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In Mandarin, sometimes 質 is pronounced with the 2nd tone (e.g., 質地, 特質) and other times it's pronounced with the 4th tone (e.g., 質疑, 質量, 品質).

Here are two words pronounced with the 2nd tone:

There doesn't appear to be a clear pattern.

Does anyone know any rules for when to pronounce 質 with 2nd tone vs. 4th tone?

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5
  • Where did you see that it can be pronounced as the 2nd tone?
    – fefe
    Sep 15, 2017 at 23:47
  • @fefe here: cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/1028/?full=true and also google translate (when you check the words listed).
    – Crashalot
    Sep 15, 2017 at 23:49
  • 小马词典： Taiwan pr. [zhi2]
    – user6065
    Sep 16, 2017 at 1:37
  • @TangHo thanks for the fast response! the cantonese dictionary site lists 2nd tone for some words as indicated in the question. could it be 2nd tone in taiwan and 4th tone in china?
    – Crashalot
    Sep 30, 2017 at 23:59
  • I posted my opinion in an answer. Your question remind me of a question I asked chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/22333/…
    – Tang Ho ♦
    Oct 1, 2017 at 0:18

3 Answers 3

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1

質(quality/ hostage) has only one pinyin /zhi4 / in Mandarin. the link http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/1028/ you posted also confirmed this fact.

In Cantonese:

  • 質(quality) is read as /jan4/ as in '品質'

  • 質(hostage) is read as /zi3/ as in '人質'

In Mandarin:

  • '質' in both '品質' and '人質' are pronounced /zhi4 /

The Taiwan dictionary listed /zhi2/ as the pinyin for noun and /zhi4/ as the pinyin for verb seem to be an archaic practice. Apparently, the two different readings of verb and noun for 質 had been consolidated into only one in modern Mandarin.

My conclusion is, modern Mandarin only read '質' as /zhi4/ ; The /zhi2/ pinyin is either archaic or limited in regional use in Taiwan

Edition:

  • When the meanings of 質 are related to Jyutping ‘zat1’ (quality), both zhi4 (China) and zhi2 (Taiwan) are standard readings;

  • When the meanings of 質 are related to Jyutping 'zi3 ' (hostage) , 'zhi4' is the standard in both China and Taiwan

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  • The Cantonese site references some words with zhi2, hence the confusion. The question is updated with two of these words with zhi2 instead of zhi4. Thanks!
    – Crashalot
    Oct 2, 2017 at 4:48
  • Thanks for answering so far, looking forward to what you say after seeing the new links in the question.
    – Crashalot
    Oct 2, 2017 at 4:50
  • hi tang, did you get to see the links in the question which show 質 in the second tone on the cantonese dictionary? thanks again for your help!
    – Crashalot
    Oct 6, 2017 at 23:43
  • CantoDict made a mistake. I will notify the editor
    – Tang Ho ♦
    Oct 6, 2017 at 23:53
  • @Crashalot -- After consulting the editor of CantoDict, it is confirmed the /zhi2/ pinyin is unique to Taiwan, a regional variant of / zhi4/. That means you can use it, but people would think you are from Taiwan -reference: cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/…
    – Tang Ho ♦
    Oct 7, 2017 at 3:55
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You should always pronounce the 4th tone in the standard mandarin.

Sometimes, I heard people wrongly pronounced the 2nd tone in the words of 质量，质地, which is probably acceptable to a native ear. But again that's wrong pronunciation.

But if you pronounce the 2nd tone for 质疑，品质, it's really bad (at least to me).

An interesting observation, in a online dictionary, I search for 质地， and it's marked the 4th tone for simplified and 2th tone for traditional one. So, I doubt this could be regional thing as fefe suggested in his/her answer.

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2

In Mainland China, 质 is always zhi4, the 4th tone.

In the words listed in cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/1028/?full=true , you can see same [TW] marks (like the following) :

神經質 san4 ging1 zat1 shen2 jing1 [TW] zhi2 [PRC] zhi4

That may be where the zhi2 sound comes from (although some of the words do not have the mark). But I do not have a dictionary from Taiwan to check how it is regulated there.

As for Google translate, it is not a great source for this kind research, and I want to report a bug if I can.

Edit:

Found an online dictionary in Taiwan, and 质 has two pronunciations there:

zhi2 :
[名]
1 事物的根本、特性。如：「特質」、「流質」。《論語．衛靈公》：「君子義以為質，禮以行之。」《史記．卷二四．樂書》：「中正無邪，禮之質也。」
2 人的天性稟賦。如：「資質」。
3 樸實的本性。如：「文質彬彬」。《論語．雍也》：「質勝文則野，文勝質則史。」《韓非子．解老》：「夫君子取情而去貌，好質而惡飾。」
4 形軀、形體。三國魏．曹植〈愍志賦〉：「豈良時之難俟，痛余質之日虧。」
5 箭靶、標的。《荀子．勸學》：「是故質的張而弓矢至焉。」《後漢書．卷六十上．馬融》：「流矢雨墜，各指所質。」
6 古代的一種刑具。《史記．卷九六．張丞相傳》：「蒼坐法當斬，解衣伏質。」
[動]
詰問。《禮記．中庸》：「質諸鬼神而無疑。」

zhi4:
[動]
用財物或人作保證以為抵押。如：「質押」。《戰國策．趙策四》：「於是為長安君約車百乘，質於齊，齊兵乃出。」
[名]
拜見長輩時奉上的見面禮。通「贄」。《孟子．滕文公下》：「出疆必載質。」漢．趙岐．注：「質，臣所執以見君者也。」《史記．卷八四．屈原賈生傳》：「乃令張儀詳去秦，厚幣委質事楚。」

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4
  • +1, as you point out it could be regional. 2nd tone may be inherited from classical Chinese I guess. In modern mandarin, we always stay the 4th tone. But sometime, we might apply 2nd tone in the word 质量 I think. It's considered to be wrong.
    – dan
    Sep 16, 2017 at 0:12
  • Thanks, it could definitely be Taiwanese but even Google varies here and there. Perhaps Google is not reliable as you said. Would you kindly mind translating the meaning of the Taiwanese dictionary? Thanks again!
    – Crashalot
    Sep 16, 2017 at 1:00
  • @Crashalot the translation might be too hard for me ... basicly it is only zhi4 when it means gift or pledge.
    – fefe
    Sep 16, 2017 at 1:31
  • @fefe so what you are saying is 質 is pronounced zhi2 in Taiwan (with few exceptions) and zhi4 in Mainland China? Thanks again!
    – Crashalot
    Sep 16, 2017 at 1:40

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