Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "风" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 风 in Chinese?

风 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /fɤŋ˥/. It means “wind.” fung, held high and flat. Ordinary f, a back unrounded vowel, and the nasal of "song".

fung, held high and flat. Ordinary f, a back unrounded vowel, and the nasal of "song".

风 /fɤŋ˥/

fēng

Nothing shifts this pitch. The contrast worth holding onto is with 分 fēn, which shares the initial, the vowel quality and the tone and differs only in the nasal — front versus back. Since 分钟 and 风 both come up in everyday talk, the distinction is not academic.

Listen: 风

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Sound it out

f- The upper teeth rest on the lower lip, exactly as in English — no adjustment required.

-eng A mid back unrounded vowel sealed at the back of the mouth by ng. The tongue tip stays down and does nothing; the closure happens with the back of the tongue.

fēng (level) Pinned at the top and held through the vowel and the nasal. Nasal endings invite the pitch to sag, so keep it up right through the closure and then stop.

Hear it in a sentence

今天风很大。

Jīntiān fēng hěn dà.

It's very windy today.

Listen: 今天风很大。

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今天风很大。 keeps hěn at a full dip before the falling dà — no conversion. Before that, jīn and tiān hold level and fēng holds level too, giving three consecutive plateau syllables at the top of the range. Then the sentence sinks to the floor and plunges from the ceiling on dà.

Where English speakers slip

The vowel is routinely fronted to an English "eng" as in "length", when the tongue should be pulled back. And the nasal drifts forward to fēn, which is a real word. Feel where the tongue finishes: for -eng the tip should be resting behind the lower teeth. The three-syllable plateau in the example sentence is the other hazard.