<p>According to <a href="https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1723937850200586187&amp;searchword=%E9%85%92%E5%B9%B2%E5%80%98%E5%8D%96%E6%97%A0%E4%BB%80%E4%B9%88%E6%84%8F%E6%80%9D" rel="nofollow noreferrer">baijiahao.baidu.com</a>, “酒干倘卖无” is not Mandarin Chinese, but Southern Min, a Sinitic language spoken in southern Fujian and surrounding areas. The <strong>pronunciation</strong> (and <strong>usage</strong>) of the character 无 (and not it alone) is understandably the one of Southern Min language.</p>
<p>In Mandarin Chinese “酒干倘卖无” would be “有空酒瓶卖吗？”, that is &quot;Do you have empty wine bottles for sale?&quot;</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Southern Min</strong>: 酒干倘卖无<br />
<strong>Mandarin Chinese</strong>: 有空酒瓶卖吗？<br />
<strong>English</strong>: Do you have empty wine bottles for sale?</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>About Southern Min language (short off-topic)</strong></p>
<p>In the areas around Quanzhou I love to tell girls, in perfect Italian, &quot;Ti amo&quot;  and see that they understand me (well, not exactly ☺, they think I'm saying, in Southern Min, 它没, that is &quot;I don't understand&quot;).</p>
<p>BTW, I love the song, thank you for posting.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-27T03:43:17.600Z
Yes, one of my favorite Karaoke songs. It tests your proper pronunciation of Mandarin and  Minnan or Hokkien in one song. Cantonese speakers typically have a hard time ")
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-27T02:44:09.040Z
2022-02-27T03:10:26.033Z
2022-02-27T03:10:26.033Z
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
<p>If we trace back to late Middle Chinese, 無's onset is 微 (w), while 沒's onset is 明 (m). If we go a little bit further back to early Middle Chinese, we only have the onset 明. In other words, the early Middle Chinese onset 明 （m）has split into two onsets 明（m）and 微（w）in late Middle Chinese. This happened between Tang and Song Dynasties.</p>
<p>However, not all dialects of Chinese have gone through this phonetic transformation. For example, 無 is pronounced as mou4 in 粵方言廣府片 (Guangfu Subdialect of Cantonese), vu2 as literary pronunciation and m2 in oral pronunciation in 吳方言蘇州話 (Suzhou subdialect of Wu).</p>
<p>In Southern Min, most characters with early MC onset 明 have gone through denasalisation to [b] or [mb], but characters with nasalized rhymes and another small amount maintained [m]. Specifically for 無, in Quanzhou Subdialect, the onset is [mb], with a weak leading nasal sound m. In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhO7NqVLLFc" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the original version of the song</a>, it sounds like something between [mo] and [bo] to non-native ears. I consulted <a href="https://twblg.dict.edu.tw/holodict_new/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Taiwan's Southern Min Dictionary</a>, it's pronounced as [bo], as it is case in the very beginning of the speech in in this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM9EWqz5rpY" rel="nofollow noreferrer">video</a> from Taiwan. It could be a matter of notation, or a genuine complete denasalisation. I can’t tell.</p>
<p>In your linked video the onset of 無 is pronounced as a clear nasal [m]. But the singer, if not mistaken, is from Northeastern China. She is unlikely able to speak Southern Min.</p>
<p>All that being said, the phonology of Southern Min dialects are very diverse from within. I don't know enough about it to tell if it's indeed a variant of Southen Min or a non-native speaker mimicking the sound.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-27T21:00:25.313Z
The phrase 酒干倘卖无 was indeed pronounced in Taiwanese. I guess the singer 孫露 was a mainlander, who pronounced "无" correctly but made mistake on " 卖". Here is the song by the original singer 蘇芮, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJfFYbZn_P8
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-26T01:35:15.710Z
2022-02-26T02:29:06.643Z
2022-02-26T02:29:06.643Z
lilysirius
<p>I have been listening to the song many times now, particularly this one:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_dcoBSYnCc" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_dcoBSYnCc</a></p>
<p>The last word of 酒干倘卖无 should be spoken with a &quot;W&quot; initial but what I can hear the singer speak is an M initial. I wonder if it's just me that hears that.</p>
<p>Or is the change in initial sound to &quot;M&quot; instead of &quot;W&quot; due to some other reason?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-26T00:30:44.597Z
it’s in 臺語, not mandarin 
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-26T00:38:21.930Z
Oh, and is that the reason for the different initial sound?
user55570
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-26T18:26:27.513Z
賣is mispronounced in the video.
joehua
<mandarin><spoken>
In the song 酒干倘卖无 why is the last word spoken with an initial "M" sound?
# In the song 酒干倘卖无 why is the last word spoken with an initial "M" sound?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-02-26)

