Difference between revisions of "Erhua"

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{{AKA|erization|儿化 (érhuà)|儿化音 (érhuàyīn)}}
 
{{AKA|erization|儿化 (érhuà)|儿化音 (érhuàyīn)}}
  
"Erhua" refers to the addition of a final "-r" sound to a syllable in Mandarin. It is especially common in the Beijing [[dialect]], but is also a feature of [[standard Chinese]] as well.
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"Erhua" refers to the addition of a final "[[-r]]" sound to a syllable in Mandarin. It is especially common in the Beijing [[dialect]], but is also a feature of [[standard Chinese]] as well.
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== A Few Rules about Erhua ==
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Erhua can be confusing to beginners because it's slightly more complicated than simply adding an "[[-r]]" sound to the end of a syllable.
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# The character 儿 (ér) can be a syllable, as in the two-syllable word 儿子 (érzi), but erhua is not a syllable; it is pronounced as part of the syllable that it attaches to
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# When you add erhua to the end of a syllable ending in [[-n]] or [[-ng]], you don't pronounce the [[-n]] or [[-ng]]; you pronounce the final [[-r]] sound instead
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# The vowel sound of a syllable may change slightly with the addition of the erhua (e.g. "[[shi]] + [[-r]]" may sound kind of like "''shar''")
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# Erhua can be written as 儿, but it doesn't need to be written to be pronounced (e.g. a southerner will generally pronounce 花 as "huā", but a Beijinger will pronounce it as "huār")
  
 
== Common Examples of Erhua ==
 
== Common Examples of Erhua ==
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== Writing Erhua ==
 
== Writing Erhua ==
  
花儿、哪儿
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For a few select words, it is customary to write out the erhua using the character 儿:
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哪儿
  
 
== Optional Erhua ==
 
== Optional Erhua ==
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For many other words, writing the 儿 is optional. Northerners will likely pronounce the following words, no matter whether it is written with or without the 儿.
  
 
 
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== Sources and further reading ==
 
== Sources and further reading ==
  
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* MIT.edu: [http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.102/s06/audio/Unit%205.15%20Pronun%20erhua.mp3 Erhua Recordings] (MP3)
 
* Wikipedia: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhua Erhua]
 
* Wikipedia: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhua Erhua]
 
* Wikipedia: [http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%92%E5%8C%96%E9%9F%B3 儿化音]
 
* Wikipedia: [http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%92%E5%8C%96%E9%9F%B3 儿化音]

Revision as of 14:36, 21 February 2015

Also known as: erization, 儿化 (érhuà) and 儿化音 (érhuàyīn).

"Erhua" refers to the addition of a final "-r" sound to a syllable in Mandarin. It is especially common in the Beijing dialect, but is also a feature of standard Chinese as well.

A Few Rules about Erhua

Erhua can be confusing to beginners because it's slightly more complicated than simply adding an "-r" sound to the end of a syllable.

  1. The character 儿 (ér) can be a syllable, as in the two-syllable word 儿子 (érzi), but erhua is not a syllable; it is pronounced as part of the syllable that it attaches to
  2. When you add erhua to the end of a syllable ending in -n or -ng, you don't pronounce the -n or -ng; you pronounce the final -r sound instead
  3. The vowel sound of a syllable may change slightly with the addition of the erhua (e.g. "shi + -r" may sound kind of like "shar")
  4. Erhua can be written as 儿, but it doesn't need to be written to be pronounced (e.g. a southerner will generally pronounce 花 as "huā", but a Beijinger will pronounce it as "huār")

Common Examples of Erhua

花儿

Writing Erhua

For a few select words, it is customary to write out the erhua using the character 儿:

哪儿

Optional Erhua

For many other words, writing the 儿 is optional. Northerners will likely pronounce the following words, no matter whether it is written with or without the 儿.

Sources and further reading