The differences: 儿 ér / 小孩儿 / 小孩 ？

[Nephand]

I see 儿 attached to the end of a lot of words. Is this as a diminutive term?

It (儿) seems to mean 'child', but then so does 小孩儿 and apparently so does 小孩。

Are these all related to the age of the child being referred to? 儿 for a baby, 小孩儿 for a 'toddler' and 小孩 for older children?

Thanks in advance.

[geek_frappa]

good question, i don't know why they use ER.
roddy or 39degN would know. those crazy northerners.
in northern china. everybody says ER...

右邊兒的
小狗兒
這兒
邊兒
辮兒
馬兒

... i always wonder why they always attach everything ...
some teacher want me to speak with beijing accent.
some want me to speak with southern accent without the 兒

[roddy]

This will help. It can be a diminutive term, but it can also distinguish between two different meanings. It's also used by Beijing taxi-drivers to annoy people:

去哪儿?
北京图书馆
哪儿?
北京图书馆
哪儿?
北京图书馆
北京图书馆儿?
对
好了

The next day, thinking I'd figured it out:
去哪儿?
北京图书馆儿
哪儿?
北京图书馆儿
哪儿?
北京图书馆儿
北京图书馆?
对
好了

[Nephand]

roddy

Thank you both

I can see more clearly how it fits into the dialogue I'm looking at now.

[trien27]

the ER or -r at the end is the influence of Communism over the Chinese language. Take a look at Taiwan & Hong Kong, there's no such character at the end of phrases. Most nouns in Mainland China ends in er or -r as in Huar, flower, where in Taiwan & Hong Kong you omit the -r ending and just write the single character! Before Mao took control of China(1945-1949 & after), they don't have it in any context at all.

[skylee]

trien, that does not seem very true. I think the use of 儿化韵 in Putonghua is because of the influence of the Beijing dialect on which Putonghua is based. Do correct me if I am wrong.

Personally I think the use of 儿 is often not necessary.

[chris.]

My chinese teacher from beijing says it just an accent. It just sounds cool.

女孩儿

鸟儿

鱼儿

These are just a couple i have encountered.

[hparade]

I think it doesn't has much to do with communism, more of a beijing thing, sometimes it add some cuteness to stuffs, but sometimes, especially when being over-used, is very annoying to southern ears...

[Altair]

I have had friends tell me that in Taiwan and in parts of the mainland, you will provoke laughter if you add "r's" to the ends of words as a foreigner. I was told this produces an effect like a foreigner speaking English with a strong Brooklyn or perhaps a Cockney accent. How true is this, and if this is true, is there some reason why so many textbooks push words ending in r's rather than teaching a more neutral accent?

What types of words absolutely need "r's" in "colorless" Mandarin? Can you say things like "hua4 hua4" ("paint pictures"), "qu4 wan2" ("go and have fun") or "man4man1de5 zou3" ("go slowly")?

[roddy]

Quote:

What types of words absolutely need "r's" in "colorless" Mandarin?

I would say that the words with the 'r' in the textbook (ie 玩儿, 小孩儿, etc) won't get laughed at - that's common enough nationwide. Others like 门儿, 本儿 and 北京图书馆儿 are more Beijinghua than Putonghua. If in doubt, follow the textbook. Am I right? Also, I'm speaking from a mainland context.

Quote:

the ER or -r at the end is the influence of Communism over the Chinese language

Hmmm, Cuban cig儿, Russian vodk儿?

Quote:

Most nouns in Mainland China ends in er or -r

Most? I find that very unlikely.

Quote:

Before Mao took control of China(1945-1949 & after), they don't have it in any context at all.

I don't believe that the 儿 had anything to do with communism. But is it a more recent feature of the language?

Roddy