Difference between revisions of "Pronunciation variant"
 
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{{Pronunciation Box}}
 
{{Pronunciation Box}}
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{{AKA|irregular tones, 不规范声调}}
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{{AKA|irregular tones, 不规范声调, 音位变体}}
  
 
There are certain words in modern Mandarin which are pronounced one way according to almost any standard dictionary, but are pronounced differently in the speech of most native speakers. Often it is simply a different tone; other times there are greater differences.  
 
There are certain words in modern Mandarin which are pronounced one way according to almost any standard dictionary, but are pronounced differently in the speech of most native speakers. Often it is simply a different tone; other times there are greater differences.  
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What can make these "pronunciation variants" particularly frustrating for learners is that some Chinese teachers will teach to the dictionary, denying the fact of what most Chinese people actually say. (It can even feel like a conspiracy theory at times!) A good teacher will point out the discrepancy between what the dictionary says and what most native speakers actually say, however. Since the dictionary is of little help in this situation, the list below should help you keep your sanity.
 
What can make these "pronunciation variants" particularly frustrating for learners is that some Chinese teachers will teach to the dictionary, denying the fact of what most Chinese people actually say. (It can even feel like a conspiracy theory at times!) A good teacher will point out the discrepancy between what the dictionary says and what most native speakers actually say, however. Since the dictionary is of little help in this situation, the list below should help you keep your sanity.
  
−
== The Pronunciation Variant List ==
+
== The Short Pronunciation Variant List ==
 +
 
 +
This list contains the most frequent examples. The ones you are most likely to have encountered already.
 +
 
 +
<table class="table table-striped table-bordered table-hover">
 +
<tr>
 +
<th>Word</th>
 +
<th>Dictionary Says</th>
 +
<th>People Pronounce It</th>
 +
</tr>
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>办公室</td>
 +
<td>bàngōngshì</td>
 +
<td>bàngōngshǐ</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>出血</td>
 +
<td>chūxiě, chūxuè</td>
 +
<td>chūxuě</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>复杂</td>
 +
<td>fùzá</td>
 +
<td>fǔzá</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>角色</td>
 +
<td>juésè</td>
 +
<td>jiǎosè</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>下载</td>
 +
<td>xiàzài</td>
 +
<td>xiàzǎi</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>因为</td>
 +
<td>yīnwèi</td>
 +
<td>yīnwéi</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>照片</td>
 +
<td>zhàopiàn</td>
 +
<td>zhàopiān</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>主意</td>
 +
<td>zhǔyi</td>
 +
<td>zhúyi</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
</table>
 +
 
 +
== The Full Pronunciation Variant List ==
 +
 
 +
This list is by no means complete. We're adding to it all the time.
  
 
<table class="table table-striped table-bordered table-hover">
 
<table class="table table-striped table-bordered table-hover">
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<td>fēiwén</td>
 
<td>fēiwén</td>
 
<td>fěiwén</td>
 
<td>fěiwén</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>氛围</td>
 +
<td>fēnwéi</td>
 +
<td>fènwéi</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
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<td>píngjǐng</td>
 
<td>píngjǐng</td>
 
<td>píngjìng</td>
 
<td>píngjìng</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>生肖</td>
 +
<td>shēngxiào</td>
 +
<td>shēngxiāo</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>束缚</td>
 +
<td>shùfù</td>
 +
<td>shùfú</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
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<td>xiàzài</td>
 
<td>xiàzài</td>
 
<td>xiàzǎi</td>
 
<td>xiàzǎi</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>肖像</td>
 +
<td>xiàoxiàng</td>
 +
<td>xiāoxiàng</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
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<td>xiānwéi</td>
 
<td>xiānwéi</td>
 
<td>qiānwéi</td>
 
<td>qiānwéi</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>新冠</td>
 +
<td>xīnguān</td>
 +
<td>xīnguàn</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
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<td>yùnjī</td>
 
<td>yùnjī</td>
 
<td>yūnjī</td>
 
<td>yūnjī</td>
 +
</tr>
 +
<tr>
 +
<td>照片</td>
 +
<td>zhàopiàn</td>
 +
<td>zhàopiān</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
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<td>zhúyi</td>
 
<td>zhúyi</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
−
<tr>
+
 
−
<td>新冠</td>
 
−
<td>xīnguān</td>
 
−
<td>xīnguàn</td>
 
−
</tr>
 
 
</table>
 
</table>
  
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The "People Pronounce It" column could be a bit misleading. Note that it doesn't say "''ALL'' People Pronounce It" or "''MOST'' People Pronounce It" or even "''SOME'' People Pronounce It", because it really depends on the word. So while ''almost no one'' pronounces 下载 as "xiàzài" (almost everyone says "xiàzǎi" in natural speech), it's not nearly as one-sided for 脂肪 and "zhīfáng" vs. "zhǐfáng". We don't currently have a good data-backed way to indicate to what degree the "People Pronounce It" pronunciation is bucking the trend, but at least we can record the major trends here.
 
The "People Pronounce It" column could be a bit misleading. Note that it doesn't say "''ALL'' People Pronounce It" or "''MOST'' People Pronounce It" or even "''SOME'' People Pronounce It", because it really depends on the word. So while ''almost no one'' pronounces 下载 as "xiàzài" (almost everyone says "xiàzǎi" in natural speech), it's not nearly as one-sided for 脂肪 and "zhīfáng" vs. "zhǐfáng". We don't currently have a good data-backed way to indicate to what degree the "People Pronounce It" pronunciation is bucking the trend, but at least we can record the major trends here.
  
