Singapore Expats

Hi all,

I want to ask about pronunciation of one chinese word 'tui' which means yes/correct.

I'm used to hearing it pronounced as more like 'twey' but once i heard a singaporean chinese pronouncing it more like 'twee'. I can't help notice the emphasis on the 'ee' sound as opposed to 'ey'.

I would like to know why.

Thanks!

"twey" is the right word. "Tui" would be to "push away". But then I am no Singrin expert. Please enunciate each sound correctly and do your part for the "Speak Good Mandarin / English" campaign .

Correction.
Hanyu Pinyin, its 'Dui'...with the fourth tone.

earthfriendly wrote:"twey" is the right word. "Tui" would be to "push away". But then I am no Singrin expert. Please enunciate each sound correctly and do your part for the "Speak Good Mandarin / English" campaign .

Is that how the Kiwi beer Tui got its name

amiee40 wrote:Correction.
Hanyu Pinyin, its 'Dui'...with the fourth tone.

Ok, tui or dui, i get it, but is it more like 'dwey' or 'dwee'?

I have a feeling it's got to do with upbringing in a family who speaks chinese with some influence from a chinese dialect.

earthfriendly wrote:"twey" is the right word. "Tui" would be to "push away". But then I am no Singrin expert. Please enunciate each sound correctly and do your part for the "Speak Good Mandarin / English" campaign .

Hi. I know for sure the singaporean chinese guy meant by 'twey' as in yes/correct, not 'tui' as in push away. He was speaking with a driver who was asking him if he was going in the right direction in a car and so he said 'twee, twee' instead of the usual 'twey, twey'.

Could it be some influence from a Chinese dialect? I don't know what dialect he speaks though.

amiee40 wrote:Correction.
Hanyu Pinyin, its 'Dui'...with the fourth tone.

Well done, you have passed If the OP heard any other version than Dui sounds like dwey "Putonghua! Then it's because they are eunuchs

"dwey" would be correct. don't think it was due to any influence from a dialect; singaporeans tend to speak rather sloppily, eg dropping the "h" or "g" from chinese words, like "shan" would sound like "san" and "sheng" like "shen" or even "sen".

well,actually the correct pronunciation is "dui" ,this is formal chinese mandarin,maybe what u heard is chinese dialect,coz there r many singaporean ppls also speak dialect,no worries,as a native chinese speaker i even dont understand what they r saying,haha

jess0101 wrote:well,actually the correct pronunciation is "dui" ,this is formal chinese mandarin,maybe what u heard is chinese dialect,coz there r many singaporean ppls also speak dialect,no worries,as a native chinese speaker i even dont understand what they r saying,haha

Don't feel too bad, us native English speakers can't under what they are saying either! Seriously though, before you diss their pronunciation, you maybe should learn to spell?

it could be probable that he mis-enunciated the word. but yes, 'dwey' is the correct sound. although the pinyin would be 'dui'.

bubbybee wrote:it could be probable that he mis-enunciated the word. but yes, 'dwey' is the correct sound. although the pinyin would be 'dui'.

correct! Pin Yin Spelling is dui, pronounced dwey

suzyQ wrote:"dwey" would be correct. don't think it was due to any influence from a dialect; singaporeans tend to speak rather sloppily, eg dropping the "h" or "g" from chinese words, like "shan" would sound like "san" and "sheng" like "shen" or even "sen".

That is not sloppy, that is bad Chinese teaching and not understandable, it is to do with learning the correct pronunciation or not learning the correct pronunciation, in Taiwan for example they learn bo po mo fo for training Mandarin, in China they use Pin Yin and the 4 tones.

It would be compulsory to learn by listening and correction for foreigners, but i am pretty sure, they do not learn it for native Chinese school, because it's their mother tongue and it should be inherent, although it isn't, because of dialects, although after simplified Putonghua was chosen, I believe they introduced pin yin into the school system.

That's why many mainland Chinese in their 40's and 50's do not know Pin Yin.

Although English is also a problem for English, because not all youngsters learn the correct pronunciation in their primary years, and fail to correct their speech pattern by the time they leave school, bad English teaching practise and correction is difficult to erase from local dialect, and really needs to be worked at.

My wife who speaks excellent American and has better understanding of English language than myself, cannot understand English people very well, and must really work hard to listen, and still wouldn't understand, because most English guys are speaking their own dialect, this effects her confidence of course, because of experience of listening to many dialects, which one normally experiences through a working environment or social life.

pronunciation is vital to any language, and quite often children with slight hearing problems are over looked in kindergarten and junior school, bad hearing is a major cause of bad speaking and pronunciation, I myself have damaged hearing, especially mid tones, due to working on tanks and other noisy environments of gunfire, bombs and thunder flashes in training, and even though ear plugs are available, they are not always handy.

phew~ chim.

Hi julinico

Say it " dwey! " - Hope you notice the exclamation mark behind.

Happy learning.