Why is Higher Brothers pronouncing 你 as "nie"? In Higher Brothers' (海尔兄弟) recent song Gong Xi Fa Cai (恭喜发财), there's a line that says:


  恭喜你 恭喜你发财


I'm pretty sure they're pronouncing 你 as nie, and I've never heard it pronounced that way before. Looking through the Wiktionary page for 你, I don't see any dialects, Chengdu included, that pronounce it as anything like nie.

In their other song 你，我 they're pronouncing 你 as ni as I'd expect, though it might be a different singer (can't really tell).

Is this a pronunciation that other people actually use? Or are they just doing it for the musical effect?
You've got the right direction searching through Chengdu pronunciations.

The pronunciation here is definitely not nie, but just a Sichuanese pronunciation of 你.

《现代汉语方言音库 • 成都话音档》lists 你 as:


  ȵi⁵³


Perhaps is the combination of a /ȵ/ initial with a falling tone on the /i/ that gives it a bit of a "-eh" sound at the end.



The wiktionary page you mention above does hint at this as well:


  (Chengdu, SP): nyi3


The yi combo would give you that sound you're hearing there.