Tones

Tones toc 1) See below an explanation 2) See below various visual representations of tones 3) See below an explanation of tone changes 4) See below examples of why tones make a difference 5) Hear below examples of all tome combinations

ActiveChinese tone game http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/chinese/games/

Explanation
Unlike English, Chinese is a tonal language. That means that in addition to the pronunciation of a word, each word is said with an accompanying tone. There are four basic tones in Mandarin and a neutral tone. Some tones are modified when they occur in combination. See the diagrams below.

The following charts attempt to give an idea of each tone. Note that tones are relative to the pitch of your voice. The 1 to 5 scale on the side of each chart is the range of your voice, with 3 representing the normal tone or pitch of your voice.

The first tone is a high, level tone. In Pinyin romanization, it is marked with a straight, horizontal line over the main vowel in the syllable, or a 1.

The second tone is a rising tone from the mid-low area of your natural voice range to the high area. It is marked with a sloped line rising from left to right over the main vowel in the syllable, or a 2. The third tone is a dipping tone that starts mid-low, moves to the bottom of your voice and then rises to the middle. It is marked with a dipping line over the main vowel, or a 3. Note that recent advances in technology have led to the realization that the third tone really only dips a little, so the latest images are not this sharp.

The fourth tone is a falling tone that starts high and falls throughout your voice range. It is marked with a line moving downward from left to right, or a 4.

The neutral tone (where the usual tone is dropped) varies depending on the tone that precedes it. It tends to move toward the center of the natural voice range from the end point of the previous tone. The neutral tone loses its original tone because it is unstressed. So, following a first tone it is low. After a second tone it is in the middle. After a third tone it is high. Following a fourth tone it is low. It is not marked at all. With the exception of ending-sentence particles, the neutral tone always falls on the second syllable/character of a term. For example, in nouns having a zĭ as a suffix, zi is always pronounced with a neutral tone. The neutral tone is also often used with words that are reduplicated (that is, two syllable words where the both syllables/characters are the same). A neutral tone may be indicated by no mark or number, or by the number 5, or by a dot.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Tone Changes (Tone Sandhi)
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">In addition to the neutral tone, there are several other special situations in which the basic tone is modified (called tone sandhi or tone change). For syllables involved in a tone change, the actual pronunciation of the tone depends on the tone that precedes or follows it. There are three main tone sandhi rules.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">1. If a third tone is followed by another third tone, it changes to a tone similar to the second tone. For example: hěn + hǎo = hěnhǎo 'very good', but it would be pronounced more like hen2hao3.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">2. If a third tone is followed by a neutral tone, first tone, second tone or fourth tone, it changes to what is called a 'half-third.' It begins to dip, but never rises. For example: hǎo + de = hǎode 'good' + a particle' <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">hěn + gāo = hěngāo 'very tall' <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">hěn + cháng = hěncháng 'very long' <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">hěn + kuài = hěnkuài 'very fast'

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">What this means is that the only times a third tone is fully pronounced is either when it is at the end of a term, or when it stands alone. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">3. Before a fourth tone, the typically fourth tone bù 'negative marker' changes to a second tone. So bu4 + kuai4 = bu2kuai4 ‘not fast.’ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">4. The number one ‘yī’, first tone when alone (as for example when counting, or at the end of a term), also changes. When followed by a fourth tone, it becomes a second tone (just as bù does). When followed by another first tone, a second, or a third tone, it becomes a fourth tone. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">yi1 er4 san3 = One, two, three <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">yi1 + kuia4 = yi2kuai4 ‘one piece’ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">yi1 + zhang1 = yi4zhang1 ‘one sheet’ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">yi1 + cheng2 = yi4cheng2 ‘a short distance’ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">yi1 + ben3 = yi4ben3 ‘one volume’

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Examples of why tones make a difference in Chinese**
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">(click here for an audio explanation) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">In order to sound like a Chinese person when you speak Chinese, your tones must be accurate. But there is another reason for accuracy, and that is to convey your meaning. Following are some examples of why tones are important in Chinese and can actually make a considerable difference in understanding. Note that in some examples thee characters are the same, but the tones are different. In others, the characters are completely different.

世故 shi4gu4 causes; reasons 世故 shi4gu5 sophisticated 买卖 mai3mai4 business transaction 买卖 mai3mai5 small business/merchant 贸易 mao4yi4 trade 毛衣 mao2yi1 sweater

Tone Combination Examples
1st Tone 1 1 media type="file" key="1.1.mp3" width="240" height="20" 1 2 media type="file" key="1.2.mp3" width="240" height="20" 1 3 media type="file" key="1.3.mp3" width="240" height="20" 1 4 media type="file" key="1.4.mp3" width="240" height="20" 1 5 media type="file" key="1.5.mp3" width="240" height="20" 2nd Tone 2 1 media type="file" key="2.1.mp3" width="240" height="20" 2 2 media type="file" key="2.2.mp3" width="240" height="20" 2 3 media type="file" key="2.3.mp3" width="240" height="20" 2 4 media type="file" key="3.4.mp3" width="240" height="20" 2 5 media type="file" key="2.5.mp3" width="240" height="20" 3rd Tone 3 1 media type="file" key="3.1.mp3" width="240" height="20" 3 2 media type="file" key="3.2.mp3" width="240" height="20" 3 3 media type="file" key="3.3.mp3" width="240" height="20" 3 4 media type="file" key="3.4.mp3" width="240" height="20" 3 5 media type="file" key="3.5.mp3" width="240" height="20" 4th Tone 4 1 media type="file" key="4.1.mp3" width="240" height="20" 4 2 media type="file" key="4.2.mp3" width="240" height="20" 4 3 media type="file" key="4.3.mp3" width="240" height="20" 4 4 media type="file" key="4.4.mp3" width="240" height="20" 4 5 media type="file" key="4.5.mp3" width="240" height="20"

Videos of native Chinese speakers saying words in all of the tone combinations. Scroll through to find the combination you want to practice. media type="custom" key="10290663"