<p>There are 600 多音字 in total according to 《新华字典》, but the amount of them be used in daily Chinese conversation is very limited, even native Chinese people also can't know all of them. I think it's enough for you to know the 多音字 if you can learn the 106 popular Chinese characters (listed as below) well.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/MQZ4N.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/MQZ4N.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/w3jnV.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/w3jnV.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>There are too many pics, if you are interested in these, I can send the rest to you by email. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-22T03:34:38.047Z
2017-02-22T07:05:30.203Z
2017-02-22T07:05:30.203Z
Frank.R
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/nlnJb.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/nlnJb.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a>
I use this dictionary when I was in my primary school. Nearly all Chinese people use this dictionary to learn Chinese. In this dictionary, if characters have multiple pronunciations, the dictionary would tell you what it is and where you could find other pronunciations.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-24T18:14:34.087Z
But for frequency, if the word could use in oral Chinese, it may more frequent. Like 吗啡，medicine，even some Chinese people do not know this word I think. It depends on individual.
Ting张
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-24T18:06:42.413Z
2016-11-24T18:06:42.413Z
Ting张
<p><a href="http://dict.youdao.com/search?q=%E5%90%97&amp;keyfrom=dict.index" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://dict.youdao.com/search?q=%E5%90%97&amp;keyfrom=dict.index</a></p>

<p><a href="http://zidian.911cha.com/duoyinzi.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://zidian.911cha.com/duoyinzi.html</a></p>

<p>Paste your word to search.</p>

<p>Bu the way, in Chinese, if a Tone #3 is followed by a Tong #3, you should pronounce the Tone #3 as Tone #2.</p>

<p>For example:  </p>

<p>洗脸(xi3 lian3) actually sounds like (xi2 lian3)</p>

<p>我想 (wo3 xiang3) sounds like (wo2 xiang3)</p>

<p>走马上任 (zou3 ma3 shang4 ren4) sounds like (zou2 ma3 shang4 ren4)</p>

<p>I said "sounds like", which means you still have to write the tone in it's original way during the test. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-23T16:40:42.243Z
This doesn't really answer the question. I can already find the different pronunciations of each character, but I want to know which one is most common. The page you show doesn't show the correct frequency order. For example, for 的 it shows "dí、dì、de", but "de" is by far the most common.
Peter Olson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-24T10:49:11.793Z
@PeterOlson https://github.com/jifei/Pinyin/blob/master/Pinyin.php
Shiji.J
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-23T04:58:28.327Z
2016-11-23T04:58:28.327Z
Shiji.J
<p>As far as I know, there is one dictionary for this: 《现代汉语频率词典》，1986，北京语言学院出版社.</p>

<p>However, this dictionary is a little old and difficult to find. What's more, some of the readings are outdated, because 《普通话异读词审音表》 was published after the dictionary gathered the data.</p>

<p>The <a href="http://unicode.org/charts/unihan.html" rel="noreferrer">Unihan</a> database contains the <code>kHanyuPinlu</code> field which is from 《现代汉语频率词典》. For example:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/GetUnihanData.pl?codepoint=%E5%92%8C" rel="noreferrer">和</a>:</p>

<pre><code>kHanyuPinlu     hé(9513) huo(38) he(24) hè(9)
</code></pre>

<p><a href="http://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/GetUnihanData.pl?codepoint=%E4%B9%90" rel="noreferrer">乐</a></p>

<pre><code>kHanyuPinlu     lè(283) yuè(54)
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-24T08:17:56.330Z
2017-03-24T08:17:56.330Z
Leo Liu
<p>Some characters have multiple pronunciations (多音字), but often some pronunciations are much more common. For example, 吗 is almost always used as a question particle pronounced ma, but occasionally it is pronounced mǎ (as in 吗啡 [morphine]) or má (in the phrase 干吗).</p>

<p>Most dictionaries will show the different pronunciations and their corresponding definitions, but there is no way to tell which ones are the most frequent. Are there any sources that show the relative frequency of 多音字?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-21T04:48:54.510Z
@FarnzSeager 恩，这两个写法我都见过。我是用[这个字典](http://www.zdic.net/z/16/js/5417.htm)的。
Peter Olson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-21T05:40:18.527Z
Differnt kinds of Chinese characters may have different pronunciations, and maybe we don't do calculations to get the frequency of their usages. You can refer your "汉典" to know how many pronunciations for each Chinese character and their usages.
xqMogvKW
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-21T10:49:06.313Z
I don't think there are any. Because the frequency doesn't help you decide which one to pronounce when you see a 多音字. Instead, when encountered with a new usage of one char, I think it is always better to look it up like a new word. Then eventually you will link meanings with different pronunciations. When the meaning is known, it's easy to pinpoint its pronunciation. see [meanings of 多音字 from 新华词典].
Chiron
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-21T13:11:27.240Z
As far as 吗 is concerned does the question not simply ask for frequency of the  3 different meanings?  One pronunciation may be much more common because the particular meaning is.
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-21T18:24:47.510Z
@user6065 Yes, that's correct.
Peter Olson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-23T07:19:53.143Z
OP appears to be asking for word frequency counts instead of just character frequency counts (the latter being widely available), in a rough sense they of course exist for other languages like English (see e.g.
Webster's dictionary) 楼主(原始发文者)请求的好像是词语使用频率，而不是汉字使用频率（后者在许多地方都找得到）在某种粗略意义上为别的语言比如英语也有（比如韦氏词典）
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-23T16:45:24.570Z
@user6065 I'm not asking for word frequency counts or character frequency counts (I have sources for both). I'm asking for frequency counts of the different pronunciations of a character. Something like 的: de (98%), dì (1.5%), dí (0.5%).
Peter Olson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-11-24T14:43:36.950Z
Maybe the number of entries with each reading could lead you to an understanding of which one is more common...
Enrico Brasil
<pronunciation><resources>
Are there any dictionaries that show the relative frequency of 多音字?
# Are there any dictionaries that show the relative frequency of 多音字?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-11-20)

