What's the difference?

jilang · Post by **jilang** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 7:10 am

Hi

Can someone please point out to me the difference between "ch" and "j" ("ch" from "ch/chh"). I've seen words starting with these but can't really find a difference between them.

Also, a little side thing, does anyone have any tips on identifying the tones of words. I can pronounce words correctly but often can't identify which tone it is.

Thanks
~Jilang

niuc · Post by **niuc** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 2:43 pm

Hi Jilang

In POJ system:
ch as in chai1 知 "to know"
chh as in chhai1 猜 "to guess"
j as in ji7 二 "two" [Amoy/Ciangciu accents]

In other romanization schemes, 知 is written as cai1 or tsai1; 猜 as chai1 or ts'ai1.

For tones, I think one of the easiest ways is to remember:
獅 sai1 = lion
虎 ho`2 = tiger
豹 pa3 = panther
鴨 a4 (ah4) = duck
牛 gu5 = cow
馬 be2 [tone 6 = tone 2] = horse
象 chiu*7 [chhiu*7/ts'iu*7] = elephant
鹿 lok8 = deer

jilang · Post by **jilang** » Fri May 04, 2007 7:17 am

Thanks for the examples but I still can't find a difference between the 'ch' and 'j'. The 'ch' from 知 and the 'j' from 二 sound exactly the same to me. I think I need a slightly detailed description of the difference.

And for indentyfing the tones thanks for the examples but my main problem is relating them to words which I don't know the specific tone of.

Thanks for your help though.

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Sat May 05, 2007 4:14 am

If you want a detailed description, I think simply

c is [tx]
j is [dx]

where x is pinyin x

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Sat May 05, 2007 4:20 am

Sorry, I should have said that in [dx] the x is also voiced

(in the pairs d/t, g/k, b/p, etc, the first is voiced the second is unvoiced.)

jilang · Post by **jilang** » Sat May 05, 2007 5:08 am

Thanks, I think I see the difference now.