Pinyin lessons :
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Change of tone |
Change of tone
The tone of a word sometimes changes when
used in a sentence depending on the tone of the word
that preceds or comes after it.
Rule 1: If a 3rd tone is followed by a 3rd tone,
the first 3rd tone becomes second tone.
Example: The word for "hello" in Mandarin
is: nǐhǎo
which literally means "You good." When these
two words are pronounced seperately, they are both
pronounced using the third tone. When they are used
together to form the word "hello" ni takes
the second tone and hao remains in third tone.
Note that the word nǐhǎo
is still written with two third tones, but it is said
with the the
nǐ
in second tone.
Rule 2: If a 3rd tone is followed by any tone other
than the 3rd tone (covered by rule 1) the 3rd tone
changes to a "half 3rd tone." A "half
3rd tone" is one that falls, but does not rise.
Example: ni mamma
Rule 3: The word "bu" is 4th tone, but
when it is followed by another 4th tone, it becomes
2nd tone.
Rule 4: Rules concerning the word "yi."
The word "yi" is 1st tone when used as part
of a number (yi, er, san, ... shiyi).
The word "yi" is 4th tone when preceeding
1st, 2nd, or 3rd tones. (yi ge ren)
The word "yi" is 2nd tone when proceeding
a 4th tone.
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