# Pronunciation: 的 (de / di), 了 (le / liao)



## Agarina

The pinyin usually used for “的” is "de" but I've often heard it pronounced and seen it written as "di".  Is this just a regional/colloquial thing or is it something to do with grammar?  I know that “了” is usually pronounced "le" but sometimes it is gramatically incorrect as "le" and has to be pronounced "liao".  Why is that?


*Part of the question is moved to the new thread*
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=586078


> 谁 - shei / shui: And “谁” is sometimes "shei" and sometimes "shui".  Why is that?


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## kareno999

了liao3 is a verb, (cf 了解 了结 etc.) eg, 我终于了(liao3)了(le)一桩心事.
When appearing in a song, 的 了can be (not necessarily) pronounced like "di" "liao" even if they serve as grammatical particles.

*Part of the answer is moved to the new thread* 谁 - shei / shui


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## kkmp

Chinese words can be categorized into two groups: real words （实词）　and unreal words, or, functional words（虚词）. Real words include nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, numbers etc. Unreal words include adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections etc.

Both 的 and 了 happen to be both real and unreal words. When the two play different roles as real and unreal words, their pronunciations change.  Below is a brief list of their functions, meanings and corresponding pronunciations.

的 : real word, adverb : dí : truly, indeed : as in 的确.
的 : real word, noun : dì : target, goal  : as in 目的.
的 : unreal word, auxilary particle : de : used in many situations, for example 1) used between an adjective and a noun：黑色的 头发(black hair）;2) used between a pronoun and a noun：他的 车（his car）,etc.

了: real word, verb: liǎo : understand, see : as in 明了.
了: real word, verb: liǎo : finish : as in 了结.
了: unreal word, auxilary particle: le : used after a verb or adjective meaning an action is finished or a state is over: 信写完了(The letter is finished).

There are many other situations where 的 & 了 are used. For details a textbook or dictionary is highly advised. It should also be mentioned that when 的 & 了 are spoken as unreal words, their pronunciations are weaker than those of normal characters.

*Part of the answer is moved to the new thread* 谁 - shei / shui

BTW: There is another word 着 which can be used as both real (zhuó, zhāo) and unreal (zhe).


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## Anatoli

kkmp said:


> Chinese words can be categorized into two groups: real words （实词）　and unreal words, or, functional words（虚词）. Real words include nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, numbers etc. Unreal words include adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections etc.
> ...



实词[實詞] shící n. 〈lg.〉 notional/plerematic word; 
虚词[虛詞] xūcí* n. 〈lg.〉 function/form/cenematic/empty/syncategorematic word; functive; particle

Interesting insight, thanks, always wondered about the Chinese grammar from the Chinese point of view.


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## goodatchinese

In my opinion , it's just a polyphone issue in Chinese. Don't try to find some patterns for them, cause there are so many and every one has its own behavior. Just try to keep the pronunciation in your mind, speak more, and let it be your instinct.


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## Youngfun

I only heard Malaysians and Singaporeans pronounce 了 as liao when it should be le （我吃饭liao，我完liao）。

但是有没有很多老歌里，“的”念di，“了”念liao。我一直以为是因为老歌不允许把一个轻声发音成长音，因为往往唱歌的时候把每个字的音都拉得很长，所以用轻声的读音就不适合了。

结果很多人的观念让我很惊讶，他们说，那是台湾的口音。
台湾老歌这样念，但是台湾新歌都念 de 和 le，这个跟台湾有什么关系。

中国国歌里，好像“了”念liao（中华民族到liao），但是“的”还是念de。


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## Skatinginbc

唱歌时, “的”也常念di, e.g., 《中国国歌》冒着敌人的(di)炮火


Youngfun said:


> 他们说，那是台湾的口音。


台灣老演員演的古裝歷史劇, 為製造復古效果, 常把"了"讀liao3. 這是一種藝術講究,  使文言和白話相雜的臺詞, 不顯得突兀. 《大秦帝国》裡台灣演員李立群就liao來liao去的, 和le個不停的大陸演員形成對比, 因此就給人一種 "liao是台湾口音"的錯覺.


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## retrogradedwithwind

的和之应该是古今字的关系，古今音转而字变。的，白话文运动开始的时候，也写作底，古音也是丁入声。所以读为di也许是承古。

了，有人认为是由实词（了结、完了之意）变为虚词（句末了），是逐渐变化的过程。音也由比较费力的liao变为le。


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## brofeelgood

Youngfun said:


> I only heard Malaysians and Singaporeans pronounce 了 as liao when it should be le （我吃饭liao，我完liao）。



Indeed. The pronunciation was likely carried over from the major dialects (Hokkien/Teochew etc) where 了 sounds like "liao" in pinyin, e.g. 依死了 (transliterated with pinyin, this would be yi-xi-liao)



Youngfun said:


> 结果很多人的观念让我很惊讶，他们说，那是台湾的口音。
> 台湾老歌这样念，但是台湾新歌都念 de 和 le，这个跟台湾有什么关系。
> 中国国歌里，好像“了”念liao（中华民族到liao），但是“的”还是念de。



I believe what gave rise to this misunderstanding was Taiwan's overwhelming dominance in the commercial music industry during the 70s-90s. Like you rightly pointed out, even 义勇军进行曲 has 的(di) and 了(liao). In my opinion, di/liao and de/le in lyrics are simply pronunciations from different eras.


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## fyl

「了」不了解。
「的」在很多方言里都是di，印象中老北京人讲话也是di（以前在网上听过一段老舍的讲话，如果我没记错的话里面就是读di），比较早期的新闻播音和电影里面也是di，后来不知道怎么就都变成de了。


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## yuechu

大家好！
I've noticed that there are some spoken Mandarin dialects (not referring to the pronunciation in songs) where 的 is pronounced "di" instead of "de". For example, in the " 他的 车" case above.

Would anyone know which Mandarin dialects tend to pronounce 的 as "di" (in contexts in which the standard Mandarin pronunciation is "de")? Would it be 东北话 and 河北 dialects, for example?
Thanks!


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## ovaltine888

的 sounds "di2" in 的确; sounds "di4" in 众矢之的.

When used after an adjective to describe a noun, 的 usually sounds "de0". But sometimes we will pronounce it as "di0", when we need to put a stress.
e.g. 别拿错了，那是我的(di)包！ Don't take the wrong bag. That one is MINE!

I think it is comparable to the pronunciation of "the" and "thEE" in English. A subtle change of the sound for different levels of emphasis.

[Edit]
As discussed in #6 and #7, di0 sound is also heard in many songs probably for certain vocal music reasons.

I think there are no strict rules for when to pronounce 的 as di0 or de0. In most cases, native speakers will not have trouble understanding what you say when you use either. But it is not a good idea to abuse the sound "di0", because it will just make you sound like you pronounce "the" as "thEE" all the time.


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## SuperXW

ovaltine888 said:


> But sometimes we will pronounce it as "di0", when we need to put a stress.
> e.g. 别拿错了，那是我的(di)包！ Don't take the wrong bag. That one is MINE!


I don't think I'll do that no matter how stressful it is...
It sounds dialectical to me.  
E.g. 额滴(di1)神啊 is an Internet slang expression reflecting 陕西方言.


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