is it first tone or fourth?

[flynnfrogg]

In Practical Chinese Reader (yes! I am still using this ancient hand-me-down text - can't afford any other sob!) I learnt that 成绩 is pronounced as chéngji1 but in my dictionary and in Wenlin it is 成绩 chéngjì (fourth tone) - which is the correct pronunciation please?

thank you

[renzhe]

It's the fourth tone in the Mainland (source: nciku.com and the printed New Century Dictionary).

It's the first tone in Taiwan: source

My guess that the latter used to be the standard pronunciation in the mainland as well, but has changed since then. The Taiwanese standard tends to be more conservative, while the mainland standard is more willing to change to reflect widespread usage.

So the pronunciation will depend on whether you intend to use Chinese in Taiwan or in the PRC. There are other cases where the two standards differ, but it's not a huge problem in practice.

[flynnfrogg]

thank you Renzhe - I am just learning Chinese for the love of it - I will not be using Chinese in Taiwan or in the PRC much - I guess the only place I might get to where Chinese is spoken will be Singapore - hmm I wonder, is it 1st or 4th there?

[creamyhorror]

I would say it's more likely first tone in Singapore, although I haven't heard it often in recent years and can't recall which one it was. Some people (maybe teachers) may use the fourth tone.

It doesn't matter which of the two tones you use to pronounce it, people will understand perfectly.