<p>As a native Chinese speaker, I pronounce mian (neutral tone) only to make my words soft, and miàn definitely when I want to emphasize. I think there's no difference, what other character stands before 面. When 面 stands before other characters, I constantly pronounce miàn.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-29T02:45:58.360Z
The issue only occurs when 面 is used in a "side; aspect" word (on, under, next to, behind, etc). All other words with 面 as second character use mian4 (at least from dictionaries I've seen).
Mark
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-30T09:01:20.710Z
@hsulin 我觉得你写错了，miān是第一声，不是轻声。正写是mian或者mian5.你可以改正吗？或者我也可以 //@hsulin I think you made a mistake when writing miān, you probably should have written "mian" or "mian5" which is pinyin for the neutral tone. I can edit your post or you can to fix this.
goPlayerJuggler
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-30T12:22:54.767Z
@goPlayerJuggler 当时查了一下，说：“轻声一般不被当作声调看待，因为它没有固定的调值”。我觉得自己发的是第一声。现在，看到一种说法，“语法上的虚词、或有虚化性质的方位名词和趋向动词，一般都会念轻声”。我想你是正确的的。
hsulin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-27T05:05:58.307Z
@hsulin Would you also pronounce 面 in 4th tone when 上面 or 下面 is said before other characters?
Mark
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-28T16:47:33.943Z
@MarkCarter Yes. And I think it's always right in 4th tone, but here pronounce the 4th tone not too "harsh".
hsulin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-28T17:36:35.820Z
2017-03-30T12:39:32.327Z
2017-03-30T12:39:32.327Z
hsulin
<p>I noticed that CC-CEDICT uses a mixture. For example:</p>

<pre><code>mian4: 前面, 对面, 里面
mian5: 后面, 上面, 下面, 外面
</code></pre>

<p>ABC is similar except:</p>

<pre><code>mian4: 后面 (but also has mian5 as a less common pronunciation)
mian5: 前面
</code></pre>

<p>Is there any standard for these? Is it reasonable that the same dictionary would have a mixture like these do?</p>

<p><a href="http://dict.baidu.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Baidu Dict</a> has all 面 as 4th tone.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-26T13:17:53.180Z
I pronounce them all the same...
Michael
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-26T15:30:18.713Z
see comment #3 (also comment #1) of http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/21092/does-%e8%8a%8b%e9%a0%ad-have-a-different-pronunciation-in-taiwan-mandarin-vs-mainland/21128#21128
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-27T16:28:09.497Z
Some more info on usage of the neutral tone: http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/16695/what-differences-does-it-make-to-use-the-citation-tone-instead-of-the-neutral
 I find that most commonly available EN/ZH dictionaries do tend to neglect this topic.
goPlayerJuggler
<pronunciation><tones>
Standard tone for 面 (mian4 or mian5) when used in words like 后面, 前面, 对面?
# Standard tone for 面 (mian4 or mian5) when used in words like 后面, 前面, 对面?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-03-26)

I noticed that CC-CEDICT uses a mixture. For example:
mian4: 前面, 对面, 里面
mian5: 后面, 上面, 下面, 外面

ABC is similar except:
mian4: 后面 (but also has mian5 as a less common pronunciation)
mian5: 前面

Is there any standard for these? Is it reasonable that the same dictionary would have a mixture like these do?
Baidu Dict has all 面 as 4th tone.

**Tags:** pronunciation, tones
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I pronounce them all the same...  
> **username_2**: see comment #3 (also comment #1) of http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/21092/does-%e8%8a%8b%e9%a0%ad-have-a-different-pronunciation-in-taiwan-mandarin-vs-mainland/21128#21128  
> **username_3**: Some more info on usage of the neutral tone: http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/16695/what-differences-does-it-make-to-use-the-citation-tone-instead-of-the-neutral  I find that most commonly available EN/ZH dictionaries do tend to neglect this topic.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-03-28. Score: 2

As a native Chinese speaker, I pronounce mian (neutral tone) only to make my words soft, and miàn definitely when I want to emphasize. I think there's no difference, what other character stands before 面. When 面 stands before other characters, I constantly pronounce miàn.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: The issue only occurs when 面 is used in a "side; aspect" word (on, under, next to, behind, etc). All other words with 面 as second character use mian4 (at least from dictionaries I've seen).  
> **username_3**: @hsulin 我觉得你写错了，miān是第一声，不是轻声。正写是mian或者mian5.你可以改正吗？或者我也可以 //@hsulin I think you made a mistake when writing miān, you probably should have written "mian" or "mian5" which is pinyin for the neutral tone. I can edit your post or you can to fix this.  
> **username_4**: @goPlayerJuggler 当时查了一下，说：“轻声一般不被当作声调看待，因为它没有固定的调值”。我觉得自己发的是第一声。现在，看到一种说法，“语法上的虚词、或有虚化性质的方位名词和趋向动词，一般都会念轻声”。我想你是正确的的。  
> **username_0**: @hsulin Would you also pronounce 面 in 4th tone when 上面 or 下面 is said before other characters?  
> **username_4**: @MarkCarter Yes. And I think it's always right in 4th tone, but here pronounce the 4th tone not too "harsh".  

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