Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "主意" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 主意 in Chinese?

主意 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ʈʂu˨˩˦.i/. It means “idea.” joo-yi: a low sagging first syllable with the tongue curled back, then a weak toneless second.

joo-yi: a low sagging first syllable with the tongue curled back, then a weak toneless second.

主意 /ʈʂu˨˩˦.i/

zhǔyi

Dip then nothing. The neutral second syllable insulates zhǔ from anything on the right, but the left edge is exposed — and since ideas are usually described as good ones, the adjective 好 in front is itself a dipping tone. That is exactly the situation in the example sentence.

Listen: 主意

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Sound it out

zhǔ Tip up and back, hollow release, nothing escaping — onto a tightly rounded "oo". The voice sinks to the floor.

yi Toneless: a bare tense "ee", short and light, sitting at the low pitch zhǔ established. The lips go from tightly rounded to fully spread between the two syllables.

Hear it in a sentence

我有一个好主意。

Wǒ yǒu yí ge hǎo zhǔyi.

I have a great idea.

Listen: 我有一个好主意。

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我有一个好主意。 has two separate events. Wǒ and yǒu are adjacent dipping tones, so wǒ rises. Then yí is the converted 一 before the underlyingly-falling ge. And hǎo and zhǔ are also adjacent dipping tones, so hǎo rises: háo zhǔyi. Two conversions and one 一 change in seven syllables.

Where English speakers slip

The retroflex flattens into an English j, pulling the syllable toward jǔ. Curl the tip back. Restoring a falling tone to yi is the other error, since 意 carries one as an independent character. And the hǎo zhǔ conversion crosses from an adjective into a noun, which is precisely the kind beginners overlook.