Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced ling
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced ling, including 领 lǐng, 令 lìng, 另 lìng, 灵 líng, 零 líng. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
Build ling by sliding from l straight into ing; the tone rides over the joined sound, so treat it as one unit.
Initial l
Start the syllable on the initial l, then run straight into the final ing — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final ing
Settle the final ing into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (领 lǐng, 令 lìng, 另 lìng, 灵 líng, 零 líng) and lock in their tones. 11 common characters share the sound ling, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
ling turns up here with 3 different tones; a change of tone usually means a different character, so the groups below are split by tone.
2nd tone
Taking the 2nd tone here: 灵, 零, 龄… (7 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 领, 岭 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 令, 另 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing ling inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
11 common characters in this group.