non-dictionary pronunciations

[tooironic]

I just found another possible non-dictionary pronunciation. The word is 荸荠 bíqí, water chestnut. It seems a good deal of native Chinese speakers say bóqí instead, and indeed when I first learnt it I was told to pronounce it this way. It was only when I went to type it that I realised I couldn't find it in my input program!

I asked one native speaker about it and he said he had never heard of it before. I asked another native speaker and he said, 'Why you study such a weird word!' Lol. I replied, "It's not a weird word, I eat them all the time." It appears most people call it by its various nicknames (土粒子, 马蹄) instead. He went on to say that when Chinese friends from the same region come together they will call it by the same nickname, but if two people from different areas in China meet they will use bóqí instead. However that word itself is not very common in the vernacular, and he made the point that Chinese people tend to eat it but not talk about it. Hehe.

[tooironic]

Another is 哇噻 wa1sai4, which most Chinese pronounce as wa1sei4. Not sure why - maybe Cantonese influence?

[889]

One of the most common examples is 塑料, with the dictionary reading suliao but a street reading suoliao.

And those with longer memories may recall how 外汇券 waihuiquanr was usually pronounced waihuijuanr.

[muyongshi]

I agree with most of them here. I hear the 比较 pronounced more accurately than not and 因为goes 50/50 here. I've also hear 一会儿 go either way but I typically hear 马(with a high slightly rising tone) 上 (pronounced as sang in a very sharp falling tone). Sorry didn't mean to get sidetracked.

However, I don't think I have ever heard of suo liao.

[889]

This has come up before here:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/14520-pronunciation-in-dictionaries-and-in-reality

[carlo]

jie2su4 for 结束 jie2shu4 (Beijing speakers)

[tooironic]

Some more I've come across in my travels:

• 癞蛤蟆 (toad) - làiháma for PRC, làihámá for ROC
  
• 微 (tiny) - wēi for PRC, wéi for ROC.
  
• 含情脉脉 (full of tender affection) - dictionary says hánqíngmòmò, but some native speakers will pronounce it as hánqíngmàimài.
  
• 一般 - dictionaries say yībān but in real life everyone says yìbān
  

I'm thinking about creating a category @ Wiktionary called "Variant Pronunciations" to catalogue all of this as no dictionary (to my knowledge) lists this sort of information.

EDIT: You can check out the words I've added here: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:zh-cn:Variant_Pronunciations

Edited November 22, 2009 at 07:05 AM by tooironic