| Understanding tones | |
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| Jun 17, 2007 04:56 |   |
 | Could someone explain a bit about tones to me. I am familiar with them and pronounciation but if I am writing them then sometimes I can get confused where they go. Here is an example... 学校(Xue 2 Xiao 4): School the second word Xiao uses 4th tone but on which letter? i? a? or o? is there a simple rule for me to follow? |
| Jun 17, 2007 05:40 | #1 |
| a |
| Jun 17, 2007 21:12 | #2 |
| DAVEC, Your question is a good one. Chinese grammar, written tone placement (pinyin) and spoken tone can be different. The following link refers indirectly to your question: http://forum.wordreference.com/ The written tone marks (in pinyin) will be different from the pronounciation, which will change. 理查 Rick |
| Jun 18, 2007 04:11 | #3 |
| As far as I know, all the tones are put on a, o, e, i, u, ü e.g.: ā, ó, ě, ì, ū, ǘ āi, ěi, ūi ān(g), ěn(g), ìn(g) āo, óu, ǘe |
| Jun 18, 2007 04:14 | #4 |
| Xue Xiao (学校) should be xué xiào |
| Jun 19, 2007 01:21 | #5 |
| I know from books and online that Xiao4 = xiào but what I don't understand is why the tone is on the 'a' why not the 'o' for example |
| Jun 19, 2007 02:02 | #6 |
| Probably because the 'ao' is a dipthong and they make a single sound so the tone marker goes over the beginning vowel. Where as in xue the u and e is not a dipthong but each of the vowels is pronounced so the tone is on the final vowel. Shall we see if our Chinese friends can confirm this simple explanation. I'll ask a couple of my teacher friends too. |
| Jun 19, 2007 16:33 | #7 |
| Dipthong?? sounds like something I call my staff when they are acting silly. |
| Jun 19, 2007 22:08 | #8 |
| JABAROOTOO, Yes, if there is a way to remember over which vowel the tone goes, that would also be a help for me. I sometimes have a problem over which vowel to place the tone but also the correct one. I have almost resigned myself to the fact that memorization is the only answer. |
| Jun 20, 2007 21:59 | #9 |
| Oh I think it is as complex as the phonetic symbols in English. Sometimes the words can be read according to the usual rule, but sometimes not. French is much easier to read cas it has fixed pronunciation rules most of the time. |
| Jun 21, 2007 09:40 | #10 |
| No comments from the knowledgable! I've been having a look through one of my books and have come to the above conclusion. Recapping here The vowels are A E I O U Single letters which have a single phonic sound A dipthong is a combination of two (di) vowels which also make a single phonic sound and which ever language you want to look at With regards to tones. One vowel words: over the single vowel A two vowel word where each vowel is pronounced separately the tone is placed above the final vowel A two vowel word using dipthongs - one phonic sound. The tone is placed above the beginning vowel in the dipthong also indicating that this is a single phonic sound. Have a look through your study material and see if you can see the patterns. It's pretty obvious when you start to look. I have never taken much notice because I have a hard time remembering words let alone which tone they are. I am happy to say that I am getting plenty of oral pratice now and pleased with my progress which has been slow but steady. I've a long ways to go, but continue I will however slow it may be. |
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