<p>This might help: <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/6273/regional-variations-on-%E4%B8%89%E6%9B%B4%E5%8D%8A%E5%A4%9C">regional-variations-on-三更半夜</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>After comparing among all of ourselves, it seemed that southerners tended to use 深更半夜 while northerners tended to use 三经半夜.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>经 is pronounced as /jing1/</p>
<p>The movies used /jing1/ reading instead of /geng1/ might be due to the speaker being a Northerner</p>
<p>And you already found out /jing1/ is an acceptable pinyin of 更.</p>
<p>From the accepted answer:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>三经半夜 is not valid or formal Chinese. 经 cannot be used to substitute 更 both in writing or in pronunciation in formal Chinese. However, it is widely used in speaking</p>
</blockquote>
<p>/jing1/ seems to be a regional pronunciation of 更/jeng1/ for some northerner</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-27T18:37:31.773Z
I think you are correct that it's a northern-specific phenomenon. But I am skeptical it's the result of confusing a different word/morpheme. 耕 also shows up as geng1 and jing1 in different northern mandarin dialects, so I suspect it's a 白文异读 thing. I don't have a full list of characters that exhibit this phenomenon, but I'll try and make one and update the questions when I'm able.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-27T08:42:15.997Z
2024-02-27T09:07:13.167Z
2024-02-27T09:07:13.167Z
Tang Ho
<p>更 gēng: 量词。旧时夜间计时单位，一夜分为五更，每更约两小时</p>
<p>更
ㄐㄧㄥ
jīng</p>
<p>動</p>
<p>經歷、經過。如：「少不更事」。《史記·卷一二三·大宛傳》：「漢方欲事滅胡，……因欲通使，道必更匈奴中，乃募能使者。」</p>
<p>Funny, across languages, across the world, letters, sounds, may have different sounds.</p>
<p>g is j: gin, ginger<br />
g is ge: God, gone</p>
<p>How to pronounce: gēng?</p>
<p>In China, how many names of provinces begin with h?</p>
<p>One is:
f is h: 福建省</p>
<p>In Spanish:</p>
<p>f is h: hacienda (from Latin should be facienda, but spoken hacienda in Castellano)</p>
<p>Arriving in 南昌, the train conductor walked through the train shouting: Lanchang daole, Lanchang daole</p>
<p>人们: lenmen<br />
如果: luguo</p>
<p>The pronunciations of various sounds has never been agreed, or maybe agreed, but not adhered to, neither nationally, nor transnationally.</p>
<p>Can you say this &quot;t&quot; in Cockney?</p>
<p>Try to say this t in &quot;water&quot; or &quot;Peter&quot; or &quot;bottle&quot; in Cockney, or American!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-27T18:35:10.680Z
This does not address my question in any specific way...
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-27T15:17:59.063Z
2024-02-27T15:17:59.063Z
Pedroski
<p>Both <a href="https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E4%B8%89%E6%9B%B4" rel="nofollow noreferrer">漢典</a> and <a href="https://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/dictView.jsp?ID=144494&amp;q=1&amp;word=%E4%B8%89%E6%9B%B4" rel="nofollow noreferrer">國語辭典</a> list the pronunciation of 三更 as sāngēng. In <a href="https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E6%9B%B4" rel="nofollow noreferrer">漢典</a>, 更 has two pronunciations - gēng and gèng. It doesn't pronunciate as jing. In <a href="https://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/dictView.jsp?ID=5930&amp;q=1&amp;word=%E6%9B%B4#order2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">國語辭典</a>，更 has a third pronunciation - jing but only in phrases such as 少不更事 in which 更 means 經歷.</p>
<p>According to the above two dictionaries, 更 in 三更、五更、打更, etc. all should be pronounced as gēng though I have heard people pronounce it as jing in those cases.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-27T16:02:44.227Z
Also in https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E6%9B%B4, 更, ㄐㄧㄥ, jīng
PdotWang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-28T12:43:11.083Z
漢典 includes entries in 國語辭典。What you referred to is not in 漢典 but 國語辭典。
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-27T12:40:43.180Z
2024-02-27T12:40:43.180Z
joehua
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/BfUCj.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/BfUCj.png" alt="打更宾" /></a></p>
<p>One of the less common meanings of 更 has to do with traditional Chinese time-keeping. There's a changing of the guard, and this is kept track of by hitting a drum or whatever. 更, extending from the meaning of &quot;to change&quot;, &quot;to take turns&quot;, etc. refers to this period of time. It shows up in 满江红 in the scene I screencapped.</p>
<p>In the movie, they pronounce it as jīng. I was only familiar with the pronunciation of gēng. Is this a 白文异读 sort of thing? Where does the jīng pronunciation come from? Wiktionary <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%9B%B4#Pronunciation_2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">lists</a> both gēng and jīng as acceptable pronunciations, but there's only one Middle Chinese pronunciation listed, and the expected Mandarin reflex is gēng. So... what's the deal?</p>
<p><strong>Edit:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>耕 also exhibits something similar. In some northern Mandarin dialects, it's jing-like and in some it's geng-like (and in some it's both). This points towards a 白文异读 explanation where each pronunciation comes from a different Mandarin dialect. I'll try and find more words that fit this theory and add them here.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-27T08:19:05.780Z
Could it be 警 (guard/ watch alert) /Jing3/ and "打 jing 兵" was "打警號的士兵?" I mean it matches the description of "night watchman. If it is 更, it has to be pronounced as /geng1/
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-27T08:23:51.583Z
@TangHo It is very consistently transcribed as 更, and as the dictionary says, that _is_ an acceptable pronunciation.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-27T08:25:00.460Z
Which dictionary has 更 pronounced as jing?
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-27T08:28:12.433Z
Nevermind, I found it [here](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%9B%B4)
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-27T20:00:23.547Z
https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E6%9B%B4 See the bottom of 國語辭典
PdotWang
<topolect><history>
更: geng and jing
# 更: geng and jing

