Poetry, pronunciation: 做朋友, 小朋友.

[querido]

My reference speaker puts a pretty decisive fourth tone on 友 in 做朋友 (zuò péngyou) in this poem:

* 影子 *

你走他也走，

你停他也停。

和你做朋友，

就是不开口。

and in the last line here:

* 小朋友 *

一二三，

爬上山，

四五六，

去打球，

七八九，

手拉手，

我们十个小朋友。

Is this a poetic flourish, or something else?

Thank you.

[querido]

In the last line, the speaker definitely says zhuài (speaking slowly enough to leave a tiny space between 转 and 一 in this last line):

* 地球 *

东半球，西半球，

中间还有一条线。

两头冷，中间热，

一天一夜转一圈。

My dictionaries give zhuàn (turn, revolve, rotate).

Is this a "mutation", a regionalism, an error? That seems unlikely.

The source is New Concept Chinese for Children (BLCUP), and seems pretty flawless and beautifully spoken throughout.

Thank you.

[roddy]

Merging two similar topics. Any chance you could upload a clip of the actual speech?

[querido]

First attempt to attach audio...

#1: Apparent fourth tone on 友

#2: Apparent fourth tone on 友: 我们十个小朋友。

#3: zhuàn yī >> zhuài yī

#4: fēn yī >> fēi yī: 他把西瓜分一半给弟弟。

I'm guessing #1 and #2 are merely poetic affectations, while #3 and #4 are a mutation, but I don't recall seeing it documented.

I love this woman's voice and aim to sound just like her.

1.mp3

2.mp3

3.mp3

4.mp3

[Guoke]

#1: Apparent fourth tone on 友

#2: Apparent fourth tone on 友: 我们十个小朋友。

It's not the fourth tone; it's the neutral tone (轻声).

#3: zhuàn yī >> zhuài yī

It's zhuan4 yi4 ： 一's tone is changed from yi1 to yi4. 一圈儿: yi4quanr1

#4: fēn yī >> fēi yī: 他把西瓜分一半给弟弟。

It's fen1 yi2 : 一’s tone is changed from yi1 to yi2. 一半： yi2ban4

一 (yi1) 's tone is changed to

(1) yi2 when it is followed by a character with the 4th tone, and

(2) yi4 when it is followed by a character with the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd tone.

Edited December 30, 2008 at 06:09 AM by Guoke

[xiaocai]

The "友" in #1 and #2 are not in fourth tone but neutral tone.

As for #3 and #4, did you mean that the "n" sound at the end of the syllables has become "i" because of some sort of mutation? But it still sounds like an "n" to my ear no matter how many times I listened.

Edited December 30, 2008 at 03:56 PM by xiaocai

[querido]

Thank you Guoke and xiaocai.

In #3 and #4, I think everything is explained by her tongue, and her lips, getting ready to say yī before or while saying the "n". I can do it too, now.

[MXQBLGH]

just a question regarding the neutral tone for the 友 in 朋友.

Why does it sound like the 4th tone to me? Is this really the way the neutral tone sounds like? Because when I hear words like 椅子 or 餃子, the neutral 子 sounds nothing like the neutral 友 from that audio clip?

Unless there are multiple 'neutral' tones or perhaps just in that instance it sounds like a 4th tone...or is it just my ears?

But there really is a difference between the neutral tone from that clip vs when I hear ppl say the words I mentioned above.

[roddy]

The actual pitch of the 'neutral' tone will depend on what's gone before. Might be worth remembering that in Chinese it's not 'neutral', it's just 'light'. There's some stuff I wrote up (well, copied up) here and there's probably more if you look for it.

So going by that, in 朋友， the second tone 朋 will result in a mid range (3) 轻声 on the 友。I can see how the drop from 5 at the end of 朋 to the 3 of the 友 could be heard as a falling tone, I think.

[querido]

Edited: With regard to #1 and #2, I found some examples in another good source that were "more neutral". But later, I noticed some in that source to be also like the above. So, #1 and #2 are within a normal range, as the posters said. Thanks. End edit.

.....

Here's another one, and I think it is interesting.

In a context where the word should be 花儿 huār (one syllable, flower), she definitely says 花儿 huā'ér (two-syllables), which according to Wenlin and nciku is "a type of Chinese folk song". I'm guessing that this is a liberty taken to fill out the meter with the extra syllable, and I don't mind as long as I know that this is the case. What do you think?

公园里，花儿开，

朵朵花儿真可爱。

红花, 黄花和白花，

朵朵花儿真美丽 。

5.mp3

Edited January 12, 2009 at 05:55 PM by querido

[sanbit]

I recorded audio of me speaking the first one: http://sanbit.com/recordings/64-%E5%BD%B1%E5%AD%90

I made some mistakes though

[sanbit]

I also recorded myself speaking the flower poem: http://sanbit.com/recordings/65-%E8%8A%B1