Pronunciation of chinese name ???

[tombio5]

hello ^_^

I have always been interested in chinese culture and have a interenet friend from there. We have been friends for almost a year now and i have become rather fond of her.

Anyway it was not until recently that i realised i have no idea how her name is pronunced. I only know she has told mean its Yixi in terms of english writting. I have been pndering on it for a while but mainly the "x" is throwing me off.

i believe it might be pronounced Yishi or possibly Yizi

anyway i was hoping someone might know the pronunciation and spare me the embarrisment of having to ask her.

If anyone can help me i would really apreciate it a lot

[skylee]

I think you should know (If you don't already) that basically there are 4 tones in Mandarin. On the internet, they are usually denoted by 1, 2, 3, 4 after the pinyin.

Listen -> Xi1 / Xi2 / Xi3 / Xi4

Compare them with -> Shi1 / Shi2 / Shi3 / Shi4

And with -> Si1 / Si3 / Si4

[Strawberries513]

i think what he means is that he doesnt know how to pronounce the X.

yixi= eee-sheee

[tombio5]

thats what i was after, the pronounciation

ee-shi

thanx a bunch for your help

[beechin]

for the accurate should be

Yixi = ee - c

where xi = c in pronounciation

hope this help

[tombio5]

really ....

now i got 2 pronounciations, ee-shee and ee-c

hmm, that confuses things a little

which one does everyone else agree with?

[HashiriKata]

hmm, that confuses things a little

which one does everyone else agree with?

Since [xi] 's pronunciation is half way between /shee/ and /sea/, so pick whichever is easier for you. Remember also no one would expect a perfect pronunciation out of a non-speaker of Chinese, so just relax and say it in the sweetest voice you can, and that will do it nicely!

[wai ming]

To me, /sea/ sounds more southern Chinese (like the Chinese spoken in Guangdong/Taiwan/Singapore/Malaysia etc), while /shee/ sounds more northern (like the Chinese spoken in Beijing). Either way, I don't think it matters too much if you follow HashiriKata's advice

[tombio5]

I think i will go with ee-shee, i think it sounds nicer

not that other way sounds bad or anything, lol

thanx a lot for your help and advice guys

[Long Zhiren]

Type in yi xi in this online Chinese dictionary and it will also give you audio clips for pronunciation. You can also find out what happens with the different tones. You'll want to ask your friend what those tones are.

http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php

[tombio5]

I finally met her again on msn messenger the other day. not much luck tho

i tried to explain how i think it sounded using diffrent letters and things but she didnt really understand the pronounciation i was trying to portray .... haha

i tried to write and portray it as "ee-shee" and say that i think its like the sound of the letter "e" and the word "she" together. But she couldent really understand what i meant and how that would sound.

What a shame !!! lol

Can't really thing of any others way to try describe the pronounciation is text.

[tombio5]

oh i got a new breakthrough ..... maybe hahah

i have the chinese symbols for her name

叶怡汐

does this help in figuring out the english pronounciation?

[liuzhou]

叶怡汐 = yè yí xì

yè - try saying ''yeah" like you are impatient or in a bad mood!

yí - try saying "ee'' like you are asking a question

xì - try saying "shee" impatiently

now, try saying them all together.

[HashiriKata]

It's yi xi (ee-shee), just as we've understood all along. My final ( ) advice is: drop whatever you're doing and start learning Chinese. I'm pretty sure that with application, in two months you can say her name the way it should be said and believe me, she'll be extremely impressed and happy!

[againstwind]

liuzhou and HashiriKata have given you very good advice.

Here is another tip:

汐 should be xi1, not xi4. and try pronouncing 'shee'. That's ok. But make sure your lip is flat, not round like 'she'.

[djwebb2004]

汐 should be xi1, not xi4. and try pronouncing 'shee'. That's ok. But make sure your lip is flat, not round like 'she'.

I don't think the English native speaker's lips are actually round when pronouncing "she"; in fact I can pronounce it correctly with completely spread lips. The English "she" is half way between the Chinese "x" and "sh", and so probably the lips are round for the Chinese "sh"...

[againstwind]

I don't think the English native speaker's lips are actually round when pronouncing "she"; in fact I can pronounce it correctly with completely spread lips. The English "she" is half way between the Chinese "x" and "sh", and so probably the lips are round for the Chinese "sh"...

You are possibly right.

Let me correct my expression:

汐 should be xi1, not xi4. and try pronouncing 'shee'. That's ok.

But make sure your lip is NOT protrudent and your tine of tongue touches the lower gingiva.