Er and Erhua
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    The syllable "er" is one of the more unique parts of Mandarin Chinese phonology (IPA: /əɻ/). The e is neutral as in "en" and not like in "ye". It sometimes can sound a bit like "ar". This syllable is never pronounced in tone 1 and there aren't that many characters that use it, although they are quite high frequency.


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    There's only one word in widespread use pronounced er in the fourth tone, the number 2 (二).




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    Er usually forms a word with other syllables. Here's an example of the er coming first (érzi means "son").


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    And an example of the er coming at the end (nǚ'ér means "daughter"). Note this is pronounced as two separate syllables and is not an example of erhua, which we'll look at shortly.


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    The number twenty.


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    Ěrduo means "ear".


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    A formal word meaning "however".


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    The syllable ěr is commonly used in phonetic transliterations of foreign words or names (using the character 尔/爾). Here is "Turkey" (the country). Note it has 3 syllables.


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    Medial or final -er can represent either an r or an l. Here it is representing the l in Nobel (as in the Nobel prize). This practice can lead to slightly odd pronunciations, for example the Spanish name Raúl becomes Lǎo'ěr in Chinese, with the l and r reversed.


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    "Ordos", a place in Inner Mongolia. Note the difference in pronunciation between e and er.


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    Now let's move on to "erhua", an entirely different phenomenon. Erhua can be translated as something like "r-isation" or "rhotic coda" in more technical terms. This is the process of adding an r ending to an existing word. Unlike with er, this added r is not pronounced as an extra syllable. Nǎr means "where" and is just one syllable. The non-erhua version of this word is nǎlǐ.


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    Most textbooks teaching Chinese are produced in Beijing and tend to over-emphasise erhua. It is mostly optional, more like a regional accent than an integral part of the language. It is mainly associated with northern China, particularly Beijing and the Northeast. Here is the common word shì (事, matter/thing/situation) pronounced as Beijingers say it.


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    Meaning "flower".


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    Note how the r sound replaces the n. The spelling retains the n to make it clear what the underlying word is. Fèn means "portion" (of food etc.). This example is quite typical of the north-south divide when it comes to erhua. Northerners tend to say fènr (fèr) and southerners tend to say fèn.


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    Wánr ("play", "have fun") is one of the rare words that generally requires erhua. Pronouncing it as "wán" sounds unusual, although some people from southern provinces say it that way. There are only a handful of words like this, where not using erhua sounds unusual (perhaps only around 4 or 5).






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    Háir is pronounced like "hár" (-ar, -air and -anr are all pronounced the same).




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    Note that duìr and dùnr have the same pronunciation (sounds a bit like "dwer").






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    For examples like yanr, bianr, yuanr or juanr, the original vowel (ɛ) changes to an "a" vowel (resembling the spelling).








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    The next 4 examples are among the most difficult to pronounce and are all dialectical. This word means "monkey" (the standard version is hóuzi). Notice how the vowel merges with the r sound (rhoticised vowel).


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    "Boiled dumplings" (most people just say shuǐjiǎo).


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    Dialectical way of saying píngzi ("bottle"). This is very hard to pronounce and involves both nasalising and rhoticising the vowel (the IPA transcription is something like /pʰjɚ̃/). All examples of ng + erhua are dialectical so it isn't necessary to learn how to pronounce this. Only attempt it if you want to sound really northern and impress your Beijing friends.


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    Meaning "film" or "movie" (most people just say diànyǐng).
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