Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "衬衫" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 衬衫 in Chinese?

衬衫 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ʈʂʰən˥˩.ʂan˥/. It means “shirt.” chun-SHAHN: a hard-falling first syllable with a strong puff of air, then a high level second with none. Both initials are retroflex.

chun-SHAHN: a hard-falling first syllable with a strong puff of air, then a high level second with none. Both initials are retroflex.

衬衫 /ʈʂʰən˥˩.ʂan˥/

chènshān

A plunge then a plateau, with no sandhi. The word is a concentrated retroflex drill: two consonants made in the same place, one with a strong puff of air and one with none, and the breath is the only thing separating them. Both syllables also close with a front n, so there is no nasal contrast to distract from that.

Listen: 衬衫

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Sound it out

chèn Curled tip, hollow release, and a real gust of air — then a short central vowel closed with the tongue tip at the ridge. The pitch plunges.

shān Retroflex again but with no aspiration at all, onto a broad open "ah" closed with a front n. Held level at the top, so the word leaps back up after its drop.

Hear it in a sentence

这件白衬衫很好看。

Zhè jiàn bái chènshān hěn hǎokàn.

This white shirt looks nice.

Listen: 这件白衬衫很好看。

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这件白衬衫很好看。 ends with hěn and hǎo adjacent, both dipping, so hěn rises. Before that, zhè falls, jiàn falls, bái climbs, chèn falls, shān holds level. Three separate descents in the first half and a conversion in the second — a busy sentence tonally.

Where English speakers slip

Both retroflexes get flattened into English "ch" and "sh" with the tongue lying flat. Curl the tip for each. The aspiration contrast also collapses, so both syllables come out with the same amount of breath. And the hěn hǎo conversion at the end is skipped as reliably here as anywhere else.