 +
In terms of theory, this whole page falls right in the middle of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_prescription linguistic prescriptivism] vs. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_description linguistic descriptivism] debate. That is, should linguistics (and teachers) tell people how they ''should'' pronounce words, or should they tell us how most people ''actually'' pronounce words? Most modern linguists will fall on the '''descriptivist''' side of the debate: language is what it is, and there's no sense in denying what you don't like.
 +
 +
== Sources and further reading ==
 +
 +
* Wikipedia: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_prescription linguistic prescriptivism]
 +
* Wikipedia: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_description linguistic descriptivism]
 +
* Hacking Chinese: [https://www.hackingchinese.com/about-right-and-wrong-when-learning-chinese/ Can native speakers be wrong about Chinese grammar and pronunciation?]
 +
 +
[[Category:Tones]]
 
{{Basic Pronunciation|B2|10|What happens when a word has a certain pinyin reading in the dictionary, but is often pronounced differently by native speakers? It ends up on this list!|tone|ASP00020}}
 
{{Basic Pronunciation|B2|10|What happens when a word has a certain pinyin reading in the dictionary, but is often pronounced differently by native speakers? It ends up on this list!|tone|ASP00020}}

Latest revision as of 07:31, 15 August 2022

Also known as: irregular tones, 不规范声调, 音位变体.

There are certain words in modern Mandarin which are pronounced one way according to almost any standard dictionary, but are pronounced differently in the speech of most native speakers. Often it is simply a different tone; other times there are greater differences.

What can make these "pronunciation variants" particularly frustrating for learners is that some Chinese teachers will teach to the dictionary, denying the fact of what most Chinese people actually say. (It can even feel like a conspiracy theory at times!) A good teacher will point out the discrepancy between what the dictionary says and what most native speakers actually say, however. Since the dictionary is of little help in this situation, the list below should help you keep your sanity.

The Short Pronunciation Variant List

This list contains the most frequent examples. The ones you are most likely to have encountered already.

Word Dictionary Says People Pronounce It
办公室 bàngōngshì bàngōngshǐ
出血 chūxiě, chūxuè chūxuě
复杂 fùzá fǔzá
角色 juésè jiǎosè
下载 xiàzài xiàzǎi
因为 yīnwèi yīnwéi
照片 zhàopiàn zhàopiān
主意 zhǔyi zhúyi

The Full Pronunciation Variant List

This list is by no means complete. We're adding to it all the time.

Word Dictionary Says People Pronounce It
办公室 bàngōngshì bàngōngshǐ
曝光 bàoguāng pùguāng
秘鲁 Bìlǔ Mìlǔ
比较 bǐjiào bǐjiǎo
惩罚 chéngfá chěngfá
乘务员 chéngwùyuán chèngwùyuán
成绩 chéngjì chéngjī
出血 chūxiě, chūxuè chūxuě
档案 dàng'àn dǎng'àn
蛋挞 dàntà dàntǎ
绯闻 fēiwén fěiwén
氛围 fēnwéi fènwéi
符合 fúhé fǔhé
复杂 fùzá fǔzá
狗狗 gǒugou gǒugóu
骨头 gǔtou gútou
好莱坞 Hǎoláiwù Hǎoláiwū
烘焙 hōngbèi hōngpéi
馄饨 húntun húndùn
结果 jiéguǒ jiēguǒ
结束 jiéshù jiésù
接种 jiēzhòng jiēzhǒng
角色 juésè jiǎosè
尽管 jǐnguǎn jìnguǎn
尽量 jǐnliàng jìnliàng
马甲 mǎjiǎ májiá
勉强 miǎnqiǎng miǎnqiáng
内疚 nèijiù nèijiū
昵称 nìchēng níchēng
瓶颈 píngjǐng píngjìng
生肖 shēngxiào shēngxiāo
束缚 shùfù shùfú
文件夹 wénjiànjiā wénjiànjiá
下载 xiàzài xiàzǎi
肖像 xiàoxiàng xiāoxiàng
纤维 xiānwéi qiānwéi
新冠 xīnguān xīnguàn
业绩 yèjì yèjī
因为 yīnwèi yīnwéi
油炸 yóuzhá yóuzhà
晕机 yùnjī yūnjī
照片 zhàopiàn zhàopiān
脂肪 zhīfáng zhǐfáng
质量 zhìliàng zhǐliàng
主意 zhǔyi zhúyi

A Note on "People Pronounce It"

The "People Pronounce It" column could be a bit misleading. Note that it doesn't say "ALL People Pronounce It" or "MOST People Pronounce It" or even "SOME People Pronounce It", because it really depends on the word. So while almost no one pronounces 下载 as "xiàzài" (almost everyone says "xiàzǎi" in natural speech), it's not nearly as one-sided for 脂肪 and "zhīfáng" vs. "zhǐfáng". We don't currently have a good data-backed way to indicate to what degree the "People Pronounce It" pronunciation is bucking the trend, but at least we can record the major trends here.

In terms of theory, this whole page falls right in the middle of the linguistic prescriptivism vs. linguistic descriptivism debate. That is, should linguistics (and teachers) tell people how they should pronounce words, or should they tell us how most people actually pronounce words? Most modern linguists will fall on the descriptivist side of the debate: language is what it is, and there's no sense in denying what you don't like.

Sources and further reading

Retrieved from "https://resources.allsetlearning.com/pronwiki/?title=Pronunciation_variant&oldid=4707"