<p>The two speakers sounded like they were both saying <code>人</code> with a [ ɻ ]. One's voice was higher pitched and the recording conditions were different though. In practice, you're going to run into pronunciations <em>way</em> more divergent than those. All the people I've met from 青田 say it with a [z] (note: not a pinyin "z"). Also, I've run into a few people who use an [l]!</p>

<p>My advice: Listen to a lot of people, chat with a lot of people. You'll pick up on which distinctions are important, which aren't, and which are regional.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-31T22:03:44.917Z
This.  Also, southern accents, which err away from retroflexing, are (at least in Beijing) considered more effeminate.
Kang Ming
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-31T19:17:26.247Z
2012-08-31T19:17:26.247Z
Stumpy Joe Pete
<p>In my experience, I would say region is has a big influence on how the <code>r</code> sound is pronounced.</p>

<p>For instance, I know an older aiyi from GuangDong who says <code>yan2</code>. This is due to her being more familiar with Cantonese pronunciation. The younger generation who are educated more in Mandarin from school and TV, say the traditional <code>ren2</code> with more of an <code>r</code> sound.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-10T14:16:40.883Z
2013-11-10T14:16:40.883Z
rhughes
<p>I am not an expert in phonetics but here is my observation as a native Mandarin speaker: there <em>are</em> big differences in the pronunciation of PinYin 'r' across different regions of China, however, the difference between the two linked audio files was much less significant than that kind. I'll agree with your colleague that the audio in the first link has a higher pitched voice and maybe "more feminine" but this difference can be safely ignored in practice and it's even not noticed by many native speakers.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-31T07:30:46.813Z
2012-08-31T07:36:39.910Z
2012-08-31T07:36:39.910Z
NS.X.
<p>To my English tuned ear, these <a href="http://www.learnchineseabc.com/a1/0009_understanding-the-pronunciation-and-explanation-of-ren.htm" rel="noreferrer">audio</a> <a href="http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddictbasic&amp;wdqb=ren&amp;wdrst=1&amp;wddmtm=1" rel="noreferrer">files</a> of people pronouncing 人 sound very different.</p>

<p>My colleague (a native Mandarin speaker) insists they are the same sound, and thinks I am just confused because one speaker has a higher pitched voice. He said something about one speaker having a more feminine voice, but I'm not sure which of the two he meant.</p>

<p>I'm happy to accept that I'm tuning into a non-key part of the phoneme, but to my ear these sounds sound consistently very different from speaker to speaker.</p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_phonology" rel="noreferrer">The Wikipedia page on Mandarin phonology</a> has an explanation for the variation:</p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retroflex_approximant" rel="noreferrer">ɻ (a retroflex approximant)</a> varies as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_retroflex_sibilant" rel="noreferrer">ʐ (a voiced retroflex fricative)</a>, depending on the speaker.</p>

<p>I've also heard other speakers where a sound more like the English Y was more prominent. Is this difference something native speakers notice? Is it considered a regional variation, or as my colleague seems to be suggesting that one is more masculine and the other more feminine?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-31T08:00:02.673Z
"I've also heard other speakers where a sound more like the English Y was more prominent." These could have been native Cantonese speakers, who are ill-equipped for Mandarin's /r/ and who natively pronounce it /y/.
dda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-31T10:38:18.597Z
They are both feminine voice, although your colleague may think the higher-pitched one as "more feminine".
Siyuan Ren
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-09-12T16:37:57.277Z
You can jist pronounce it as "sion2"
Chenhao
<pronunciation>
pronunciation of 人 - regional or gender differences?
# pronunciation of 人 - regional or gender differences?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-08-31)

To my English tuned ear, these [audio](http://www.learnchineseabc.com/a1/0009_understanding-the-pronunciation-and-explanation-of-ren.htm) [files](http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddictbasic&wdqb=ren&wdrst=1&wddmtm=1) of people pronouncing 人 sound very different.

My colleague (a native Mandarin speaker) insists they are the same sound, and thinks I am just confused because one speaker has a higher pitched voice. He said something about one speaker having a more feminine voice, but I'm not sure which of the two he meant.

I'm happy to accept that I'm tuning into a non-key part of the phoneme, but to my ear these sounds sound consistently very different from speaker to speaker.

[The Wikipedia page on Mandarin phonology](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_phonology) has an explanation for the variation:

[ɻ (a retroflex approximant)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retroflex_approximant) varies as [ʐ (a voiced retroflex fricative)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_retroflex_sibilant), depending on the speaker.

I've also heard other speakers where a sound more like the English Y was more prominent. Is this difference something native speakers notice? Is it considered a regional variation, or as my colleague seems to be suggesting that one is more masculine and the other more feminine?

**Tags:** pronunciation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: "I've also heard other speakers where a sound more like the English Y was more prominent." These could have been native Cantonese speakers, who are ill-equipped for Mandarin's /r/ and who natively pronounce it /y/.  
> **username_2**: They are both feminine voice, although your colleague may think the higher-pitched one as "more feminine".  
> **username_3**: You can jist pronounce it as "sion2"  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2012-08-31. Score: 7

The two speakers sounded like they were both saying `人` with a [ ɻ ]. One's voice was higher pitched and the recording conditions were different though. In practice, you're going to run into pronunciations *way* more divergent than those. All the people I've met from 青田 say it with a [z] (note: not a pinyin "z"). Also, I've run into a few people who use an [l]!

My advice: Listen to a lot of people, chat with a lot of people. You'll pick up on which distinctions are important, which aren't, and which are regional.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: This.  Also, southern accents, which err away from retroflexing, are (at least in Beijing) considered more effeminate.  

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### Answer by username_6 on 2013-11-10. Score: 3

In my experience, I would say region is has a big influence on how the `r` sound is pronounced.

For instance, I know an older aiyi from GuangDong who says `yan2`. This is due to her being more familiar with Cantonese pronunciation. The younger generation who are educated more in Mandarin from school and TV, say the traditional `ren2` with more of an `r` sound.


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### Answer by username_7 on 2012-08-31. Score: 1

I am not an expert in phonetics but here is my observation as a native Mandarin speaker: there *are* big differences in the pronunciation of PinYin 'r' across different regions of China, however, the difference between the two linked audio files was much less significant than that kind. I'll agree with your colleague that the audio in the first link has a higher pitched voice and maybe "more feminine" but this difference can be safely ignored in practice and it's even not noticed by many native speakers.


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