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-02-27)

[![打更宾](https://i.sstatic.net/BfUCj.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/BfUCj.png)

One of the less common meanings of 更 has to do with traditional Chinese time-keeping. There's a changing of the guard, and this is kept track of by hitting a drum or whatever. 更, extending from the meaning of "to change", "to take turns", etc. refers to this period of time. It shows up in 满江红 in the scene I screencapped.

In the movie, they pronounce it as jīng. I was only familiar with the pronunciation of gēng. Is this a 白文异读 sort of thing? Where does the jīng pronunciation come from? Wiktionary [lists](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%9B%B4#Pronunciation_2) both gēng and jīng as acceptable pronunciations, but there's only one Middle Chinese pronunciation listed, and the expected Mandarin reflex is gēng. So... what's the deal?

**Edit:**

* 耕 also exhibits something similar. In some northern Mandarin dialects, it's jing-like and in some it's geng-like (and in some it's both). This points towards a 白文异读 explanation where each pronunciation comes from a different Mandarin dialect. I'll try and find more words that fit this theory and add them here.

**Tags:** topolect, history

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Could it be 警 (guard/ watch alert) /Jing3/ and "打 jing 兵" was "打警號的士兵?" I mean it matches the description of "night watchman. If it is 更, it has to be pronounced as /geng1/  
> **username_0**: @username_1 It is very consistently transcribed as 更, and as the dictionary says, that _is_ an acceptable pronunciation.  
> **username_1**: Which dictionary has 更 pronounced as jing?  
> **username_1**: Nevermind, I found it [here](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%9B%B4)  
> **username_2**: https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E6%9B%B4 See the bottom of 國語辭典  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-02-27. Score: 1

This might help: [regional-variations-on-三更半夜](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/6273/regional-variations-on-%E4%B8%89%E6%9B%B4%E5%8D%8A%E5%A4%9C)

> After comparing among all of ourselves, it seemed that southerners tended to use 深更半夜 while northerners tended to use 三经半夜.

经 is pronounced as /jing1/

The movies used /jing1/ reading instead of /geng1/ might be due to the speaker being a Northerner

And you already found out /jing1/ is an acceptable pinyin of 更.

From the accepted answer:

> 三经半夜 is not valid or formal Chinese. 经 cannot be used to substitute 更 both in writing or in pronunciation in formal Chinese. However, it is widely used in speaking

/jing1/ seems to be a regional pronunciation of 更/jeng1/ for some northerner

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I think you are correct that it's a northern-specific phenomenon. But I am skeptical it's the result of confusing a different word/morpheme. 耕 also shows up as geng1 and jing1 in different northern mandarin dialects, so I suspect it's a 白文异读 thing. I don't have a full list of characters that exhibit this phenomenon, but I'll try and make one and update the questions when I'm able.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-02-27. Score: 0

更 gēng: 量词。旧时夜间计时单位，一夜分为五更，每更约两小时

更
ㄐㄧㄥ
jīng

動

經歷、經過。如：「少不更事」。《史記·卷一二三·大宛傳》：「漢方欲事滅胡，……因欲通使，道必更匈奴中，乃募能使者。」

Funny, across languages, across the world, letters, sounds, may have different sounds.

g is j: gin, ginger  
g is ge: God, gone

How to pronounce: gēng?

In China, how many names of provinces begin with h?

One is:
f is h: 福建省

In Spanish:

f is h: hacienda (from Latin should be facienda, but spoken hacienda in Castellano)

Arriving in 南昌, the train conductor walked through the train shouting: Lanchang daole, Lanchang daole

人们: lenmen  
如果: luguo

The pronunciations of various sounds has never been agreed, or maybe agreed, but not adhered to, neither nationally, nor transnationally.

Can you say this "t" in Cockney?

Try to say this t in "water" or "Peter" or "bottle" in Cockney, or American!

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: This does not address my question in any specific way...  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2024-02-27. Score: 0

Both [漢典](https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E4%B8%89%E6%9B%B4) and [國語辭典](https://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/dictView.jsp?ID=144494&q=1&word=%E4%B8%89%E6%9B%B4) list the pronunciation of 三更 as sāngēng. In [漢典](https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E6%9B%B4), 更 has two pronunciations - gēng and gèng. It doesn't pronunciate as jing. In [國語辭典](https://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/dictView.jsp?ID=5930&q=1&word=%E6%9B%B4#order2)，更 has a third pronunciation - jing but only in phrases such as 少不更事 in which 更 means 經歷.

According to the above two dictionaries, 更 in 三更、五更、打更, etc. all should be pronounced as gēng though I have heard people pronounce it as jing in those cases.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Also in https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E6%9B%B4, 更, ㄐㄧㄥ, jīng  
> **username_4**: 漢典 includes entries in 國語辭典。What you referred to is not in 漢典 but 國語辭典。  

---

