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Tones. Mandarin Chinese has four pitched tones and a "toneless" tone. the Chinese language has very few possible syllables -- approximately 400 -- while English has about 12,000. There are more homophonic words , words with the same sound expressing different meanings.
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Mandarin Chinese has four pitched tones and a "toneless" tone. • the Chinese language has very few possible syllables -- approximately 400 -- while English has about 12,000. There are more homophonic words , words with the same sound expressing different meanings. • Tones help the relatively small number of syllables to multiply • Learning Chinese in context is also very important.
1st – hign and level • 2nd – starts medium in tone, then rises to the top • 3rd – starts low, dips to the bottom, then rises toward top • 4th – starts at the top, then falls sharp and strong to the bottom
汉语平扬拐弯降(歌曲录像) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG4cqRmQ70g&feature=related
Pinyin with Tones (录像) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9Ayvjy-Dgs&feature=related
Neutral Tone • Some syllables in Chinese Tones are pronounced weakly, like unstressed syllables in English. • If there is no tone mark over the vowel, it means it is a neutral tone.
Neutral tones are used in the following cases • Particles are always in neutral tone, such as 了 (le), 的 (de) • The second syllable in some compound words is sometimes toneless: for example, 我们(wǒ men) (we or us) • A second half of a reduplicated word is often in neutral tone:for example, 妈妈( mā ma) ( mother ), 爸爸( bà ba) ( father ) • The measure word 个( gè ) when it is not emphasized: for example, 三个月(sān ge yuè) ( three months)
Practice Tones • http://www.pinyinpractice.com/tones.htm
中文录像 • Beginner Chinese Lesson Part 1 (with tone marks) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEHVLuhQ9aU&feature=related
Tone Drill http://www.shufawest.us/language/tonedrill.html
中文录像Olympics • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UovW2OoyzbM&feature=related