<p>There are some Mandarin Chinese Pinyin sequences which <em>consistently</em> start with a vowel. As mentioned in the comments, these have a Pinyin representation which starts with <strong>y</strong> or <strong>w</strong>:</p>

<ul>
<li><strong>義</strong>, Pinyin <strong>yì</strong>, IPA <strong>/i⁵¹/</strong> (starts off with /i/, the close front unrounded vowel)</li>
<li><strong>完</strong>, Pinyin <strong>wán</strong>, IPA <strong>/u̯a̠n³⁵/</strong> (starts off with a dipthong containing /u/, the close back rounded vowel)</li>
</ul>

<p>The others which many people <em>think</em> start with a vowel but don't really except in certain (albeit extremely common) circumstances start off with a Pinyin letter <strong>a</strong>, <strong>e</strong>, or <strong>o</strong>. Pronounced in isolation or after the end of a pause, these do not start off with a vowel, but a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glottal_stop" rel="noreferrer">glottal stop</a>, which is a consonant that requires you to block airflow through the glottis.</p>

<p>For example, consciously take caution of the difference in how you pronounce <strong>餓</strong> in the following:</p>

<ol>
<li><strong>餓</strong> (in isolation)</li>
<li>我<strong>餓</strong>了</li>
</ol>

<p>In (1), <strong>餓</strong> must start with the glottal stop consonant (take notice of what you're doing in your chest area when pronouncing this), while not ordinarily in (2), although you can use a glottal stop there sometimes for emphasis.</p>

<p>Without this consonant, you cannot pronounce sequences like 諤諤 or 阿娥 properly (although these sequences aren't common at all). An English example would be the word <em>uh-oh!</em>, which must have the glottal stop at the beginning of the second syllable, else it would sound incomprehensible.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-31T01:51:42.377Z
It seems to me that the glottal stop is the way in which we pronounce the null-onset words, but isn't a normal phonetic symbol that we use to describe the pronunciation of each character. I figure what OP was looking for was those characters whose pronunciations are described with the normal phonetic symbols which start with vowels. But I do appreciate that you share the definition of the glottal stop and I learnt it!
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-31T08:30:42.550Z
@dan actually, (toneless) Pinyin sometimes uses the apostrophe to mark the glottal stop. For instance, 西安 is tonelessly Romanised as **Xi'an**, not **xian**, where「'」indicates where the glottal stop is to be inserted.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-31T08:56:40.297Z
Ok, what about the one starting with a 'vowel' like *an*? Is it something like *'an*? In my opinion , the reason why 西安 is put as Xi'an is they mark the word 西安 together, otherwise it should be [xī ān]. So both  xī ān and  Xi'an are used.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-31T09:45:12.157Z
@dan Pinyin isn’t written with syllable spaces, it’s written with word spaces. The PRC is written like *Zhonghua renmin gongheguo*, not *Zhong hua ren min gong he guo* \(see how they write it e.g. in Wikipedia [here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/China)\). Xi’an is written as such because it’s pronounced differently from “xian”, but when you start a word using “a” there is no ambiguity so in Pinyin the glottal stop or other consonant to enunciate what would otherwise be the null onset is not always written. There are languages such as Arabic or Hebrew which always mark the glottal stop.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-31T09:51:25.463Z
it could because if you don't put apostrophe in Xi'an, xian could denote some other character. Anyways.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-31T00:34:57.570Z
2018-05-31T00:34:57.570Z
dROOOze
<p>The only cases I can think about are:</p>

<ol>
<li>安 an</li>
<li>饿 e</li>
<li>耳 er</li>
<li>啊 a</li>
<li>o 哦</li>
<li>ou 欧</li>
<li>ai 爱</li>
<li>ao 奥</li>
<li>en 恩</li>
</ol>

