<p>Note that I have not considered <em>huai</em> and <em>feng</em> to be minimal. However, in practice many accents that have the hu-/f- merger <em>also</em> have the <em>-n</em>/<em>-ng</em> merger, thus resulting in a <em>fen</em>/<em>feng</em>/<em>hun</em> merger.</p>
<p>The below comes from a query of the Chinese Lexical Database collected by University of Tübingen, which is based on simplified Chinese (but converted to traditional, albeit not always correctly) and standard <em>mainland</em> Mandarin Chinese pinyin, pre-tone sandhi:</p>
<ul>
<li>案發 vs 暗花</li>
<li>白髮 vs 白化/白樺/白話</li>
<li>便飯 vs 變幻/變換</li>
<li>便服 vs 便壺</li>
<li>財閥 vs 才華</li>
<li>餐費 vs 參會/餐會</li>
<li>倉房 vs 倉惶/倉皇</li>
<li>船夫 vs 傳呼</li>
<li>長髮 vs 長話</li>
<li>大費 vs 大會</li>
<li>大幅/大福 vs 大湖</li>
<li>大副/大賦 vs 大戶</li>
<li>電費 vs 電匯</li>
<li>墊付 vs 佃戶</li>
<li>發包 vs 花苞</li>
<li>發布 vs 花布</li>
<li>發車 vs 花車</li>
<li>發電 vs 花店</li>
<li>發花 vs 花花</li>
<li>發還 vs 花環</li>
<li>發黃 vs 花房</li>
<li>花費 vs 花會/花卉</li>
<li>發紅 vs 花紅</li>
<li>發酵 vs 花轎</li>
<li>發球 vs 花球</li>
<li>發聲/發生 vs 花生</li>
<li>發誓 vs 花市/花式/花飾</li>
<li>發源 vs 花園</li>
<li>發展 vs 花展</li>
<li>乏力 vs 華麗</li>
<li>髮髻 vs 畫技</li>
<li>髮夾 vs 畫家</li>
<li>髮廊/琺瑯 vs 畫廊</li>
<li>髮式 vs 畫室</li>
<li>翻騰 vs 歡騰</li>
<li>翻新 vs 歡心/歡欣</li>
<li>翻越/翻閱 vs 歡悅</li>
<li>煩擾 vs 環繞 (variant pron.)</li>
<li>凡世/凡事/凡是 vs 環視</li>
<li>繁星 vs 環星</li>
<li>犯病 vs 患病</li>
<li>犯戒 vs 換屆</li>
<li>泛起 vs 喚起</li>
<li>飯前/飯錢 vs 換錢</li>
<li>犯人 vs 換人</li>
<li>犯上 vs 換上</li>
<li>梵文 vs 換文</li>
<li>方糖 vs 荒唐</li>
<li>方園/方圓 vs 荒原</li>
<li>防塵 vs 黃塵</li>
<li>防蟲 vs 蝗蟲</li>
<li>防盜 vs 黃道</li>
<li>防風 vs 黃蜂</li>
<li>房梁 vs 皇糧</li>
<li>房事/房室 vs 皇室</li>
<li>防衛 vs 皇位</li>
<li>防災 vs 蝗災</li>
<li>放蕩 vs 晃蕩</li>
<li>飛蛾 vs 灰鵝</li>
<li>揮發 vs 飛花</li>
<li>緋紅 vs 恢宏</li>
<li>飛進 vs 灰燼</li>
<li>飛舞 vs 揮舞</li>
<li>肥水 vs 回水</li>
<li>誹謗 vs 毀謗</li>
<li>廢話/費話 vs 會話/繪畫</li>
<li>會費 vs 狒狒</li>
<li>廢票 vs 匯票</li>
<li>廢棄/廢氣 vs 晦氣</li>
<li>費錢 vs 會前</li>
<li>費事 vs 會試/匯市</li>
<li>費心 vs 會心</li>
<li>肺炎 vs 諱言</li>
<li>廢置 vs 繪制</li>
<li>分辨/分辯 vs 婚變</li>
<li>分發 vs 昏花</li>
<li>分房 vs 昏黃</li>
<li>分界 vs 婚介</li>
<li>分配 vs 婚配</li>
<li>分期 vs 婚期</li>
<li>份飯 vs 混飯</li>
<li>奮進 vs 混進</li>
<li>分式 vs 混事</li>
<li>奮戰 vs 混戰</li>
<li>活佛 vs 活活</li>
<li>佛門 vs 活門</li>
<li>佛像 vs 活像</li>
<li>服部 vs 狐步</li>
<li>幅度 vs 弧度</li>
<li>拂面 vs 湖面</li>
<li>伏天 vs 胡天</li>
<li>浮現 vs 弧線</li>
<li>服刑 vs 弧形</li>
<li>附耳 vs 護耳</li>
<li>付費 vs 互惠</li>
<li>負極 vs 戶籍</li>
<li>復利 vs 互利</li>
<li>婦聯 vs 互聯/互連</li>
<li>復明 vs 戶名</li>
<li>富強 vs 護牆</li>
<li>附屬 vs 戶數</li>
<li>復式/復試 vs 護士</li>
<li>復位 vs 互為/護衛</li>
<li>付息 vs 護膝</li>
<li>復信 vs 互信</li>
<li>父兄 vs 護胸</li>
<li>附注 vs 互助</li>
<li>公費 vs 公會/工會</li>
<li>核發 vs 荷花</li>
<li>黑髮 vs 黑話</li>
<li>肌膚 vs 幾乎</li>
<li>繼髮 vs 計劃</li>
<li>寄費/計費 vs 忌諱</li>
<li>假髮 vs 假話</li>
<li>肩負 vs 監護</li>
<li>剪髮 vs 簡化</li>
<li>交費 vs 交會/交匯</li>
<li>交付 vs 交互</li>
<li>舅父 vs 救護</li>
<li>開發 vs 開花</li>
<li>開方 vs 開荒</li>
<li>開赴 vs 開戶</li>
<li>理髮 vs 理化</li>
<li>美髮 vs 美化</li>
<li>農婦 vs 農戶</li>
<li>平反 vs 平緩</li>
<li>舒服 vs 疏忽</li>
<li>神父 vs 神戶</li>
<li>生非 vs 生輝</li>
<li>生活費 vs 生活會</li>
<li>首富 vs 守護</li>
<li>攤販 vs 癱瘓</li>
<li>西服/西弗/惜福 vs 西湖/溪湖</li>
<li>細髮 vs 細化</li>
<li>小費 vs 小惠</li>
<li>小幅 vs 小湖</li>
<li>小腹 vs 小戶</li>
<li>秀發 vs 繡花</li>
<li>學費 vs 學會</li>
<li>養父 vs 養護</li>
<li>依附 vs 醫護</li>
<li>印髮 vs 印花</li>
<li>雜費 vs 雜燴</li>
<li>支付 vs 支護</li>
<li>植髮 vs 直話</li>
</ul>
<p>I might come back later and do a post-tone sandhi version. However, a few that come to my mind which aren't mentioned above:</p>
<ul>
