Shanghainese accent? This question is quite tricky to explain, so I'm going to ask in English this time. I'm studying Mandarin Chinese in Sweden, and I have two Chinese teachers, one from Beijing an

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Shanghainese accent? This question is quite tricky to explain, so I'm going to ask in English this time. I'm studying Mandarin Chinese in Sweden, and I have two Chinese teachers, one from Beijing and one from Shanghai. I've noticed that their pronunciation differs when it comes to pronouncing 问. My teacher from Beijing pronounces 问 as "wen", as a regular "w" is pronounced in English. However, my teacher from Shanghai pronounces 问 more like "ven", as a "v" is pronounced in English. The teacher from Shanghai speaks much better Swedish than the teacher from Beijing does, and I'm not sure if this has something to do with her pronunciation. The letter "w" doesn't exist in Swedish except for in loanwords, so it's very typical of Swedes to pronounce a "w" as a "v" (in all languages). So, I was wondering if the teacher from Shanghai was somehow accommodating for the Swedish students, or if this is typical of a Shanghainese accent?

Nov 26, 2013 8:49 PM

Answers · 11

That's an interesting question. Even though the pinyin of 问 is wen, both wen and ven are the correct pronunciations of 问 in standard Mandarin. If you ever watch CCTV, you may notice that some announcers on it pronounce 问 as wen, while others pronounce it as ven. You know, the pronunciation of announcers on CCTV is generally regarded as standard Mandarin pronunciation. This is surprising, isn't it? However, it should be noted that the ven in Mandarin is not exactly the same as the ven in English. If you pronounced 问 as ven in English, it would sound a little weird. When pronouncing the Chinese ven, be sure to touch your upper incisors to your lower lip gently and for a very short time.

November 27, 2013

nope, speaking better Swedish just means having better access to the language learning materials and general "flexibility" of southern people's personality as for Chinese -- the syllables aren't as important as tones so whether you say 问 as "wen" or as "ven" isn't as important as clear "èn" and yes, southern "v" is different from northern "w" yet it's not a big deal in the Chinese language with 56 ways of saying same things

November 27, 2013

Her accent

November 27, 2013

wen and ven both are Correct. It depends on the speakers.As for me,sometimes I speak wen and Sometimes ven as well. I'm in Beijing. And I notice That many friends around me speak in the same way I am. By the way，some including me think ven sounds much more beautiful than,wen.

November 28, 2013

I think the intonation is little difference between people who come from different places . I believe both are correct . Something like British English and American English . Never mind and do not concentrate on it too much .

December 10, 2013

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