<p>The standardized pronunciation is "jiào", it not "xiào" in the word "发酵." But in south of China, like Taiwan, people read it as "xiào" which is not standard.</p>

<p>I think that because of the two pronunciation is so similar that people always read it as "xiào".</p>

<p>发酵 means 有机物由于某些菌或酶而分解称“发酵”。能使有机物发酵的真菌称“酵母菌”。亦称“酵母”、“酿母”。</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-22T09:33:51.890Z
Taiwan standard for 酵 is [`xiào`](http://dict.mini.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/gdic/gsweb.cgi?o=ddictionary&searchid=D0001470&framefile=frame04.htm&).
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-22T09:36:04.963Z
Never been there just see in TV or movie.:)
lqhcpsgbl
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-22T10:15:05.067Z
@Stan Which standard would you say is most **traditional** then? Mainland or TW? Middle Chinese readings for 交、教、酵 all seem to be a variation (tone wise) on *kaew* which translates to something closer to jiao than xiao.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-22T10:26:14.753Z
@user3306356 sorry I know very little about phonology, so I can't answer this question :)
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-22T14:16:51.247Z
You would people would not mix up the pronunciation since one sounds the same as the word for yelling Jiao and the other is xiao like laughing lol
Huangism
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-17T10:00:02.653Z
@Mou某 If you check 漢典, which cites 康熙字典, you'd find 【廣韻】古孝切【集韻】居效切，音敎。
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2015-01-22T09:18:06.360Z
2019-02-18T06:15:47.923Z
2019-02-18T06:15:47.923Z
lqhcpsgbl
<p>I agress with @zoosuck, the standardized pronunciation is jiào. but in different dialect like Sichuanese people use xiào</p>

<p>example: 发酵, 酵母片, 发酵了以后的葡萄</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-23T00:50:35.893Z
2015-01-23T00:50:35.893Z
Sean L.
<p>酵 pronounced as jiào.
 it is a pictophonogram, the left part telling the meaning, the right 
 part telling pronunciation.</p>

<p>孝, xiào, filial piety, is a very important character for Chinese. All 
 Chinese know it. So when the first time they saw a new character 酵, 
their first instict is to read it as xiào. actually, it should be read 
 as jiào.</p>

<p>by the way, 孝 is the look of a child or young child supporting his 
 father or other senior generations.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-26T02:06:00.377Z
2015-01-26T02:06:00.377Z
JiaoYu老师
<p>You have to realize first that Mandarin is a much younger(roughly 600 years) language than the other much older Chinese dialect.  This is why all the older dialects have 'xiao4' as reading.  酵 and 孝 are both hau in Hakka and Cantonese with different tone.</p>
<p>The same can be seen in words like 粘 and 黏 being pronounced as nian2(TW) or nim1(Cantonese), niam1(Hakka), liam/niam(minnanese),  while mainland mandarin would read it as 'zhan1'</p>
<p>So if you're interested in learning the culture, then 'xiao4' makes more sense, if you're trying to just communicate then 'jiao4' is the current standard unless if you're in Taiwan and some southern parts of China(maybe?).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-16T11:49:59.957Z
I always pronounce 粘 as zhan though 國語詞典 has only nian for this character. According to 漢典, 酵 in hakka can be pronounced as gau or hau. Some places have both gau and hau pronunciations, some has only gau, and no place has only hau.
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-15T21:43:04.373Z
2021-02-15T21:43:04.373Z
Oyamoo
<p>this is a Polyphonic word, like English, there are so many Polyphonic words in Chinese too.
here are some other common used Polyphonic words: <a href="http://www.maxmandarin.com/lesson.php?lesson=wordlesson10" rel="nofollow">http://www.maxmandarin.com/lesson.php?lesson=wordlesson10</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-25T15:02:52.710Z
2015-01-25T15:02:52.710Z
Max Mandarin
<p>I'm always hearing the pronunciations jiào and xiào being used interchangeably by native speakers for the character: 酵.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>What's the deal?</p></li>
<li><p>Is there a standardized pronunciation for 酵?</p></li>
<li><p>What's the history behind the different pronunciations?</p></li>
<li><p>Or is it just a case of 四川人生得憨?</p></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-22T19:26:12.060Z
What's the story about 四川人生得憨?
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-23T02:03:34.640Z
@NS.X. 四川人生得憨，认字认半边, guess the pronunciation from half of the character (and get it wrong).
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-23T20:31:11.007Z
I have heard Singapore/Shanghai pronunciations of the word, and I have literally never heard the "jiao" version before. Thanks for the TIL.
March Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-23T22:04:14.547Z
wow I've never heard jiao4 either for that character, always xiao4.  Interesting.  校 can be read jiao4 in 校对 etc, and people mix it up (as xiao4) sometimes as well, though maybe that's just being too used to the xiao4 reading.  I wonder why there seems to be a relationship between the two sounds for characters incorporating 交 and 孝 as phonetics.  BTW really like the bit about Sichuan people ;)
Master Sparkles
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-18T11:28:21.403Z
It reads **xiào** also in our Xi'an dialect and most northern areas. The pronounciation of some characters in Mandarin are not so logical sometimes. For example: 核 reads **hái** in our dialect, the same as 亥, 孩, 咳, 骇 and 氦, but different tones, so I prefer **xiào** than **jiào**, though the later one is the standard.
xenophōn
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-16T03:22:42.770Z
A quick survey of cooking shows on YouTube indicates that "jiào" appears to be the standard.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-16T11:30:24.563Z
@賈可 咳 is hai? Really? So, 咳嗽 is hai shou?
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-18T06:33:41.657Z
@joehua I forgot that 咳 could read both **hāi** and **ké**.
xenophōn
<pronunciation><history>
酵: jiào vs. xiào
# 酵: jiào vs. xiào

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-01-22)

I'm always hearing the pronunciations jiào and xiào being used interchangeably by native speakers for the character: 酵.

