# Pronunciation: 混血儿



## yuechu

大家好！

我想问一下“混血儿”这个词该怎么念？是不是“hun4xue3er2"(三个音节)?
谢谢！

(Please correct my mistakes if there any! Thanks)


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## YangMuye

hun4 xue4 are considered formal and literary pronunciations.
But I believe people in daily life use hun3(2) xue3 or hun4 xue3 more often.


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## yuechu

Thanks, YangMuye! Is the 儿 at the end optional? (Do you pronounce it without the 儿?)


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## YangMuye

Sorry I confused you. 混血儿 and  混血 are two different words. 儿 is pronounced er2.


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## yuechu

Oh ok! Do 混血 and 混血儿 both have the same meanings? (the second one is pronounced in three syllables, right?)


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## YangMuye

They are different, although 混血 is occasionally used when 混血儿 is intended.
混血儿 is pronounced in three syllables.
I think 混血 refers to the biological phenomenon of being hybrid and 混血儿 refers to the person.
The former almost always appears as part of another word.


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## ElGarcia

YangMuye said:


> hun4 xue4 are considered formal and literary pronunciations.
> But I believe people in daily life use hun3(2) xue3 or hun4 xue3 more often.



I hear hun4xue3 all the time. In many other phrases where 血 should be pronounced as xue4 people almost always say xue3 except maybe in a recitation competition. I'm wondering when the Chinese dictionary will give up and adopt the more popular pronunciation at last.


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## Messquito

Interestingly, it's hun4*xie3*er2 in Taiwan, and is different from how we pronounce 雪. So often we would say that it's 下雪 (xia4xue3 snowing) not 下血 (xia4xie3 raining blood). 
Even more interesting, is that 血 doesn't have a "4th-tone" usage in Taiwan but 雪 has, which is 雪恥(xue4/xue3chih3 to take revenge for a past insult/to expunge a disgrace or humiliation), which is possibly because we believe that characters have an intention to fall in the 4th tone when becoming a verb.


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## yuechu

Thanks for your replies, YangMuye, ElGarcia and Messquito!
Is it better if I say "我是混血儿" or "我是个混血儿"? (do both 说法 exist in Chinese in this situation or is only one of them common?)


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## Messquito

I'd say 我是混血儿 is better than 我是个混血儿; when there is no descriptive adjective in front of the noun here, it's always more natural to leave out the 個/个 here. (Just like Spanish leaving out uno/una(a/an), if you know)
我是混血儿 is more natural than 我是个混血儿 (There is no big deal if you say the latter, though)
我是個*不折不扣(=100 percent)*的混血兒 is better than 我是不折不扣的混血兒 (I think the latter is quite weird)


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## dolmens

Both are Ok. But, you should better avoid saying that. Though 混血儿 is a neutral word, I don't think one person could use this word to describe themself.


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## yuechu

Thanks, Messquito and dolmens!


dolmens said:


> Both are Ok. But, you should better avoid saying that. Though 混血儿 is a neutral word, I don't think one person could use this word to describe themself.


I am 混血儿 actually (half Chinese, half (white) Canadian). What do you suggest I say if I don't use the word 混血儿?


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## ElGarcia

baosheng said:


> I am 混血儿 actually (half Chinese, half (white) Canadian). What do you suggest I say if I don't use the word 混血儿?



You can definitely say 我是混血儿. Some may have reservations as the word 混血儿 is more often used on kids than adults. But there is nothing wrong with using it to describe an adult (or oneself). Other options are (in your case): 我是中加混血 or 我有一半中国血统（to Canadians） or 我有一半加拿大血统（to Chinese）


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## dolmens

我是一半加拿大人一半中国人。I think this is far more idiomatic and appropriate than '我是混血儿'.
他是混血儿 is Ok, for that you perhaps don't know his origin and it is polite to not to give more detail information about others.

Let's wait to see what others will say.


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## fyl

To me there is no preference/difference between 我是混血儿 and 我是个混血儿.
I agree with ElGarcia #13. I can't sense any oddity if someone says 我是混血儿. And 我是中加混血 is more precise. To me, 我是一半加拿大人一半中国人 is quite confusing (not sure if that's talking about 血统 or 文化 or 国籍 or whatever).


