<p>In characters, the phrase is</p>
<blockquote>
<p><sub><strong>Dǎ yāo yāo líng</strong></sub></p>
<p>打幺幺零</p>
<p><em>Dial 1-1-0</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>「一」is not <strong>yāo</strong>; rather, a different word「幺」is used. See <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/29277/pronunciation-of-%e5%a3%b9-%e4%b8%80-in-mandarin?noredirect=1&amp;lq=1">Pronunciation of 壹 / 一 in Mandarin</a> for the use of <strong>yāo</strong>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-30T03:09:52.670Z
2019-11-30T03:09:52.670Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
dROOOze
<p>"da yoyo liang" seems like a <strong>dialectal</strong> way to say <strong>打110</strong>.</p>

<p>“da yoyo liang” sounds like a Shanghainese version <strong>of 打112</strong>. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-30T04:20:34.100Z
"yoyo" is the OP's attempt at transcribing yāo. I don't think a learning program like Memrise is going to use a dialect recording to teach Mandarin.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-30T04:32:13.900Z
@droooze, we don't really know unless we could hear it. :( It's all guess work here.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-30T03:51:00.337Z
2019-11-30T03:58:18.623Z
2019-11-30T03:58:18.623Z
dan
<p>I believe it is this</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>打110<br>
  打一一零<br>
  dǎ yāo yāo líng</p>
</blockquote>

<p>(It's the police emergency phone number.)</p>

<p>It is very common practice in mainland China to say "yāo" in place of "yī" when <em>pronouncing phone numbers</em>.  I've heard it's because 一 (yī) and 七 (qī) sound so similar.</p>

<p>I don't believe pronouncing yī as yāo is done outside of phone numbers, e.g., 2011年 would be pronounced “èr líng yī yī nián”.  See <a href="https://chinese4kids.net/year-month-date-in-chinese/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://chinese4kids.net/year-month-date-in-chinese/</a></p>

<p>It's not used when you're reading numbers normally, 我想买一百一十一个 is "wǒ xiǎng mǎi yībǎi yīshíyī gè".</p>

<p>When I went to Taiwan, the famous building 台北101 was pronounced by the taxi driver “Táiběi yī líng yī”, so my impression this is a mainland China custom.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-03T10:38:50.480Z
Just like reading letters as Alfa, Bravo. Yāo is the stander way to read 1 over radio in military field. For example, when counting down the launch of rocket, the speaker says San, Liang, Yao instead of San, Er, Yi.
tsh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-30T02:43:07.027Z
2019-11-30T02:43:07.027Z
Becky 李蓓
<p>Memrise provides a phrase that sounds like da yoyo liang. Is yi becoming yo here, and if so under what circumstances would this change occur? Is it just a dialect issue or standard mandarin.
<img src="https://i.sstatic.net/efJ9L.jpg" alt="memrise"></p>

<grammar>
Pronunciation and characters for 打 110 Without Arabic numerals
# Pronunciation and characters for 打 110 Without Arabic numerals

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-11-29)

Memrise provides a phrase that sounds like da yoyo liang. Is yi becoming yo here, and if so under what circumstances would this change occur? Is it just a dialect issue or standard mandarin.
![memrise](https://i.sstatic.net/efJ9L.jpg)

**Tags:** grammar


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-11-30. Score: 3

In characters, the phrase is

> **Dǎ yāo yāo líng**
>
> 打幺幺零
>
> *Dial 1-1-0*

「一」is not **yāo**; rather, a different word「幺」is used. See [Pronunciation of 壹 / 一 in Mandarin](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/29277/pronunciation-of-%e5%a3%b9-%e4%b8%80-in-mandarin?noredirect=1&lq=1) for the use of **yāo**.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2019-11-30. Score: 1

"da yoyo liang" seems like a **dialectal** way to say **打110**.

“da yoyo liang” sounds like a Shanghainese version **of 打112**.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: "yoyo" is the OP's attempt at transcribing yāo. I don't think a learning program like Memrise is going to use a dialect recording to teach Mandarin.  
> **username_2**: @droooze, we don't really know unless we could hear it. :( It's all guess work here.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-11-30. Score: 0

I believe it is this

> 打110  
> 打一一零  
> dǎ yāo yāo líng

(It's the police emergency phone number.)

It is very common practice in mainland China to say "yāo" in place of "yī" when *pronouncing phone numbers*. I've heard it's because 一 (yī) and 七 (qī) sound so similar.

I don't believe pronouncing yī as yāo is done outside of phone numbers, e.g., 2011年 would be pronounced “èr líng yī yī nián”. See <https://chinese4kids.net/year-month-date-in-chinese/>

It's not used when you're reading numbers normally, 我想买一百一十一个 is "wǒ xiǎng mǎi yībǎi yīshíyī gè".

When I went to Taiwan, the famous building 台北101 was pronounced by the taxi driver “Táiběi yī líng yī”, so my impression this is a mainland China custom.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Just like reading letters as Alfa, Bravo. Yāo is the stander way to read 1 over radio in military field. For example, when counting down the launch of rocket, the speaker says San, Liang, Yao instead of San, Er, Yi.  

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