Tones
Chinese is not a monotone language. There are 4 tones in Chinese, which means that a word, which has the same pingyin spelling can pronounce different depending on the tone.The 1st Tone
- It is a very leveled tone. Flat. As shown in the voice map.
- An example, Ni (1) (click on it to hear it)
The 2nd Tone
It is a tone going up. Similar to the tone when you are in quesiton, as shown in the voice map.
- An example, Ni (2) (click on it to hear it)
The 3rd Tone
The third tone might be the hardest of all of them. It goes down first then comes up (like the 2nd tone). Please see voice map.
- An example, Ni (3) (click on it to hear it)
The 4th Tone
The 4th tone is the opposite of the 2nd tone. It goes straight down, as shown in the voice map.
- An example, Ni (4) (click on it to hear it)