Guangdong 6

Listen to Guangdong 6, a 29-year-old woman from Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 29

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 24/10/1995

PLACE OF BIRTH: Guangdong, China

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: Chinese

OCCUPATION: English teacher

EDUCATION: MSc degree in education

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS: none

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The subject describes herself as “born-and-raised Chinese from Guangdong province, where more than 70 percent of locals speak Cantonese.” She says she started learning English at age 5 but none of her other family members speak English.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: subject

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 13/01/2025

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

I thought I’d take a moment to share one of my favorite memories. A couple of years ago, I went on this road trip with a few friends. We decided to avoid a highway and just take all these back roads. The drive itself was amazing: rolling hills, tiny towns, and random stops at quirky little diners. We even found this local spot that served the best pie I’ve ever had. It was honestly just one of those perfect trips where everything lines up.

Besides that, I’m a big fan of cooking. Lately, I’ve been trying to perfect my hot wings in the traditional Chinese manner, the traditional Chinese way of cooking [chicken] wings in different ways, especially hot wings, you know, with hot spice, hot spices, pepper sauce, etc. It’s tricky, but it’s fun trying to get it just right.

TRANSCRIBED BY: subject

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 13/01/2025

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: 

The subject’s accent is closer to British English, specifically Received Pronunciation, than possibly any other Chinese subject on IDEA. The chief sounds that suggest she is Chinese are her stereotypical use of the letter L, particularly at the ends of words, and her stress pattern. (Chinese is syllable-timed while English is stress-timed.)

COMMENTARY BY: Cameron Meier

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 15/01/2025

The archive provides:

• Recordings of accent/dialect speakers from the region you select.

• Text of the speakers’ biographical details.

• Scholarly commentary and analysis in some cases.

• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here, please go to Other Dialect Services.