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Sheila Jordan, Superintendent. The Tones of Mandarin Chinese. Julin Chen, Mandarin Immersion Program Specialist. Mandarin Chinese Tones. One of the biggest differences between Chinese and English is the tones used to pronounce words. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 1
The Tones of Mandarin Chinese
Julin Chen, Mandarin Immersion Program Specialist
Sheila Jordan, Superintendent
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 2
Mandarin Chinese Tones
One of the biggest differences between Chinese and English is the tones used to pronounce words.
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 3
In English, tones denote whether something is a question, a command, or a general statement.
English tones can be used anywhere in the sentence, without changing the meaning of the sentence too much, though it may freak out the listener a little.
Mandarin Chinese Tones
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 4
Mandarin Chinese Tones
In Mandarin, each, syllable, or character, has a tone.
If you do not use the right tone with a word in Mandarin, it changes the meaning of the word.
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 5
A tone is applied separately to each syllable in a word while pronouncing it.
It is a little bit like singing the word.Researchers have found that in addition to
using the speech center of the brain, Mandarin speakers also use the part of the brain normally active while listening to music.
Mandarin Chinese Tones
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 6
Mandarin Chinese has four pitched tones and a "toneless" tone.
The reason for having these tones is probably that the Chinese language has very few possible syllables -- approximately 400 -- while English has about 12,000.
Four Tones
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 7
There are more homophonic words, words with the same sound expressing different meanings in Chinese.
Tones help to distinguish the meaning of words in some degree.
Learning Chinese in context, therefore, is very important.
Four Tones
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 8
The Chinese use only three syllables when expressing the same meaning as each of the following sentences conveys.
Four Tones
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 9
Four TonesSentence 1: A mother who is riding on a horse thinks
that it is slow and so she curses it. Mā ma qí mă mă màn mā mà mă.
妈妈骑马马慢妈骂马。
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 10
Four Tones
Sentence 2
A little girl who is herding a cow finds it stubborn and so she pinches it.
Nīu niu găn níu níu nìng nīu nǐng níu.
妞妞赶牛牛宁妞拗牛。
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 11
Four TonesNow you can understand how the Chinese
use only one syllable "da" and yet can tell the differences among: "to hang over something" ( da1 ) - 搭 "to answer" (da2) - 答 “to hit” (da3) - 打 and "big" (da4) - 大Yes, the secret lies in the tones. The numbers after each of the syllables indicates the tone.
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 12
Four Tones
Tone Mark Description1st dā High and level.
2nd dá Starts medium in tone, then rises to the top.
3rd dă Starts low, dips to the bottom, then rises toward the top.
4th dà Starts at the top, then falls sharp and strong to the bottom.
Neutral da Flat, with no emphasis.
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 13
Four Tones This diagram helps visualize the pitches of the four tones:
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 14
Four Tones
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 15
For instance, Gong Li 巩利 , Gŏng Lì with third and
fourth tones, is the name of the star of “Raise the Red Lantern” and other contemporary Chinese films.
gōng lǐ 公里 , however, with first and third tones, means kilometer.
Four Tones
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 16
Four Tones
mā má mă mà
dū dú dǔ dù
shū shú shǔ shù
dī dí dǐ dì
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 17
Which tone is it? Mark the tone after Mr. Chen read the Chinese word.
bu pa不怕
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 18
Which tone is it? Mark the tone after Mr. Chen read the Chinese word.
maimai
买 卖
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 19
Which tone is it? Mark the tone after Mr. Chen read the Chinese word.
da lu 大 路
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 20
Which tone is it? Mark the tone after Mr. Chen read the Chinese word.
ma bu
马 步
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 21
Which tone is it?
Mark the tone after Mr. Chen read the Chinese word.
da mi大米
04/19/23 Mandarin Tones 22
Thank You !谢 谢