how do you pronounce x?

[leosmith]

When I was in China, I ran into a guy that consistently pronounced x as the english s (as in "see"). He was well understood by the locals, but it annoyed me a little. Especially when he tried to convince me that I was pronouncing it wrong. He backed off when I explained the difference, but he didn't change his own pronunciation. Since then, I've run into another learner of Mandarin who hears a lot of foreigners doing this, and it drives him up the wall. So I'm curious, how do you pronounce x?

[AxelManbow]

It annoys me far more when foreigners 'sh' it, instead of 's' it, because it sounds so unlike anyone I know, those 'anyone' coming across the spectrum of Dongbei I've visited, at least.

I, of course, voted 'like standard pinyin' because I think mine sounds like standard pinyin, though perhaps it sounds more like 's', and perhaps it doesn't, but it's what I hear every day. And that's the trap. My 'ren' sounds like 'yin' far too often and my 'wo men' sometimes slips to an 'an men'...

It's interesting... as someone newly arrived in the West I'd be praised for having a local accent!

[skylee]

like x, standard pinyin pronunciation

sorry but how does this sound like?

I pronounce it in the way I describe in an older post and I think that people having different accents and different ways of pronunciations is how this world is. IMHO as long as people can communicate then there is little problem.

[leosmith]

like x, standard pinyin pronunciation

sorry but how does this sound like?

I pronounce it in the way I describe in an older post and I think that people having different accents and different ways of pronunciations is how this world is. IMHO as long as people can communicate then there is little problem.

If the tip of your tongue is touching behind your lower teeth, it is probably in the right position. But the airflow could still be wrong, making the english s sound instead of the pinyin x sound.

To make the sound correctly, make sure your tongue is in the english e position (as in eel), then try to make the english sh sound (as in she), keeping your tongue in the e position. If you do this simultaneously with the recordings at Mandarin Chinese Phonetics, you should be able to produce the sound very well with a little practice.

[Shadowdh]

By your description it appears I do the standard pinyin sounds... but I always describe it as a cross between s and sh... but your description is spot on re tongue position and all...

[muyongshi]

I don't think skylee has a problem pronouncing it properly, just wanted to know what it would sound like since you gave descriptions for the others as well...

[Tom Higgins]

Interesting... coz people in Singapore and Malaysia routinely pronounce "x" as "s", so they say "west" as "sibian" instead of "xibian".

[SChinFChin]

>>Interesting... coz people in Singapore and Malaysia routinely pronounce "x" as "s", so they say "west" as "sibian" instead of "xibian".

I used to go there on business years back, and learned that the "Chinese" folks there speak many Southern dialects, as their native tongue. So, the word "west" is pronounced with an initial "s" in the southern dialect, in my case Cantonese,

I was studying Mandarin once, and a few days after summer classes started, several more students joined the class. The professor said they are New York City school teachers. speaking mostly southern dialects, who are there to "improve" their Mandarin. I could initially hear them speak Mandarin with southern accents using as "s" instead of "x" .

The professor called this bad accent "Guangdong di guo yu", as most of them speak Cantonese.

And because of this, I was able to speak Mandarin much better, using the retroflex vowel "er" thrown for good measure, which I seldom hear people use here, and I get comments that I speak Mandarin very well.

[Questyn]

The way I have understood standard putonghua "x" is to place the tip of your tongue behind your top front teeth, keep your tongue high in your mouth, and then let the air flow smoothly, without making any sound in your throat ("voicing"). This position is the same place, again as I understand things, for the "j" and "q" in putonghua.

The way I describe the "x" sound to people is like an English "s" lisped -- that whistle-y sound some children make as they learn to pronounce English s.

The spot on the lower front teeth I consider the right place for the "s" sound in Mandarin (also "c" and "z" are down there in the same spot).

I do get compliments on my pronunciation, not only from people being polite, though I think it may be possible to produce these sounds in more than one tongue/teeth position. These are how I've learned to imitate the standard putonghua.

[leosmith]

The way I have understood standard putonghua "x" is to place the tip of your tongue behind your top front teeth, keep your tongue high in your mouth, and then let the air flow smoothly, without making any sound in your throat ("voicing"). This position is the same place, again as I understand things, for the "j" and "q" in putonghua.

Strongly disagree.

[BrandeX]

The poll and results are fairly useless. Is it any surprise that almost everyone voted for the answer that is basically labeled "Well I do it the right way"

[muyongshi]

Especially since everyone's understanding of "how" to pronounce the other words could be very different. But I DO pronounce it right!