Tagged Questions
3
votes
2answers
206 views
What is the correct pronunciation of 垃圾?
The word 垃圾 is sometimes pronounced laji, but other times I've seen it pronounced as lese, which pronunciation is deemed to be more correct? Are they both interchangeable?
9
votes
4answers
543 views
How to pronounce “下载”
How to pronounce the word "下载", "xià zǎi" or "xià zài"？
Most Chinese people pronounce it "xià zǎi", but there are some people insist on pronouncing it "xià zài". There are different also different ...
3
votes
4answers
199 views
Pronunciation of 那个
I'm surprised this question hasn't been asked yet!
The pinyin for 那个 is nà gè, but in conversation, Chinese people often pronounce it more like nee-guh than nah-guh. I asked my teacher and she says ...
0
votes
4answers
127 views
Does 上嗨 work as a pun for 上海?
While riding the subway in Shanghai last week, I glanced at the TV playing some commercials and saw what looked like a slightly off spelling of the city's name (上海). I could not get a very good look ...
4
votes
1answer
169 views
The development of rhotic vowels in Mandarin
Schuessler's reconstruction of the Old Chinese reading of 二 is *ńźi. It seems there is a correspondence between OC syllables beginning in *ń or *ńź and Mandarin syllables romanised as er.
However, ...
4
votes
4answers
202 views
How to pronounce 儿 in conjunction with other characters
The textbook I'm reading now has liberal sprinklings of the 儿 character suffixing words that I have not previously seen suffixed.
For example: 空儿。
How should this be pronounced? Are there any rules ...
3
votes
2answers
509 views
Characteristics of Northern and Southern accents
My first language is Cantonese. I learned Mandarin as a second language. Native speakers of Mandarin often understand me with no major issues. Of course, they recognize the Southern accents right ...
6
votes
3answers
151 views
When is the spelling and the pronunciation different?
I noticed that sometimes certain finals in Chinese sound differently when combined with different initials. For e.g., what is spelled "u" sometimes is pronounced "ü". Other times, I think the final ...
4
votes
4answers
628 views
How to convert from hanyu pinyin to IPA?
Where can I find a table showing the relation between hanyu pinyin spelling and IPA for all phonemes in Mandarin?
9
votes
3answers
208 views
When do the tones change?
Sometimes, in certain combinations of tones or words, the tones change. Where can I find a complete list of all tone changes that occur in Mandarin?
7
votes
5answers
489 views
What software can correct pronunciation?
What software is available which can record my voice and warn me about problems with my pronunciation and tones?
6
votes
5answers
1k views
Tips for pronouncing X vs SH in Mandarin?
I'd like to think my Mandarin pronunciation is generally pretty reasonable, but I often get tripped up with X and SH - for example words like 雪 and 水, or 虾 and 莎. Even with different tones, I find ...
