南腔北调

nán qiāng běi diào

a mixed, non-standard accent

Character by character

南nán
southern

腔qiāng
accent

北běi
northern

调diào
tune

他在很多地方住过，说话南腔北调的。

He has lived in many places and speaks with a mixture of accents.

Tone: neutral.

Learn this in Lesson 34 · HSK 5–6: 方言与普通话 (Dialects and the standard language)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.