LingoDrop
Chinese · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "母鸡" in Chinese?
moo-JEE: a low sagging first syllable with a tightly rounded "oo", then a high level second with an unaspirated j.
mǔjī
A sag then a plateau, with no conversion since jī is level. The lip contrast is the physical demand: tightly rounded for mǔ and fully spread for jī, with the change happening between two adjacent syllables. Leftover rounding on the j pulls it backward toward the retroflex zh.
Listen: 母鸡
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Hear it in a sentence
母鸡每天下一个蛋。
Mǔjī měi tiān xià yí ge dàn.
The hen lays an egg every day.
Listen: 母鸡每天下一个蛋。
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母鸡每天下一个蛋。 keeps mǔ at a full dip because jī is level, then jī holds high, měi dips, tiān holds level, xià plunges, yí is the converted 一 before the underlyingly-falling ge, and dàn plunges. Note měi keeps its own dip because tiān is level — two unchanged dipping tones in one sentence.
Where English speakers slip
Breath on the j gives gives qī. Keep the breath in. The vowel in mǔ is often only half-rounded, drifting toward a schwa — push the lips forward. And the pitch leap between the low mǔ and the high jī gets compressed, because English gives a compound's second element less prominence rather than more.