Pretty much all of mainland Chinese Mandarin does.
A bit maybe.
I donāt think itās necessary old people. I think itās just more ā¦ literary.
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To my ears, in Standard Taiwanese Mandarin, č³ is pronounced as tsÉØ while ē„ is pronounced as tsÉØĢ. Although I think the ÉØ is halfway between Front and Central, and the ÉØĢ is more like ÉØ but slightly rounded.
So the distinction is mostly made by the vowels in Taiwan, and the tongue position is the same for most people. I think the vowels are also different in Putonghua, but the main difference is the initial sound in China.
I think youāre right. Iāve noticed they seem to have their own way of curling the tongue that doesnāt actually involve any kind of tongue-curling at all.
My mother who grew up in Taiwan always gets frustrated and says ācanāt you tell Iām curling my tongue?ā when she clearly isnāt.
We just slightly round our ÉØ at its normal central position. No way near as round as Ź, just slightly rounded.
By the way, there were more refugees from Zhejiang and Suzhou in the 1949 exile, and they also were often get put into leadership roles as CKS was from Zhejiang. So Taiwanese Mandarin actually inherited a lot of the consonants pronouncing habits from them.
You mean instead of a back position?
No, I donāt think itās back. If it is, it is definitely nowhere as rounded and back as ÉÆ or u. Iām no expert on the subject though.
Wait, youāre talking about the consonant. So are you talking about the shape of your lips or your tongue when you say āroundedā?
Iām saying that the air stopping part of č³ and ē„ are the same. So technically, the consonants are the same. By rounded, I mean the shape of the lips are different. The vowel sound of ē„ is slightly more back and more rounded than the vowel sound of č³.
By āback and roundedā do you mean like when you say 
ācheeeeseā?
If you āeeeeeā you mean the āweeeeeeā sound we make when we are on a roller coaster, then no, thatās more front, thatās more like the i sound in åŗ.
Right. I guess that would be your cheeks (or the sides of your lips) being pulled back. I just donāt understand how your lips can be ābackā.
To me, my lips can only be wide open (as in āah!ā), rounded and opened (as in O), rounded and more closed (as in āwoo!ā), slightly pulled back (as in āeh?ā) or pulled back even more (as in āweeeeee!ā).
Oh, rounded describes the shape of the lips. Back I think describes the position of the tongue.
Ah ok. So let me go back and read everything you said againā¦
Ok, I think I understand you now.
In other words, a China ē„ is a more exaggerated tongue-curl with accompanying exaggerated rounding of the lips, whereas a Taiwan ē„ is less exaggerated in both lip rounding and tongue curling?
(Forgetting about č³ for now, which sounds the same whether youāre Chinese or Taiwanese)
Yes. I didnāt think that being more back is curling the tongue, but now I think about it, it does curl it a little. But instead of doing ɹĢ© and actively put your tongue in a curl, which is similar to the American r, being more back is like depressing the center section of your tongue, leaving the tip hanging up.
Haha thatās why itās called ę²čé³. Itās like the tongue-curl when you pronounce the American ārā sound.
Ah ok I know exactly what you mean now (I think). That would explain why ē„ and č³ sound similar when a Taiwanese says it.
Def looks like schlong and ball sack. Gives new meaning to the phrase, āI 
you.ā
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