Shangrii
How strong of a Taiwanese accent do most people have in Taipei? I want to learn more about the Taiwanese accent. It's really hard to find Taiwanese learning supplies, so it's really hard not to talk like a mainlander. My ex was from Taipei, but when I asked him about it, he didn't give me a clear answer, and after that we lost contact. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwanese_Mandarin) Before, I saw on Wikipedia that there are people in Taiwan that change "f" to "hu," "qi" to "ki," "zhi" to "zi," "chi" to "ci," "shi" to "si," and so on. But when I asked him, "Omg, is this all true?!" he just said, "I think the Taipei accent is similar to standard mainland Mandarin. Everyone who uses all of those pronunciations are like hillbillies. They sound kind of funny." But I know he has at least a bit of an accent because once, when he told me how to pronounce 手, he said it like "sou." I remember it well because I thought it sounded a lot like the Japanese そう. I listened to the few episodes of Chinesepod.com featuring Taiwan, and they didn't go into much depth with this, but from the ones I listened to, they highlighted "sh" becomes "s," "ch" becomes "c," and "eng" becomes "en." (Although I never heard of "eng" to "en" before...) Is just this good enough to sound good in Taipei?
Oct 17, 2010 12:52 PM
Answers · 10
There is nothing peculiar about what you are explaining here. Much of this is standard across all of South China. Why worry about it? You are better off learning standard Mandarin.
October 17, 2010
I am Taiwanese. My hometown is in Tainan(south Taiwan), but I am studying in Taipei. Truth be told, there is no difference between Tainanese and Taipeinese accent :-D
December 20, 2010
I'm not sure if I am answering what you want to know. As far as I know, the sound change is not that clear in Taipei. The situation may happen when you talk to people who have a bit of accent. The change of the pronunciation you mentioned above is affected by our main dialect we use. Basically, don't worry about the accent. If tou have a chance to visit here, you will find out everything. Hah~
October 24, 2010
Minnan language differs from district, I only know there is Jian'ou language, Min'nan language.Even in Fujian Province, people in Jian'ou district doesnot know Min'nan language.
October 17, 2010
It depends on the person. In Taiwan accents vary, so a person from Taipei might sound different, though different dialects also play a part too..... Though to answer your question I believe it depends on the person. Some people might have really thick accents or really light accents. Sorry if this didn't really answer your question.....
October 17, 2010
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