Pronunciations of 片

[rtf]

Hello,everyone!

 

 

Dictionaries give two equal pronunciations of 片:  pian4 and pian1,but I seem to hear pian4 for the most part (片子，唱片,照片 etc)。Are they really absolutely equal or there`re exceptions?

 

 

Thanks a lot.

[li3wei1]

what do you mean by 'equal' and 'exceptions'? They're two different things, the way 'lead' as in what leaders do, and 'lead' as in the metal that pipes used to be made of, are different words that look the same. There are many characters like this.

[rtf]

片

1.piàn

名

（平而薄的东西） a flat, thin piece; slice; flake:

玻璃片儿 bits and pieces of glass

 

2.piān

名

photo; film; gramophone record; disc (照片,唱片，影片)

 

But then:

 

照片 = zhao4pian4

影片 = ying3pian4 

唱片 = chang4pian4

 

That`s what I mean.

[Shelley]

Pleco says:

same as 片 pian4, limited to use in 片子pian1zi ,相片 xiang4pianr1 etc. See pian4

1 disk

2 sheet

 

 

You say:

Dictionaries give two equal pronunciations of 片:  pian4 and pian1

 

 

They are not the same pronunciation, that is why one is forth tone and the other is first tone, but the meanings are similar.

[li3wei1]

It looks as if pian1 is a variant pronunciation, marked as colloquial in some words (so that 照片is 'officially' zhao4pian4, but sometimes pronounced as zhao4pian1 in some areas by some people in some situations), and used all (or most of) the time in certain other words (片子,片剂)。

[xiaokaka]

Yes, I also think it's a colloquial pronunciation, especially used with 儿化音, i.e., piàn → piānr. For example, 照片 is pronunced zhàopiàn but 照片儿 is pronunced zhàopiānr, 唱片 chàngpiàn → 唱片儿 chàngpiānr, etc.

[Han_Fu]

In correct 普通话, 片 is read pian4 whenever it's a measure word, an adjective or a verb. When it's a noun, it gets more complicated. It's read pian4 for any sort of thin slice or flake, and also for 照片、影片、唱片 etc. But as soon as you put 儿 on the end of these words (影片儿、唱片儿……) it becomes pianr1. 片子is pronounced pian4zi if it refers to a just a piece or slice, but pian1zi if it refers to film.