<p>I remember having the same question a few years ago.</p>

<p>I heard people saying 姐姐 as "jie3 jie" and 等等 as "deng2 deng".</p>

<p>My teacher told me that only family members got a 3-0 combination, while the other cases (like verbs) it would be always 2-0.</p>

<p>The other family member I remember is 奶奶 "nai3 nai".</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-19T01:49:32.813Z
2015-05-19T01:49:32.813Z
Enrico Brasil
<p>30 姐姐，奶奶，好好学习，姥姥  and many other   AA words.</p>

<p>But 
23  等等再走，款款都好看，走走停停，朵朵都好看，跑跑步
because<br>
等等 is short for 等一等
走走 is short for 走一走
跑跑 is short for 跑一跑
款款 is short for 每一款
朵朵 is short for 每一朵</p>

<p>when a word AA is short for A一A or 每一A 。it takes 23</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-19T17:24:31.420Z
2015-05-19T17:24:31.420Z
Syeerzy
<p>"bao3 bao0" is actually not a third tone sandhi here. </p>

<p>It is because the tone of second bao3 got neutralized.   </p>

<p>Usually a second character of a two-character word would get neutralized, I would say it is a accent thing that depends on people from different places of China.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-22T14:31:58.437Z
Is there a rule for when a word gets "neutralized" this way? Does it always happen when a syllable is reduplicated?
chapka
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-22T14:37:07.047Z
Usually a second character of a two-character word would get neutralized, I would say it is a accent thing that depends on people from different places of China.
ChineseHulu.com
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-22T18:38:31.520Z
@chapka You can refer to the answer in this very similar question: http://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/5753/166
Claw
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-22T14:30:34.753Z
2014-07-22T14:36:44.553Z
2014-07-22T14:36:44.553Z
ChineseHulu.com
<p>All of the books and materials I've seen talk about the tone sandhi that changes two third tones to a second and a third, as in "你好."</p>

<p>I had a question about the word:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>寶寶</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Some materials I've seen list this as "bao3 bao3". Based on the sandhi, I'd assume that this would be pronounced as "bao2 bao3." However, some materials have the word's pronunciation as "bao3 bao0" instead.</p>

<p>姐姐 is the only other word I remember seeing with this characteristic.</p>

<p>Is this a separate sandhi that says that a reduplicated character is always normal tone, neutral tone, that overrides the "3 3" sandhi? Is it a weird exception I just have to memorize? Or is there something else I'm missing?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-22T18:38:48.830Z
possible duplicate of [Is there a tone sandhi rule that "4 3" changes to "4 0"?](http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/5750/is-there-a-tone-sandhi-rule-that-4-3-changes-to-4-0)
Claw
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-22T20:01:14.607Z
@Claw That answer explains the phenomenon very well, but I don't think the question is a dupe.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-23T13:56:56.047Z
That's a useful answer, but I agree the question is probably different--it's just that the two questions have the same answer (and the answer, unfortunately, is "the neutral tone is pretty random and you just have to learn when the native speakers do it."
chapka
<sandhi>
Third tone sandhi: when (if ever) does 3 3 become 3 0 instead of 2 3?
# Third tone sandhi: when (if ever) does 3 3 become 3 0 instead of 2 3?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-07-22)

All of the books and materials I've seen talk about the tone sandhi that changes two third tones to a second and a third, as in "你好."

I had a question about the word:

> 寶寶

Some materials I've seen list this as "bao3 bao3". Based on the sandhi, I'd assume that this would be pronounced as "bao2 bao3." However, some materials have the word's pronunciation as "bao3 bao0" instead.

姐姐 is the only other word I remember seeing with this characteristic.

Is this a separate sandhi that says that a reduplicated character is always normal tone, neutral tone, that overrides the "3 3" sandhi? Is it a weird exception I just have to memorize? Or is there something else I'm missing?

**Tags:** sandhi

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: possible duplicate of [Is there a tone sandhi rule that "4 3" changes to "4 0"?](http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/5750/is-there-a-tone-sandhi-rule-that-4-3-changes-to-4-0)  
> **username_2**: @username_1 That answer explains the phenomenon very well, but I don't think the question is a dupe.  
> **username_0**: That's a useful answer, but I agree the question is probably different--it's just that the two questions have the same answer (and the answer, unfortunately, is "the neutral tone is pretty random and you just have to learn when the native speakers do it."  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2014-07-22. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

"bao3 bao0" is actually not a third tone sandhi here.

It is because the tone of second bao3 got neutralized.

Usually a second character of a two-character word would get neutralized, I would say it is a accent thing that depends on people from different places of China.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Is there a rule for when a word gets "neutralized" this way? Does it always happen when a syllable is reduplicated?  
> **username_5**: Usually a second character of a two-character word would get neutralized, I would say it is a accent thing that depends on people from different places of China.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 You can refer to the answer in this very similar question: http://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/5753/166  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2015-05-19. Score: 1

I remember having the same question a few years ago.

I heard people saying 姐姐 as "jie3 jie" and 等等 as "deng2 deng".

My teacher told me that only family members got a 3-0 combination, while the other cases (like verbs) it would be always 2-0.

The other family member I remember is 奶奶 "nai3 nai".


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### Answer by username_4 on 2015-05-19. Score: 0

30 姐姐，奶奶，好好学习，姥姥 and many other AA words.

But
23 等等再走，款款都好看，走走停停，朵朵都好看，跑跑步
because  
等等 is short for 等一等
走走 is short for 走一走
跑跑 is short for 跑一跑
款款 is short for 每一款
朵朵 is short for 每一朵

when a word AA is short for A一A or 每一A 。it takes 23


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