聊天兒

[wannabeafreak]

My teacher forced me to say 聊天兒 (liu4 tin1 ji4) but when I ask people or say this word no body understands. They say its 聊天 and no need to add 兒.

I asked a Northerner yesterday and she that Beijing people will say 聊天兒 so its not needed and nearly every Hong Kong person I know including 1 mainlander said 聊天 is correct.

Teacher said something like liao2 tier5 and everyone else says no need to go overboard.

So what's the deal with this word? 兒 or not to 兒?

[mirgcire]

聊天兒 is pronouced liao2 tianr1. It is a feature of the northern Putonghua dialect to add "r" to the end of many nouns. Southern people (gernally, people south of the Yangzi river) don't use the "r" so much and 聊天 (liao2 tian1) is more common. I assume you are studying chinese outside of China (Taiwan?), because 兒 is a traditional character, in simplified chinese it is written as 儿.

[BrandeX]

He is in HK, as you can see to under the name.

As for your teacher perhaps they are a mainlander from/near Beijing, and they are instructing you in what they feel is normal, or the proper way. There is much discussion already in regards to erhua on the forums, you can check it out here yourself as well. Also, a good deal of study materials frequently use Beijing standard as the format anyways.

[fanglu]

Are you learning Cantonese or Mandarin. In Mandarin 聊天兒 (liao2 tian1 r) or 聊天 (liao2 tian1) are both ok. For Cantonese there's no 兒 (and the pronunciation is different obviously).

[roddy]

Yeah, that (liu4 tin1 ji4) has got me wondering - if it's meant to be Mandarin you've got bigger problems than the 儿。

[renzhe]

I believe that 聊天 is actually the official standard used in the mainland (judging by the HSK materials). A small amount of erhua is considered standard, and I believe that this is not one of them, but it's a case where it's so common that it's considered interchangeable with the official one.

If it's considered standard, then it's also written like that, and you might run into it while reading written materials, or be expected to write it. For example, 一点儿 needs the 儿.

Of course, this refers to the written language, not spoken Cantonese, and it would probably make no sense to say this in spoken Cantonese (I'm assuming, I don't speak Cantonese).

Edited December 17, 2008 at 11:12 AM by renzhe

[halifax]

If you're not learning Mandarin Chinese, then the rules will be whatever the rules are for the dialect you are learning. Liu Tin Ji - implies you are not learning Mandarin.

Mandarin - the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary indicates this is one of the words pronounced with -r in standard Mandarin, although writing out the -r is optional. Liao2tian1 means to talk about the sky (liao2tian1 bu liao2di4), liao2tianr1 means to chat. But that distinction will not be made by every one in China, especially those in the south who use the -r less. But, yes, liao2tianr1 is the standard pronunciation. That's got nothing to do with Cantonese though...

[Lu]

For Mandarin: in the north (Beijing etc) they say liaotianr, in the south liaotian. If your teacher insists on the -r, you can humor her if you want, and stick with liaotian outside of class. Neither are wrong, just different usage.

[wannabeafreak]

Thank you.

I speak Cantonese but learning Mandarin.

All good help.

[wannabeafreak]

Yeah, that (liu4 tin1 ji4) has got me wondering - if it's meant to be Mandarin you've got bigger problems than the 儿。

Oops... that was the Cantonese pronunciation. My mistake....

Cool.

[petline]

for the 兒, it is actually only used in Beijing, as they like to add 兒 in many words.

In Putonghua, just 聊天 is okay.

for HKers, we will seldom use聊天 even we know its meaning and perfer 傾計 or 吹水, which are not the formal words in dictionary

[renzhe]

for the 兒, it is actually only used in Beijing, as they like to add 兒 in many words.

Nah, it's used in much of the north, and it is actually required in certain words when speaking standard putonghua.