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... Pronunciation & Usage Lesson: ... In the Mandarin world, different locales pronounce the same characters, .. or in this case, the same Pinyin letters, in one of two ways. (Most variations .. can usually be found in this either-or situation). .. The phrase "city map" is an interesting example because it has the letter .. " u " - used in "shìqū" and again in "dìtú", and yet, the pronunciations are .. clearly different! ... Although most Beijing speakers pronounce all " u " sounds (at the end of .. words) the same --- the same pronunciation as in the word, "dìtú" (above), .. many other parts of China prefer the French-like pronunciation for " u " .. when it is used with (preceded by) the letters " j ", " q ", " x ", " y ". .. Understand that either pronunciation is correct Chinese. The variation on .. these 4 letters, " j ", " q ", " x ", " y " (as illustrated in the chart, below), .. is important for you to recognize and be familiar with, however, so that you .. won't be just accustomized to the way they say it in Beijing, but will be .. able to easier understand all Chinese speakers. .. Ju (jew) or (j + German ü)* .. Qu (chew) or (ch + German ü)* .. Xu (shoe) or (sh + German ü)* .. Yu (you) or (y + German ü)* .. * = French u or German ü (place your lips to say oo and try to say ee) |