<p>When pronouncing, both of them are okay since we can tell what (s)he says. But it is informal and incorrect to say mián. We know that /p/ in hokkien is same as b in chinese pinyin, and /b/ in hokkien sounds near /m/. Therefore, /b/ sometimes sounds like /m/. But it is wrong to pronounce or write /b/ as /m/. <a href="http://twblg.dict.edu.tw/holodict_new/result_detail.jsp?n_no=53843&amp;curpage=1&amp;sample=%E5%85%8D&amp;radiobutton=1&amp;querytarget=1&amp;limit=20&amp;pagenum=1&amp;rowcount=19" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Pā-bián</a> sounds like mián.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-23T22:03:26.663Z
2017-11-23T22:03:26.663Z
btooom
<p>AFAIK, a nasal onset consonant and a nasal coda can't appear in the same syllable in Taiwanese (Hokkien)(eg. Bân-lâm instead of Mân-nâm), so mián is illegal to be formed.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-31T12:27:57.670Z
2021-05-31T12:27:57.670Z
Tan Kian-ting
<p>This might be a case of assimilation, where the <em>b</em> nasalizes because of the <em>m</em> in front. Technically speaking, the syllable <em>mián</em> is "not allowed" because in most varieties of Hokkien, [b] and [m] are allophones of /b/, where [m] only shows up with a nasalized final, e.g., 滿 /buã/ → [muã ~ mua].</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-06T20:28:29.710Z
2017-12-06T20:28:29.710Z
justinrleung
<p>This word is found in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y12_ecvVJgA&amp;pbjreload=10" rel="nofollow noreferrer">爱拼才会赢</a>, where I hear it as undoubtedly m̄-mián, yet when I look it up on <a href="http://twblg.dict.edu.tw/holodict_new/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">台湾闽南语常用词辞典</a> or on <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%AF%8B%E5%85%8D" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wiktionary</a>, I only find the pronunciation m̄-bián.</p>

<p>So I was wondering: is he getting it wrong, or is there really an alternate pronunciation m̄-mián which is unrecorded in either dictionary?</p>

<pronunciation><topolect><hokkien>
Min 毋免: m̄-bián only, or possibly m̄-mián?
# Min 毋免: m̄-bián only, or possibly m̄-mián?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-10-20)

This word is found in [爱拼才会赢](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y12_ecvVJgA&pbjreload=10), where I hear it as undoubtedly m̄-mián, yet when I look it up on [台湾闽南语常用词辞典](http://twblg.dict.edu.tw/holodict_new/index.html) or on [Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%AF%8B%E5%85%8D), I only find the pronunciation m̄-bián.

So I was wondering: is he getting it wrong, or is there really an alternate pronunciation m̄-mián which is unrecorded in either dictionary?

**Tags:** pronunciation, topolect, hokkien


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-12-06. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

This might be a case of assimilation, where the *b* nasalizes because of the *m* in front. Technically speaking, the syllable *mián* is "not allowed" because in most varieties of Hokkien, [b] and [m] are allophones of /b/, where [m] only shows up with a nasalized final, e.g., 滿 /buã/ → [muã ~ mua].


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### Answer by username_1 on 2017-11-23. Score: 2

When pronouncing, both of them are okay since we can tell what (s)he says. But it is informal and incorrect to say mián. We know that /p/ in hokkien is same as b in chinese pinyin, and /b/ in hokkien sounds near /m/. Therefore, /b/ sometimes sounds like /m/. But it is wrong to pronounce or write /b/ as /m/. [Pā-bián](http://twblg.dict.edu.tw/holodict_new/result_detail.jsp?n_no=53843&curpage=1&sample=%E5%85%8D&radiobutton=1&querytarget=1&limit=20&pagenum=1&rowcount=19) sounds like mián.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2021-05-31. Score: 1

AFAIK, a nasal onset consonant and a nasal coda can't appear in the same syllable in Taiwanese (Hokkien)(eg. Bân-lâm instead of Mân-nâm), so mián is illegal to be formed.


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