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I don't think 五 ("wu", which means "five") is pronounced the same way as the "oo" in "oops", at least in Mandarin Chinese. I hear the "w" very clearly in this c

I don't think 五 ("wu", which means "five") is pronounced the same way as the "oo" in "oops", at least in Mandarin Chinese. I hear the "w" very clearly in this counting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eLP3FuuEVs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eLP3FuuEVs I think there is a lot of irony in this subthread, since it is responding to a comment about derailing the discussion by distracting from the main topic as a strategy: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29655271 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29655271. Intentional or not, this subthread shows just how effective this strategy can be.

brobinson 5y ago
You are hearing something that isn't present. There's no "w" sound in that video for the number 5. This is a really common misconception/mispronunciation caused by pinyin as it needs the "w" for disambiguation purposes (see also the use of apostrophes, xian vs. xi'an). Edit: another poster has some more examples of there not being a "w" sound at all in "wu": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29657822 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29657822
- HKH2 5y ago
  > There's no "w" sound in that video for the number 5. Yes there is. You can argue it's not as strong as an English 'w', but it's there. > This is a really common misconception/mispronunciation caused by pinyin as it needs the "w" for disambiguation purposes (see also the use of apostrophes, xian vs. xi'an). That may have been the case in the past, but the 'w' is definitely pronounced now, just like all the other 'w' sounds in Pinyin.
  - brobinson 5y ago
    I live in a Mandarin-speaking country and speak Mandarin every day. There is no W sound. lol I mean, foreigners can continue mispronouncing it they want, but native speakers are gonna continue to be confused as to why foreigners emphasize the non-existent W sound so much. Foreigners (in my experience) also get confused as to why native speakers _don't_ pronounce a W sound. Maybe some regional accents overemphasize a W sound? I've never heard one, though.
    - HKH2 5y ago
      I asked a native speaker and they said you use your lips a bit more than just saying the 'u' sound. I think it does vary by region. At any rate, I don't think anybody is confused by it.
thaumasiotes 5y ago
> I hear the "w" very clearly in this counting video: I'm curious how you think a video with an edited audio track could have any value as evidence. If you're willing to truncate and splice your recorded audio, you can easily transmute some sounds into other sounds. > I think there is a lot of irony in this subthread Yes, we talk about the things we think are interesting, often even when there are other people whose opinions differ.
thaumasiotes 5y ago
Here's a video with actual counting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuMIomW9wwg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuMIomW9wwg

brobinson 5y ago

You are hearing something that isn't present. There's no "w" sound in that video for the number 5. This is a really common misconception/mispronunciation caused by pinyin as it needs the "w" for disambiguation purposes (see also the use of apostrophes, xian vs. xi'an). Edit: another poster has some more examples of there not being a "w" sound at all in "wu": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29657822 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29657822

HKH2 5y ago
> There's no "w" sound in that video for the number 5. Yes there is. You can argue it's not as strong as an English 'w', but it's there. > This is a really common misconception/mispronunciation caused by pinyin as it needs the "w" for disambiguation purposes (see also the use of apostrophes, xian vs. xi'an). That may have been the case in the past, but the 'w' is definitely pronounced now, just like all the other 'w' sounds in Pinyin.
- brobinson 5y ago
  I live in a Mandarin-speaking country and speak Mandarin every day. There is no W sound. lol I mean, foreigners can continue mispronouncing it they want, but native speakers are gonna continue to be confused as to why foreigners emphasize the non-existent W sound so much. Foreigners (in my experience) also get confused as to why native speakers _don't_ pronounce a W sound. Maybe some regional accents overemphasize a W sound? I've never heard one, though.
  - HKH2 5y ago
    I asked a native speaker and they said you use your lips a bit more than just saying the 'u' sound. I think it does vary by region. At any rate, I don't think anybody is confused by it.

thaumasiotes 5y ago

> I hear the "w" very clearly in this counting video: I'm curious how you think a video with an edited audio track could have any value as evidence. If you're willing to truncate and splice your recorded audio, you can easily transmute some sounds into other sounds. > I think there is a lot of irony in this subthread Yes, we talk about the things we think are interesting, often even when there are other people whose opinions differ.

thaumasiotes 5y ago

Here's a video with actual counting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuMIomW9wwg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuMIomW9wwg