<blockquote>
  <p>In the second paragraph, what does end refer to? </p>
</blockquote>

<p>When I speak, I tends to do something like this /wʊ-ɤŋ/. I have never noticed this behavior before. For the word 老翁 (old man), if you say it either way: /lɑʊ.wʊŋ/, /lɑʊ.wəŋ/, /lɑʊ.wɤŋ/, /lɑʊ.wʊəŋ/, etc, they are all interpreted as the same word, thus "free variations". This depends on the individual accent.</p>

<p>I have never studied rhymes seriously before, so if your book says "weng" rhymes with "tong", then they must be using the /wʊŋ/ way of speaking. For example: 通風 (air circulation) may be pronounced as /tʊŋ.fʊŋ/ or /tʊŋ.fɤŋ/, but never as /tɤŋ.fɤŋ/. I personally say /tʊŋ.fɤŋ/. </p>

<p>As for your last quote, I don't understand how the free variation has complementary distribution.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-09T15:24:52.497Z
2020-03-09T15:34:26.480Z
2020-03-09T15:34:26.480Z
Daniel Cheung
<p><code>ong</code>, to me, a Chinese, is more like <code>o</code>+<code>eng</code> (but pronounced fast so that it sounds like a single vowel <code>ong</code>), which rhymes with <code>eng</code> of course. There is another explanation that sometimes Mandarin spoken in other places of China (Guangdong etc.) differs from the "real" mandarin, so that in those places, <code>eng</code> and <code>ong</code> are not differentiated. By the way, I think <code>eng</code> is more like [ɘŋ], depending on how I say that vowel every day. I sorry that I cannot answer your second question, as I haven't read the book. I'm not a Chinese linguist, but I hope this solved your issue.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-08T14:13:07.807Z
2020-03-09T02:09:49.833Z
2020-03-09T02:09:49.833Z
code2828
<p>According to Wiedenhof's <em>A Grammar of Mandarin</em>, page 44,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"<em>Weng</em>" syllables rhyme with the fnal -ong [ʊŋ]</p>
</blockquote>

<p>However, he'd specified <em>weng</em> as [wʌŋ], to add</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><em>Weng</em> displays the same type of variation as the fnal <em>-un</em>: it may lose
  its rounding toward the end, [wəŋ].</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Page 66 reads</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>there's free variation between [wʌŋ] and [ʊŋ] for both fnals, with
  complementary distribution</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Can somebody please clarify the apparent ambiguities? </p>

<p>In the second paragraph, what does <em>end</em> refer to? </p>

<pronunciation><pinyin>
"Weng" syllables rhyme with the fnal -ong
# "Weng" syllables rhyme with the fnal -ong

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-10-02)

According to Wiedenhof's *A Grammar of Mandarin*, page 44,

> "*Weng*" syllables rhyme with the fnal -ong [ʊŋ]

However, he'd specified *weng* as [wʌŋ], to add

> *Weng* displays the same type of variation as the fnal *-un*: it may lose
> its rounding toward the end, [wəŋ].

Page 66 reads

> there's free variation between [wʌŋ] and [ʊŋ] for both fnals, with
> complementary distribution

Can somebody please clarify the apparent ambiguities?

In the second paragraph, what does *end* refer to?

**Tags:** pronunciation, pinyin


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-03-09. Score: 2

> In the second paragraph, what does end refer to?

When I speak, I tends to do something like this /wʊ-ɤŋ/. I have never noticed this behavior before. For the word 老翁 (old man), if you say it either way: /lɑʊ.wʊŋ/, /lɑʊ.wəŋ/, /lɑʊ.wɤŋ/, /lɑʊ.wʊəŋ/, etc, they are all interpreted as the same word, thus "free variations". This depends on the individual accent.

I have never studied rhymes seriously before, so if your book says "weng" rhymes with "tong", then they must be using the /wʊŋ/ way of speaking. For example: 通風 (air circulation) may be pronounced as /tʊŋ.fʊŋ/ or /tʊŋ.fɤŋ/, but never as /tɤŋ.fɤŋ/. I personally say /tʊŋ.fɤŋ/.

As for your last quote, I don't understand how the free variation has complementary distribution.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2020-03-08. Score: 0

`ong`, to me, a Chinese, is more like `o`+`eng` (but pronounced fast so that it sounds like a single vowel `ong`), which rhymes with `eng` of course. There is another explanation that sometimes Mandarin spoken in other places of China (Guangdong etc.) differs from the "real" mandarin, so that in those places, `eng` and `ong` are not differentiated. By the way, I think `eng` is more like [ɘŋ], depending on how I say that vowel every day. I sorry that I cannot answer your second question, as I haven't read the book. I'm not a Chinese linguist, but I hope this solved your issue.


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