<p>I've been wondering how to correctly say "why" in Beijing dialect. </p>

<p>I know that in colloquial beijing mandarin 什么 is pronounced as shém with a final m. I thus thought the same was for 为什么 as weishem. </p>

<p>However, I came across this website ( <a href="https://pinyin.sogou.com/zimeiti/article/1255" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://pinyin.sogou.com/zimeiti/article/1255</a> ) where it says it is pronounced "味日末", wei ri mo. If it is "味日末", does this refer to wei [ʐ] mo or wei [ɻ] mo?</p>

<p>However, wiktionary says that 吗儿 is the Beijing synonym for 什么 (<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%97%8E%E5%85%92#Chinese" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%97%8E%E5%85%92#Chinese</a>). Should it be 为吗儿?</p>

<p>Which is correct? </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-08T17:35:29.063Z
为儿什么 could be something like wei re me, 么 is also easy to morph me —> mo and vice versa.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-09T17:14:11.160Z
I know you're struggling to find good resources, but be very careful about anything where Chinese characters are used to show pronunciation. It will be a very rough approximation and it will be impossible to know what sound the writer intended.
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-11T14:48:28.950Z
(Disclaimer: beginner). /ʐ/ seems more logical because sh is /ʂ/. Voicing happens between syllables => /ʂ/ becomes /ʐ/. 
And the Wiktionary entry says 吗儿 is a synonym, but 什么 is still listed first - that means it's a valid synonym (and probably more common). And I don't think we can go and replace every 什么 with 吗儿, as it will depends on the context where it is used - which words surround it, which situation the speaker is in, the speaker's class / educational background / etc.
范阮煌
<pronunciation><topolect>
"Why" in Beijing Dialect
# "Why" in Beijing Dialect

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-04-08)

I've been wondering how to correctly say "why" in Beijing dialect.

I know that in colloquial beijing mandarin 什么 is pronounced as shém with a final m. I thus thought the same was for 为什么 as weishem.

However, I came across this website ( <https://pinyin.sogou.com/zimeiti/article/1255> ) where it says it is pronounced "味日末", wei ri mo. If it is "味日末", does this refer to wei [ʐ] mo or wei [ɻ] mo?

However, wiktionary says that 吗儿 is the Beijing synonym for 什么 (<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%97%8E%E5%85%92#Chinese>). Should it be 为吗儿?

Which is correct?

**Tags:** pronunciation, topolect

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 为儿什么 could be something like wei re me, 么 is also easy to morph me —> mo and vice versa.  
> **username_2**: I know you're struggling to find good resources, but be very careful about anything where Chinese characters are used to show pronunciation. It will be a very rough approximation and it will be impossible to know what sound the writer intended.  
> **username_3**: (Disclaimer: beginner). /ʐ/ seems more logical because sh is /ʂ/. Voicing happens between syllables => /ʂ/ becomes /ʐ/.  And the Wiktionary entry says 吗儿 is a synonym, but 什么 is still listed first - that means it's a valid synonym (and probably more common). And I don't think we can go and replace every 什么 with 吗儿, as it will depends on the context where it is used - which words surround it, which situation the speaker is in, the speaker's class / educational background / etc.  

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## 0 answers

