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An Analysis of Mandarin Pronunciation between Guangdong and Northern Chinese People—Exemplified by Blade-alveolar and Retroflex



Author(s)

QIU Ying-yi

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DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2024.10.002

College of Foreign Languages, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China

This study compared and analyzed the Mandarin pronunciation of Guangdong and northern people, focusing on the similarities and differences and pronunciation characteristics of people from these two regions in terms of their blade-alveolar and retroflex. This study used Praat and Excel to process and analyze the data. The results showed that, firstly, there was no significant difference in the length of pronunciation between Guangdong and northern people in terms of retroflex. However, there is a significant difference in the duration of blade-alveolar pronunciation between Guangdong people and Northerners, especially on “ca” and “zuo”, which indicates a significant phonetic difference between different regions. Second, the analysis of pitch further demonstrated the differences in intonation, with Cantonese and Northern speakers having salient differences in the intonation of blade-alveolar. Third, there was no statistically significant difference between genders in pronunciation, suggesting that the pronunciation of blade-alveolar and retroflex in Mandarin is not related to gender. These findings explore the similarities and differences in the blade-alveolar and retroflex of Guangdong people and Northerners, which can help to enhance the communication of Mandarin across regions and give readers a better understanding of the pronunciation of Mandarin in the two regions.

Blade-alveolar, retroflex, Mandarin

Journal of Literature and Art Studies, October 2024, Vol. 14, No. 10, 839-846