I’ve been editing Mandarin entries on Wiktionary for about a year now, and one unexpected phenomenon I have come across is, for the lack of a better term, “variant pronunciations”. Mandarin as we know it has been heavily standardised over the years, and we have come to think of “readings” of Chinese characters or word combinations as extremely fixed. However whilst the dictionary might dictate one particular way to pronounce something, in real life speakers are not so pedantic, and many variants exist.
Some variants are extremely common and are often not even questioned by the Chinese people since, for many, Mandarin is their first language (let us not forget that, for many other Chinese people, Mandarin is a second or even third language, but that’s for another post). Of course, you could argue that variant pronunciations are just as prevalent as in any other language, but paying attention to the differences is even more important for learners of Mandarin because tones play such a huge role in indicating actual words in the midst of so many homophones. To make matters worse, dictionaries and textbooks almost never mention them, perhaps because they don’t want to lose sight of teaching “pure” or “standard” Mandarin to the exclusion of real-life aspects of the language.
Anyway, what follows is a (very incomplete) list of variant pronunciations I have encountered. Try asking about them with your Chinese-speaking friends and see which ones they prefer to use; an interesting conversation is sure to follow.
Dictionary VS Real-Life
The first pronunciation (or, technically speaking, romanisation; if I knew IPA I would provide it for you), is the reading given in most dictionaries; the second is the most common “street reading” you’re bound to come across.
- 比较 bǐjiào or bǐjiǎo <adv.> comparatively <v.> to compare
- 绯闻 fēiwén or fěiwén <n.> news about sex scandals
- 酵母 jiàomǔ or xiàomǔ <n.> 1. yeast 2. leaven
- 勉强 miǎnqiǎng or miǎnqiáng <adj.> forced; inadequate <adv.> reluctantly; in a forced manner <v.> to force somebody to do something
- 偶尔 ǒuěr or ǒuér <adv.> now and then; sometimes
- 侮辱 wǔrǔ or wūrǔ <n.> insult <v.> to insult
- 因为 yīnwèi or yīnwéi <conj.> because
Mainland China VS Taiwan
There are considerable differences between Mandarin spoken in the PRC and Taiwan; these only scratch the surface.
- 息 xī or xí, as in 鼻息 bíxī or bíxí <n.> 1. breath; breathing (through the nose) 2. (archaic) power; influence; 消息 xiāoxi or xiāoxí <n.> information; news; etc
- 片 piàn or piān, as in 唱片 chàngpiàn or chàngpiān <n.> 1. LP record 2. CD album; 相片 xiàngpiān or xiàngpiàn <n.> (colloquial) photo
- 讽 fěng or fèng, as in 讥讽 jīfěng or jīfèng <v.> to satirise; to ridicule; 讽刺 fěngcì or fèngcì <n.> satire; mockery; ridicule <v.> to satirise; to mock; to ridicule
- 期 qī or qí, as in 按期 ànqī or ànqí <adv> on schedule; on time; 长期 chángqī or chángqí <adv.> long-term <n.> long term; 星期 xīngqī or xīngqí <n.> week
- 蜗牛 wōniú or guā’niú <n.> snail
- 质 zhì or zhí, as in 质量 zhìliàng or zhíliàng <n.> 1. quality 2. mass; 物质 wùzhì or wùzhí <n.> material; substance; etc
- 拥 yōng or yǒng, as in 拥抱 yōngbào <v.> to hug; to embrace; 拥挤 yōngjǐ or yǒngjǐ <adj.> crowded <v.> to crowd; to push and squeeze; etc
Second-syllable Stress
Whether the speaker stresses the second syllable in some words depends a lot on the region in which they are from. It has been argued that southerners tend to emphasise the second syllable with a marked tone, but this is only a generalisation; as Greater China becomes more and more interconnected and globalised, it becomes more difficult to pigeon-hole speakers’ accents into certain rules and regions. This can be compared to the situation in Australia, where although we definitely have a distinctive accent, many people – consciously or unconsciously – have adopted American twangs.
- 别人biérén or biéren <n.> others; other people
- 玻璃 bōlí or bōli <n.> glass
- 程度 chéngdù or chéngdu <n.> degree; extent; level; standard
- 窗户 chuānghù or chuānghu <n.> window
- 聪明 cōngmíng or cōngming <adj.> intelligent; smart
- 打算 dǎsuàn or dǎsuan <v.> to plan; to intend
- 打听 dǎtīng or dǎting <v.> to inquire about; to ask about
- 地方 dìfāng or dìfang <n.> place
- 姑娘 gūniáng or gūniang <n.> 1. girl 2. (dated) daughter 3. (slang) prostitute
- 护士 hùshì or hùshi <n.> nurse
- 困难 kùnnán or kùnnan <adj.> difficult <n.> difficulty
- 朋友 péngyǒu or péngyou <n.> friend
- 似乎 sìhū or sìhu <adv.> as if; seemingly
- 小姐 xiǎojiě or xiǎojie <n.> 1. Miss 2. young lady 3. (slang) prostitute
- 知道 zhīdào or zhīdao <v.> to know
Other Variants
The rest I’ve listed here because I wasn’t sure where else to put them. If anyone knows the regions from where the different readings originate, please leave a comment.
