# Pronunciation: 当



## yuechu

大家好！

I was recently reading the novel 北京青年 and came across the following paragraph:

“把她*当*空气，行啦我还有事儿呢。”何北说着就把电话挂了，然后指着何东问：“咱们说哪儿了？”

Does anyone know how to pronounce 当 here? Is it dang1 or dang4?
Thanks!


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## GaussVsEuler

It is dang1. When 当 works as "as" or "at", actually in most cases it appears, it is dang1.


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## yuechu

Thanks, GaussVsEuler!


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## SuperXW

Some people do say dang4, probably a regional tone or a personal preference.


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## reer

baosheng said:


> 大家好！
> 
> I was recently reading the novel 北京青年 and came across the following paragraph:
> 
> “把她*当*空气，行啦我还有事儿呢。”何北说着就把电话挂了，然后指着何东问：“咱们说哪儿了？”
> 
> Does anyone know how to pronounce 当 here? Is it dang1 or dang4?
> Thanks!



把+{noun A}+当(dàng)/当成(dàngchéng)/当做(dàngzuò)+{noun B}=treat A as B;regard A as B;take A for B
把她*当dàng*空气: to completely blank her/ to ignore her / to treat her as if she is non-existent


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## SuperXW

Ok, according to 汉典 it should be dang4 for this meaning. Then Gauss and me were wrong.


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## Skatinginbc

I think the difference between dang1 and dang4 is not purely regional.  They can coexist in the speech of one individual (e.g., mine).  For example, although I usually pronounce 把我的話當dang1耳邊風 (unmarked), I sometimes may say 把我的話當dang4耳邊風 (marked, with some sort of emphasis).
把我當dang1白痴來耍 ==> "You play me as a fool".  當 dang1 functions somewhat like "as 當作、作為" with less emphasis on its verbal function "to treat, to regard".
把我當dang4白痴來耍 ==> With extra emphasis on the verb 當 dang4 "to treat, to regard 視、認為".
好人當dang1壞人 ==> Good persons act as bad persons. 當dang1 = 成為
好人當dang4壞人 ==> to regard good persons as bad persons. 當dang4 = 視為


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## SuperXW

Skatinginbc said:


> 好人當dang1壞人 ==> Good persons act as bad persons. 當dang1 = 成為
> 好人當dang4壞人 ==> to regard good persons as bad persons. 當dang4 = 視為


These are good examples. Without a clear context, I do feel the difference in meanings.


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## reer

Skatinginbc said:


> I think the difference between dang1 and dang4 is not purely regional.  They can coexist in the speech of one individual (e.g., mine).  For example, although I usually pronounce 把我的話當dang1耳邊風 (unmarked), I sometimes may say 把我的話當dang4耳邊風 (marked, with some sort of emphasis).
> 把我當dang1白痴來耍 ==> "You play me as a fool".  當 dang1 functions somewhat like "as 當作、作為" with less emphasis on its verbal function "to treat, to regard".
> 把我當dang4白痴來耍 ==> With extra emphasis on the verb 當 dang4 "to treat, to regard 視、認為".,
> 好人當dang1壞人 ==> Good persons act as bad persons. 當dang1 = 成為
> 好人當dang4壞人 ==> to regard good persons as bad persons. 當dang4 = 視為


把我的話當耳邊風。/ 把我的话当耳边风。
把我當白痴來耍。/ 把我当白痴来耍。
These two sentences fit in the construction of "把……当/當……", 当/當 reads dàng.  No exceptions.

1.  好人當dāng壞人。/好人当dāng坏人。
If you put *好人* as *the subject*, then it can be understood as "a good man became a bad man./Good persons acted as bad persons."  And it wouldn't hurt to add "了" after "当/當", i.e. 好人当了坏人。/好人當了壞人。
2.  好人當dàng壞人。/好人当dàng坏人。
The subject is not mentioned clearly, and there omitted 把 .  It means "A good man is regarded as a bad man."


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## Skatinginbc

reer said:


> These two sentences fit in the construction of "把……当/當……", 当/當 reads dàng.  No exceptions.


