China's transport, tanker & heavy lift aircraft

JayBird said:

"05架机首飞" direct translation is 05 airframe maiden flight, not 5th flying prototype, or the 5th airframe. So, there might not be no. 4 prototype for Y-20. As with 4 pronunciation is the same as death like we've talked about in the past.

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I will have to agree with Jaybird here. It reads like "05" is just the serial designation, not as 5th prototype.

Also I think it is silly about "4" prounciation sounds the same as "death", IT DOESN'T! At least not in Mandarin. "4" sounds like "yes". "10" on the other hand sounds closer to "death" than "4". Its only 1 intonation away.

Ultra said:

At least not in Mandarin. "4" sounds like "yes". "10" on the other hand sounds closer to "death" than "4". Its only 1 intonation away.

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Well, you had it backward. "4" is pronounced as "si" with the 4th tone while "10" is pronounced as "shi" with the 2nd tone. And "death" is pronounced as "si" with the third tone. "Yes" is "shi" with the 4th tone. You tell me which one is closer to which.

Ultra said:

I will have to agree with Jaybird here. It reads like "05" is just the serial designation, not as 5th prototype.

Also I think it is silly about "4" prounciation sounds the same as "death", IT DOESN'T! At least not in Mandarin. "4" sounds like "yes". "10" on the other hand sounds closer to "death" than "4". Its only 1 intonation away.

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Hi Ultra,
I guess you are not a native Mandarin speaker, if I make a bold guess, you are from southeast China or Taiwan. Please don't take it as offence, but as a friendly teasing.

vesicles said:

Well, you had it backward. "4" is pronounced as "si" with the 4th tone while "10" is pronounced as "shi" with the 2nd tone. And "death" is pronounced as "si" with the third tone. "Yes" is "shi" with the 4th tone. You tell me which one is closer to which.

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Huh? So you pronounce "yes" as "shi"? With an "h" in it? That doesn't sound right. But you are right about the intonation, still, I felt "10" sounds closer to death than "4".

taxiya said:

Hi Ultra,
I guess you are not a native Mandarin speaker, if I make a bold guess, you are from southeast China or Taiwan. Please don't take it as offence, but as a friendly teasing.

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I will admit, my mandarin is rusty, not having to use it for over 20 years.

Ultra said:

Huh? So you pronounce "yes" as "shi"? With an "h" in it? That doesn't sound right. But you are right about the intonation, still, I felt "10" sounds closer to death than "4".

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Well, I speak Mandarin with a Beijing dialect, which is officially considered to be the most accurate dialect in pronouncing the Chinese. And if you look up a Chinese dictionary, you will find the correct pronounciation for "yes", "4", "10" and "death". And I can tell you with 120% certainty that I AM correct.

Like taxipa said, confusing the "h" is a very common mistake made by people speaking Southern dialects.

Here is the latest bird no. 05 !

vesicles said:

Well, I speak Mandarin with a Beijing dialect, which is officially considered to be the most accurate dialect in pronouncing the Chinese. And if you look up a Chinese dictionary, you will find the correct pronounciation for "yes", "4", "10" and "death". And I can tell you with 120% certainty that I AM correct.

Like taxipa said, confusing the "h" is a very common mistake made by people speaking Southern dialects.

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I had a Chinese coworker pronounced '4' and 'death' in mandarin to me today and to be honest they don't sound the same to my ears. Similar but definitely two distinct sounds.

kwaigonegin said:

I had a Chinese coworker pronounced '4' and 'death' in mandarin to me today and to be honest they don't sound the same to my ears. Similar but definitely two distinct sounds.

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Exactly! The two have distinct pronunciation in mandarin. Traditionally. "4" and "death" have never been connected. In fact, "4" had always been linked as lucky because sets of 4 items have been used at wedding for centuries. On the other hand, "4" and "death" sound more similar when pronounced in Cantonese. As Hong Kong culture, which speaks Cantonese, become more popular, their dialect and superstition have always become popular. This of course includes the fear of "4".

People are often irrational and superstitious, but sometimes playing to these superstitions might (or might not) help to motivate you team (engineering speaking). It all depends on the team leader or project manager. This debate of 4=death is like Friday 13th=bad luck; just something many people believe in.

Great (new?) photo of the Y-20 Deino! Although the photo is a little bit shaken. Hope to see more in coming days. Thanks for sharing it here!

Jovian

kwaigonegin said:

I had a Chinese coworker pronounced '4' and 'death' in mandarin to me today and to be honest they don't sound the same to my ears. Similar but definitely two distinct sounds.

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Congratulations, you have a great potential to speak standard mandarin, because 4 and Death sounds differently to you meaning you can distinguish tones in Chinese. The two Words are different, remember Chinese has four tones, 4 has 4th tone while Death has 3rd tone. Also Madarian has many regional variants, speakers of these sub variants may have to struggle to understand each others while none of them would be able to understand Cantonese at all. If we say American English is like Mandarian, and assume Midwest accent as Standard Mandarian, Taxan would sounds like Another Mandarian variant, while Indian English would be Cantonese. It is totally OT, but just for a laugh.