línɡ
shēnɡ

technical

Meaning of 零声母

零声母 means zero initial; the condition of a Chinese syllable beginning directly with a vowel or semivowel. Pronounced línɡ shēnɡ mǔ.

  • zero initial; the condition of a Chinese syllable beginning directly with a vowel or semivowel

Definitions & Examples

 
ài
 
 (
àià
i
 )
é
 
é
 
 (
dōué
 )
shì
línɡ
shēnɡ
yīn
jié
 
 

Both 'ai' (love) and 'e' (goose) are syllables with a zero initial.

Zài
pīn
yīn
shū
xiě
zhōnɡ
 
línɡ
shēnɡ
yīn
jié
yǒu
shí
huì
yònɡ
 
yy
 
huò
 
ww
 
kāi
tóu
 
 
yān
 
 (
yāny
ā
wānn
 )
wān
 
 
 
 (
 w
 ā
 n
 )
 

In Pinyin orthography, zero-initial syllables sometimes begin with 'y' or 'w,' such as in 'yan' (smoke) and 'wan' (bend).

Yuán
yīn
 
üü
 
kāi
tóu
de
yīn
jié
 
 
yuān
 
 (
yuāny
u
shìā
línɡn
 )
 
shēnɡ
 
 
 
 

Syllables starting with the vowel 'ü,' like 'yuan' (deep pool), also have a zero initial.

Línɡ
shēnɡ
de
ɡài
niàn
duì
jiě
hàn
pīn
yīn
de
yīn
jié
jié
ɡòu
fēi
chánɡ
zhònɡ
yào
 

The concept of the zero initial is very important for understanding the syllable structure of Hanyu Pinyin.