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Re: Question about Questions

From:Pavel Iosad <pavel_iosad@...>
Date:Friday, September 21, 2001, 16:56
Nimen hao!
> > Maybe. "Ma" is traditionally said to be in the "neutral tone", > > meaning it has no tone of its own, and where it is realized depends > > on the syllable before it. But then , "ba" is also neutral tone, but > > the intonation outcomes are different. > > > > Qu4 ma? Are you going? > > Qu4 ba. Let's go. Why don't you go. > > For let's go, I would have used "zou3 ba1". I've got Western ears ;o) > but I guess I always heard the "ba" in the first tone.
I don't know. My cassettes for the textbook(s) all pronounce the phrase "Wo3men zou3 ba" with "ba" toneless. I guess it's a question of whether you want to speak correct Putonghua or the living language. Zai xie, (since I'm not going to see any of you :-) Pavel