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## SuperXW

baosheng said:


> Thanks, Messquito and dolmens!
> I am 混血儿 actually (half Chinese, half (white) Canadian). What do you suggest I say if I don't use the word 混血儿?


It's a bit rare if someone has to emphasize that 我是混血儿 (to avoid rasism? Also, 儿 literally means "son". How about girls and older people?). I think it's more common for one to say 我妈妈是x国人, 我爸爸是x国人...


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## Skatinginbc

What is 加拿大血统?  What is 血统?  Is it about 'race' (physical characteristics) or about 'ethnicity' (national or cultural heritage)?  混血儿 seems to emphasize interracial mixing or genetic admixture (e.g., 'half white'), while "一半中国血统一半加拿大血统" seems to refer to ethnicity.


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## ElGarcia

Skatinginbc said:


> What is 加拿大血统?  What is 血统?  Is it about 'race' (physical characteristics) or about 'ethnicity' (national or cultural heritage)?  混血儿 seems to emphasize interracial mixing or genetic admixture (e.g., 'half white'), while "一半中国血统一半加拿大血统" seems to refer to ethnicity.



血统 literally means blood, so it emphasizes family/genetic origin. It doesn't have to be about physical features or cultural heritage but can encompass both. I wouldn't use 血统 to refer to ethnicity only.


SuperXW said:


> It's a bit rare if someone has to emphasize that 我是混血儿 (to avoid rasism?



It could be just a casual description. However if you have certain kinds of parents in your friend circles you'll probably realize that being 混血儿 (or actually having 混血 kids) is something worth great emphasis indeed 
Besides I think it's a friendly & considerate gesture for the 混血儿 themselves to let their friends know this (so that they'll know them better and avoid potential cultural insensitivities)


SuperXW said:


> Also, 儿 literally means "son". How about girls and older people?



As for this, I as a halfhearted feminist have to admit that over the history (yes, HIStory) we have used far too many male-specific words to refer to both genders. Most are so widely accepted today that they are not considered gender-specific anymore. For example: 新生儿  早产儿 儿童 幼儿
You don't often hear 新生女 早产女 etc. So let's just expand the meaning of 儿 to include us. 

Regarding older people, that's why I think some may feel a little uncomfortable using 混血儿 to describe themselves (supposedly adults). However, 儿 doesn't always indicate infancy when the other meaning is used (as you mentioned, "son", but let's extend that to "issue/offspring"). See: 不肖儿孙（mostly describing adults, but no matter how old they are still sons） 中华好儿女（could be old people） 

Since 混血儿 implicitly tells the origins of one's parents or ancestry, here 儿 should mean offspring instead of infants, so the age of the 混血儿 doesn't matter IMO.


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## Skatinginbc

ElGarcia said:


> I wouldn't use 血统 to refer to ethnicity only.


Then there is no such thing as 加拿大血统, 美國血统, and perphaps 中国血统 as well.


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## ElGarcia

Skatinginbc said:


> Then there is no such thing as 加拿大血统, 美國血统, and perphaps 中国血统 as well.



I think you are trying to use notions in English (race vs. ethnicity) to categorize the usage of a Chinese word, which unfortunately doesn't always work well. 血统 means blood or the characteristics of one's ancestors. The characteristics could be racial, physical, ethnic, or whatever. See 王室血统，贵族血统，etc. Of course you can use it on races as well (e.g., 黑人血统）. You might say 加拿大血统，中国血统 refer to the ethnicity of one's parents, but I think 血统 more emphasizes genetic origin, i.e., your ancestors have to belong to the core/original/majority population of the country. I know that sounds weird in English, but consider this: an adopted son of the royal family will not be considered as having 王室血统. Likewise, an nth generation migrant in China might be completely assimilated into Chinese culture and identify himself as Chinese (ethnicity). However his children will not inherit 中国血统 from him if none of his ancestors is "real" Chinese. Instead, they will inherit 血统 of wherever his ancestors were originally from.


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