<p>As you probably know it is very common to mix up zh、ch、sh and z、c、s.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.jzvoice.com.cn/detail/z-zh-j%E3%80%81c-ch-q%E3%80%81s-sh-x.html" rel="nofollow">Here they say</a> that in many dialects zh、ch、sh can't be distinguished from j、q、x.
But they don't mention which dialects.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.pkucn.com/viewthread.php?tid=243594" rel="nofollow">On this page</a> somebody says that Cantonese people can't distinguish the 3 groups of consonants in j,q,x,zh,ch,sh,z,c,s</p>

<p>On the same page they also write that the consonants jqx are pronounced as /zi/,/ci/,/si/ in Nanijng.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.cyszw.com/cyzs/DATA/21-06-01.htm" rel="nofollow">In the Chaoyang dialect</a> there also seem to be such mix-ups. But not for all words. For example x、sh are read as j、q、zh、ch, for example in 喜(～鹊)、跹(翩～起舞)、械(机～化)、摔(～跟头)、尚(和～)、殊(特～)、匙(钥～)、始(开～)</p>

<p>j、q、x and z、c、s are often mixed-up. For example in: 俗(风～)、宿(～舍、住～)、狙(～击)、沮(～丧)、咀(～嚼)、俊(长得～)、峻(险～)、竣(～工)、骏(～马)、(～包)等。</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-26T13:46:21.990Z
Thanks for your answer! Wow, the mix-ups are a lot more pervasive than I imagined. I doubt I'll understand Cantonese people speak Mandarin :(
Heitor Chang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-26T05:11:26.343Z
2012-04-26T14:11:53.487Z
2012-04-26T14:11:53.487Z
BertR
<p>In Northern China they should never be mixed, unless you are a Japanese tourist. j, q, x, has no equivalence in English, so you have to learn it. However, for Cantonese speakers attempting to speak Mandarin, they might get hopelessly mixed and others allow for that.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-19T01:00:23.173Z
2012-05-19T01:00:23.173Z
Spook
<p>I learned formally that in the standard Beijing accent, zh, ch, and sh are pronounced more in the back in the mouth than j, q, and x. However, I got lazy and speak all six of these consonants in the front of my mouth. I'm curious, is this common for other speakers? Is there any region that speaks like this? </p>

<pronunciation>
Is it common for zh/j, ch/q, and sh/x to be merged?
# Is it common for zh/j, ch/q, and sh/x to be merged?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-04-26)

I learned formally that in the standard Beijing accent, zh, ch, and sh are pronounced more in the back in the mouth than j, q, and x. However, I got lazy and speak all six of these consonants in the front of my mouth. I'm curious, is this common for other speakers? Is there any region that speaks like this?

**Tags:** pronunciation


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2012-04-26. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

As you probably know it is very common to mix up zh、ch、sh and z、c、s.

[Here they say](http://www.jzvoice.com.cn/detail/z-zh-j%E3%80%81c-ch-q%E3%80%81s-sh-x.html) that in many dialects zh、ch、sh can't be distinguished from j、q、x.
But they don't mention which dialects.

[On this page](http://www.pkucn.com/viewthread.php?tid=243594) somebody says that Cantonese people can't distinguish the 3 groups of consonants in j,q,x,zh,ch,sh,z,c,s

On the same page they also write that the consonants jqx are pronounced as /zi/,/ci/,/si/ in Nanijng.

[In the Chaoyang dialect](http://www.cyszw.com/cyzs/DATA/21-06-01.htm) there also seem to be such mix-ups. But not for all words. For example x、sh are read as j、q、zh、ch, for example in 喜(～鹊)、跹(翩～起舞)、械(机～化)、摔(～跟头)、尚(和～)、殊(特～)、匙(钥～)、始(开～)

j、q、x and z、c、s are often mixed-up. For example in: 俗(风～)、宿(～舍、住～)、狙(～击)、沮(～丧)、咀(～嚼)、俊(长得～)、峻(险～)、竣(～工)、骏(～马)、(～包)等。

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for your answer! Wow, the mix-ups are a lot more pervasive than I imagined. I doubt I'll understand Cantonese people speak Mandarin :(  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2012-05-19. Score: 1

In Northern China they should never be mixed, unless you are a Japanese tourist. j, q, x, has no equivalence in English, so you have to learn it. However, for Cantonese speakers attempting to speak Mandarin, they might get hopelessly mixed and others allow for that.


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