# Chinese Characters I Always Forget How to Pronounce **URL:** \ **Category:** Learning Chinese\ **Tags:** learning-chinese\ **Created:** [January 18, 2024, 9:38am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028 "2024-01-18T09:38:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Steve4nLanguage](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/steve4nlanguage/32/180867_2.png) [@Steve4nLanguage](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Steve4nLanguage)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 11:25am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/21 "2024-01-18T11:25:56Z")
> [@Hayashi](#): > > > [@Dr\_Milker](#): > > > > > [@Taiwan\_Luthiers](#): > > > > > > I forgot how to pronounce this > > > > > > ![Biang](https://forumosauploads-12829.kxcdn.com/original/3X/0/f/0fafa4afd8345f7b15c78e4475f582bbe1fa82e2.gif) > > > > You should know this from the noodle dish. > > Apart from that, it’s pronunciation – biang – also occurs in one of my favorite phrases, “[bing bing biang biang](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/help-me-figure-out-this-funny-sounding-word-something-like-bin-bin-byan-byan/230986)”. My former Forumosa icon! Here’s a fun one: When they get to the people and place names, see how many of those characters you’re familiar with 😲 [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MIR5zIpWBH0/hqdefault.jpg "【動畫】達拉崩吧 / 龘䶛䨻䆉 (ft. 神鬼巧路) - BOB製作的動畫") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIR5zIpWBH0) ---
**Author:** ![meishijia](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/meishijia/32/178949_2.png) [@meishijia](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/meishijia)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 11:38am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/22 "2024-01-18T11:38:32Z")
> [@Dr\_Milker](#): > > 龜裂 I always hear it pronounced “gui lie”. I think 龜 can be jun or gui, but for this word I think people use gui in Taiwan, no? ---
**Author:** ![Taiwan\_Luthiers](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Taiwan\_Luthiers](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Taiwan_Luthiers)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 11:48am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/23 "2024-01-18T11:48:35Z")
I don’t even know how to pronounce this ![Chinese_;)](https://forumosauploads-12829.kxcdn.com/original/3X/a/1/a1bd23f947915a8b420b5265f0f31a99eb795884.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![hannes](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/hannes/32/161150_2.png) [@hannes](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/hannes)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 11:48am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/24 "2024-01-18T11:48:52Z")
Dang you for giving me that ear 🪱! 😂 ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Milker](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/dr_milker/32/181996_2.png) [@Dr\_Milker](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Dr_Milker)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 1:13pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/25 "2024-01-18T13:13:36Z")
> [@meishijia](#): > > I always hear it pronounced “gui lie”. That’s because they’re pronouncing it wrong. > [@meishijia](#): > > I think 龜 can be jun or gui, but for this word I think people use gui in Taiwan, no? The people who pronounce it wrong do, and the people who pronounce it right don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Milker](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/dr_milker/32/181996_2.png) [@Dr\_Milker](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Dr_Milker)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 1:15pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/26 "2024-01-18T13:15:20Z")
> [@Taiwan\_Luthiers](#): > > I don’t even know how to pronounce this > > ![Chinese_;)](https://forumosauploads-12829.kxcdn.com/original/3X/a/1/a1bd23f947915a8b420b5265f0f31a99eb795884.jpeg) It’s pronounced gàn, of course. ---
**Author:** ![hansioux](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/hansioux/32/253648_2.png) [@hansioux](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/hansioux)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 1:56am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/27 "2024-01-19T01:56:52Z")
There are some characters that in my mind I know the correct pronunciation, but when I see it, the first reading that pops into my mind is still wrong. Can’t really think of one now though, except for 滑稽 being said to be pronounced as 骨. There is however other crap like this: [https://zh.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:台灣常見誤讀字列表](https://zh.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E5%B8%B8%E8%A6%8B%E8%AA%A4%E8%AE%80%E5%AD%97%E5%88%97%E8%A1%A8) Which I find is absolute nonsense from the MOE. No one talks like that, at least not before they forced it on the students. ---
**Author:** ![Malasang88](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/malasang88/32/156935_2.png) [@Malasang88](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Malasang88)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 2:15am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/28 "2024-01-19T02:15:25Z")
> [@Dr\_Milker](#): > > Here’s one that even native speakers consistently pronounce wro If native speakers say it that way then is it really wrong? I’d rather be understood and pronounce things the way everyone else does, then have to lecture people on why they’re wrong every time. Languages evolve they aren’t static. ---
**Author:** ![meishijia](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/meishijia/32/178949_2.png) [@meishijia](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/meishijia)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 2:16am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/29 "2024-01-19T02:16:31Z")
> [@Malasang88](#): > > I’d rather be understood and pronounce things the way everyone else does, then have to lecture people on why they’re wrong every time. Yeah, my wife rolled her eyes while I was showing her the MoE’s dictionary with it as ‘jun’ ---
**Author:** ![user86](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/u/2acd7d/32.png) [@user86](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/user86)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 2:20am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/30 "2024-01-19T02:20:02Z")
> [@Dr\_Milker](#): > > Next lesson…how to properly pronounce 炸雞 (fried chicken). This one is controversial. Don’t get me started on it. ---
