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I noticed that CC-CEDICT uses a mixture. For example:

mian4: 前面, 对面, 里面
mian5: 后面, 上面, 下面, 外面

ABC is similar except:

mian4: 后面 (but also has mian5 as a less common pronunciation)
mian5: 前面

Is there any standard for these? Is it reasonable that the same dictionary would have a mixture like these do?

Baidu Dict has all 面 as 4th tone.

Mark
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  • I pronounce them all the same... – Michael Mar 26 '17 at 13:17
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    see comment #3 (also comment #1) of http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/21092/does-%e8%8a%8b%e9%a0%ad-have-a-different-pronunciation-in-taiwan-mandarin-vs-mainland/21128#21128 – user6065 Mar 26 '17 at 15:30
  • Some more info on usage of the neutral tone: http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/16695/what-differences-does-it-make-to-use-the-citation-tone-instead-of-the-neutral I find that most commonly available EN/ZH dictionaries do tend to neglect this topic. – goPlayerJuggler Mar 27 '17 at 16:28

2 Answers2

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Sorry I can't tell the strict grammar rule (about the tone of 面 when used for the meaning of "side, aspect") as a native Chinese. I tried some research, but can't find any uniform and convincing explanation about it. So I tried to summarize it by myself as follows:

  1. light tone only:

    上面, 下面

    For 上面 and 下面, without special context, when pronounced with the 4th tone 面 tends to be considered as noodle.

  2. 4th tone only:

    对面

    For 对面, 面 can't be pronounced with the light tone, it's just weird.

  3. both light tone and 4th tone:

    前面, 后面, 里面, 外面, 左面, 右面

    In these cases 面 is pronounced by light tone more commonly.

  • Thanks! please could you also include 里面 in your answer? – Mark Mar 27 '17 at 03:35
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    @MarkCarter Added, and also 左面/右面. –  Mar 27 '17 at 03:38
  • Would it be possible to format the answer (to make it more understandable) so that it is groups into 3 parts: . 1. neutral only, 2. 4th tone only, 3. both acceptable ? – Mark Mar 27 '17 at 03:40
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    @MarkCarter Fine. –  Mar 27 '17 at 03:47
  • I noticed that Baidu Dict has everything as 4th tone. For example: http://dict.baidu.com/s?wd=%E4%B8%8A%E9%9D%A2 – Mark Mar 27 '17 at 04:30
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    @MarkCarter That's why I said "can't find any uniform and convincing explanations", it seems chaotic; it's even not uniform among dictionaries. And most dictionary doesn't consider about the variation of pronunciation, including the light tone. –  Mar 27 '17 at 04:41
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As a native Chinese speaker, I pronounce mian (neutral tone) only to make my words soft, and miàn definitely when I want to emphasize. I think there's no difference, what other character stands before 面. When 面 stands before other characters, I constantly pronounce miàn.

hsulin
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  • The issue only occurs when 面 is used in a "side; aspect" word (on, under, next to, behind, etc). All other words with 面 as second character use mian4 (at least from dictionaries I've seen). – Mark Mar 29 '17 at 02:45
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    @hsulin 我觉得你写错了，miān是第一声，不是轻声。正写是mian或者mian5.你可以改正吗？或者我也可以 //@hsulin I think you made a mistake when writing miān, you probably should have written "mian" or "mian5" which is pinyin for the neutral tone. I can edit your post or you can to fix this. – goPlayerJuggler Mar 30 '17 at 09:01
  • @goPlayerJuggler 当时查了一下，说：“轻声一般不被当作声调看待，因为它没有固定的调值”。我觉得自己发的是第一声。现在，看到一种说法，“语法上的虚词、或有虚化性质的方位名词和趋向动词，一般都会念轻声”。我想你是正确的的。 – hsulin Mar 30 '17 at 12:22
  • @hsulin Would you also pronounce 面 in 4th tone when 上面 or 下面 is said before other characters? – Mark Apr 27 '17 at 05:05
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    @MarkCarter Yes. And I think it's always right in 4th tone, but here pronounce the 4th tone not too "harsh". – hsulin Apr 28 '17 at 16:47