The four hu (Chinese:四呼;pinyin:sì hū) are a traditional way of classifying syllable finals of Mandarin dialects, including Standard Chinese, based on different glides before the central vowel of the final. They are

  • kāikǒu (開口, "open mouth"), finals without a medial
  • qíchǐ (齊齒, "even teeth"), finals beginning with [i]
  • hékǒu (合口, "closed mouth"), finals beginning with [u]
  • cuōkǒu (撮口, "round mouth"), finals beginning with [y]

The terms kāikǒu and hékǒu come from the Song dynasty rime tables describing Middle Chinese. The Qing phonologist Pan Lei divided each of these categories in two based on the absence or presence of palatalization, and named the two new categories.

This traditional classification is reflected in the bopomofo notation for the finals, but less directly in the pinyin:

Four hu table
KāikǒuQíchǐHékǒuCuōkǒu
IPABopomofoPinyinIPABopomofoPinyinIPABopomofoPinyinIPABopomofoPinyin
aㄚaiaㄧㄚiauaㄨㄚua
ɤㄜeieㄧㄝieuoㄨㄛuoyeㄩㄝüe
ɨㄭ-iiㄧiuㄨuyㄩü
aiㄞaiuaiㄨㄞuai
eiㄟeiueiㄨㄟwei/-ui
auㄠaoiauㄧㄠiao
ouㄡouiouㄧㄡyou/-iu
anㄢaniɛnㄧㄢianuanㄨㄢuanyɛnㄩㄢüan
ənㄣeninㄧㄣinuənㄨㄣwen/-unynㄩㄣün
aŋㄤangiaŋㄧㄤianguaŋㄨㄤuang
əŋㄥengiŋㄧㄥinguəŋ, ʊŋㄨㄥweng/-ongiʊŋㄩㄥiong
aɚㄦer

Notes

Citations

Works cited

  • Lee, Wai-Sum; Zee, Eric (2003). . Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 33 (1): 109–112. doi:.
  • Duanmu, San (2007). The Phonology of Standard Chinese (2nded.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Lin, Yen-Hwei (2007). The Sounds of Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.