<li>the capital of Fujian, 福州 vs a prefecture-level city of Zhejiang, 湖州, as I mentioned in a comment. I imagine if we added more toponyms in, we would get a pretty large range.</li>
<li>a partial 3-way one: 法語 (TW-only) vs 話語 and 法語 (CN-mainland / SG / ML) vs 華語, which I have personally had trouble with!</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-02T18:50:37.650Z
The ones with 髮 wouldn't work in Taiwan, since 髮 has third tone, fǎ, in Taiwan. But they make for interesting examples for Chinese with this merger.
Dodezv
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-02T16:14:26.800Z
2024-02-02T16:14:26.800Z
Michaelyus
<p>Some older speakers in Taiwan are not able to differentiate between <em>f</em> and <em>hu</em>, with Min speakers using <em>hu</em> and Hakka speakers using <em>f</em>. Then, for example 發 fā and 花 huā may sound the same, or 風 fēng and 烘 hōng. But I have problems finding useful minimal pairs with multiple-character words, aside from construed ones like e.g. 發炎 fāyán and 花顏 huāyán，where both words are relatively well-used and would make sense in the same context. Maybe 花錢 huāqián and 發錢 fāqián.</p>
<p>I would like to have two sentences in Standard Chinese that differ only in <em>hu</em> vs. <em>f</em> that would make sense in the same context. It would also be nice if they would mean comically different things, to make the pair more memorable.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-01T18:29:01.657Z
I apologize, but I still don't understand the question.  You say minimal pair but in what language, min hakka or standard mandarin? all will be very different from each other.  fyi they aren't pronouncing the v/f and h the same per se, hakka has both and pronounces them differently, min has no f sound and probably cannot say it at all.
zagrycha
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-01T20:48:25.673Z
@zagrycha I believe he's asking for two sentences in Mandarin where the only difference is one word, and the words are a minimal pair for hu/f (in Mandarin) but which would be mispronounced as homophones by a Mandarin speaker with a strong Min or Hakka accent.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-01T23:58:35.543Z
@StumpyJoePete that sounds doable although you'd probably need two separate answers-- one knowing min and mandarin and one knowing hakka and mandarin.
zagrycha
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-02T09:55:28.630Z
福州 (the capital of Fujian) vs 湖州 (prefecture-level city in Zhejiang) isn't comically different, but it sure is difficult to differentiate by context when you're at a train station in 南京 or 杭州!
Michaelyus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-02T11:04:44.363Z
@zagrycha: It was already in the title, but now I clarified in the question body. The problem with some Hakka speakers is not that they have no *h*, but that they have no *hu*. So they may say jiéfēn instead of jiéhūn in 結婚, but have no problem with only *h* in, say, hǎi 海. And then there's hypercorrection.
Dodezv
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-02T17:57:46.640Z
I don't know the pinyin of 炎 and 顏 in Taiwanese, but unlike the Chinese, the two words sound quite different so they wouldn't be missed one for another.  Also, the term for "花錢" is "凱吉" (by sound).
r13
<untagged>
Sentence-level minimal pairs between f and hu in Mandarin Chinese
# Sentence-level minimal pairs between f and hu in Mandarin Chinese

