# Pronunciation: 短发



## stelingo

What is the tone of 发 in 短发? Some sources suggest 3rd tone, others 4th tone. Thanks.


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## xiaolijie

If you mean "short hair", then 发 should be 4th tone. 
Do include some context in your questions to disambiguate and get accurate replies.


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## Daffodil100

4th tone for 发 in 短发。
.

It is either for 1st tone or 4th tone for this charater. Never 3rd tone. 

Please read the entry of this character from one of most prestigious Chinese-Chiese dictonaries as the following URL directs.

http://xh.5156edu.com/show.php?id=3595


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## tarlou

In north China, it is sometimes pronounced as the 3rd tone (sounds like 短法), mostly among the older generation. But that is the wrong pronunciation. The 4th tone is right.


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## stelingo

I didn't know  短发 could mean anything other than short hair. What else can it mean? Thanks for the replies.


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## Daffodil100

tarlou said:


> In north China, it is sometimes pronounced as the 3rd tone (sounds like 短法), mostly among the older generation. But that is the wrong pronunciation. The 4th tone is right.



Probably. However, here we focus on standard pronunciation of Mandarin, which is well understood by all Chinese or it doesn't make much sense for a learner especially who is not a native speaker.


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## Daffodil100

stelingo said:


> I didn't know 短发 could mean anything other than short hair. What else can it mean? Thanks for the replies.




短发 ＝ short hair (no other connotation)


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## xiaolijie

stelingo said:


> I didn't know  短发 could mean anything other than short hair. What else can it mean? Thanks for the replies.


I also thought 发 meant "hair", but since 发 is a merging of two separate characters (發fā + 髮fà), if we knew you meant "short hair", the 发 with 1st tone would then be automatically eliminated.


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## stelingo

Other people did know I meant short hair.


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## xiaolijie

stelingo said:


> Other people did know I meant short hair.


Don't take it for granted that others would know exactly what you mean or would go out of their way to figure out what you mean. 
If you want the best help, make sure that you also do your best in phrasing your questions. This is the reason we require the citing of the source or context for every word you want help with. I've noticed that you didn't even reply to my question in your previous thread, so it may be time for you to have a look at the forum rules again.

Just a reminder but if you're still unsure of what I'm saying, PM me.


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## zhg

stelingo said:


> What is the tone of 发 in 短发? Some sources suggest 3rd tone, others 4th tone. Thanks.



What exactly are those "some sources",stelingo? I mean ,from whom you heard it pronounced in 3rd tone,is he/she from Taiwan? 

I agree with previous posters on that if it means "hair" 4th tone is considered standard,however I wouldn't be surprised if I heard it in 3rd tone.


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## stelingo

Google and Skritter


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## Lucia_zwl

stelingo said:


> Google and Skritter


I didn't know Google Translate is so rubbish... the "reading phoneticlly" of 短发 is wrong, and it should be "duan3 fa4" as others said above. I also searched 长发(chang2 fa4)，直发(zhi2 fa4)，理发(li3 fa4)，and all the pronunciations of 发 shown on Google Translate are wrong, even 长. Seems that it is not yet intelligent enough to deal with polyphonic characters.


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## stelingo

I will bear that in mind in future.


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## Jerry Chan

I think it's pronounced fa3 in Taiwan, so a bit confusing.


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## SuperXW

Although it's not correct to pronounce fa3 according to the PRC authority (I'm not sure about Taiwan), some people do say so, even on some TV commercials.


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