| Summary: | Mandarin Chinese has two affricates that can be confusing to English learners. The first is represented in the Pinyin romanization system as j and the second as zh. In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA,) they are represented as respectively [tɕ] and [tʂ] (Lee 2003). [tɕ], henceforth referred to as j, is a laminal alveolo-palatal affricate, pronounced with the front part of the tongue obstructing the flow of air at the anterior portion of the hard palate (Dow 1972). [tʂ], henceforth referred to as zh, is an apical post-alveolar affricate, made by raising the tip of the tongue against the anterior part of the hard palate behind the alveolar ridge (Dow 1972).
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