- 拜拜 bàibài, bāibái or báibái <int.> bye bye
- 别价 biéjie or biéjia <int.> don’t; stop
- 会 huì or huǐ, as in 一会儿 yīhuìr or yīhuǐr (or sometimes yìhuǐr)
- 血 xuè or xiě, as in 出血 chūxuè or chūxiě <n.> hemorrhage; bleeding <v.> 1. to bleed 2. (slang) to pay a large amount of money for something; 流血 liúxuè or liúxiě <v.> to spill blood; to bleed; etc
- 落地 luòdì or làodì <adj.> to be on the ground <v.> 1. to fall to the ground 2. to be born
- 谁 shéi or shuí <prn.> who
- 熟悉 shúxī or shóuxi <v.> to know well or be familiar with someone or something
- 哇塞 wāsāi, wāsài, wāsēi, wāsèi, wàsǎi or wàsěi <int.> wow
- 尾巴 wěiba or yǐba <n.> tail
- 榅桲 wēnpo or yùnbó <n.> quince
- 噱头 xuétóu or juétóu, xuētóu in Taiwan <n.> (colloquial) funny or amusing speech or acts; shenanigans; antics
- 作死 zuòsǐ or zuōsǐ <v.> 1. (slang) to seek death 2. (slang) to look for trouble
Re 比较 bǐjiǎo, I have only ever noticed this in Beijing (although it’s quite possible that other parts of northern China pronounce it like this too). But Beijingers don’t always pronounce the 较 in the third tone – only when it is being used as an adverb (e.g. 比较好). When used as a noun (e.g. 作比较) or verb (e.g. 来比较一下) it is pronounced in the “standard” fourth tone.
Re 片: In Beijing at least, if 片 is pronounced in the first tone, it is always rhoticized (儿化音), so a native Beijinger will say “zhàopiānr” for “photo”, but if asked to drop the 儿化, will say “zhàopiàn”.
Some more for the list that I came about this year:
报应 – Dictionary says: bàoyìng. In real life: bàoying
抑制 – Dictionary says: yìzhì. In real life: yìzhi
江苏 – Dictionary says: Jiāngsū. In real life – Jiāngsu
In all all three cases I pronounced the words in the way they are listed in the dictionary and was met with confusion. Suffice to say, I’ll always pronounce them the “real” way in the future.
It should also be mentioned that dropping the tone on the second syllable is much more common on the Mainland than on Taiwan. I’m not a native speaker, but as far as I know, many of the examples you bring up are typically pronounced with full tones in Taiwan.
Some more to add:
尽管 – dictionary: jǐnguǎn. Often pronounced as jìnguǎn.
纤细 – dictionary: xiānxì. Often pronounced as qiānxì.
倾轧 – dictionary: qīngyà. Often pronounced as qīngzhà.
惩罚 – dictionary: chéngfá. Often pronounced as chěngfá.
拖累 – dictionary: tuōlěi. Often pronounced as tuōlèi.
横财 – dictionary: hèngcái. Often pronounced as héngcái.
暂时 – dictionary: zànshí. Often pronounced as zǎnshí or zhànshí.
蓦地 – dictionary: mòde or mòdì. Often pronounced as mùde.
相声 – in mainland China: xiàngsheng. Often pronounced in Taiwan as xiàngshēng.
提供 – dictionary: tígōng. Often pronounced as tígòng.
说服 – dictionary: shuōfú. Often pronounced as shuìfú.
办公室 – dictionary: bàngōngshì. Often pronounced by Northern Mandarin speakers as bàngōngshǐ.
Here’s three more I came across recently.
轻薄 – a lot of native speakers pronounce it as qīngbáo, but dictionaries list it as qīngbó.
创伤 – a lot of native speakers pronounce it as chuàngshāng, but dictionaries list it as chuāngshāng. (Apparently 创 here should be pronounced chuāng, as in chuāngkǒu 创口.)
盲鰽 (“barramundi”) – a lot of native speakers pronounce it as mángcáo, but dictionaries list it as mángqiú.
One more to add – 文绉绉 (“genteel; bookish”). Dictionaries list it as wénzhōuzhōu (or sometimes as wénzhòuzhòu, as this Taiwan dictionary does), but in real life most native speakers pronounce it as wénzōuzōu.
