Questions on specific points regarding the ability to use the correct consonants, vowels, tone, stress, rhythm and intonation of a word in a spoken Chinese
1
vote
2answers
94 views
How is pronunciation discussed in Chinese?
Here's an English example:
Learner: Wait, how is cow pronounced?
Native: COW, like a K sound, and ow.
But in Chinese there are no phonetic letters. So how are children taught how to pronounce ...
3
votes
2answers
205 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?
0
votes
1answer
147 views
Pronouncing pinyin “c” in Shanxi dialect
I had thought I knew how to pronounce pinyin "c," like the English "ts" in "cats." But on a trip to Shanxi it seemed like most of my friends were pronouncing it like pinyin "ch." Village names ending ...
3
votes
9answers
474 views
How can I pronounce 绿 (lü4 - green)?
My wife gave up trying to correct me on how to pronounce green.
I find it very hard to get a distinct sound from the word for 绿 (lü4 - green), Lu, and, Liu (as in Liu Bei). Obviously, Lu is exactly ...
4
votes
1answer
149 views
Pronunciation of 和 in Taiwan
This is something that I noticed in Taiwanese Mandarin TV series and films. It seems that they pronounce this character as hàn instead of the commonly accepted hé.
For example, 我和你 is pronounced wǒ ...
2
votes
2answers
159 views
Pronunciation of 比较
On a CCTV 9 show shot in Shanghai, a couple of people who were certainly speaking Putonghua have made comparisons and if I heard right they were pronouncing 比较 as "biao." Am I wrong? Is that a common ...
8
votes
4answers
163 views
How do Chinese people pronounce Latin characters?
I hear that "Windows XP" is commonly called "Chā P" because the letter "X" may be pronounced "Chā".
Are there other Latin characters that have similarly peculiar pronunciations?
12
votes
6answers
607 views
Why is 的 (de) sometimes pronounced “di” even though it is used as a possessive particle?
I've noticed sometimes the word 的 is pronounced as "di" rather than "de".
I'm aware that there is a valid use of 的 with pronunciation "di", which means "really and trully".
However for the sentence: ...
3
votes
5answers
214 views
How is the pinyin 'iu' pronounced?
How does one pronounce the 'iu' sound (as in liu4 = six)?
I have always said it and heard it to end in an [joʊ] sound, as in 'low', 'go', and 'sew'.
But once I was told that it should actually be a ...
2
votes
4answers
153 views
What is the pronunciation of 行 according to its context?
行 can be pronunced háng or xíng.
As far as I have seen, it means "OK, to go, profession", and many more other meanings.
Could you briefly summarize the usage of it and its corresponding ...
2
votes
3answers
163 views
Is there more than one way to pronounce “knee” in Chinese?
My daughter's preschool has a Mandarin language immersion program and the teacher (from Fuzhou, Fujian province) seems to pronounce "knee" (膝盖) as qīgài instead of xīgài.
Is qīgài a correct ...
2
votes
2answers
123 views
“一块” versus “一块儿” in Beijing
From some experience in Beijing, some on CCTV 9, and some reading, I begin to suspect that in Beijing the pronunciation "一块" is more often used for the count noun, and "一块儿" is more often used to mean ...
5
votes
6answers
358 views
Pronunciation of “因为”
因为 is usually pronounced as yīn wèi, but sometimes I hear it pronounced as yīn wéi which really brings out the meaning as reason (yīn) being (wéi).
Which pronunciation came about first? Do regional ...
2
votes
3answers
167 views
Locale pronunciations of standard mandarin [closed]
When I first came to China, I was quite disappointed to find out that, in so many places, the colloquial pronunciation was so greatly different from the one I've studied so far. The phonological ...
6
votes
1answer
162 views
How do non-native speakers get to perceive tones in Chinese?
Recently I've been teaching an English-speaking friend some basics about Chinese, but inevitably he got stuck with the tones. I've demonstrated to him the 4 tones with audio files, yet it seems hard ...
4
votes
2answers
273 views
Different pronounciation for the number 'one'?
Was talking to my friend (native Chinese) the other day and when she read out a phone number she said "yao" for all the "ones" in the phone number.
However, as far as I remember, for all other cases ...
1
vote
1answer
158 views
Does tone sandhi apply to 成语
In my previous question I found the following about tone sandhi and yī 'one':
yī on its own or not followed by other tones
yī → yí when followed by a fourth tone
yī → yì when followed by ...
2
votes
2answers
198 views
pronunciation of 人 - regional or gender differences?
To my English tuned ear, these audio files of people pronouncing 人 sound very different.
My colleague (a native Mandarin speaker) insists they are the same sound, and thinks I am just confused ...
9
votes
3answers
320 views
血: xuè , xiě, what's the difference?
Is there some sort of logical rule for when 血 is xuè and when it is xiě?
2
votes
1answer
172 views
Pronunciation differences between pinyin 'zh' and 'ch', and between 'qi' and 'xi'
Although this question states that these sounds can be often mixed (though mainly in dialtects...)
Do you know where I could find a detailed description of position and movement of the tongue
for ...
