changing tone biandiao

Post date: Sep 23, 2015 12:34:49 AM

Mandarin Tone Change Rules

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Tone sandhi is a phonological change occurring in tonal languages, in which the tones assigned to individual words or morphemes change based on the pronunciation of adjacent words or morphemes.

It is a very common phenomenon in Mandarin Chinese. Here we list some specific rules that cause tones to change in certain situations.

Tone sandhi of "不"

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“#不”的变调

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"不" is a fourth tone syllable by itself. But it becomes a second tone when followed by a fourth tone.

For example:

#不 喝 bù hē 不忙bù máng #不 好bù hǎo

#不 是bú shì #不 要bú yào

Tone sandhi of "一"

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"#一"的变调

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"#一" is normally first tone, but this changes in two situations. It is second tone when followed by a fourth tone and when followed by a first, second or third tone, it is fourth tone.

#一 个yí gè #一 步 yí bù

#一 般yì bān #一 直yì zhí #一 起yì qǐ

Third-tone sandhi

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#三声变调

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A third tone, when followed by a first, second or fourth tone, or most neutral tone syllables, usually becomes a half third tone, that is, a tone that only falls but does not rise. The tone mark is unchanged. For example:

#你哥哥 nǐ gē ge #我要 wǒ yào

#你忙吗 nǐ máng ma

changing tone biandiao 变调

Mandarin Tone Change Rules