Each term in the sexagenary cycle is made up of two Chinese characters:
iː t̠ʃ WORD_BOUNDARY t ɜː m WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ n ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY s ɛ k s eɪ d̠ʒ n ə ɹ ɹ i WORD_BOUNDARY s aɪ k ə l WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ z WORD_BOUNDARY m eɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ p WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ v WORD_BOUNDARY t uː WORD_BOUNDARY t̠ʃ aɪ n iː z WORD_BOUNDARY k æ ɹ ɪ k t ə ɹ z WORD_BOUNDARY