TONES

SYLLABLE =
( INITIALS ) + ( FINALS )
What is Tones?
Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language, which means that the way a sound is pronounced directly affects the meaning of what is said. Mandarin’s tones give
the language a very distinctive quality, but the tones can also be a source of miscommunication if not given due attention.

There are four main tones and one neutral tone in mandarin Chinese (or, as some say, five tones). Each tone has a distinctive pitch contour, which can be
graphed using the following Chinese 5-level system.

A straight horizontal line: ˉ

e.g. mā
First Tone High and level sound, naturally prolonged.
A rising diagonal line:ˊ
e.g. má
Rising tone, from low to high,
just like the pitch in question
Second Tone
A curved “dipping” line: ˇ
e.g. mǎ
Third Tone First falling and then going up again
A dropping diagonal line:ˋ
e.g. mà
Forth Tone Total falling tone which starts out very high and falls short and strong
Have no tone mark
e.g. ma
Neutral Tone Pronounced very light and quick
I’ve seen some posts claim that the Chinese tones are just like English, which convey the attitude or feeling of a speaker, however, it`s not the
case. This idea is mixing up two different concepts. English doesn`t have tones since words don`t change the meanings when you pronounce
them with different intonations. However, in Chinese, even with the same initial and final, different tones represent different characters and
meanings. There are many Chinese characters with the same initials and finals. E.g.
 Mandarin Chinese Pinyin Chart
e uen
a o e i i ai ei ao ou an en ang eng ong i ia iao ie iu ian in iang ing iong u ua uo uai ui uan un uang ü üe üan ün
r g
yo wen y yu yua yu
a o e er ai ao ou an en ang eng yi ya yao ye yan yin yang ying yong wu wa wo wai wei wan wen wang
u g u e n n
b ba bo bai bei bao ban ben bang beng bi biao bie bian bin bing bu
p pa po pai pei pao pou pan pen pang peng pi piao pie pian pin ping pu
m man men m mia mi mi mia mi min
m ma me mai mei mao mou man men mu
o g g i o e u n n g
f fa fo fei fou fan fen fang feng fu
d da de dai dei dao dou dan den dang deng dong di diao die diu dian ding du duo dui duan dun
t ta te tai tei tao tou tan tang teng tong ti tiao tie tian ting tu tuo tui tuan tun
nian n nü
n na ne nai nei nao nou nan nen nang neng nong ni niao nie niu nian nin ning nu nuo nuan
g ü e
l la le lai lei lao lou lan lang leng long li lia liao lie liu lian lin liang ling lu luo luan lun lü lüe
g ga ge gai gei gao gou gan gen gang geng gong gu gua guo guai gui guan gun guang
k ka ke kai kei kao kou kan ken kang keng kong ku kua kuo kuai kui kuan kun kuang
h ha he hai hei hao hou han hen hang heng hong hu hua huo huai hui huan hun huang
z
z za ze zai zei zao zou zan zen zang zeng zong zu zuo zui zuan zun
i
c
c ca ce cai cao cou can cen cang ceng cong cu cuo cui cuan cun
i
s
s sa se sai sao sou san sen sang seng song su suo sui suan sun
i
z zh zh zh zha zhe zha zho zha zhe zhan zhen zhon zh zhu zhu zhua zhu zhua zhu zhuan
h a e i i i o u n n g g g u a o i i n n g
c ch ch ch cha cha cho cha che chan chen chon ch chu chu chua chu chua chu chuan
h a e i i o u n n g g g u a o i i n n g
s sh sh sh sha she sha sho sha she shan shen sh shu shu shua shu shua shu shuan
h a e i i i o u n n g g u a o i i n n g
r re ri rao rou ran ren rang reng rong ru rua ruo rui ruan run
j ji jia jiao jie jiu jian jin jiang jing jiong ju jue juan jun
qi qian qion q qu qua qu
q qi qiao qie qiu qian qin qing
a g g u e n n
xi xian xion x xu xua xu
x xi xiao xie xiu xian xin xing
a g g u e n n
About Pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Mandarin Chinese sounds into the Roman alphabet. It was invented in 1950s, and adopted as a standard in mainland China in 1958. Pinyin is used for
several purposes, such as teaching Chinese, transcribing names and places into the roman alphabet, and used as an input method for typing Chinese characters.
Pinyin is not the only system devised to transcribe Chinese sounds into roman letters. An older system called Wade-Giles was used in the first half of the 20th century, and it has left its mark on the
English language. For instance, 功夫 is romanized as "kungfu" in Wade-Giles, but "gongfu" in Pinyin. Also, 北京 (the capital of China) was in the past romanized as "Peking", but is "Beijing" in Pinyin. It is a
common misconception that the city changed names, but the sound never changed, only how we spell the sound with letters.