Questions tagged [accent]
13 questions
19
votes
9 answers
Why Cantonese is considered as a dialect of Chinese?
Can someone explain why Cantonese is considered as a dialect of Chinese, instead of a language? It is also for any language exist in China, both land and Taiwan (Cantonese, Hunanese, Fujianese, Taiwanese, etc.).
AFAIK, dialect is differ from…
mrjimoy_05
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7
votes
2 answers
How is non-standard Cantonese spoken by some mainland Chinese speakers different from "standard" pronunciation?
As someone who's more or less a native Cantonese speaker, I've noticed that some speakers from mainland China (from Cantonese speaking areas) sound "weird", in that I could clearly notice a difference between them and Hong Kong…
user5714
6
votes
5 answers
Why do Chinese "extend" the last word when speaking?
I've hear on many occasions that Chinese prolong the last word in a sentence, for example:
ni hao ma ?
becomes
ni hao maaaaa ?
(I'm not sure that's clear enough but can't think of a better way to describe)
What is the purpose of this? Does it…
dr Hannibal Lecter
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2 answers
Do some (prestige?) accents swap /v/ or /f/ for /w/?
I have only a layman's grasp of phonology and a poor ear to boot, but it seems to me that for many Chinese whom I am told have markedly standard pronunciation, /w/ and some type of labiodental fricative are interchangeable. For instance, listen to…
Benjameno
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5
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2 answers
Chinese words for "accent"
The English word accent, as in the flavor of one's speech, is typically translated as 口音 or 腔调. What is the difference between these two Chinese expressions?
user9272
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4
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2 answers
Why does someone in our apartment complex yell something like "dòuhé" at around 8am?
Basically every morning at around 8am, there's someone outside my apartment in Beijing yelling something that sounds like dòuhé, which is audible in everyone's apartment.
I managed to record him saying it: here.
I have no idea what this means (I…
Becky 李蓓
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How "bad" is a Taiwanese accent on the mainland?
If I learn to talk like my co-worker from Taipei, is that likely to make things difficult for me on the mainland (whether by impeding understanding or by arousing suspicions)?
I have no idea if and when I'll visit either China, but I've been…
伟思礼
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2
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Accent on "dou1" (all) after a subject
Let's take into consideration these examples:
Ta1 men dou1 bu4 xi3 huan1 wo3. They all dislike me.
Zhong1 guo2 de cheng2 shi4 dou1 hen3 da4. All the Chinese cities are big.
To my European brain "dou1" is a part of a subject. I see/ hear/ think:
Ta1…
musialmi
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2
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2 answers
how do dialects deal with two seperate falling tones accents?
I've asked a similar question before:
Dialects/Topolects: Tone Marks?
but I want to make this more specific here.
I know not everyone agrees with tone accents in dialects/topolects - but just for the sake of argument - how should it be done?
I…
Mou某
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Do Southern Chinese speakers have any greater propensity towards using 啦 than Northern Chinese speakers?
I'll provide some context that leads me to suspect this. I am the American born son of Overseas Chinese who were born and raised in Myanmar. The dominant household language ended up being a mixture of the Taishanese variant of Cantonese and Burmese,…
Pender
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vote
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Is the accent in the south that different?
I'm thinking of going to China for a year to finalize my chinese. Right now it's super basic, but I'm slowly getting through HSK4. I did a bit of research on costs and standard curriculum structure.
Schools I looked at:
Wuhan University
Jinan…
Zheng-rong Cai
- 187
- 4
1
vote
2 answers
Do any Chinese languages or dialects contain a rolled/trilled R?
From 20:00 to 22:00 of this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnMeISMY6eM), the speaker appears to pronounce the R sound with standard Mandarin pronunciation in 若 and 仍然. However, he rolls the R in 肉. He also taps his R in 人, but not as…
K Man
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0
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Why does Cantonese sound vaguely British?
Speaking as a native speaker of American English, I notice from my perspective that Cantonese speakers tend to sound more "British" than Mandarin speakers. I'm not just referring to Hong Kong, but wherever Cantonese is spoken. Can anyone verify this…
K Man
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