Favourite 儿化音 (erhuayin, erhua)?

[tooironic]

Feel free to list any 儿化音 (erhuayin, erhua) words you think are particularly interesting.

For the uninitiated, erhuayin is when you add 儿 on the end of a word in Mandarin. Simple examples include 好玩儿 (hǎowánr, "fun") and 画画儿 (huàhuàr, "to paint; to draw").

I myself am quite partial to 打盹儿 (dǎdǔnr, "to doze off") and 走神儿 (zǒushénr, "to lose concentration; to zone out"), simply because they sound so different to their non-erhuayin counterparts.

I also think 范儿 (fànr, "style") is quite cute, e.g. 你很有公主范儿！ ("You really have the style of a princess!")

[skylee]

I dislike 兒化. This is just what I feel and my dislike has no other implications.

[imron]

I am of more or less the exact opposite opinion (likewise this has no other implications). How can I pick a favourite when they're all so good

[OneEye]

I don't use 兒化 at all, but I enjoy listening native speakers or 兒化-ed dialects of Mandarin. The absolute worst thing ever is listening to Taiwanese teachers trying to put it on because it's "standard." Well, second worst. The worst is when Taiwanese people get pretentious and affect an 兒化 pronunciation in an incorrect way.

"你在哪兒裡?"

[roddy]

Skylee, your dislikes have many implications. You are our spiritual guide in all matters of taste.

I go for 门儿. First year in China I'd been teaching in Jiangsu and went up to Bejiing on a jolly. I'd been told about the glossal habits of the Beijingers, and when the bus ticket lady yelled 关门儿 I felt a little jolt of satisfaction as I linked what I'd been told with what was being screamed at high volume next to my ear.

[Demonic_Duck]

土豆儿丝儿。 Actually, do people even say this, or not?

[roddy]

I don't think so, to be honest. But I will, if it makes you happy.

[Demonic_Duck]

I'm pretty sure I've heard both 土豆儿 and 丝儿 used individually, but not heard them used together so far. But yes, that would make me happy.

[WestTexas]

Oh man, I've heard a lot of weird 儿化音s living where I do.

A few that stick out in my memory:

明儿/今儿/昨儿 - tomorrow/today/yesterday

圣儿节 = Christmas

上班儿 (this and above, of course, pronounced with s instead of sh)

拉链儿 = zipper

管儿 = straw

月儿份儿 = salary (yeah, both have r's)

子儿 = seeds

I used to work at a 师范学院. The locals called it 师院儿, pronouncing the sh as s. Yeah, it took me quite a while to figure out what sīyuàr was.

Oh, and of course, my favorite, 袋儿, a word that saying extremely slowly will, no matter who you are, make you sound retarded.

[heifeng]

子儿 = seeds

cough cough: 籽儿= seeds (my quote button isn't working...probably my archaic browser changed PCs )

子儿= this (refer to the link that is)

but I could be wrong of course...

I like all 儿化b/c that's how I've said everything from day 1. I only dislike the pronunciation of 老头儿 b/c I would apparently say that one weird during my accent correction classes and probably have never gotten it 100% down....blahhhh

[jasoninchina]

A couple years back, my wife and I took a trip to Beijing. Just as we were getting out of a taxi, I swear the driver said, "谢谢儿." My wife didn't hear it and she denies that he would have said such a thing. I still think it's the greatest thing I've ever heard.

Besides that, 博物馆儿　and 公园儿 are pretty nice, as well as 后门儿(sounds like Homer). Oh, I also like to tease my wife and say her name like that - 光曼儿. She doesn't care for it.

[imron]

He possibly said 谢谢啊, which when pronounced quickly will certainly sound similar.

[xiaocai]

嗝儿屁. I can't stop laughing whenever I hear this word. Not a good habit though especially considering how rude this word is. The non-儿化 version just sounds totally wrong to me.

[tooironic]

I've posted 128 of the most common erhuayin on my blog, you may find it useful.

[Guest realmayo]

He possibly said 谢谢啊, which when pronounced quickly will certainly sound similar.

Well that's interesting. Do northerners make a more rounded 啊 than southerners? Is a northern 啊 semi 儿化'd?

[Scoobyqueen]

I have not got any favourites but I heard this one and thought it interesting from a phonological point of view.

一样儿的

But with the d becoming an n (is that common?)

Yi ya‘ r ne.

Speaker was from Hei Long Jiang

[scoff]

My recent favorite has been 一瓶水儿

[lingo-ling]

I don't like erhua. It sounds too... Beijingy.

Here in Taiwan, precious few words are erhua-ed. Among these rare few are 玩意兒 and 一會兒.