initial consonant; syllable onset; zero initial
Meanings
2 senses · 6 examplesnoun
initial consonant (of a Chinese syllable); onset
technicalIn Standard Mandarin phonology, a syllable is divided into three parts: the initial (声母), the final (韵母), and the tone (声调). Most initials are consonants. Standard Mandarin has 21 initial consonants when excluding the zero initial.
B, p, m, and f are all bilabial initial consonants.
Learning initials and finals is the foundation of mastering Chinese pronunciation.
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The initial consonant of this character is sh.
noun
zero initial; null initial (when a syllable starts with a vowel)
technicalWhen a syllable begins with a vowel (a, o, e, i, u, ü) rather than a consonant, it is described as having a 'zero initial' (零声母). In Hanyu Pinyin, these are written with y or w prefixes (yi, wu, yu) or directly with the vowel.
Characters such as 爱, 鹅, and 藕 have zero initials.
Zero-initial syllables refer to those that begin with vowels.
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In Hanyu Pinyin, zero-initial syllables beginning with i, u, and ü are written as yi, wu, and yu.