This section takes a closer look at the pronunciation of finals based around the vowel a. They are a, an, ang, ai and ao. These finals can all appear as syllables on their own. They also appear in combination with most initials except for j,q,x.

The table below shows all combination. Click on an entry here an example (using first tone).

	a	ai	an	ang	ao
b	ba	bai	ban	bang	bao
p	pa	pai	pan	pang	pao
m	ma	mai	man	mang	mao
f	fa		fan	fang
d	da	dai	dan	dang	dao
t	ta	tai	tan	tang	tao
n	na	nai	nan	nang	nao
l	la	lai	lan	lang	lao
g	ga	gai	gan	gang	gao
k	ka	kai	kan	kang	kao
h	ha	hai	han	hang	hao
zh	zha	zhai	zhan	zhang	zhao
ch	cha	chai	chan	chang	chao
sh	sha	shai	shan	shang	shao
r			ran	rang	rao
z	za	zai	zan	zang	zao
c	ca	cai	can	cang	cao
s	sa	sai	san	sang	sao
w*	wa	wai	wan	wang
y*	ya		yan	yang	yao

N.B.w and y are not proper initials. They are considered the initial part of the final -ua and -ia but are written wa and ya. u, i are called medials, they precede the central vowel.