Also, 复杂. Of course fùzá is the correct pronunciation, but I have heard lazy speakers pronounce it as fǔzá from time to time.
“血 xuè or xiě”
This word is even more complicated; many people, especially from Beijing (and myself) pronounce 血 “xuě,” which is so widespread that it is included here: http://dict.cn/%E8%A1%80 on this online dictionary as the first entry (although not listed in most “standard” or print dictionaries).
As far as I can tell, “xuè,” the correct “literary” form, is extinct to the point that many native speakers don’t even recognize it as valid. “xiě” is recognized officially as a “colloquial” variant of the (mostly defunct) standard “xuè.”
Some more to add:
淋病 many say línbìng, should be lìnbìng
空乘 many say kōngchèng, should be kōngchéng
阻塞 many say zǔsāi, should be zǔsè
普遍 the standard pronunciation is pǔbiàn, but pǔpiàn is a common variant in Taiwan
费用 both fèiyòng and fèiyong common
力度 both lìdù and lìdu are common
髮 in Taiwan is always fǎ, but in mainland China it is pronounced fà or in the neutral tone, e.g. 頭髮 tóufǎ in Taiwan, tóufa in mainland China; 理髮 lǐfǎ in Taiwan, lǐfà in mainland China
夾 in Taiwan is always jiá, but in mainland China it is pronounced jiā, e.g. 髮夾 is fǎjiá in Taiwan, fàjiā in mainland China; 夾子 is jiázi in Taiwan, jiāzi in mainland China
指甲 zhǐjia is standard, but zhījia is also common
危機 wéijī in Taiwan, wēijī in mainland China
卸載 dictionaries list it as xièzài, but in reality almost everyone pronounces it as xièzǎi
牡丹 both mǔdān and mǔdan are common
捆扎 dictionary claims kǔnzā is correct, but it is commonly pronounced as kǔnzhā
誼, as in 友誼, 情誼, etc. should be pronounced yì according to dictionaries, however yí in real life is commonly heard
Some more to add:
符合 fúhé in the dictionary, often pronounced as fǔhé in real life
凤爪 fèngzhǎo in dictionary, often pronounced as fèngzhuǎ in real life
落魄 luòpò in dictionary, luòtuò and luòbó are common variant pronunciations
载体 zàitǐ in dictionary, usually pronounced as zǎitǐ in real life
兴奋 should be xīngfèn, xìngfèn sometimes heard
着急 should be zháojí, but zhāojí is common in both mainland China and Taiwan
中肯 should be zhòngkěn, but zhōngkěn is common
中看 should be zhōngkàn, but zhòngkàn is sometimes heard
逮捕 should be dàibǔ, but dǎibǔ and dǎipǔ are common
危险 should be wēixiǎn, but wéixiǎn is sometimes heard
堵塞 should be dǔsè, but dǔsāi is common
模样 should be múyàng, but móyàng is common
痉挛 should be jìngluán, but jīngluán is common
谊 (e.g. 情谊, 友谊, etc.) should be yì, but yí is common
艘 – the standard pronunciation in Mandarin is sōu, but sǒu is also heard, and in Taiwan it is pronounced as sāo
迹 (跡), e.g. 轨迹 (軌跡) – jì in mainland China, jī in Taiwan
怎么着 – both zěnmezhe and zěnmezhāo are common
遣散费 – should be qiǎnsànfèi, but qiǎnsǎnfèi is commonly heard
剖 pōu in mainland China, pǒu in Taiwan, pāo also sometimes heard (e.g. 剖腹產 pōufùchǎn vs pǎofùchǎn vs pāofùchǎn)
Some more to add:
曝光 bàoguāng in the dictionary, pùguāng is also commonly heard
档案 dàng’àn in the dictionary, but dǎng’àn is more common in real life
浙江 Zhèjiāng in the dictionary, but Zhèjiang and Zhéjiāng are both common in real life
束缚 shùfù in the dictionary, but shùfú is also common in Taiwan and Southern China
熟 shú in the dictionary, but shóu is also common, e.g. 熟读 shúdú in the dictionary, shóudú is also common; 面熟 miànshú in the dictionary, miànshóu is also common, etc.
扑腾 pūteng in the dictionary, pūtēng and pūténg are also common
厚道 hòudao in mainland China, hòudào in Taiwan
卸载 xièzài in the dictionary, xièzǎi is also commonly heard
颈 jǐng in the dictionary, jìng is also commonly heard
匕首 bǐshǒu in the dictionary, bìshǒu is also commonly heard
寂 jì in mainland China, jí in Taiwan, e.g. 寂寞 jìmò in mainland China, jímò in Taiwan; 孤寂 gūjì in mainland China, gūjí in Taiwan; 寂静 jìjìng in mainland China, jíjìng in Taiwan; 沉寂 chénjì in mainland China, chénjí in Taiwan, etc.
