posted by staffan.lincoln on December 16, 2012 | 3 comments
Hi.When chinese people answer the phone they usually go:-Wéi?It sounds to me to be the second tone.But he sign 喂 has the fourth tone in dictionaries. And is spelled wèi everywhere.What's confusing me here?
mtpastille on December 16, 2012 | reply
Maybe you should get a different dictionary. Mine lists both wèi and wéi, and while using the second tone indeed is how it's usually pronounced when answering the phone I've heard people use the fourth tone too. Using the fourth tone it also has the meaning of feeding an animal or a baby.
I believe there is a lesson on the different, ahem, ways to pronounce it: http://popupchinese.com/lessons/absolute-beginners/advanced-chinese-telephone-kungfu