Some characters have multiple pronunciations (多音字), but often some pronunciations are much more common. For example, 吗 is almost always used as a question particle pronounced ma, but occasionally it is pronounced mǎ (as in 吗啡 [morphine]) or má (in the phrase 干吗).

Most dictionaries will show the different pronunciations and their corresponding definitions, but there is no way to tell which ones are the most frequent. Are there any sources that show the relative frequency of 多音字?

**Tags:** pronunciation, resources

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: @FarnzSeager 恩，这两个写法我都见过。我是用[这个字典](http://www.zdic.net/z/16/js/5417.htm)的。  
> **username_1**: Differnt kinds of Chinese characters may have different pronunciations, and maybe we don't do calculations to get the frequency of their usages. You can refer your "汉典" to know how many pronunciations for each Chinese character and their usages.  
> **username_2**: I don't think there are any. Because the frequency doesn't help you decide which one to pronounce when you see a 多音字. Instead, when encountered with a new usage of one char, I think it is always better to look it up like a new word. Then eventually you will link meanings with different pronunciations. When the meaning is known, it's easy to pinpoint its pronunciation. see [meanings of 多音字 from 新华词典].  
> **username_3**: As far as 吗 is concerned does the question not simply ask for frequency of the  3 different meanings?  One pronunciation may be much more common because the particular meaning is.  
> **username_0**: @username_3 Yes, that's correct.  
> **username_3**: OP appears to be asking for word frequency counts instead of just character frequency counts (the latter being widely available), in a rough sense they of course exist for other languages like English (see e.g. Webster's dictionary) 楼主(原始发文者)请求的好像是词语使用频率，而不是汉字使用频率（后者在许多地方都找得到）在某种粗略意义上为别的语言比如英语也有（比如韦氏词典）  
> **username_0**: @username_3 I'm not asking for word frequency counts or character frequency counts (I have sources for both). I'm asking for frequency counts of the different pronunciations of a character. Something like 的: de (98%), dì (1.5%), dí (0.5%).  
> **username_4**: Maybe the number of entries with each reading could lead you to an understanding of which one is more common...  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_8 on 2017-03-24. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

As far as I know, there is one dictionary for this: 《现代汉语频率词典》，1986，北京语言学院出版社.

However, this dictionary is a little old and difficult to find. What's more, some of the readings are outdated, because 《普通话异读词审音表》 was published after the dictionary gathered the data.

The [Unihan](http://unicode.org/charts/unihan.html) database contains the `kHanyuPinlu` field which is from 《现代汉语频率词典》. For example:

[和](http://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/GetUnihanData.pl?codepoint=%E5%92%8C):

```
kHanyuPinlu     hé(9513) huo(38) he(24) hè(9)

```

[乐](http://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/GetUnihanData.pl?codepoint=%E4%B9%90)

```
kHanyuPinlu     lè(283) yuè(54)

```


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2017-02-22. Score: 0

There are 600 多音字 in total according to 《新华字典》, but the amount of them be used in daily Chinese conversation is very limited, even native Chinese people also can't know all of them. I think it's enough for you to know the 多音字 if you can learn the 106 popular Chinese characters (listed as below) well.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/MQZ4N.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/MQZ4N.jpg)

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/w3jnV.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/w3jnV.jpg)

There are too many pics, if you are interested in these, I can send the rest to you by email.


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2016-11-24. Score: -1

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/nlnJb.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/nlnJb.jpg)
I use this dictionary when I was in my primary school. Nearly all Chinese people use this dictionary to learn Chinese. In this dictionary, if characters have multiple pronunciations, the dictionary would tell you what it is and where you could find other pronunciations.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: But for frequency, if the word could use in oral Chinese, it may more frequent. Like 吗啡，medicine，even some Chinese people do not know this word I think. It depends on individual.  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2016-11-23. Score: -1

<http://dict.youdao.com/search?q=%E5%90%97&keyfrom=dict.index>

<http://zidian.911cha.com/duoyinzi.html>

Paste your word to search.

Bu the way, in Chinese, if a Tone #3 is followed by a Tong #3, you should pronounce the Tone #3 as Tone #2.

For example:

洗脸(xi3 lian3) actually sounds like (xi2 lian3)

我想 (wo3 xiang3) sounds like (wo2 xiang3)

走马上任 (zou3 ma3 shang4 ren4) sounds like (zou2 ma3 shang4 ren4)

I said "sounds like", which means you still have to write the tone in it's original way during the test.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: This doesn't really answer the question. I can already find the different pronunciations of each character, but I want to know which one is most common. The page you show doesn't show the correct frequency order. For example, for 的 it shows "dí、dì、de", but "de" is by far the most common.  
> **username_7**: @username_0 https://github.com/jifei/Pinyin/blob/master/Pinyin.php  

---

