erhua phenomenon; r-coloring of syllables
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesverb
to undergo erhua; to add the retroflex /r/ suffix
technicalA phonological rule where the suffix '儿' (er) merges with the preceding syllable, creating a retroflex final. This is a key feature of Standard Mandarin and some northern dialects.
Zài在
biāo标
zhǔn准
pǔ普
tōng通
huà话
lǐ里
，
“
huā花
ér儿
”
fā发
yīn音
shì是
huārh
éru
búā
shìr
，
huā而
ér不
zhè是
jiùh
shìu
érā
’
huàé
r
，
这
就
是
儿
化
。
In Standard Mandarin, the word 'flower' is pronounced as 'huār' rather than 'huā'ér', which is an example of erhua.
Běi北
jīng京
de的
fāng方
yán言
ér儿
huà化
yīn音
tè特
bié别
duō多
。
The Beijing dialect has a particularly large number of erhua sounds.
Show 2 more examplesShow fewer examples
Xué学
xí习
ér儿
huà化
duì对
zhǎng掌
wò握
dì地
dào道
de的
pǔ普
tōng通
huà话
hěn很
zhòng重
yào要
。
Learning erhua is important for mastering authentic Mandarin pronunciation.
Zhè这
ge个
cí词
zài在
kǒu口
yǔ语
lǐ里
tōng通
cháng常
yào要
ér儿
huà化
，
bǐ比
rú如
“
xiǎo小
hái孩
ér儿
”
。
This word is usually pronounced with erhua in spoken language, for example, 'child' becomes 'xiǎoháir'.