In China, letters of the English alphabet are pronounced somewhat differently because they have been adapted to the phonetics (i.e. the syllable structure) of the Chinese language. The knowledge of this spelling may be useful when spelling Western names, especially over the phone, as one may not be understood if the letters are pronounced as they are in English. (The letters that are pronounced differently – not counting tone and character differences – according to different sources are given in bold.)

LetterSpelling 1[1]Spelling 2[2]
A诶ēi诶ēi
B必bì比bǐ
C西xī西xī
D弟dì迪dí
E衣yī伊yī
F艾付àifù艾弗àifú
G记jì吉jí
H爱耻àichǐ艾尺àichǐ
I挨āi艾ài
J宅zhái杰jié
K开kāi开kāi
L饿罗èluó艾勒àilè
M饿母èmǔ艾玛àimǎ
N恩ēn艾娜àinà
O呕ǒu哦ó
P披pī屁pì
Q酷kù吉吾jíwú
R耳ěr艾儿àiér
S艾斯àisī艾丝àisī
T踢tī提tí
U忧yōu伊吾yīwú
V维wéi维wéi
W大波留dàbōliú豆贝尔维dòubèiěrwéi
X埃克斯āikèsī艾克斯yīkèsī
Y歪wāi吾艾wúài
Z再得zàide贼德zéidé

Notes

The respelling of H mimics the standard aitch /eɪtʃ/ rather than the regional haitch /heɪtʃ/.

The respelling of Z mimics the British English zed /zɛd/ rather than the American English zee /ziː/ or the Hong Kong English variant izzard /ˈɪzərd/.

References

  1. ↑ Mandarin Phrasebook and Dictionary. Lonely Planet 2012, ISBN 9781743211977, p. 16
  2. ↑ Chinese Alphabet (MyLanguages.org)
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