<p>All examples may have multiple cases under different tones</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-31T15:36:24.600Z
Seems like a pretty short list. Can those words combine with others to make a more compound noun? Another possibility: are there any vowel prefixes in Chinese? For example, Japanese sometimes adds the prefix "O-" to nouns, to refer to them politely.
DrZ214
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-31T18:06:34.953Z
@DrZ214 I don't think so since mordern Mandarin is more a "Analytic language"(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytic_language) which means there is nearly no adding prefix on word. I edit my answer to add 2 more vowels.
Archeosudoerus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-31T21:49:02.697Z
There are a few 'ao's as well 奥，I count 88 on my input method, ibus.
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-04T14:35:28.617Z
@Pedroski thanks! I eddited the answer to include ao
Archeosudoerus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-04T14:48:24.907Z
"en" 恩 en1 is another sound whose pinyin starts with a vowel. This list doesn't include tones. With tones there are many many more examples. Here are a few more: 熬 ao2/ao1; 凹 ao1; 恶 e4/wu4; 矮 ai3
goPlayerJuggler
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-04T15:41:28.220Z
@goPlayerJuggler thanks! added en in the answer.
Archeosudoerus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-31T14:00:04.010Z
2018-06-04T15:42:07.307Z
2018-06-04T15:42:07.307Z
Archeosudoerus
<p>I've been searching around for random words. Dragon = long, green = lǜsè, river = he... I can't seem to find any words that start with a vowel.</p>

<p>Do any Chinese words start with a vowel?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-30T23:43:56.960Z
Yes: 安 = ān = peace. Just go to any [dictionary](http://ce.linedict.com/#/cnen/home) and start typing, and you'll see plenty of suggestions.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-30T23:52:36.873Z
@StumpyJoePete **ān** does not start with a vowel, it starts with a glottal stop. The only Mandarin syllables which start with a vowel begin with Pinyin **y** or **w**.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-30T23:58:16.663Z
@droooze, that's a goofy way to analyze it. In lots of languages (including English), [null onsets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllable#Null_onset) are realized as glottal stops if the vowel is isolated or sentence-initial (and the glottal stop is not analyzed as phonemic). I will hazard a guess that the OP would consider "apple" to be an English word that starts with a vowel. By the same criteria, ān is a Chinese word that starts with a vowel, even though both of them pronounced in isolation are pronounced w/an initial glottal stop.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-31T00:05:09.053Z
@droooze I don't quite understand glottal stops you pointed out. I think these words all start with a vowel: 啊，哦，噢，额，... , including 安 as Stumpy pointed out. I'd be very interested to read if you could possibly write an answer with your theory here. Thanks!
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-31T00:39:52.827Z
@dan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese_phonology#Zero_onset
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-31T01:38:02.690Z
@StumpyJoePete I believe OP wouldn't say *A apple*, but *An apple*. Lol
dan
<pronunciation><pinyin><phonology><spelling>
Can Chinese words start with a vowel?
# Can Chinese words start with a vowel?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-05-30)

I've been searching around for random words. Dragon = long, green = lǜsè, river = he... I can't seem to find any words that start with a vowel.

Do any Chinese words start with a vowel?

**Tags:** pronunciation, pinyin, phonology, spelling

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Yes: 安 = ān = peace. Just go to any [dictionary](http://ce.linedict.com/#/cnen/home) and start typing, and you'll see plenty of suggestions.  
> **username_2**: @username_1 **ān** does not start with a vowel, it starts with a glottal stop. The only Mandarin syllables which start with a vowel begin with Pinyin **y** or **w**.  
> **username_1**: @username_2, that's a goofy way to analyze it. In lots of languages (including English), [null onsets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllable#Null_onset) are realized as glottal stops if the vowel is isolated or sentence-initial (and the glottal stop is not analyzed as phonemic). I will hazard a guess that the OP would consider "apple" to be an English word that starts with a vowel. By the same criteria, ān is a Chinese word that starts with a vowel, even though both of them pronounced in isolation are pronounced w/an initial glottal stop.  
> **username_3**: @username_2 I don't quite understand glottal stops you pointed out. I think these words all start with a vowel: 啊，哦，噢，额，... , including 安 as username_1 pointed out. I'd be very interested to read if you could possibly write an answer with your theory here. Thanks!  
> **username_1**: @username_3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese_phonology#Zero_onset  
> **username_3**: @username_1 I believe OP wouldn't say *A apple*, but *An apple*. Lol  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-05-31. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

