Erhua 兒化 (儿化)

érhuà · from Chinese

What is erhua in Mandarin?

Erhua is the r-colouring of a Mandarin syllable by adding 兒 (儿) -r, typical of Beijing and northern speech.

The suffix 兒 merges with the previous syllable, so 哪 nǎ plus 兒 becomes nǎr. It can be purely regional flavour or change meaning, as in 頭 tóu (head) vs 頭兒 tóur (boss). Taiwanese and southern speakers use it rarely, so heavy erhua instantly marks a northerner.

Examples

哪兒 nǎr (where); 一點兒 yìdiǎnr (a little); 玩兒 wánr (to play); 頭兒 tóur (boss)

Kungfucius says: Add enough erhua and you will either sound like a Beijing taxi driver or a pirate.