thanks a lot. I have been struggling with this r sound and watched countless tutorial videos but your video has so far provided the simplest explanation.
FINALLY!!!! If I could like this video a hundred times, I would! All the RUclips describe /r/ pronunciation as ONLY the 'si' in 'Asia'. Even my Southern Chinese (Guangdong) GF would say it, then go on to pronounce what was clearly (to my ears) an English /r/. This is the ONLY video I've come across to explain the discrepancy AND show the correct mouth position for the English-seeming /r/ sound. THANK YOU!
Some people pronounce Asia as /ˈeɪ.ʒə/ others /ˈeɪ.ʃə/. The first one is perhaps an approximate of 日 (rì, sinological IPA transcription is /ʐ̩⁵¹/). The English /ʒ/ and the Chinese /ʐ̩/ differ slightly in tongue position: - /ʒ/ Voiced postalveolar fricative - the middle "body" of the tongue raises against the alveolar (the area just behind your upper teeth). - /ʐ̩/ Voiced retroflex fricative - the tip of the tongue curves slightly back against the alveolar. In addition, the little vertical line under the letter signifies that the consonant is syllabic, meaning the consonant /ʐ̩/ is itself a syllable (requiring no vowel).
@@ChineseZeroToHero *sigh* OK. I guess I need to really sit down and master IPA, after all. Thank you. Heard this somewhere: "Most languages, you start at the bottom of the mountain and climb until you reach the top. With Chinese, you have to walk across the entire tundra before you even GET to the mountain. THEN you start climbing."
@@GeoScorpion IPA is just a quick way to pinpoint the exact differences between sounds. You only need to know the symbols used in the language you're learning and in English (for the purpose of comparison)
No one ever explains the szh sound that gets added to it. How do I properly make that sound? It's kind of like the soft "g" sound at the end of the word "garage."
is there two ways of speaking? sometimes I see people teaching that it sounds more like a english "G" for example 人(rén) sounds more like "gen" with your tongue touching the top of your mouth while there are people that speaks with a more english-like R like when you're saying "rat"
sometimes chinese r is liquid like zhr other times just like r. idk if it is dialect maybe southern / guangdong is more zhr whereas northern china is more like murrican (not english!) R.
From what I've seen the initial r is somewhere between the IPA symbol you listed (the voiced version of the retroflex sh) and the retroflex version of the American English r. Typically the symbol used for the phoneme is the latter, not the one you listed. But it's nice to have a video by people that realize it's not just one sound :)
Wow, you must be an expert on phonetics-I’m not. I just copied it from wikipedia... I think. The video was recorded a year ago. So is the curved line on top meaning that the two sounds are somewhat blended?
I'm no expert, haha, but thanks. Wikipedia has been helpful to me when trying to learn Chinese, as I have some experience with the IPA and such, and on their Standard Chinese Phonology page they list it as ([ɻ ~ ʐ]). I've only ever seen the brackets and ~ on Wikipedia's phonetics pages, although I've always assumed they meant a combination of the two and/or a variation between the two among native speakers (the former seems likely to me because after hearing you and others say the r sound, it does sound like a combination). The tail on the bottom of the ɻ and ʐ mean retroflex, and the r is upside down because it's an approximant (like the American English one. In the IPA, the r character means a trill). I hope I didn't explain it too obtusely, haha, you guys are definitely better at teaching than I am.
@@owlblocksdavid4955 by and large IPA isn't built from parts so while yes the curly tail means retroflex, I wouldn't bring up the trilled r the ~ usually means variation (by speakers or context)
thanks a lot. I have been struggling with this r sound and watched countless tutorial videos but your video has so far provided the simplest explanation.
FINALLY!!!! If I could like this video a hundred times, I would! All the RUclips describe /r/ pronunciation as ONLY the 'si' in 'Asia'. Even my Southern Chinese (Guangdong) GF would say it, then go on to pronounce what was clearly (to my ears) an English /r/. This is the ONLY video I've come across to explain the discrepancy AND show the correct mouth position for the English-seeming /r/ sound. THANK YOU!
Some people pronounce Asia as /ˈeɪ.ʒə/ others /ˈeɪ.ʃə/. The first one is perhaps an approximate of 日 (rì, sinological IPA transcription is /ʐ̩⁵¹/). The English /ʒ/ and the Chinese /ʐ̩/ differ slightly in tongue position:
- /ʒ/ Voiced postalveolar fricative - the middle "body" of the tongue raises against the alveolar (the area just behind your upper teeth).
