Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "新" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 新 in Chinese?

新 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɕin˥/. It means “new.” sheen, held high and flat, with the thin smiling x rather than an English "sh". The ending is a front n.

sheen, held high and flat, with the thin smiling x rather than an English "sh". The ending is a front n.

新 /ɕin˥/

xīn

Level and undisturbing: any third tone before it keeps a full dip, and 不 before it stays as bù. It also shares its sound exactly with 心 xīn, "heart", so this is another true homophone pair separated only by context and character.

Listen: 新

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Sound it out

x- Tongue blade toward the hard palate with the tip pointing down and the lips spread, producing a high thin hiss.

-in A tense "ee" closed with the tongue tip at the ridge. The contrast with -ing matters: here the tongue travels forward to close the syllable rather than back.

xīn (level) High and steady through the vowel and the nasal. Nasal endings invite a drop in pitch, so hold it right through the closure.

Hear it in a sentence

我买了一个新手机。

Wǒ mǎile yí ge xīn shǒujī.

I bought a new phone.

Listen: 我买了一个新手机。

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我买了一个新手机。 has wǒ and mǎi adjacent as third tones, so wǒ rises. Then le is toneless, yí is 一 converted before the underlyingly-falling ge, ge itself is spoken toneless, xīn holds high, and shǒujī gives a dip and a level. Three toneless syllables in an eight-syllable sentence, which is what keeps it moving.

Where English speakers slip

The x drifts into English "sh", which pushes the word toward shēn — a real syllable and a different word. Spread the lips wide. The nasal is the other issue: xīng with a back nasal is extremely common, so the merger creates genuine ambiguity rather than mere accent. Check that your tongue tip actually touches the ridge at the end.