I have been listening to the song many times now, particularly this one:

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_dcoBSYnCc>

The last word of 酒干倘卖无 should be spoken with a "W" initial but what I can hear the singer speak is an M initial. I wonder if it's just me that hears that.

Or is the change in initial sound to "M" instead of "W" due to some other reason?

**Tags:** mandarin, spoken

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: it’s in 臺語, not mandarin   
> **username_0**: Oh, and is that the reason for the different initial sound?  
> **username_2**: 賣is mispronounced in the video.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2022-02-27. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

According to [baijiahao.baidu.com](https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1723937850200586187&searchword=%E9%85%92%E5%B9%B2%E5%80%98%E5%8D%96%E6%97%A0%E4%BB%80%E4%B9%88%E6%84%8F%E6%80%9D), “酒干倘卖无” is not Mandarin Chinese, but Southern Min, a Sinitic language spoken in southern Fujian and surrounding areas. The **pronunciation** (and **usage**) of the character 无 (and not it alone) is understandably the one of Southern Min language.

In Mandarin Chinese “酒干倘卖无” would be “有空酒瓶卖吗？”, that is "Do you have empty wine bottles for sale?"

> **Southern Min**: 酒干倘卖无  
> **Mandarin Chinese**: 有空酒瓶卖吗？  
> **English**: Do you have empty wine bottles for sale?

**About Southern Min language (short off-topic)**

In the areas around Quanzhou I love to tell girls, in perfect Italian, "Ti amo" and see that they understand me (well, not exactly ☺, they think I'm saying, in Southern Min, 它没, that is "I don't understand").

BTW, I love the song, thank you for posting.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Yes, one of my favorite Karaoke songs. It tests your proper pronunciation of Mandarin and  Minnan or Hokkien in one song. Cantonese speakers typically have a hard time ")  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2022-02-26. Score: 4

If we trace back to late Middle Chinese, 無's onset is 微 (w), while 沒's onset is 明 (m). If we go a little bit further back to early Middle Chinese, we only have the onset 明. In other words, the early Middle Chinese onset 明 （m）has split into two onsets 明（m）and 微（w）in late Middle Chinese. This happened between Tang and Song Dynasties.

However, not all dialects of Chinese have gone through this phonetic transformation. For example, 無 is pronounced as mou4 in 粵方言廣府片 (Guangfu Subdialect of Cantonese), vu2 as literary pronunciation and m2 in oral pronunciation in 吳方言蘇州話 (Suzhou subdialect of Wu).

In Southern Min, most characters with early MC onset 明 have gone through denasalisation to [b] or [mb], but characters with nasalized rhymes and another small amount maintained [m]. Specifically for 無, in Quanzhou Subdialect, the onset is [mb], with a weak leading nasal sound m. In [the original version of the song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhO7NqVLLFc), it sounds like something between [mo] and [bo] to non-native ears. I consulted [Taiwan's Southern Min Dictionary](https://twblg.dict.edu.tw/holodict_new/), it's pronounced as [bo], as it is case in the very beginning of the speech in in this [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM9EWqz5rpY) from Taiwan. It could be a matter of notation, or a genuine complete denasalisation. I can’t tell.

In your linked video the onset of 無 is pronounced as a clear nasal [m]. But the singer, if not mistaken, is from Northeastern China. She is unlikely able to speak Southern Min.

All that being said, the phonology of Southern Min dialects are very diverse from within. I don't know enough about it to tell if it's indeed a variant of Southen Min or a non-native speaker mimicking the sound.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: The phrase 酒干倘卖无 was indeed pronounced in Taiwanese. I guess the singer 孫露 was a mainlander, who pronounced "无" correctly but made mistake on " 卖". Here is the song by the original singer 蘇芮, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJfFYbZn_P8  

---