The so-called "No exceptions" perhaps applies to you but not everyone.
國語辭典: 好話當作耳邊風 ㄏㄠˇ　ㄏㄨㄚˋ　ㄉㄤ　ㄗㄨㄛˋ　ㄦˇ　ㄅ｜ㄢ　ㄈㄥ (諺語) 把他人勸諫的話不當作一回事，不聽從勸告。如：「別把好話當作耳邊風，一旦吃虧上當，想要後悔就來不及了。」
國語辭典 dang1: 當作、作為。如：「寒夜客來茶當酒」。 以茶當酒 ==> 當 dang1 = 充任, 代替, 作為.
國語辭典 dang4: 視、認為。如：「你當我是傻子？」

當 dang1 (充任): e.g., (1) 我吃藥吃上癮了, 把安眠藥當糖果吃.  (2) 把她當空氣, 吸不到她的香氣, 就
活不下去.
當 dang4 (視為): e.g., (1) 昏暗中沒看清, 竟把安眠藥當糖果吃.  (2) 把她當空氣, 視若無睹.


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## reer

^Excuse me, the so-called "no exceptions" is not a personal casual comment of mine.  And I wouldn't take your comment personal either.

However, 当 always reads dàng when it means "to treat ... as .../to regard ... as.../ to take... for...".  
我吃藥吃上癮了, 把安眠藥當dàng糖果吃. 
把她當dàng空氣
把他人勸諫的話不當dàng作一回事
別把好話當dàng作耳邊風
你當dàng我是傻子？
寒夜客來茶當dàng酒

One more example for you: 安步当dàng车

By the way, are you sure you did not accidentally leave out the little ` over the head of ㄤ in your quotations?


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## Skatinginbc

安步當車 ㄢ　ㄅㄨˋ　ㄉㄤ　ㄐㄩ
Your "standard" is not the only standard.
語本戰國策：「晚食以當肉，安步以當車」 安步以當車 = 緩步以代車. 
汉典 dāng: 當作、作為。如：“安步當車”、“寒夜客來茶當酒”。


reer said:


> By the way, are you sure you did not accidentally leave out the little ` over the head of ㄤ in your quotations?


You could verify it yourself.好話當作耳邊風


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## reer

^I am not qualified to establish any standards of any kinds at all.

To prevent this jug of fresh milk from turning sour, let's say what I said above is based on 现代汉语词典/現代漢語詞典 and yours on 国语辞典/囯語辭典，shall we?

Dear OP and any readers, here are two balls thrown at you.  It is up to you which one you would like to catch.  I'm *dàng* with it.


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## yuechu

I came across another sentence with 当 in it today:
你愿意我把你当朋友还是当病人.
[北京青年, p. 93]

In this context, would some people pronounce it dang1 and some people pronounce it dang4? (I think dang1 is more common of a pronunciation here, right? This is just my feeling but I'm not sure if it's true or not!)
Thanks!

EDIT: I just came across another as well. “好汉不提当年勇，都过去了." This one is dang1, right?


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## SuperXW

Yes and yes, baosheng.


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## yuechu

Thanks, SuperXW!


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## iCreeps

把她当空气，it means  : "just consider her as air" 
        so,  the meaning is that want you to ignore the existence of her.


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## yuechu

Hello!
I was reading the following phrase(s) today: 男大*当*婚，女大*当*嫁
I'm not exactly sure what it means, so I'm not sure which meaning for each of the two pronunciations is correct for this 多音字. Would anyone know what the correct pronunciation is here? (I thought I might have asked about this on here in the past but I didn't see the thread if there had been one)
Thanks! 谢谢！


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## SuperXW

Dang1. It means 应当 in 男大*当*婚，女大*当*嫁, Yuechu.


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## yuechu

Thanks, SuperXW! So does it mean that when men get older, they should get married and when women get older, they should get married?


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## SimonTsai

Yes. The overwhelming majority of Chinese and Taiwanese of a certain age are expected to have entered into heterosexual marriage.


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## yuechu

OK! Thanks, SimonTsai!


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