I really think the best point you made in the podcast was about the vowel sounds that follow the sounds. I would add that the reason the vowel sounds for zh, ch, and sh don't combine with j, q, and x -- and vice versa -- is not because Chinese people just wanted to confuse us, but because they *just can't* go with each other in the mouth. I tried saying ji as if the "i" were the "r" sound of zhi and it just doesn't work in the mouth. Same with q and x -- if your tongue is behind your bottom front teeth to perform a j, q, or x, it would have to violently whip back to hit the "r" sound of zhi, chi, and shi -- producing a ridiculous gibberish sound in the mouth. Spending a little while experimenting with those sounds and feeling/hearing how different they are made it easy for me to distinguish between the two sets.
Posted on: Pinyin Section 10
July 3, 2011 at 3:13 AMI really think the best point you made in the podcast was about the vowel sounds that follow the sounds. I would add that the reason the vowel sounds for zh, ch, and sh don't combine with j, q, and x -- and vice versa -- is not because Chinese people just wanted to confuse us, but because they *just can't* go with each other in the mouth. I tried saying ji as if the "i" were the "r" sound of zhi and it just doesn't work in the mouth. Same with q and x -- if your tongue is behind your bottom front teeth to perform a j, q, or x, it would have to violently whip back to hit the "r" sound of zhi, chi, and shi -- producing a ridiculous gibberish sound in the mouth. Spending a little while experimenting with those sounds and feeling/hearing how different they are made it easy for me to distinguish between the two sets.