"Out-speakable words: Homophones
-
"There are approximately 1,700 possible syllables in Mandarin, which compares with over 8,000 in English. As a result, there are many homophones - syllables which sound the same but mean different things. These are distinguished in written Chinese by using different characters for each one.
-
-
-
-
Not all the following characters are pronounced with the same tone, so to Chinese ears they sound different.
-
-
To Westerner ears however they all sound the same. These syllables can be distinguished in speech from the context and because most of them usually appear in combination with other syllables.
-
-
If you look closely, you will notice that some of the characters above have parts in common. These parts give you a clue to how to pronounce the characters."