5
votes
2answers
263 views
Pronunciation of 一 in 一个
When I first learnt the numbers, I learnt 一 with the first tone yi1.
But now, during a Memrise lesson, they teach me that 一个 should be pronounced yi2 ge4 or yi2 ge5.
Is this correct and, if so, is ...
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 ...
1
vote
2answers
144 views
Authoritative source for 一 changing to 4th tone before 1st, 2nd or 3rd
In another users answer http://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/2046/38 they said:
一 is pronounced in the first tone when it stands alone. It is
pronounced in the fourth tone when it precedes a ...
5
votes
1answer
193 views
Pinyin “ying” has an “o” sound?
Look at 1:54 and 5:22 of this video: Chinese Pinyin in 6 Mins
Is ying really pronounced with an "o" sound? This seems counterintuitive, especially when yin (at 1:49 in the video) sounds as a native ...
3
votes
2answers
156 views
Tips for multiple-pronunciation characters (多音字)
This is a broad request for tips, but I have a specific question in mind as well.
尽 can be pronounced as "jin4" or "jin3".
In Pleco, the definition for "jin3" is "to the greatest extent" while one ...
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?
4
votes
1answer
105 views
How does tone sandhi apply in people's names?
Like the title says, the question is simple: what's the proper way to handle tone sandhi in names? Is there something like "pronounce the family name as-is, apply tone sandhi to given name"? Or is ...
1
vote
3answers
228 views
Pinyin tones pronunciation cheat sheet
I've just started taking Chinese lessons, and I've been trying to find a "cheat sheet" for pinyin pronunciation. All the sites I've found is either incomplete (only having some tones), only having the ...
3
votes
2answers
181 views
Is it common for zh/j, ch/q, and sh/x to be merged?
I learned formally that in the standard Beijing accent, zh, ch, and sh are pronounced more in the back in the mouth than j, q, and x. However, I got lazy and speak all six of these consonants in the ...
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 ...
4
votes
2answers
162 views
pronunciation of 着 in 怎么着
As most of you will probably know, 着 can be pronounced in many ways (depending on the context).
I'm wondering how the 着 in 爱怎么着就怎么着 (meaning: do as you like) should be pronounced. Is it zhe or zhao1, ...
2
votes
2answers
129 views
What is considered to be the most difficult sound for native English speakers to pronounce?
When I was first learning Chinese, I found the e4 - 饿 & v3/v4 - 女/绿 sounds to be the most problematic.
Has there been any research into this? If so, what sounds are generally the most problematic ...
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
168 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, ...
3
votes
2answers
79 views
Is there a tone sandhi for 2nd-tone-2nd-tone names?
I stayed in Taiwan for a few months and made friends with Tiántián (恬恬, a second tone character repeated twice). However, I heard everyone say her name as Tiǎntián (third tone followed by second ...
2
votes
2answers
77 views
Can 会儿 be pronounced 3rd tone?
The word 会儿 means "a short amount of time." All dictionaries I have checked say that the correct pronunciation of this word is huìr (i.e., 4th tone). Nevertheless, I am fairly sure that I have heard ...
7
votes
2answers
186 views
Where can I find recordings of people reading things now that mp3.baidu.com is dead? [closed]
Baidu's MP3 search engine used to be my first stop when studying anything Chinese. Absurdly, even recordings of relatively rare poetry (for instance) were easy to find. These recordings were not ...
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 ...
8
votes
7answers
834 views
How is the “r” sound pronounced?
One of the most trickiest sounds to pronounce correctly in Mandarin seems to be the "r" sound, as in 日本 (rì běn). It's not uncommon to hear people pronounce that like "urban."
I have been told it's ...
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?
3
votes
2answers
508 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
259 views
Why is it written LIU in Pinyin, when there's clearly an O sound?
Does anybody know why this decision was made in Pinyin, about not writing any hint of the sound /O/ in liu, instead of writing something like liou or liow ?
Because the first reaction of any ...
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 ...
7
votes
6answers
349 views
Do acronyms borrowed from English use neutral tone for all syllables?
I was just reading a Q&A here about Chinese words for DVD and the discussion also included other acronyms from English.
It struck me that nobody wrote the pinyin for any of the terms which made ...
15
votes
6answers
474 views
Techniques for improving pronunciation
Are there any recommended resources or methodologies to improve your Chinese pronunciation?
Besides having a native speaker at your disposal, are there any tools that can help to correct ...
5
votes
5answers
201 views
Why do I see 我 for I, but is pronounced WAH
I'm corrected to pronounce WAH instead of "wǒ".
Is it the same and I just hear it wrong in my head? Or is there a difference in dialect?
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?
3
votes
3answers
383 views
Where can I find audio recordings of every word?
Where can I find audio recordings (i.e. individual MP3s or WAVs) for every Chinese words? I have found some recordings of Chinese, but these only contain individual phonemes, not entire words. I am ...
2
votes
3answers
86 views
Which tone is it (in pinyin)?
Following on from this question Asking for "transcription"
I've had difficulty previously asking native speakers which tone I should use for a particular character if I can't pick it by ...
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 ...