庇 bì in the dictionary, but pì is also commonly heard, e.g. 庇护 bìhù in the dictionary, pìhù a common variant; 包庇 bāobì in the dictionary, bāopì a common variant, etc.
教育 jiàoyù, but sometimes pronounced by Northern Chinese as jiàoyu
气氛 qìfēn in the dictionary, but qìfen is also commonly heard
笼罩 lǒngzhào in mainland China, lóngzhào in Taiwan
Some new ones I’ve come across recently:
踏實 tāshi in mainland China, tàshí in Taiwan
溜達 liūda in mainland China, liùda in Taiwan
播 bō in mainland China, bò in Taiwan (e.g. 播種 bōzhòng / bōzhǒng vs bòzhǒng, 傳播 chuánbō vs chuànbò)
框 kuàng in mainland China, kuāng in Taiwan (e.g. 框架 kuàngjià vs kuāngjià)
築 zhù in mainland China, zhú in Taiwan (e.g. 建築物 jiànzhùwù vs jiànzhúwù)
儲 chǔ in mainland China, chú in Taiwan (e.g. 儲蓄 chǔxù vs chúxù)
究 jiū in mainland China, jiù in Taiwan (e.g. 研究 yánjiū vs yánjiù)
括 kuò in mainland China, guā Taiwan (e.g. 包括 bāokuò vs bāoguā, 概括 gàikuò vs gàiguā)
姊 always zǐ in mainland China, sometimes pronounced jiě in Taiwan
頗 always pō in mainland China, sometimes pronounced pǒ in Taiwan
匹 always pǐ in mainland China, sometimes pronounced pī in Taiwan
矯情 jiáoqing or jiǎoqíng in dictionary, jiāoqíng commonly heard in real life
大黃 dàihuáng in dictionary, dàhuáng is common
閉門造車 bìménzàojū is technically the correct pronunciation, bìménzàochē is more common
傭人 yōngrén in dictionary, sometimes also pronounced yòngrén or yòngren
而 ér is standard pronunciation, sometimes incorrectly pronounced ěr
吾 wú is standard pronounciation, sometimes incorrectly pronounced wǔ
蕾 lěi is standard pronounciation, sometimes incorrectly pronounced léi
秘 mì is standard pronounciation, sometimes incorrectly pronounced as bì (e.g. 便秘 biànmì vs biànbì) – note an exception though: 秘 is pronounced as bì when used in transliterations (e.g. 秘魯 Bìlǔ)
測度 cèduó or cèdù in mainland China, cèduò in Taiwan
This is an awesome list – and really shows the breadth of your vocabulary which is pretty impressive. Having a Taiwanese wife and having a mixed group of Chinese and Taiwanese friends alternate pronunciations has always been something I’ve been really interested in.
A few additional ones and some comments:
和 – The most infamous Taiwanese pronunciation – they often say han4, not he2 (which I heard apparently comes from an old famous new presenter who had an accent from a dialect).
识 shi2 in the dictionary but shi4 in Taiwan (so they say 认识 ren4shi4, 识字 shi4zi4 结识 jie24shi4 etc – notably different)
惜 xi1 in the dictionary, xi2 in Taiwan (so they say 可惜 ke3xi2 珍惜 zhen1xi2)
剖 my wife says it more like po3 then pou3 (dictionary pou1)
匣 xiá in the dictionary but I think it is jiǎ in Taiwan
穴 xue2 is the dictionary meaning, but at least in Taiwan it is xue4
跌 die1 in the dictionary, seems to be die2 in Taiwan
携 – dictionary says xie2, but xi1 in Taiwan
嫉妒 – My wife insists it’s ji4du4 not ji2du4 so I assume this is a Taiwan thing
谁 – shui2 is the literary pronunciation, and should be used when reading poetry – I’ve also heard it in audiobooks
地方 – di4fang and di4fang1 are actually different. di4fang means “place” (e.g. 什么地方？放在那个地方), whilst di4fang1 means “local” or “locality” (e.g. 地方法庭，地方组织，地方观念). Taiwanese speakers might still say di4fang1 anyway because they rarely use the neutral tone.
熟悉 – I think shóuxi is more Southern but I have people from the North who say it.
尽管 – the character 尽 can be pronounced jin4 and jin3 and these are actually two different words with subtly different meanings – there is a whole Chinesepod Qingwen lesson on it for those interested. Basically jin3 means “as much as possible” whilst jin4 means “to completely use up / exhaust”. Most native speakers aren’t too clear on this and if you say jin4 instead of jin3 (but not vice-versa) no-one will pull you up. 尽管 should be jin3guan3 but many people say it incorrectly as jin4guan3 (along with 尽量 and 尽快, which should both be jin3. Note 尽力 is jin4).