this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2024
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[–] feedum_sneedson 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

It doesn't really sound like "sh" though, it's a different phoneme. You place the tip of your tongue in the centre of the gum ridge behind your bottom teeth, rather than the top one. They have that noise as well, and - unsurprisingly I suppose - it is written "sh". The former is a totally unfamiliar sound to a native English speaker, most people need that kind of specific coaching to produce it. Pinyin isn't perfect, I agree, but it primarily exists to be used by Chinese people who already know how their own language sounds.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Do people place the tip of their tongue on something when pronouncing "sh"?

[–] feedum_sneedson 2 points 1 day ago

Not quite, but that's where the channel for the air is formed, if you see what I mean. Placing the tongue is a cue for teaching the tongue position.