* What's the deal?
* Is there a standardized pronunciation for 酵?
* What's the history behind the different pronunciations?
* Or is it just a case of 四川人生得憨?

**Tags:** pronunciation, history
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What's the story about 四川人生得憨?  
> **username_0**: @NS.X. 四川人生得憨，认字认半边, guess the pronunciation from half of the character (and get it wrong).  
> **username_2**: I have heard Singapore/Shanghai pronunciations of the word, and I have literally never heard the "jiao" version before. Thanks for the TIL.  
> **username_3**: wow I've never heard jiao4 either for that character, always xiao4.  Interesting.  校 can be read jiao4 in 校对 etc, and people mix it up (as xiao4) sometimes as well, though maybe that's just being too used to the xiao4 reading.  I wonder why there seems to be a relationship between the two sounds for characters incorporating 交 and 孝 as phonetics.  BTW really like the bit about Sichuan people ;)  
> **username_4**: It reads **xiào** also in our Xi'an dialect and most northern areas. The pronounciation of some characters in Mandarin are not so logical sometimes. For example: 核 reads **hái** in our dialect, the same as 亥, 孩, 咳, 骇 and 氦, but different tones, so I prefer **xiào** than **jiào**, though the later one is the standard.  
> **username_5**: A quick survey of cooking shows on YouTube indicates that "jiào" appears to be the standard.  
> **username_6**: @賈可 咳 is hai? Really? So, 咳嗽 is hai shou?  
> **username_4**: @joehua I forgot that 咳 could read both **hāi** and **ké**.  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_7 on 2015-01-22. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

The standardized pronunciation is "jiào", it not "xiào" in the word "发酵." But in south of China, like Taiwan, people read it as "xiào" which is not standard.

I think that because of the two pronunciation is so similar that people always read it as "xiào".

发酵 means 有机物由于某些菌或酶而分解称“发酵”。能使有机物发酵的真菌称“酵母菌”。亦称“酵母”、“酿母”。

> **Comments:**
> **username_8**: Taiwan standard for 酵 is [`xiào`](http://dict.mini.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/gdic/gsweb.cgi?o=ddictionary&searchid=D0001470&framefile=frame04.htm&).  
> **username_7**: Never been there just see in TV or movie.:)  
> **username_0**: @Stan Which standard would you say is most **traditional** then? Mainland or TW? Middle Chinese readings for 交、教、酵 all seem to be a variation (tone wise) on *kaew* which translates to something closer to jiao than xiao.  
> **username_8**: @user3306356 sorry I know very little about phonology, so I can't answer this question :)  
> **username_9**: You would people would not mix up the pronunciation since one sounds the same as the word for yelling Jiao and the other is xiao like laughing lol  
> **username_6**: @Mou某 If you check 漢典, which cites 康熙字典, you'd find 【廣韻】古孝切【集韻】居效切，音敎。  

---

### Answer by username_10 on 2015-01-23. Score: 2

I agress with @zoosuck, the standardized pronunciation is jiào. but in different dialect like Sichuanese people use xiào

example: 发酵, 酵母片, 发酵了以后的葡萄


---

### Answer by username_11 on 2015-01-26. Score: 1

酵 pronounced as jiào.
it is a pictophonogram, the left part telling the meaning, the right
part telling pronunciation.

孝, xiào, filial piety, is a very important character for Chinese. All
Chinese know it. So when the first time they saw a new character 酵,
their first instict is to read it as xiào. actually, it should be read
as jiào.

by the way, 孝 is the look of a child or young child supporting his
father or other senior generations.


---

### Answer by username_12 on 2021-02-15. Score: 0

You have to realize first that Mandarin is a much younger(roughly 600 years) language than the other much older Chinese dialect. This is why all the older dialects have 'xiao4' as reading. 酵 and 孝 are both hau in Hakka and Cantonese with different tone.

The same can be seen in words like 粘 and 黏 being pronounced as nian2(TW) or nim1(Cantonese), niam1(Hakka), liam/niam(minnanese), while mainland mandarin would read it as 'zhan1'

So if you're interested in learning the culture, then 'xiao4' makes more sense, if you're trying to just communicate then 'jiao4' is the current standard unless if you're in Taiwan and some southern parts of China(maybe?).

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: I always pronounce 粘 as zhan though 國語詞典 has only nian for this character. According to 漢典, 酵 in hakka can be pronounced as gau or hau. Some places have both gau and hau pronunciations, some has only gau, and no place has only hau.  

---

### Answer by username_13 on 2015-01-25. Score: -1

this is a Polyphonic word, like English, there are so many Polyphonic words in Chinese too.
here are some other common used Polyphonic words: <http://www.maxmandarin.com/lesson.php?lesson=wordlesson10>


---

