Tones
All Chinese words have a tone of some sort. The Chinese language has four pronounced tones, which in pinyin are marked with a little symbol above the vowel to which they relate, and a short, less pronounced tone, called the ‘light tone’, which is given no tonal marker (see table below).
| Tone number | Tone name | Tone symbol | Alternative tone name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tone 1 | high tone | ā | soprano tone |
| Tone 2 | rising tone | á | enquiring tone |
| Tone 3 | falling rising tone | ă | sarcastic tone |
| Tone 4 | falling tone | à | emphatic tone |
| No tone number | light tone | a (no symbol) | quiet tone |
The tones could also be given alternative names according to what they sound like in English. It would seem from these names that one can’t convey meaning by one’s tone of voice in Chinese, as it is tied to standard pronunciation. However, this is not the case.
Often spoken Chinese is so fast that it is difficult to pick out individual tones. Overemphasizing or mispronouncing tones as a beginner can sound quite hideous. Including tones (though vital to true pinyin) makes writing or typing Chinese a more tedious process. So, Chinese words, when adopted into other languages, are relieved of their tones. For these reasons, in this pronunciation guide, and the majority of this website, we ignore tones when writing “pinyin”.
Tone plays a very important role in the meaning of the characters. Different tones in pinyin will lead to different character and meaning of each Chinese word. There are mainly four tonal categories in pinyin: high, rising, falling-rising and falling.
high, high rising, low falling-rising, high-falling, neutral
Example:
A different tone in pinyin will indicate a different character, and the meaning will also be different.
Stay tuned for our next Chinese learning lesson.
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