- /ʐ̩/ Voiced retroflex fricative - the tip of the tongue curves slightly back against the alveolar. In addition, the little vertical line under the letter signifies that the consonant is syllabic, meaning the consonant /ʐ̩/ is itself a syllable (requiring no vowel).
@@ChineseZeroToHero *sigh* OK. I guess I need to really sit down and master IPA, after all. Thank you.
Heard this somewhere: "Most languages, you start at the bottom of the mountain and climb until you reach the top. With Chinese, you have to walk across the entire tundra before you even GET to the mountain. THEN you start climbing."
@@GeoScorpion IPA is just a quick way to pinpoint the exact differences between sounds. You only need to know the symbols used in the language you're learning and in English (for the purpose of comparison)
@@ChineseZeroToHero Oh, I know! haha. I studied some of it to understand Russian soft consonants. Thanks.
That helped a lot - thank you. I can already hear the improvement. I struggle so much with zhi shi chi ri. Especially when speaking in a sentence.
This is really helpful. I have been really struggling with how I’m supposed to pronounce “ri”.
Perfect! Your video finally taught me how to say 日日是好日。 properly!
Very helpful. I haven't used mandarin for more than 10 years, so I need to re-learn the basics.
Thank you so much!! I've tried for days to figure this sound out. Now it is much more clearer!
1:00 There it is
Thank you so much. Best explanation ever!!
No one ever explains the szh sound that gets added to it. How do I properly make that sound? It's kind of like the soft "g" sound at the end of the word "garage."
@@dekus80 I wish it was as simple as you suggest, but I've observed different Chinese teachers pronounce it differently.
This is the best explanation I saw so far...big thanks!!!
is there two ways of speaking?
sometimes I see people teaching that it sounds more like a english "G" for example 人(rén) sounds more like "gen" with your tongue touching the top of your mouth
while there are people that speaks with a more english-like R like when you're saying "rat"
The R sounds, and number 2 sound, is my NEMESIS 😢.
sometimes chinese r is liquid like zhr other times just like r. idk if it is dialect maybe southern / guangdong is more zhr whereas northern china is more like murrican (not english!) R.
I just want to be able to sing happy birthday and not sound like I’m a newbie! 😂
It sounds very much like the first syllable in the English word "regime," especially if you swallow the first vowel and pronounce it like "r'gime."
this is really helpful. thank you so much!
You're awesome. Thank you so much.
Why is it that other sites teach it as if it's the 'dg' in 'judge'??
How can we say 2 in Mandarin?
Thank you so much, muito obrigada.
zhr is a lot closer to what pinyin R sounds like. or even zhrzh.
谢谢你。
It seems like there are a few different pronunciations of this sound among native speakers. Am I wrong?
thank you!
Just try to imitate the sound emitted by Minecraft's zombies and you're all set.
Helpful
I started to sound like a minecraft zombie 💀
From what I've seen the initial r is somewhere between the IPA symbol you listed (the voiced version of the retroflex sh) and the retroflex version of the American English r. Typically the symbol used for the phoneme is the latter, not the one you listed. But it's nice to have a video by people that realize it's not just one sound :)
Wow, you must be an expert on phonetics-I’m not. I just copied it from wikipedia... I think. The video was recorded a year ago. So is the curved line on top meaning that the two sounds are somewhat blended?
I'm no expert, haha, but thanks. Wikipedia has been helpful to me when trying to learn Chinese, as I have some experience with the IPA and such, and on their Standard Chinese Phonology page they list it as ([ɻ ~ ʐ]). I've only ever seen the brackets and ~ on Wikipedia's phonetics pages, although I've always assumed they meant a combination of the two and/or a variation between the two among native speakers (the former seems likely to me because after hearing you and others say the r sound, it does sound like a combination). The tail on the bottom of the ɻ and ʐ mean retroflex, and the r is upside down because it's an approximant (like the American English one. In the IPA, the r character means a trill). I hope I didn't explain it too obtusely, haha, you guys are definitely better at teaching than I am.
@@owlblocksdavid4955 by and large IPA isn't built from parts so while yes the curly tail means retroflex, I wouldn't bring up the trilled r
the ~ usually means variation (by speakers or context)
I've accidentally spat on my phone
i dont think ill ever be able to pronounce it for the rest of my life this is so difficult 😭