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-02-01)

Some older speakers in Taiwan are not able to differentiate between *f* and *hu*, with Min speakers using *hu* and Hakka speakers using *f*. Then, for example 發 fā and 花 huā may sound the same, or 風 fēng and 烘 hōng. But I have problems finding useful minimal pairs with multiple-character words, aside from construed ones like e.g. 發炎 fāyán and 花顏 huāyán，where both words are relatively well-used and would make sense in the same context. Maybe 花錢 huāqián and 發錢 fāqián.

I would like to have two sentences in Standard Chinese that differ only in *hu* vs. *f* that would make sense in the same context. It would also be nice if they would mean comically different things, to make the pair more memorable.

**Tags:** untagged

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I apologize, but I still don't understand the question.  You say minimal pair but in what language, min hakka or standard mandarin? all will be very different from each other.  fyi they aren't pronouncing the v/f and h the same per se, hakka has both and pronounces them differently, min has no f sound and probably cannot say it at all.  
> **username_2**: @username_1 I believe he's asking for two sentences in Mandarin where the only difference is one word, and the words are a minimal pair for hu/f (in Mandarin) but which would be mispronounced as homophones by a Mandarin speaker with a strong Min or Hakka accent.  
> **username_1**: @username_2 that sounds doable although you'd probably need two separate answers-- one knowing min and mandarin and one knowing hakka and mandarin.  
> **username_3**: 福州 (the capital of Fujian) vs 湖州 (prefecture-level city in Zhejiang) isn't comically different, but it sure is difficult to differentiate by context when you're at a train station in 南京 or 杭州!  
> **username_0**: @username_1: It was already in the title, but now I clarified in the question body. The problem with some Hakka speakers is not that they have no *h*, but that they have no *hu*. So they may say jiéfēn instead of jiéhūn in 結婚, but have no problem with only *h* in, say, hǎi 海. And then there's hypercorrection.  
> **username_4**: I don't know the pinyin of 炎 and 顏 in Taiwanese, but unlike the Chinese, the two words sound quite different so they wouldn't be missed one for another.  Also, the term for "花錢" is "凱吉" (by sound).  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-02-02. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Note that I have not considered *huai* and *feng* to be minimal. However, in practice many accents that have the hu-/f- merger *also* have the *-n*/*-ng* merger, thus resulting in a *fen*/*feng*/*hun* merger.

The below comes from a query of the Chinese Lexical Database collected by University of Tübingen, which is based on simplified Chinese (but converted to traditional, albeit not always correctly) and standard *mainland* Mandarin Chinese pinyin, pre-tone sandhi:

