How do the Chinese pronounce Beijing? (real estate, vs, estate)

[Nelly Nomad]

I know it's late to be asking this question, but with all the Olympics coverage, we're hearing the name over and over. Is the proper (read: native) pronunciation Bay-Jing (with a hard-J) or Bay-Zhing (with a sliding-z, like azure)? I've heard professional announcers say both. I always thought it was Bay-Zhing.

[graceC]

Bay-Zhing is western pronounciation. The correct one is Bei - Jing. All the names in Chinese that have been translated into western alphabets are there for Western speakers' benefits, and it's pronounced exactly as it's written. So like I said before, Beijing is pronounced just like that, Bei-Jing (with the J sounds like a cross between hard J and hard C).

[neutrino]

Bei, with a dipping tone
Jing, with a flat tone

With different tones the words and semantics are totally different.

[At1WithNature]

Peking.

[ji603]

Yup.

4 distinct tones in Mandarin. When Chinese is written in pinyin for westerners, there are no tone markings, and as the other poster mentioned, with no intonation, the sounds are different, and with no context, often misunderstood by Chinese.

[Nelly Nomad]

I'd like, whenever possible, to pronounce names as close as I can to the way natives pronounce them. So, since it seems Bay-Jing is proper, then Bay-Jing it is! I will make the change immediately. Thanks ever so much.

Now, for a few follow-up questions: Is "Bay" the proper sound for the first syllable? Is there any specific emphasis? BayJING vs BAYjing? I'm not sure I understand the "dipping tone" vs "flat tone". Is there somewhere I can hear it pronounced properly so I can imitate?

[neutrino]

Beijing is two words in Chinese: bei(3) : "north" + jing(1) : "capital". The numbers are used to represent the tones. The emphasis on each word is the same.

Here's the wikipedia link to the pronunciation of Beijing: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Zh-Beijing.ogg
I don't have speakers on this computer, so someone else who speaks Mandarin will have to verify that it's correct.

HERE is a good primer on Chinese pronunciation.

[k374]

definitely Bay - jing

one reference:

YouTube - Ask Smacker - Real Estate, Coal Miners and Bargain Hunters

[SEAandATL]

What I thought is interesting is how the Japanese also say Beijing or Peking, even though the Kanji reads "Hoku-kyo" or "Hokkyo" (the second Kanji character is the same as the second Kanji of Tokyo, the "kyo" means capital). Now do the Chinese pronounce Tokyo as "Tokyo", or do they say "Tung-king" or "Tung-jing"?

[neutrino]

Originally Posted by SEAandATL

What I thought is interesting is how the Japanese also say Beijing or Peking, even though the Kanji reads "Hoku-kyo" or "Hokkyo" (the second Kanji character is the same as the second Kanji of Tokyo, the "kyo" means capital). Now do the Chinese pronounce Tokyo as "Tokyo", or do they say "Tung-king" or "Tung-jing"?

Yup, Tokyo is "Dong Jing", both words spoken in a flat tone. Some of my relatives in Taiwan use "Tokyo" and "Dong Jing" interchangeably.