Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "先生" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 先生 in Chinese?

先生 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɕjɛn˥.ʂɤŋ/. It means “Mr. / sir.” shyen-shung: a high level first syllable with the thin x hiss, then a weak toneless second with a retroflex one. Two different hisses in one word.

shyen-shung: a high level first syllable with the thin x hiss, then a weak toneless second with a retroflex one. Two different hisses in one word.

先生 /ɕjɛn˥.ʂɤŋ/

xiānsheng

High and flat, then a syllable with no pitch at all, giving a strong-weak shape. The neutralisation of 生 is what distinguishes this title from 学生 xuésheng and 医生 yīshēng, where the same character behaves differently — toneless in one, fully level in the other. The reduction is lexical, not a general rule about the character.

Listen: 先生

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Sound it out

xiān Lips spread wide for the thin palatal hiss with the tongue tip pointing down, then the -ian final — a quick "ee" glide, a tight "eh", and a front n. Held at the top of the range.

sheng Toneless: now the tongue curls back for a retroflex hiss, onto a mid back unrounded vowel sealed at the back of the mouth. Short and light, riding at the pitch xiān established.

Hear it in a sentence

王先生是我的老师。

Wáng xiānsheng shì wǒ de lǎoshī.

Mr. Wang is my teacher.

Listen: 王先生是我的老师。

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王先生是我的老师。 gives Wáng rising, xiān level, sheng fading, shì falling, wǒ dipping, de fading, then lǎoshī with a dip and a level. Wǒ keeps its full descent because de is toneless. Two neutral syllables in the sentence are what give it a conversational rather than announced quality.

Where English speakers slip

The two hisses get merged into a single English "sh", which erases the distinction the word is built on: x is thin and forward with spread lips, sh is dark and hollow with the tongue curled back. Say them as a pair. Restoring a full tone to sheng is the other error, and the -ian final routinely opens out to "shyahn".