Amdir_Flassion Posted January 5, 2004 at 11:44 AM Report Posted January 5, 2004 at 11:44 AM The most simple character in Chinese, 一, is it pronounced as 'yi' traditionally or is there a new pronunciation which I think is 'yao' if I've heard it correctly? Is 'yao' a new pronounciation because 'yi' sounds funny if you say it too many times, like in phone numbers? Imagine pronouncing a large number like 'yi yi yi yi yi yi yi.....'? Quote
芳芳 Posted January 5, 2004 at 11:58 AM Report Posted January 5, 2004 at 11:58 AM Very briefely: "一" has the two pronunciations. "yao" is used when saying a number (telephone, room, bus line...) and in the other cases, "yi" is used. And the two are both used nowadays with their specifics emplois. (as you said it, it is not very convenient to understand or prunonce "yiyiyi..." and the good understanding of numbers often have a strong importance. Quote
roddy Posted January 5, 2004 at 12:32 PM Report Posted January 5, 2004 at 12:32 PM I've always understood that 一 is pronounced yao in telephone numbers / number of hotels / trains / buses and so on to avoid confusion with 七 Roddy Quote
skylee Posted January 5, 2004 at 12:57 PM Report Posted January 5, 2004 at 12:57 PM When you talk about the incident happened on Sept 11th 2001, you say "Jiu Yi Yi", not "Jiu Yao Yao". Quote
smithsgj Posted January 6, 2004 at 03:20 AM Report Posted January 6, 2004 at 03:20 AM Just to note that yao is not used in Taiwan at all (except that someone once told me it had some sort of military connotation) Isn't there something for 0 (ling) as well? Like 'dong' or sth? I thought I once heard this from a telephone operator in China, but I may well have imagined it! Quote
Guest 北洋大臣 Posted January 6, 2004 at 03:22 AM Report Posted January 6, 2004 at 03:22 AM from my experience, most of the time Yao is used in gambling. lol Quote
cometrue Posted January 6, 2004 at 04:28 PM Report Posted January 6, 2004 at 04:28 PM When you talk about the incident happened on Sept 11th 2001, you say "Jiu Yi Yi", not "Jiu Yao Yao". maybe that's HK saying, but in mainland, it's jiu yao yao,not jiu yi yi, sounds so strange. Isn't there something for 0 (ling) as well? Like 'dong' or sth? I thought I once heard this from a telephone operator in China' date=' but I may well have imagined it![/quote'] yeah, but that's an old saying in military phone conversations. from my experience, most of the time Yao is used in gambling. lol yeah! we do say "yao bing3" "yao ji1(cock)" in majiang playing, but we also say "yi wan4" and "yao wan4" either, i can't find any regulations there. Quote
Ian_Lee Posted January 6, 2004 at 08:35 PM Report Posted January 6, 2004 at 08:35 PM For the word "One", Cantonese has just one pronounciation. In fact, a long time ago when I first heard how Putonghua speaker labeled the youngest sibling as "Lao Yao", it sounded so funny to me. Quote
skylee Posted January 6, 2004 at 11:23 PM Report Posted January 6, 2004 at 11:23 PM When you talk about the incident happened on Sept 11th 2001' date=' you say "Jiu Yi Yi", not "Jiu Yao Yao".[/quote']maybe that's HK saying, but in mainland, it's jiu yao yao,not jiu yi yi, sounds so strange. During Sept 2001 I was attending an advance Putonghua class and one of the classmates gave a presentation on the incident. Our teacher, who had come from Beijing, told us so. Maybe she was wrong, and so I was wrong. Quote
smithsgj Posted January 7, 2004 at 01:58 AM Report Posted January 7, 2004 at 01:58 AM Cometrue I may be old but I am not military! Quote
Amdir_Flassion Posted January 7, 2004 at 11:06 AM Author Report Posted January 7, 2004 at 11:06 AM Just to note that yao is not used in Taiwan at all (except that someone once told me it had some sort of military connotation) Okies guys, thx for da clarification. But in Taiwan, I'm not expected to be understood if I say 'jiu yao yao' yeh? Quote
cometrue Posted January 7, 2004 at 03:38 PM Report Posted January 7, 2004 at 03:38 PM When you talk about the incident happened on Sept 11th 2001' date=' you say "Jiu Yi Yi"' date=' not "Jiu Yao Yao".[/quote'']maybe that's HK saying, but in mainland, it's jiu yao yao,not jiu yi yi, sounds so strange. During Sept 2001 I was attending an advance Putonghua class and one of the classmates gave a presentation on the incident. Our teacher, who had come from Beijing, told us so. Maybe she was wrong, and so I was wrong. hehe, i'm sorry for my direct post, but i didnt mean to offense you and all the pals here, about your teacher, my guess is, perhaps she has not living in china for a time... that's all right! it's a new event and a new saying after all... just like i even couldnt completely understand malaysia's chinese newspaper, it happens. lol Quote
cometrue Posted January 7, 2004 at 03:45 PM Report Posted January 7, 2004 at 03:45 PM Cometrue I may be old but I am not military! i'm sorry smithsgj, but i dont mean that, i m sure u learned this saying from some movies or books, or it's common pronunciation in taiwan, but i just wanna tell the truth in mainland, or in north mainland, that's all, take it easy, buddy! Okies guys, thx for da clarification. But in Taiwan, I'm not expected to be understood if I say 'jiu yao yao' yeh? hey! take it easy! Quote
smithsgj Posted January 8, 2004 at 02:23 AM Report Posted January 8, 2004 at 02:23 AM Cometrue I know you don't mean that. I was just teasing and I'm not offended at all. But I don't understand why you tell Amdir_F to take it easy. All he did was ask a question! To which the answer is: the Taiwanese won't have a clue what you're talking about. Yao is not used (except in gambling and military phone calls maybe). You know that counting thing on the maths thread? Well, in China, if you're counting and you don't want to say "er-shi-yi", do you say "er-yi" or "er-yao"? Just curious. Anyway cometrue what's the old word for 0 (dong)? Do you know what character it is? Quote
skylee Posted January 8, 2004 at 02:32 AM Report Posted January 8, 2004 at 02:32 AM Could it be 洞? Quote
smithsgj Posted January 8, 2004 at 03:11 AM Report Posted January 8, 2004 at 03:11 AM No, I think it's probably 凍 because water freezes at 0 degrees. Quote
holyman Posted January 8, 2004 at 03:13 PM Report Posted January 8, 2004 at 03:13 PM just to avoid confusion when saying numbers/digits with a lot of 'ones'. like 911171111, if yi is used then the listen might get confused, its like yi~~~ all the way. so when multiple 'ones' are read/spoken, and used as digits, its probably yao. but a single 'one', and used for counting, its usually yi. Quote
holyman Posted January 8, 2004 at 03:23 PM Report Posted January 8, 2004 at 03:23 PM as for 0, they say dong in taiwan, both police and military, which means a 'hole'. Quote
Guest tintin Posted January 10, 2004 at 07:04 AM Report Posted January 10, 2004 at 07:04 AM It should be yi.. =) Quote
Guest 了了了了 Posted January 10, 2004 at 09:11 AM Report Posted January 10, 2004 at 09:11 AM 911 must be jiu yao yao. Don't believe it? Pay attention to the cctv news emcee's pronunciation. yi or yao? It's a custom. Most of the time it's pronounced 'yi'. I only say yao when counting numbers one by one, say telling others phone number or address. 911 also applies this rule Quote
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