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The Chinese Language

The Four Tones (PINYIN)

JESSICA I. LAXAMANA
Discussant

Retrived from:https://www.thoughtco.com/four-tones-of-mandarin-2279480

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Tones are an essential part of proper

pronunciation. In Mandarin Chinese,
many characters have the same sound.
Therefore tones are necessary when
speaking Chinese in order to differentiate
words from each other. 

Retrived from:https://www.thoughtco.com/four-tones-of-mandarin-2279480

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The Four Tones

(PINYIN)

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Four Tones
There are four tones in Mandarin Chinese, which are:

First tone:
a level and higher pitch

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Four Tones
There are four tones in Mandarin Chinese, which are:

Second tone:
rising, start from a lower pitch and end at a slightly
higher pitch

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Four Tones
There are four tones in Mandarin Chinese, which are:

Third tone: 
falling rising, start at a neutral tone then dip to a
lower pitch before ending at a higher pitch

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Four Tones
There are four tones in Mandarin Chinese, which are:

Fourth tone: 
falling, start the syllable at a slightly higher than
neutral pitch then go quickly and strongly downwards

Note that there is also a neutral tone in Mandarin. It's not considered a separate
tone, but it is an unaccented syllable. For example,  嗎 / 吗 (ma) or  麼 / 么
(me). 
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Reading and Writing Tones

Pinyin uses either numbers or tone marks to indicate the

tones. Here is the word ‘ma’ with numbers and then
tone marks:

•First tone: ma1 or mā
•Second tone: ma2 or má
•Third tone: ma3 or mǎ
•Fourth tone: ma4 or mà

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Pronunciation Tips
As mentioned earlier, tones are used to determine which
Mandarin Chinese word is being implied.

For example, the meaning of mǎ (horse) is very different

from mā (mother).

Thus when learning new vocabulary, it is really important to

practice both the pronunciation of the word and its tone. The
wrong tones can change the meaning of your sentences.

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Pinyin Chinese Meaning Sound Clip
BUSINESS INFLUENCE OF THE CHINESE:
Character
mā 媽 (trad) / 妈 mother audio
(simp)
má 麻 hemp audio

mǎ 馬 / 马 horse audio

mà 罵 / 骂 scold audio

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FOREIGN LANGUAGE 1 (MANDARIN)

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The Chinese Alphabets

Pinyin Lesson
Consonants, simple vowels and tones

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Rime
dictionary

• An ancient type of Chinese dictionary that collates characters by tone and rhyme.
• These dictionaries record the pronunciations of characters by the fǎnqiè method,
using a pair of characters to indicate the onset and remainder of the syllable
respectively.
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PINYIN （ HANYU PINYIN ）

拼音 （汉语 拼音）
Spoken languague of the Han people Spelled-out sound

• The official phonetic system for transcribing the Mandarin pronunciations

• of Chinese characters into the Latin alphabet
• The Hanyu Pinyin system was developed in the 1950s based on earlier forms
of romanization. It was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and
revised several times.
• The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) adopted pinyin as
an international standard in 1982.

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• A single Chinese character is equal to one syllable.

• A syllable usually consists of a consonant and a vowel with a
tone.
• A syllable may also have no initial, but all syllables must have a
final.

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Chinese Alphabets
Consonants and Vowels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtaBQvv8u3c

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Consonants
(Initials)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtaBQvv8u3c

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Simple vowels (Simple

finals)

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The Chinese
Alphabets

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The Chinese
Language
Greetings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtaBQvv8u3c

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Chinese Greetings

1.  你好  (nǐ hǎo) – Hello

This is the first phrase you will probably learn to speak in Chinese
and whilst it is still used to say ‘Hello’ in Mandarin, there are now more
relaxed phrases (that you will be introduced to shortly) to use instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtaBQvv8u3c

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您好  (nín hǎo) – Hello

您 (nín) is used when addressing someone older or in a

respected position, whether at work or in the family. It is usually
referred to as a more formal way to say ‘Hello’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtaBQvv8u3c

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2.  你好吗？  (nǐ hǎo ma) – How are you?

Literally translated to ‘You good?’. This is often taught to

students as an essential Chinese phrase, but it’s rarely used
nowadays. When you think about it, even in English, we
rarely ask ‘How are you?’, and it’s now similar amongst
young Chinese.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtaBQvv8u3c

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3.
早上好  (zǎo shang hǎo) – Good Morning

早 (zǎo) actually refers to early morning and can be

remembered as the sun  日   (rì) rising over a helmet.
Originally, the  十  (shí) part of the character 早 (zǎo) was a
helmet  甲   (jiǎ). This character also means ‘first’, and can
signify the first 十 (shí) sun 日   (rì).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtaBQvv8u3c

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4.  晚上好  (wǎn shàng hǎo) – Good Evening

晚 (wǎn), or 晚 上 (wǎn shàng) means evening or night.

Combined with the character for good, 好 (hǎo) creates the
greeting commonly used after sunset.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtaBQvv8u3c

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嗨  (hāi) = Hi
哈喽  (hā lóu) = Hello
嘿  (hēi) = Hey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtaBQvv8u3c

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FOREIGN LANGUAGE 1 (MANDARIN)

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FOREIGN LANGUAGE 1 (MANDARIN)