Ting Tiu Tung Tou Tu Tuan Tui Tun To	Pinyin E Ei En Er Fa Fan Fang Fei Fen Feng Fo Fou Fu	Wade-Giles E Ei En Erh Fa Fan Fang Fei Fen Feng Fo Fou Fu
Pinyin Ga Gai Gan Gang Gao Ge Gei Gen Geng Gong Gou Gu Gua Guai Guan Guang Gui Gun Guo	Wade-Giles Ka Kai Kan Kang Kao Ke Kei Ken Keng Kung Kou Ku Kua Kuai Kuan Kuang Kuei Kun Kuo	Pinyin Ha Hai Han Hang Hao He Hei Hen Heng Hong Hou Hu Hua Huai Huan Huang Hui Hun Huo	Wade-Giles Ha Hai Han Hang Hao He Hei Hen Heng Hung Hou Hu Hua Huai Huan Huang Hui Hun Huo	Pinyin Ji Jia Jian Jiang Jiao Jie Jin Jing Jiong Jiu Ju Juan Jue Jun	Wade-Giles Chi Chia Chien Chiang Chiao Chieh Chin Ching Chiung Chiu Ch� Ch�an Ch�eh Ch�n	Pinyin Ka Kai Kan Kang Kao Ke Ken Keng Kong Kou Ku Kua Kuai Kuan Kuang Kui Kun Kuo	Wade-Giles K'a K'ai K'an K'ang K'ao K'e K'en K'eng K'ung K'ou K'u K'ua K'uai K'uan K'uang K'uei K'un K'uo
Pinyin La Lai Lan Lang Lao Le Lei Leng Li Lia Lian Liang Liao Lie Lin Ling Liu Lo Long Lou Lu L� Luan L�e Lun Luo	Wade-Giles La Lai Lan Lang Lao Le Lei Leng Li Lia Lien Liang Liao Lieh Lin Ling Liu Lo Lung Lou Lu L� Luan L�eh Lun Luo	Pinyin Ma Mai Man Mang Mao Me Mei Men Meng Mi Mian Miao Mie Min Ming Miu Mo Mou Mu	Wade-Giles Ma Mai Man Mang Mao Me Mei Men Meng Mi Mien Miao Mieh Min Ming Miu Mo Mou Mu	Pinyin Na Nai Nan Nang Nao Ne Nei Nen Neng Ni Nian Niang Niao Nie Nin Ning Niu Nong Nou Nu N� Nuan N�e Nuo	Wade-Giles Na Nai Nan Nang Nao Ne Nei Nen Neng Ni Nien Niang Niao Nieh Nin Ning Niu Nung Nou Nu N� Nuan N�eh No	Pinyin Ou Pa Pai Pan Pang Pao Pei Pen Peng Pi Pian Piao Pie Pin Ping Po Pou Pu	Wade-Giles Ou P'a P'ai P'an P'ang P'ao P'ei P'en P'eng P'i P'ien P'iao P'ieh P'in P'ing P'o P'ou P'u
Pinyin Qi Qia Qian Qiang Qiao Qie Qin Qing Qiong Qiu Qu Quan Que Qun	Wade-Giles Ch'i Ch'ia Ch'ien Ch'iang Ch'iao Ch'ieh Ch'in Ch'ing Ch'iung Ch'iu Ch'� Ch'�an Ch'�eh Ch'�n	Pinyin Ran Rang Rao Re Ren Reng Ri Rong Rou Ru Ruan Rui Run Ruo	Wade-Giles Jan Jang Jao Je Jen Jeng Jih Jung Jou Ju Juan Jui Jun Jo	Pinyin Sa Sai San Sang Sao Se Sen Seng Sha Shai Shan Shang Shao She Shei Shen Sheng Shi Shou Shu Shua Shuai Shuan Shuang Shui Shun Shuo Si Song Sou Su Suan Sui Sun Suo	Wade-Giles Sa Sai San Sang Sao Se Sen Seng Sha Shai Shan Shang Shao She Shei Shen Sheng Shih Shou Shu Shua Shuai Shuan Shuang Shui Shun Shuo Ssu Sung Sou Su Suan Sui Sun So	Pinyin Ta Tai Tan Tang Tao Te Teng Ti Tian Tiao Tie Ting Tong Tou Tu Tuan Tui Tun Tuo	Wade-Giles T'a T'ai T'an T'ang T'ao T'e T'eng T'i T'ien T'iao T'ieh T'ing T'ung T'ou T'u T'uan T'ui T'un T'o
Pinyin Wa Wai Wan Wang Wei Wen Weng Wo Wo Wu	Wade-Giles Wa Wai Wan Wang Wei Wen Weng O Wo Wu	Pinyin Xi Xia Xian Xiang Xiao Xie Xin Xing Xiong Xiu Xu Xuan Xue Xun	Wade-Giles Hsi Hsia Hsien Hsiang Hsiao Hsieh Hsin Hsing Hsiung Hsiu Hs� Hs�uan Hs�ueh Hs�n	Pinyin Ya Yan Yang Yao Ye Yi Yin Ying Yong You Yu Yuan Yue Yun	Wade-Giles Ya Yan Yang Yao Yeh I Yin Ying Yung Yu Y� Y�an Y�eh Y�n	Pinyin Za Zai Zan Zang Zao Ze Zei Zen Zeng Zha Zhai Zhan Zhang Zhao Zhe Zhei Zhen Zheng Zhi Zhong Zhou Zhu Zhua Zhuai Zhuan Zhuang Zhui Zhun Zhuo Zi Zong Zou Zu Zuan Zui Zun Zuo	Wade-Giles Tsa Tsai Tsan Tsang Tsao Tse Tsei Tsen Tseng Cha Chai Chan Chang Chao Che Chei Chen Cheng Chih Chung Chou Chu Chua Chuai Chuan Chuang Chui Chun Cho Tzu Tsung Tsou Tsu Tsuan Tsui Tsun Tso

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