Tones
Written by Paul
In the Chinese language, four major tones and also a "toneless"
pitch are used. These tones make a very big difference in spoken
Chinese. The meaning of a word can change depending on the tone used.
For example, the first tone of the word "ma" means "mother", the second
tone means "numb", the third tone means "horse", and the fourth tone
means "scolding". The "toneless" pitch is usually used on repeated
words, like the word for "daddy" - "Ba ba". The first "ba" is spoken
with the first tone - lightly and without emphasis. The reason for
tones is that in Mandarin, 400 possible syllables exist, versus
English, which has twelve thousand syllables!
TONE
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DESCRIPTION
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1st
|
Hi pitched and
Level
|
2nd
|
Starts
in a medium tone, then rises to a higher pitch
|
3rd
|
Starts
medium low, dips down to the bottom, then rises toward the top
|
4th
|
Starts
high, then fall sharp and strong to the bottom
|
Neutral (Toneless)
|
Flat,
with no emphasis
|
Sources:
http://www.wku.edu/~yuanh/AudioChinese/
http://www.wku.edu/~shizhen.gao/Chinese101/pinyin/tones.htm
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