Hi ChinesePod team, my question is this:
I would like to confirm the 亲戚的戚 is pronouns as qi1 or qi4.
I been pronouns as qi4 along the time but when I do some studying on 拼音 and I am confuse.
Thanks
Eddie
Hi Eddie,
If you look into a dictionary, 戚 is pronounced as 1st tone. However, when it is paired with 亲, 戚 becomes neutral tone. There are actually many words have tone changes in Chinese, e.g.烦 [fán] is 2nd tone, but when this character is in the phrase 麻烦 [máfan], it becomes neutral tone. But don’t try to memorize all of them. It’s too many. Just listen more and practice saying them.