The first tone is high-pitched. It stays at a constant high pitch level and does not rise or fall. Its duration is longer than the other tones. Tip: sing the seven music notes do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti. The fifth note so sounds as high as the first tone in Mandarin Chinese.
The second tone rises sharply. It sounds like the rising intonation of the last word of a question sentence in English.
The third tone is a falling-rising tone. It reaches the lowest levels of your normal vocal range. It is of long duration, which is caused by the falling and rising of the pitch level. Therefore you need to pronounce it rather slowly.
The fourth tone drops sharply from mid-range. It sounds curt.
The neutral tone often occurs at the end of a word. It is short and its pronunciation is determined by the tone that precedes it. It is not stressed. In a multi-syllable word it can never occupy the first syllable. In this application the neutral tone is represented by 0. Tip: Say the first syllable of a word as long as possible and leave little time and stress to the syllable which bears the neutral tone. The pronunciation of the desired neutral tone occurs almost automatically during rapid speech. Note: Many Chinese words actually have the so-called tendency of neutralization, i.e. the last syllable is pronounced as a neutral tone.
See theory for tone combination 3 - 1, except the duration of second syllable is the same as first syllable.
A third tone becomes a second tone when followed by another third tone. Please listen to the tone example and study the graphical representation.
See theory for tone combination 3 - 1, except the duration of second syllable is the same as first syllable.
A neutral tone is pronounced without emphasis. When preceded by a first tone, it is rather low-pitched. Note: The neutral tone is short in duration and its pronunciation is determined by the tone of the syllable that precedes it. It is not stressed, but by no means less important than the other tones. Many Chinese words actually have the so-called tendency of neutralization, i.e. the last syllable is said as a neutral tone. It usually occurs when one speaks quickly. In multi-syllabic words the first syllable can never carry a neutral tone. Tip: Say the first syllable of a word with the first tone as long as possible and leave little time and stress to the second syllable which tone is neutral. The pronunciation of this desired neutral tone occurs almost automatically during the speech.
A neutral tone is always pronounced without emphasis. When preceded by a second tone it is pronounced at mid-range. See also Note and Tip for Tone combination 1 - 0.
A neutral tone is pronounced at a rather high pitched level, but without emphasis when it comes after a third tone. See also Note and Tip for Tone combination 1 - 0.
A neutral tone is without emphasis. When it is preceded by a fourth tone it is slightly low-pitched. See also Note and Tip for Tone combination 1 - 0.
In some cases your tone cannot be recognised and you will see a question mark. This means that you have not produced a Chinese tone. It is a typical mistake made by learners of Mandarin. You have probably ignored the Chinese tone as a result of focusing only on the speech sounds of the Pinyin transcript. This means you have just said the Chinese word with the intonation common to your own language.