Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "熊" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 熊 in Chinese?

熊 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɕjʊŋ˧˥/. It means “bear.” shyoong, climbing from mid to high. The thin x hiss, an "ee" glide, a rounded vowel, and a back nasal.

shyoong, climbing from mid to high. The thin x hiss, an "ee" glide, a rounded vowel, and a back nasal.

熊 /ɕjʊŋ˧˥/

xióng

The climb holds everywhere. The lip choreography is the notable feature: the x demands spread lips and the -iong final demands rounded ones, so they change position mid-syllable. Any leftover rounding at the start pulls the hiss toward the retroflex sh.

Listen: 熊

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Sound it out

x- Lips spread for a thin, bright hiss with the tongue blade near the hard palate and the tip pointing down.

-iong A quick "ee" glide into a rounded vowel nearer "oo" than "oh", sealed at the back of the mouth by ng. The lips go from spread for the hiss to rounded for the vowel.

xióng (rising) The tone lifts from mid to high across all that movement, finishing on the nasal. The nasal ending gives the climb a landing point.

Hear it in a sentence

熊冬天一直睡觉。

Xióng dōngtiān yìzhí shuìjiào.

The bear sleeps all winter.

Listen: 熊冬天一直睡觉。

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熊冬天一直睡觉。 shows the falling branch of the 一 rule: zhí is a rising tone, so 一 becomes yì rather than yí. That is the branch learners forget, since the more memorable conversion is the one before a fourth tone. Then shuìjiào delivers two falls to close the sentence.

Where English speakers slip

The x collapses into an English "sh", especially here because the following vowel is rounded and pulls the lips into position early. Spread them for the hiss first. The -iong final also loses its "ee" glide, coming out as "shoong". And in the example sentence, learners produce yī zhí or yí zhí instead of the correct yì zhí.