The only cases I can think about are:

1. 安 an
2. 饿 e
3. 耳 er
4. 啊 a
5. o 哦
6. ou 欧
7. ai 爱
8. ao 奥
9. en 恩

All examples may have multiple cases under different tones

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Seems like a pretty short list. Can those words combine with others to make a more compound noun? Another possibility: are there any vowel prefixes in Chinese? For example, Japanese sometimes adds the prefix "O-" to nouns, to refer to them politely.  
> **username_4**: @username_0 I don't think so since mordern Mandarin is more a "Analytic language"(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytic_language) which means there is nearly no adding prefix on word. I edit my answer to add 2 more vowels.  
> **username_5**: There are a few 'ao's as well 奥，I count 88 on my input method, ibus.  
> **username_4**: @username_5 thanks! I eddited the answer to include ao  
> **username_6**: "en" 恩 en1 is another sound whose pinyin starts with a vowel. This list doesn't include tones. With tones there are many many more examples. Here are a few more: 熬 ao2/ao1; 凹 ao1; 恶 e4/wu4; 矮 ai3  
> **username_4**: @username_6 thanks! added en in the answer.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-05-31. Score: 5

There are some Mandarin Chinese Pinyin sequences which *consistently* start with a vowel. As mentioned in the comments, these have a Pinyin representation which starts with **y** or **w**:

* **義**, Pinyin **yì**, IPA **/i⁵¹/** (starts off with /i/, the close front unrounded vowel)
* **完**, Pinyin **wán**, IPA **/u̯a̠n³⁵/** (starts off with a dipthong containing /u/, the close back rounded vowel)

The others which many people *think* start with a vowel but don't really except in certain (albeit extremely common) circumstances start off with a Pinyin letter **a**, **e**, or **o**. Pronounced in isolation or after the end of a pause, these do not start off with a vowel, but a [glottal stop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glottal_stop), which is a consonant that requires you to block airflow through the glottis.

For example, consciously take caution of the difference in how you pronounce **餓** in the following:

1. **餓** (in isolation)
2. 我**餓**了

In (1), **餓** must start with the glottal stop consonant (take notice of what you're doing in your chest area when pronouncing this), while not ordinarily in (2), although you can use a glottal stop there sometimes for emphasis.

Without this consonant, you cannot pronounce sequences like 諤諤 or 阿娥 properly (although these sequences aren't common at all). An English example would be the word *uh-oh!*, which must have the glottal stop at the beginning of the second syllable, else it would sound incomprehensible.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: It seems to me that the glottal stop is the way in which we pronounce the null-onset words, but isn't a normal phonetic symbol that we use to describe the pronunciation of each character. I figure what OP was looking for was those characters whose pronunciations are described with the normal phonetic symbols which start with vowels. But I do appreciate that you share the definition of the glottal stop and I learnt it!  
> **username_2**: @username_3 actually, (toneless) Pinyin sometimes uses the apostrophe to mark the glottal stop. For instance, 西安 is tonelessly Romanised as **Xi'an**, not **xian**, where「'」indicates where the glottal stop is to be inserted.  
> **username_3**: Ok, what about the one starting with a 'vowel' like *an*? Is it something like *'an*? In my opinion , the reason why 西安 is put as Xi'an is they mark the word 西安 together, otherwise it should be [xī ān]. So both  xī ān and  Xi'an are used.  
> **username_2**: @username_3 Pinyin isn’t written with syllable spaces, it’s written with word spaces. The PRC is written like *Zhonghua renmin gongheguo*, not *Zhong hua ren min gong he guo* \(see how they write it e.g. in Wikipedia [here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/China)\). Xi’an is written as such because it’s pronounced differently from “xian”, but when you start a word using “a” there is no ambiguity so in Pinyin the glottal stop or other consonant to enunciate what would otherwise be the null onset is not always written. There are languages such as Arabic or Hebrew which always mark the glottal stop.  
> **username_3**: it could because if you don't put apostrophe in Xi'an, xian could denote some other character. Anyways.  

---

