chinese pronunciation help!

[anno]

my daughter needs to call a classmate, and has no clue how to pronounce her first name.

Xiaobei

help please? quickly?

 

[Yossarian]

zhou-bay is my semi-educated guess

 

[LongCoolMother]

xiao, the first part is definately "shee-ow" meaning "small" in mandarin

bei, can be a few different ways. "bai" (white) or "bay"

 

[webnewland]

Originally posted by: LongCoolMother
xiao, the first part is definately "shee-ow" meaning "small" in mandarin

bei, can be a few different ways. "bai" (white) or "bay"

Yup I have to agree, gotta say sheeow real quick, can't think of another way of sounding it

 

[anno]

thanks..

what's the difference soundwise between bai and bay? (they sound the same in southern!)

 

[HamSupLo]

shall-bay

 

[UncleWai]

xiao is more like Sal with a "z" sound

 

[jaybert]

you sure she doesnt have an americanized name she goes by? Most people I know with asian names, have some "american" nickname.

The best bet is to just slaughter her name once and then ask politely how to pronounce it or if they go by anything else.

 

[LongCoolMother]

Originally posted by: jooksing
shall-bay

i agree. thats what i was thinking.

 

[anno]

in the end she didn't call, someone came through with the info she needed in e-mail.. so.. she'll find out how to say the name in class, for next time.

thanks, everyone.

 

[Howard]

shao-bay or shao-buy

 

[Crappopotamus]

if she doesnt know her well enough to pronounce her name, i think its safe to ask...