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basic pronounciation
basic phrases


basic pronounciation

the /-a/ of putonghua drops lower, not unlike an /*-aw/ or /-au/
ba (8) -> *baw
ta (he/she/it) -> *taw
xia (down) -> xiau

in diphthongs, xiangtanhua runs the two vowel sounds together making a much softer sound
luo (family name) -> *lwa
paobu (run) -> pabu
liu (6) -> *low
xue (study) -> *xay
(sometimes this change compounds itself by the /a/ rules described above, resulting in /xau/)
xiexie (thanks) -> xexe
(when a single xie is used, it is sometimes changed to 'si')

/sh-/ tends to become /s-/
sheng (life) -> seng
shi (matter, business) -> si
shi (10) -> si
('si shi si' (44) -> 'si si si')
shi (yes) -> si
shi (wet) -> si
shai (sunbathe) -> sai

/h-/ becomes /f-/
hua (flower) -> fa
Hunan -> Funan

/n-/ and /l-/ are often interchanged
ni (you) -> li
limian (inside) -> nimian
nali (where) ->lali

/b-/ and /p-/ are sometimes interchanged
tiaopi (naughty) -> tiaobi

/t-/ and /d-/ are sometimes interchanged
tian de (sweet) -> *deen di

/w-/ sometimes becomes /ng-/
wo (i) -> ngo
wangji (forget) -> ngangji

/r-/ is very rarely changed to /y-/
rou (meat) -> yo

to add stress to a statement, putonghua particles /de/ and /le/are often change to
de -> dei (*day) or
de -> di
le -> lei (*lay)

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