Pronunciation & Pinyin Index: Terms and Practice Words

When you get stuck, go back by the type of sound, not by the symptom. If you cannot say q, then before drilling q on its own, check the tongue position, the air, and the pairing with ü. This index is the way into the chapter you need.

Terms that build a sound

Term	What to check	Chapter
Initial	the consonant at the start of a syllable	Initials
Final	the resonant centre of a syllable	Finals
Aspiration	whether a strong puff of air follows	Initials
Retroflex	curl the tongue tip back for zh/ch/sh/r	Difficult sounds
Palatal j/q/x	tongue flat and forward	Difficult sounds
ü	the tongue of i with the lips of u	Finals
-n / -ng	stop with the tongue tip, or resonate at the back	Finals

Terms for tone and rhythm

Term	What to check	Chapter
Four tones	pitch movement separates meaning	The four tones
Third-tone change	a third tone before another shifts toward a second	Tone sandhi
Changes of 一/不	the sound shifts with the following tone	Tone sandhi
Neutral tone	a short, weak syllable added to the one before	Neutral tone & erhua
Erhua	an -r colour added to the final	Neutral tone & erhua

Into the practice words

To practise	Words / examples	Chapter
Four tones	妈 (mā), 麻 (má), 马 (mǎ), 骂 (mà)	Telling tones apart
Aspiration	爸爸 (bàba), 怕 (pà)	Difficult sounds
Retroflex vs palatal	知 (zhī), 七 (qī), 西 (xī)	Initials & finals drills
Tone changes	你好 (nǐ hǎo), 不是 (bú shì), 一个 (yí ge)	Tone sandhi
Recording	我想喝咖啡 (wǒ xiǎng hē kāfēi)	Shadowing & recording

Once you have reread the chapter you found here, record just one practice word. Narrow down what to fix, and two days later record the same word again to compare — that is how a lesson you return to actually stays with you.