Chinese Language Learning Program Lesson 114 – Er hua yin in Chinese

Chinese Language Learning Program

Lesson 114 – Er hua yin in Chinese

Hello, everyone. Welcome back. This is Baixue’s Chinese Language Learning Program. Last time we talked about future activities in Chinese. Today, we will talk about Er hua yin in Chinese.

ér huà yīn

儿  化   音

(add the "ér" (儿) sound to syllables in spoken Mandarin Chinese, it is a suffixation of a nonsyllabic “r” to nouns and sometimes verbs, causing a retroflexion of the preceding vowel.)

I do not know if you still remember when we talked about compound vowels, I emphasized that you have to remember that “er” cannot be with any consonant to make a syllable. Because it is already a syllable itself. It can be used as a suffixation to nouns or verbs to make “ér huà yīn (儿化音)”.

Several American friends of mine asked me about the “ér huà yīn (儿化音)” when they are learning Chinese. One friend especially likes “ér huà yīn (儿化音)”.Every time we meet each other, she will say: yìdiǎnr diǎnr (一点儿点儿, a little) and she has a lot fun when she says that.

Ok, let’s talk about “ér huà yīn (儿化音)”.

We already learned that there are total 39 vowels, and generally, except the vowels “er”, “iu”, “ui”, the rest of the 26 vowels can be ér huà yīn (儿化音).

After ér huà yīn (儿化音), some words’ the characteristic will change. For more information about these changes, please visit this site for more information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhua

Here, I just give you some examples and tell you how to pronounce these examples.

zhè lǐ                              zhè'er (zhè'r, zhèr)

 这 里 (here)                   这  儿 (here)

míng tiān                       míng'er (míng'r, míngr)

   明    天 (tomorrow)      明   儿 (tomorrow)

shì qing                          shì'er

 事   情 (thing, matter)    事儿 (thing, matter)

nǎ lǐ                                nǎ’er

哪里 (where)                  哪儿 (where)

hǎo wán                               hǎo wán’er

  好   玩 (fun,interesting)    好    玩   儿 (fun, interesting)

huā                                    huā’er

 花 (flower)                        花  儿 (flower)

huà huà                              huà huà’er

  画   画 (draw a picture)    画    画  儿 (draw a picture)

děng yī huì’er

   等   一  会 儿 (wait a minute, hold on, wait a while)

bǎn zhuān                   bǎn’er  zhuān

  板     砖  (brick)           板  儿      砖 (brick)

lòu xiàn’er

 露   馅   儿 (give oneself away)

dǎ dǔn’er                            pǎo tuǐ’er

打   盹  儿 (take a nap)        跑  腿 儿 (run errands)

xié gēn’er                          píng gài’er

 鞋   跟  儿 (heel)                 瓶    盖  儿 (the bottle top; lid)

yī huǒ’ er                            liáo tiān’er

一  伙   儿 (a gang)             聊   天   儿 (chat)

rào wān’er

 绕   弯   儿 (talk in a roundabout way; walk)

tǔ dòu’er                    yī liù yān’er

土  豆   儿 (potato)    一溜   烟  儿 (flee like a breath of vapour)

Ok, now we will have a tongue twister to practice “ér huà yīn (儿化音)”.

huà huà’er

  画   画  儿  (Drawing a picture)

xiǎo xiǎo zǐ’er,  bù tān wán’er.

  小    小   子儿,   不 贪    玩   儿。

(A little boy is not playful.)

huà xiǎo māo’er, zuān yuán quān’er;

  画   小      猫  儿， 钻      圆      圈   儿；

 (He drew kitten, and went through a loop;)

huà xiǎo gǒu’er, dūn xiǎo miào’er,

 画    小      狗 儿，蹲    小      庙   儿，

 (He drew puppy, and scrouched small temple;)

huà xiǎo jī’er, chī xiǎo mǐ’er;

  画   小   鸡儿,  吃   小   米儿；

(He drew chicks, and ate millet;)

huà gè xiǎo chóng’er, dǐng huǒ xīng’er.

  画   个  小       虫    儿,    顶    火     星   儿.

(He drew little bugs, and had a mars on his head.)

Ok, that is all for today.

xiè  xiè!

 谢   谢 ! (Thanks!)

xià  cì  jiàn 

 下  次  见!  (See you next time!)