**Author:** ![hansioux](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/hansioux/32/253648_2.png) [@hansioux](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/hansioux)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 2:28am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/31 "2024-01-19T02:28:57Z")
> [@meishijia](#): > > Yeah, my wife rolled her eyes while I was showing her the MoE’s dictionary with it as ‘jun’ Well, that one the MoE isn’t wrong. It’s been pronounced as jun for a long time, and not just some old fart trying to force Mandarin pronunciation square pegs into Song dynasty fanqie shaped holes. The jun pronunciation ultimately came from the kun pronunciation that I showed in my response. > [@Chinese Characters I Always Forget How to Pronounce](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/5): > > Easy. 【集韻】【韻會】𠀤俱倫切，音麋。【莊子·逍遙遊】宋人有善爲不龜手之藥者，世世以洴澼絖爲事。【註】不龜，謂凍不皺瘃也。【釋文】舉倫反。 俱倫切: [k]ū + l[ûn] = kun Final answer. That is preserved in Taigi but written in a different character 皸 in the Japanese dictionaries. > **[ChhoeTaigi 台語辭典⁺](https://chhoe.taigi.info/KamUilimTaigiJitian/11353)** > > ChhoeTaigi 台語辭典 · 找台語 · 台文雞絲麵 Tâi-bûn Ke-si Mī ![image](https://forumosauploads-12829.kxcdn.com/optimized/3X/9/8/98ee58efad798410ac2ac60dd4f04a181a422fb6_2_690x28.png) jun is the way I’ve heard it from everyone since I was a kid. It’s how people said it on TV, how my Late Immigrant nanny and teachers said it, and how all my Early immigrant families say it at home as well. I’ve only started hearing kui-lie in the last few decades. What really wraps my brain is how you should pronounce 乳酪 and 薄. ---
**Author:** ![user86](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/u/2acd7d/32.png) [@user86](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/user86)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 2:35am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/32 "2024-01-19T02:35:15Z")
> [@hansioux](#): > > 薄 I’ve said it both ways, and had people correct me both ways. ---
**Author:** ![hansioux](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/hansioux/32/253648_2.png) [@hansioux](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/hansioux)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/33 "2024-01-19T02:36:34Z")
> [@user86](#): > > I’ve said it both ways, and had people correct me both ways. If you want to know why, I wrote something on this phenomenon. > [@Au and ou diphthongs as a result of loss of final stops](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/au-and-ou-diphthongs-as-a-result-of-loss-of-final-stops/214310): > > A series of characters with 各 as a phonetic component oddly has 4 different sets of pronunciations in Mandarin. The first set, 格, 閣 and etc. are pronounced as ke, which sounds about the same as 各 aside from some tone differences. The second set, 駱 is read as lou. The third set, such as 落, 酪, 絡, 烙 and etc., often has 2 sets of pronunciations, lou or lau. The last set, 路, 賂, and etc. are read as lu. In Taiwan 酪 is usually pronounced as luo, so for avocados, instead of lauli like how most say … ---
**Author:** ![Malasang88](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/malasang88/32/156935_2.png) [@Malasang88](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Malasang88)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 2:37am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/34 "2024-01-19T02:37:41Z")
> [@hansioux](#): > > 乳酪 Reminds of 奶酪 in China. That doesn’t sound very appetizing to me. The Taiwanese western bastardization of cheese sounds much nicer. ---
**Author:** ![hansioux](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/hansioux/32/253648_2.png) [@hansioux](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/hansioux)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 2:39am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/35 "2024-01-19T02:39:21Z")
> [@Malasang88](#): > > Reminds of 奶酪 in China. That doesn’t sound very appetizing to me. The Taiwanese western bastardization of cheese sounds much nicer. The funny thing is most people in Taiwan have decided on one pronunciation for 乳酷 luo and another pronunciation for 奶酪 lau. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Milker](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/dr_milker/32/181996_2.png) [@Dr\_Milker](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Dr_Milker)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 3:07am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/36 "2024-01-19T03:07:16Z")
> [@Malasang88](#): > > > [@Dr\_Milker](#): > > > > Here’s one that even native speakers consistently pronounce wro > > If native speakers say it that way then is it really wrong? I’d rather be understood and pronounce things the way everyone else does, then have to lecture people on why they’re wrong every time. Languages evolve they aren’t static. I’d say about 30% of people pronounce it correctly, usually the more educated. The rest just don’t realize that 龜 is a 破音字. I’ve never had anyone misunderstand me when I pronounce it correctly, and it’s always pronounced correctly on the news. I would never correct someone for pronouncing it _gui_ though. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Milker](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/dr_milker/32/181996_2.png) [@Dr\_Milker](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Dr_Milker)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 3:12am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/37 "2024-01-19T03:12:47Z")
> [@user86](#): > > > [@Dr\_Milker](#): > > > > Next lesson…how to properly pronounce 炸雞 (fried chicken). > > This one is controversial. Don’t get me started on it. I think most people pronounce it wrong because it sounds better that way. 🙂 > [@hansioux](#): > > What really wraps my brain is how you should pronounce 乳酪 and 薄. You would pronounce it as _bo_ in 薄弱 though, right? ---
**Author:** ![hansioux](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/hansioux/32/253648_2.png) [@hansioux](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/hansioux)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 3:14am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/38 "2024-01-19T03:14:27Z")
> [@Dr\_Milker](#): > > You would pronounce it as _bo_ in 薄弱 though, right? Yes. Some readings are fixed in specific usage. Although the distribution seems pretty random. ---
**Author:** ![user86](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/u/2acd7d/32.png) [@user86](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/user86)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 3:14am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/39 "2024-01-19T03:14:32Z")
> [@Dr\_Milker](#): > > I think most people pronounce it wrong because it sounds better that way. 🙂 I mean, exploding chicken definitely sounds much cooler! ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Milker](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/dr_milker/32/181996_2.png) [@Dr\_Milker](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Dr_Milker)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 3:16am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028/40 "2024-01-19T03:16:50Z")
> [@hansioux](#): > > Yes. Some readings are fixed in specific usage. Although the distribution seems pretty random. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone except very elderly waishengren pronounce thin as _bo_. [Previous page](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028.md?page=1) [Next page](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/chinese-characters-i-always-forget-how-to-pronounce/237028.md?page=3)