<p>This happens frequently in oral expressions. Yes, this is a "contraction" as you stated. The context is specific to everybody, so the speaker can shorten some words to express more information. Here the full word /xiànzài/ is shortened as something like /xià(n)ài/, where the sound /z/ and the nasal sound are in fact pronounced but in a very short period, and the recording seems like that the one just omitted /z/, /n/. You could try yourself by reading the word "现在" as quick as possible without altering the leading consonants [or, to be more exact, 声母] the tone and the vowels [韵母], and you might get the same result. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-09T09:21:44.067Z
2018-10-09T09:21:44.067Z
xbh
<p>haha,  yes, you are  right,  it's a  voice, you don't care it. there are many voice,  my mean is accent,,,   hope you  can understand</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-09T19:43:46.463Z
Bruce, people are downvoting your answer, but I think the reason is that it's hard to understand your meaning. I don't want you to feel discouraged for contributing though, or penalized for not having good English. 你可以寫你的注意用中文嗎？
pixelearth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-07T04:58:03.997Z
2018-10-07T04:58:03.997Z
Bruce
<p>In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3UWrgSoIxQ&amp;list=PLA5UIoabheFNk9apd1AsoYxK0K4oEQ3h8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this video</a> at time stamp 0:07 the Taiwanese speaker (according to the subtitles) says:</p>

<p>我們<strong>現在</strong>是在臺北。。。</p>

<p>However the what she actually says for 現在 is one syllable that sounds like /xia1/ to me. </p>

<p>What am I hearing? Is this a complete other word, or is it a common contraction of 現在?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-07T04:45:45.173Z
Contraction, and the vowel's often nasalized.
炸鱼薯条德里克
<pronunciation>
Is this a spoken contracted form of 現在【现在】？
# Is this a spoken contracted form of 現在【现在】？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-10-07)

In [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3UWrgSoIxQ&list=PLA5UIoabheFNk9apd1AsoYxK0K4oEQ3h8) at time stamp 0:07 the Taiwanese speaker (according to the subtitles) says:

我們**現在**是在臺北。。。

However the what she actually says for 現在 is one syllable that sounds like /xia1/ to me.

What am I hearing? Is this a complete other word, or is it a common contraction of 現在?

**Tags:** pronunciation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Contraction, and the vowel's often nasalized.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-10-09. Score: 1

This happens frequently in oral expressions. Yes, this is a "contraction" as you stated. The context is specific to everybody, so the speaker can shorten some words to express more information. Here the full word /xiànzài/ is shortened as something like /xià(n)ài/, where the sound /z/ and the nasal sound are in fact pronounced but in a very short period, and the recording seems like that the one just omitted /z/, /n/. You could try yourself by reading the word "现在" as quick as possible without altering the leading consonants [or, to be more exact, 声母] the tone and the vowels [韵母], and you might get the same result.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2018-10-07. Score: -2

haha, yes, you are right, it's a voice, you don't care it. there are many voice, my mean is accent,,, hope you can understand

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: username_3, people are downvoting your answer, but I think the reason is that it's hard to understand your meaning. I don't want you to feel discouraged for contributing though, or penalized for not having good English. 你可以寫你的注意用中文嗎？  

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