Talk:肚子

It's probably better to write the IPA for Mandarin as /tu˥˩tsz̩˩/. "i" after z/c/s or zh/ch/sh in Pinyin is actually an apical vowel, not a typical vowel sound (/z̩/ and /ʐ̩/ respectively, or in Sinologist notation: /ɿ/ and /ʅ/), similar to Uyghur. The toneless syllable is unstressed, but not nontonal: they have specific tone values after the four tones.

This seems to affect a lot of entries. Many Mandarin entries even use the rhotacisation symbol /ɚ/ for the apical vowel /ʐ̩/. This is definitely not correct. Erhua may be said to involve a similar sound to the American "r" /ɚ/ (although it's actually a retroflex -/ɻ/), but the buzzing sound "i" after zh/ch/sh (in Pinyin) is definitely not. 60.240.101.246 10:21, 5 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Agreed. Be brave and edit, if you're sure. --Anatoli 11:20, 5 October 2011 (UTC)

There are many varieties of Mandarin. Each variety speaks differently. So, if you are talking about Beijing Mandarin or Putonghua or Standard Mandarin, please say so.