# Pronunciation: 什么



## piano0011

[how to pronounce "shenme?"]
Hey guys!

I understand that the word  什么 Shénme has a neutral tone for the word "me" but in some places, the word almost sounds like mop.... I thought it should be the pronunciation as in e.... almost like a hiccup sound. [...] thanks!


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## SuperXW

They are both common and acceptable in daily speeches. I think "me" is more common than "mo". "mo" sounds quite formal and serious, even pretentious to me.


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## Skatinginbc

I think 什 is often pronounced with the 3rd tone (e.g., 你找zhao2我wo2什she3麼me事) in Taiwan.  Of course, 你找zhao2我wo3什she2麼me事 can also be heard there.  /shen2/ (with a nasal ending) and /mo/ sound like speaking with a Mainland accent.


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## fyl

I'm not sure what the OP meant.

First, the standard sound is "me" (the vowel is 鹅, somewhat like girl but without "r").
Second, since it is the neutral tone, the vowel can become a schwa-like sound, like in unstressed syllables in English. So in life you can hear "ma"-ish sound.
A "mo" /wo/ sound is also possible. But it is formal and serious as SuperXW said. IMO this isn't that common in real life.
A "mi" (the sound of the letter E) is not possible.


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## piano0011

Thanks guys!


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## Youngfun

Skatinginbc said:


> I think 什 is often pronounced with the 3rd tone (e.g., 你找zhao2我wo2什she3麼me事) in Taiwan.  Of course, 你找zhao2我wo3什she2麼me事 can also be heard there.  /shen2/ (with a nasal ending) and /mo/ sound like speaking with a Mainland accent.


On the other hand, the stereotypical (young people's?) Taiwanese pronunciation is se3 mo1.


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## Skatinginbc

Do some people in Mainland also pronounce a 3rd tone 什?  Or is it strictly a Taiwanese feature?


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## hongover

piano0011 said:


> I understand that the word  什么 Shénme has a neutral tone for the word "me" but in some places, the word almost sounds like mop.... I thought it should be the pronunciation as in e.... almost like a hiccup sound. [...] thanks!


that is related to different accents or dialects. You will hear me, mo, or ma. 'shen2 ma' or even `sheng2 ma' is very typical in some areas.


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## Youngfun

Skatinginbc said:


> Do some people in Mainland also pronounce a 3rd tone 什?  Or is it strictly a Taiwanese feature?


Yes. My own pronunciation is close to se3 me.
I think it's quite common in Southern China. But I think usually not a full 3rd tone, rather a half 3rd tone, or a generic low tone.
For example:
“什么”的读音“什么”这个疑问代词在汉语规范辞典里读音为 shen2 me5,“什”为阳平而“么”为轻声.我想了解一下为什么很多地方都不照着这个规范读音呢?在新加坡、台湾、大陆南方甚至_百度作业帮
水木社区-源于清华的高知社群



hongover said:


> that is related to different accents or dialects. You will hear me, mo, or ma. 'shen2 ma' or even `sheng2 ma' is very typical in some areas.


And then you have the Internet slang 神马.


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## piano0011

That makes sense! I think it is due to the accent or the dialect because in Malaysia, we say "shen mo" instead of "shenme" but I guess it depends on who has taught you chinese.


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## Faazil

SuperXW said:


> They are both common and acceptable in daily speeches. I think "me" is more common than "mo". "mo" sounds quite formal and serious, even pretentious to me.



I checked 什么 in several dictionaries and none of them gives any pronunciation other than shénme. I looked hard for shénmó but could not find it anywhere.
On the other hand, my dictionaries do list shuí as an alternate pronunciation for 谁 shéi (the former is the official pronunciation while the latter is the colloquial pronunciation).


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## piano0011

thanks.. I think it is more of an accent thing because it is more commonly heard in Malaysia


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