<p>The closest is /ɨ/, at least in Taiwan where the accent is very free-flowing. In Beijing it's more like the /z/ in the comments above.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-16T03:54:46.273Z
I guess you meant the [z̩] (syllabic Z), not [z].
Alan Evangelista
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-16T04:50:18.583Z
Yep, just couldn't copy it on my phone for some reason.
Curiosity
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-14T04:04:55.643Z
2019-09-14T04:04:55.643Z
Curiosity
<p>After <em>z-,c-,s-</em> (resp. <em>zh-,ch-,sh-</em>) pinyin <em>i</em> represents the syllabic consonant [z] (resp. [ʐ]):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>More productive are the syllabic consonants [z] and [ʐ ], which do not
contrast with each other: [z] occurs after the dentals [ts, ts<sup>h</sup>, s], [ʐ ] after the retroflexes [ʈʂ, ʈʂ<sup>h</sup>, ʂ, ʐ ]. This is exemplified in (44).</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/8tAr7.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/8tAr7.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Neither [z] nor [ʐ ] occurs after the palatals [tɕ, tɕh, ɕ], or after any other consonant. Some linguists, perhaps since Karlgren (1915–26), consider [z] and [ʐ ] to be ‘apical vowels’. There are three reasons.</p>
<ol>
<li>There seems to be an assumption that every syllable must have a vowel—this view has been reiterated in Cheung (1986), Hsueh (1986), and Coleman (1996, 2001); secondly, some researchers argue that [z] and [ʐ ] are phonetically like a vowel. For example, Howie (1976: 10) argues that [z ] and [ʐ ] have formants, which is a property of vowels.</li>
<li>In addition, C. Cheng (1973: 13), citing the X-ray study of D. Zhou and Wu (1963), notes that the back of the tongue is raised in [z], similar to a vowel articulation.</li>
<li>Thirdly, it has been suggested that [z] and [ʐ ] are in complementary distribution with [i] and so they can be analysed as allophones of the same phoneme. Since [i] is a vowel, it is better to consider [z] and [ʐ ] to be vowels, too.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li><em>Phonology of Standard Chinese</em>, 2.9 Syllabic Consonants</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-13T09:30:18.710Z
2021-04-13T09:30:18.710Z
大胳膊雅各布
<p>There is actually no i sound in the syllable. You can pronounce it by [s] and make it longer. The ‘i’ is just a placer, like 0 in maths.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-13T01:09:51.067Z
2020-03-13T01:09:51.067Z
code2828
<p>With z-,c-,s-,zh-,ch-,sh- ,it pronounces nothing, just initial consonant.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-13T03:35:31.050Z
2020-03-13T03:35:31.050Z
li xiaolin
<p>What is the pronunciation of the vowel I in Pinyin si? /ɪ/, /ɘ/ or /ɨ/ ? Each website I read describe it differently.</p>

<p>Please answer using IPA symbols. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-13T23:17:13.743Z
Does it so matter to find a "right" symbol for a sound? I described it as [z ̩]
炸鱼薯条德里克
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-13T23:18:12.770Z
None of those are correct. A character like 絲 is pronounced as **/sz̩⁵⁵/**; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllabic_consonant#Syllabic_fricatives - although /ɨ/ is very close.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-13T23:46:53.633Z
Syllabic z ([z̩]) is popular among non-Sinologists. Sinologists often use the non-standard symbol [ɿ]. It doesn't really matter--you can pronounce it either as a syllabic fricative or as an approximant in the same place as the syllabic fricative.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-22T01:46:19.890Z
@StumpyJoePete : Why would you need a non-standard symbol? Does this suggest the IPA is, in fact, deficient in achieving its supposed mission? (Not at all closed to that possibility - many "standards" leave things to be desired and dogmatism masks room for improvement.)
The_Sympathizer
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-22T04:20:46.877Z
@The_Sympathizer IPA isn't perfect. It's my understanding that IPA only encodes differences that are contrastive in _some_ language, but (a) that's not something you can know from 1st principles, it's empirical and (b) even if it's granular enough for that purpose, there are potentially more language-specific phonetic details than that (which might be helpful for sounding like a native speaker).
Stumpy Joe Pete
<pronunciation>
Pronunciation of the vowel "i" in Pinyin si
# Pronunciation of the vowel "i" in Pinyin si

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-09-13)

What is the pronunciation of the vowel I in Pinyin si? /ɪ/, /ɘ/ or /ɨ/ ? Each website I read describe it differently.

