Mandarin Chinese
CHN | Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, also Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mongolia, Philippines, Russia, Thailand, United Kingdom, USA, and Vietnam | Entry created by Jie Zhang | The University of Kansas
Representation of Tones:
- 5 underlying tones: /55/ (/HH/), /35/ (/MH/), /214/ (/MLM/), /51/ (/HL/), /0/
- 5 surface tones: [55] ([HH]), [35] ([MH]), [214] ([MLM]), /51/ ([HL]), [0]
- Tone bearing unit: Rime
Tonal Rules and Alternations:
Spreading:
The /0/ tone, often referred to as the neutral tone, occurs on unstressed syllables. Almost any morpheme in one of the four regular tones can be in the neutral tone under certain conditions, especially in word-final position. There is also a small number of grammatical morphemes that always carry the neutral tone. The realization of /0/ is predictable from the preceding tone:
half-low after 55: 55-0 -> 55-2
middle after 35: 35-0 -> 35-3
half-high after 213: 214-0 - >21-4
low after 51: 51-0 -> 51-1
The last two rules can be interpreted as spreading; the first two less so.
half-low after 55: 55-0 -> 55-2
middle after 35: 35-0 -> 35-3
half-high after 213: 214-0 - >21-4
low after 51: 51-0 -> 51-1
The last two rules can be interpreted as spreading; the first two less so.
added 2004-10-04 16:45:16 | edited 2004-10-05 13:15:17
Contour Simplification:
Third tone sandhi:
214-214 -> 35-214
The dipping tone 214 is simplified to a simple contour 35 when followed by another 214.
214-214 -> 35-214
The dipping tone 214 is simplified to a simple contour 35 when followed by another 214.
added 2004-10-04 16:47:37 | edited 2004-10-04 16:49:11
Half third sandhi:
214-55 -> 21-55
214-35 -> 21-35
214-51 -> 21-51
214-0 -> 21-4
The dipping tone 214 is simplified to the first half of the contour 21 when followed by a tone other than 214.
214-55 -> 21-55
214-35 -> 21-35
214-51 -> 21-51
214-0 -> 21-4
The dipping tone 214 is simplified to the first half of the contour 21 when followed by a tone other than 214.
added 2004-10-04 16:50:27 | edited 2004-10-05 13:15:35
Second tone sandhi in trisyllables:
55-35-T -> 55-55-T
35-35-T -> 35-55-T (T≠neutral tone)
In a trisyllabic word or phrase ABC, if A is 55 or 35, B is 35, and C is any tone except the neutral tone, B changes into 55. This may be construed as partially spreading, partially contour simplification.
55-35-T -> 55-55-T
35-35-T -> 35-55-T (T≠neutral tone)
In a trisyllabic word or phrase ABC, if A is 55 or 35, B is 35, and C is any tone except the neutral tone, B changes into 55. This may be construed as partially spreading, partially contour simplification.
added 2004-10-04 16:55:59 | edited 2004-10-04 16:55:59
Tonal Domains:
Tone Interactions:
Other Notes:
Bibliography:
A Grammar of Spoken Chinese by Chao, Yuen Ren - 1968
document type: book
book title: A Grammar of Spoken Chinese
publisher: University of California Press
document type: book
book title: A Grammar of Spoken Chinese
publisher: University of California Press
added 2004-10-04 15:54:42 | edited 2004-10-04 15:54:42
Mandarin Primer by Chao, Yuen Ren - 1948
document type: book
book title: Mandarin Primer
publisher: Harvard University Press
document type: book
book title: Mandarin Primer
publisher: Harvard University Press
added 2004-10-04 15:55:21 | edited 2004-10-04 15:55:21
Cite this page as:
XTone Database Article on Mandarin Chinese. Accessed November 24, 2009 http://xtone.linguistics.berkeley.edu/display/index.php?languageid=88
XTone Database Article on Mandarin Chinese. Accessed November 24, 2009 http://xtone.linguistics.berkeley.edu/display/index.php?languageid=88
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