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Is it "lie-chee" or "lee-chee" (lychee)? Is it true Chinese dialects pronounce it differently?
Quote from: johnb51 on May 05, 2013, 09:26:12 PMIs it "lie-chee" or "lee-chee" (lychee)? Is it true Chinese dialects pronounce it differently? I'm told by a Chinese acquaintance who is both fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin that "lee-chee" is the Cantonese pronunciation, while "lai-chee" is the Mandarin one. Being that lychee is endigenous to Cantonese territory, I'm inclined to think the first pronunciation may be more appropriate, but there's really no right one. For some reason the spelling Lychee tends to be associated with the pronunciation "lee-chee", while Litchi tends to be associated with the pronunciation "lai-chee".Perhaps not very relevant but the Japanese language would be inclined to pronounce it "lee-chee" (romanization: ri-chi).