Please answer using IPA symbols.

**Tags:** pronunciation
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Does it so matter to find a "right" symbol for a sound? I described it as [z ̩]  
> **username_2**: None of those are correct. A character like 絲 is pronounced as **/sz̩⁵⁵/**; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllabic_consonant#Syllabic_fricatives - although /ɨ/ is very close.  
> **username_3**: Syllabic z ([z̩]) is popular among non-Sinologists. Sinologists often use the non-standard symbol [ɿ]. It doesn't really matter--you can pronounce it either as a syllabic fricative or as an approximant in the same place as the syllabic fricative.  
> **username_4**: @StumpyJoePete : Why would you need a non-standard symbol? Does this suggest the IPA is, in fact, deficient in achieving its supposed mission? (Not at all closed to that possibility - many "standards" leave things to be desired and dogmatism masks room for improvement.)  
> **username_3**: @The_Sympathizer IPA isn't perfect. It's my understanding that IPA only encodes differences that are contrastive in _some_ language, but (a) that's not something you can know from 1st principles, it's empirical and (b) even if it's granular enough for that purpose, there are potentially more language-specific phonetic details than that (which might be helpful for sounding like a native speaker).  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2019-09-14. Score: 2

The closest is /ɨ/, at least in Taiwan where the accent is very free-flowing. In Beijing it's more like the /z/ in the comments above.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I guess you meant the [z̩] (syllabic Z), not [z].  
> **username_5**: Yep, just couldn't copy it on my phone for some reason.  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2021-04-13. Score: 1

After *z-,c-,s-* (resp. *zh-,ch-,sh-*) pinyin *i* represents the syllabic consonant [z] (resp. [ʐ]):

> More productive are the syllabic consonants [z] and [ʐ ], which do not
> contrast with each other: [z] occurs after the dentals [ts, tsh, s], [ʐ ] after the retroflexes [ʈʂ, ʈʂh, ʂ, ʐ ]. This is exemplified in (44).
>
> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/8tAr7.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/8tAr7.png)
>
> Neither [z] nor [ʐ ] occurs after the palatals [tɕ, tɕh, ɕ], or after any other consonant. Some linguists, perhaps since Karlgren (1915–26), consider [z] and [ʐ ] to be ‘apical vowels’. There are three reasons.
>
> 1. There seems to be an assumption that every syllable must have a vowel—this view has been reiterated in Cheung (1986), Hsueh (1986), and Coleman (1996, 2001); secondly, some researchers argue that [z] and [ʐ ] are phonetically like a vowel. For example, Howie (1976: 10) argues that [z ] and [ʐ ] have formants, which is a property of vowels.
> 2. In addition, C. Cheng (1973: 13), citing the X-ray study of D. Zhou and Wu (1963), notes that the back of the tongue is raised in [z], similar to a vowel articulation.
> 3. Thirdly, it has been suggested that [z] and [ʐ ] are in complementary distribution with [i] and so they can be analysed as allophones of the same phoneme. Since [i] is a vowel, it is better to consider [z] and [ʐ ] to be vowels, too.

* *Phonology of Standard Chinese*, 2.9 Syllabic Consonants


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### Answer by username_7 on 2020-03-13. Score: 1

There is actually no i sound in the syllable. You can pronounce it by [s] and make it longer. The ‘i’ is just a placer, like 0 in maths.


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### Answer by username_8 on 2020-03-13. Score: 0

With z-,c-,s-,zh-,ch-,sh- ,it pronounces nothing, just initial consonant.


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