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1 vote
2 answers
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Mandarin Chinese phonology: on the issue of p/b, t/d, k/g distinction and older romanization systems

Like many people, I've found it intriguing that older Chinese romanization systems such as Wade-Giles and postal romanization seem to "confuse" certain sounds, such as p/b, k/g, and t/d. I ...
Aqualone's user avatar
  • 729
11 votes
2 answers
4k views

Does Mandarin Chinese have phonetically voiced plosives, fricatives, or affricates (besides "r" = [ʐ] / [ɻ])?

The various Wikipedia articles covering Standard Chinese all seem to agree that Mandarin does not have voiced plosives, fricatives, or affricates except for [ʐ] / [ɻ], written in Pinyin as "r". But ...
hippietrail's user avatar
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17 votes
4 answers
8k views

How do tones work in music sung in tonal languages, such as Cantonese or Mandarin Chinese?

I have not yet studied tonal languages, so it might be understandable, but when I listen to Chinese music, for example, I'm unable to perceive tones. This makes me think they are partially or ...
YI-78's user avatar
  • 173