Chinese “dialect” pronunciation swap 2

Last time, we heard what Teochew sounded like when it was read with Mandarin pronunciation for each character.

I hope that it convinced you that translating between these languages is not as simple as changing the pronunciation character-by-character (the pronunciation equivalent of transliteration, perhaps).

Now let’s try the reverse direction: A Mandarin text recited out loud in Teochew pronunciation. Does it sound like Teochew to you?

More and more Mandarin influence has crept into Teochew, because Mandarin is the language of education for most Chinese communities. So maybe this Teochew with Mandarin characteristics doesn’t sound so unusual to some ears, after all.

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Posted on 2021-06-19 00:00:00 +0000