# Pronunciation: 有求必应



## yuechu

Hello/大家好，

I have a question about the expression "有求必应", which I saw on an incense stick on a Chinese blog.

Would you pronounce the final character ying4 or ying1? I saw the expression in a few online Chinese dictionaries, but found both the pronunciations ying1 and ying4. Which one do you think it is more correct? (or are both correct?)

Thanks/谢谢！


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## xiaolijie

There are always confusions of this kind but it should be "ying4". 
("Ying4" is correct and original in this phrase but do make allowance for the fact that if many people got it wrong, then the wrong would become right )


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## stellari

ying1 = 'should'
ying4 = 'respond'. 
So obviously it should be ying4.



xiaolijie said:


> if many people got it wrong, then the wrong would become right )


That's so true. For example, I remember when i was in grade school, the standard pronunciation of the word 确凿 is 'que4zuo4'. However, in high school, I found the standard was changed to 'que4zao2' to match how most people would actually pronounce it in daily life.


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## yuechu

Thank you both for the confirmation! 

I figured it was "ying4" but wanted to make sure because my dictionary also gives the definition of "to agree (to do sth)" for ying1. Is this meaning only used in compound words? (I figured maybe the gods could agree to grant the wishes/requests... but it is a bit of a stretch I guess!)


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## schur

baosheng said:


> Thank you both for the confirmation!
> 
> I figured it was "ying4" but wanted to make sure because my dictionary also gives the definition of "to agree (to do sth)" for ying1. Is this meaning only used in compound words? (I figured maybe the gods could agree to grant the wishes/requests... but it is a bit of a stretch I guess!)



A word just comes to my mind, 应允, which should be ying1 yun3 and it fits the meaning of "to agree".


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## stellari

That's true. I almost forgot that ying1 could also mean 'to permit'. However, it is more like 'to allow someone to do something'. That's why we have this compound word 应允 (to permit, to allow). In 有求必应, 求 means 'to ask someone for a favour' rather than 'to ask someone for permission'. So I think it makes more sense to say 'to respond to the request' than 'to allow/permit the request'.


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## xiaolijie

baosheng said:


> Is this meaning only used in compound words?


No, both ying1 and ying4 can be a word on its own (eg. you can use ying1 as short for ying1gai1).


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## Jerry Chan

To me, if 應 is a verb (應付/回應/應用), it's pronounced ying4.
If it means 應該/理應, then it's ying1.
I don't know the changes in mainland China, but for 應允, Taiwan's 國語辭典 does state it as ying4 yun3.


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## schur

昨天特地翻了一下商务印书馆的《现代汉语词典》（第五版），应允确实读ying1 yun3。看来这个字的读音真有必要好好探讨一下。


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## SuperXW

schur said:


> 昨天特地翻了一下商务印书馆的《现代汉语词典》（第五版），应允确实读ying1 yun3。看来这个字的读音真有必要好好探讨一下。


看来我这两字都可能读错喔……


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## stellari

schur said:


> 昨天特地翻了一下商务印书馆的《现代汉语词典》（第五版），应允确实读ying1 yun3。看来这个字的读音真有必要好好探讨一下。



这是可预料的，在标准普通话中，“应”字取“应该”和“允许”二义时读ying1, 取“回应”之义时读ying4。台湾国语读音和大陆的读音有诸多细微的差别，不足为奇。


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## SuperXW

stellari said:


> 在标准普通话中，“应”字取“应该”和“允许”二义时读ying1, 取“回应”之义时读ying4。


麻烦在「答应」中的「应」，似乎同时具有「允许」和「回应」两个意思……
不对，不是「似乎」。事实就是：「答应」本身就有两种意思：一种表示允许，另一种仅表示回应……
1. 我让他付钱，他答应了。2.他老师叫你名字，你应该答应。 
By the way, 「答应」的「答」字，不知为什么会是一声……汉语真难学……


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## stellari

Oh, right. That's a good point. Maybe we can consider this word as an 'exception'? As a matter of fact, I only pronounce 应 as ying1 in very few words, such as 应允.


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