* 案發 vs 暗花
* 白髮 vs 白化/白樺/白話
* 便飯 vs 變幻/變換
* 便服 vs 便壺
* 財閥 vs 才華
* 餐費 vs 參會/餐會
* 倉房 vs 倉惶/倉皇
* 船夫 vs 傳呼
* 長髮 vs 長話
* 大費 vs 大會
* 大幅/大福 vs 大湖
* 大副/大賦 vs 大戶
* 電費 vs 電匯
* 墊付 vs 佃戶
* 發包 vs 花苞
* 發布 vs 花布
* 發車 vs 花車
* 發電 vs 花店
* 發花 vs 花花
* 發還 vs 花環
* 發黃 vs 花房
* 花費 vs 花會/花卉
* 發紅 vs 花紅
* 發酵 vs 花轎
* 發球 vs 花球
* 發聲/發生 vs 花生
* 發誓 vs 花市/花式/花飾
* 發源 vs 花園
* 發展 vs 花展
* 乏力 vs 華麗
* 髮髻 vs 畫技
* 髮夾 vs 畫家
* 髮廊/琺瑯 vs 畫廊
* 髮式 vs 畫室
* 翻騰 vs 歡騰
* 翻新 vs 歡心/歡欣
* 翻越/翻閱 vs 歡悅
* 煩擾 vs 環繞 (variant pron.)
* 凡世/凡事/凡是 vs 環視
* 繁星 vs 環星
* 犯病 vs 患病
* 犯戒 vs 換屆
* 泛起 vs 喚起
* 飯前/飯錢 vs 換錢
* 犯人 vs 換人
* 犯上 vs 換上
* 梵文 vs 換文
* 方糖 vs 荒唐
* 方園/方圓 vs 荒原
* 防塵 vs 黃塵
* 防蟲 vs 蝗蟲
* 防盜 vs 黃道
* 防風 vs 黃蜂
* 房梁 vs 皇糧
* 房事/房室 vs 皇室
* 防衛 vs 皇位
* 防災 vs 蝗災
* 放蕩 vs 晃蕩
* 飛蛾 vs 灰鵝
* 揮發 vs 飛花
* 緋紅 vs 恢宏
* 飛進 vs 灰燼
* 飛舞 vs 揮舞
* 肥水 vs 回水
* 誹謗 vs 毀謗
* 廢話/費話 vs 會話/繪畫
* 會費 vs 狒狒
* 廢票 vs 匯票
* 廢棄/廢氣 vs 晦氣
* 費錢 vs 會前
* 費事 vs 會試/匯市
* 費心 vs 會心
* 肺炎 vs 諱言
* 廢置 vs 繪制
* 分辨/分辯 vs 婚變
* 分發 vs 昏花
* 分房 vs 昏黃
* 分界 vs 婚介
* 分配 vs 婚配
* 分期 vs 婚期
* 份飯 vs 混飯
* 奮進 vs 混進
* 分式 vs 混事
* 奮戰 vs 混戰
* 活佛 vs 活活
* 佛門 vs 活門
* 佛像 vs 活像
* 服部 vs 狐步
* 幅度 vs 弧度
* 拂面 vs 湖面
* 伏天 vs 胡天
* 浮現 vs 弧線
* 服刑 vs 弧形
* 附耳 vs 護耳
* 付費 vs 互惠
* 負極 vs 戶籍
* 復利 vs 互利
* 婦聯 vs 互聯/互連
* 復明 vs 戶名
* 富強 vs 護牆
* 附屬 vs 戶數
* 復式/復試 vs 護士
* 復位 vs 互為/護衛
* 付息 vs 護膝
* 復信 vs 互信
* 父兄 vs 護胸
* 附注 vs 互助
* 公費 vs 公會/工會
* 核發 vs 荷花
* 黑髮 vs 黑話
* 肌膚 vs 幾乎
* 繼髮 vs 計劃
* 寄費/計費 vs 忌諱
* 假髮 vs 假話
* 肩負 vs 監護
* 剪髮 vs 簡化
* 交費 vs 交會/交匯
* 交付 vs 交互
* 舅父 vs 救護
* 開發 vs 開花
* 開方 vs 開荒
* 開赴 vs 開戶
* 理髮 vs 理化
* 美髮 vs 美化
* 農婦 vs 農戶
* 平反 vs 平緩
* 舒服 vs 疏忽
* 神父 vs 神戶
* 生非 vs 生輝
* 生活費 vs 生活會
* 首富 vs 守護
* 攤販 vs 癱瘓
* 西服/西弗/惜福 vs 西湖/溪湖
* 細髮 vs 細化
* 小費 vs 小惠
* 小幅 vs 小湖
* 小腹 vs 小戶
* 秀發 vs 繡花
* 學費 vs 學會
* 養父 vs 養護
* 依附 vs 醫護
* 印髮 vs 印花
* 雜費 vs 雜燴
* 支付 vs 支護
* 植髮 vs 直話

I might come back later and do a post-tone sandhi version. However, a few that come to my mind which aren't mentioned above:

* the capital of Fujian, 福州 vs a prefecture-level city of Zhejiang, 湖州, as I mentioned in a comment. I imagine if we added more toponyms in, we would get a pretty large range.
* a partial 3-way one: 法語 (TW-only) vs 話語 and 法語 (CN-mainland / SG / ML) vs 華語, which I have personally had trouble with!

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: The ones with 髮 wouldn't work in Taiwan, since 髮 has third tone, fǎ, in Taiwan. But they make for interesting examples for Chinese with this merger.  

---

