A different question re: Variations in Pronunciation

[magores]

Hi,

I'm new to the Mandarin language, and to this forum, so please forgive me if this question is naive and/or has been answered previously.

My question is regarding the word yue4 / yuè / month / moon

All the texts I have been reading say that this word is pronounced more or less like a french "u" followed by "eh". In fact, a friend of my who is a US born Chinese (Taiwan mother - N Mainland Father) confirms this pronunciation.

However, my friend's Mother pronounces the word ee-ay (letter "e" followed by the letter "a").

I guess my question is: Is the ee-ay pronunciation a Taiwanese thing, or is it possibly her own personal pronunciation, or is there some other possible explanation?

(I must admit that I like her pronunciation better.. MUCH easier for me to reproduce )

Thanks for indulging my curiosity.

Magores

[Quest]

However, my friend's Mother pronounces the word ee-ay (letter "e" followed by the letter "a").

wrong.

[in_lab]

Yeah, that's Taiwanese-influenced. Once I orderd a yu2 pai2 at a restaurant, and I was confused when the older woman working there repeated it as yi2 pai2. If you imitate it, you'll sound like an old man/woman (who doesn't speak very biao1zhun3).

[xiaocai]

Actually, yue should be yüe in Pinyin system. Howerver, when the initial consonant is j,q,x or y, it can only followed by ü, so people usually omit the ".." for convenience.

[beirne]

One thing I learned about Chinese pronunciation is that no two people pronounce it the same way but however I pronounce it is wrong.