Comments on: The Neutral Tone

By: dogeatsrat

dogeatsrat

Quick, light and de-emphasised. volume lower don't start a word with neutral tone de and le and other particles tend to be neutral. Switzerland is a neutral country. Got it, thanks.

By: misterjess

misterjess

Dear Jenny, You most certianly are not de-empasised. Quick and light I'll buy, but not de-empasised.

By: codexus

codexus

So there is a neutral tone! I was a bit confused since I learned about the 4 tones but I noticed some syllables that didn't seem to have one and I was wondering if I was just not able to hear it. Everything is now clear! Thanks!

By: finally30

finally30

Any comments on the difference of neutral tone distribution between Taiwan and mainland Mandarin?

By: danmacleod

danmacleod

I notice that "xihuan" in the pdf file for the lesson on Likes and Dislikes does not have any tone marker for "huan." Does that mean it's neutral?

By: Eric1976

Eric1976

I've found it useful as a learner to be told that there are patterns in the pitch of the neutral tone. After the first, second and third tones it tends to end up in the middle of your tonal range. After the fourth tone it ends up lower than your standard tonal range. If you know the members of the family, you can use them as way to recall the basic neutral tone patterns: ma1ma ye2ye jie3jie ba4ba In other words, I think it's correct that it is quick, light and should not be emphasized, but perhaps a bit more explanation can be useful. Also, as a teacher, I can testify that it is hard to de-emphasize something that is the focus of your teaching-- or to de-emphasize what you are emphasizing. Perhaps that's why Jenny's neutral tones didn't sound de-emphasized to you, misterjess.

By: xuchen

xuchen

I always try to picture my mouth "shaping" the sounds for the tones.. However for the neutral tone I find myself picturing it "falling" out of my mouth with nothing to hang on too.. danmacleod I've check a couple of sources and haven't found any with 欢huan having a tone.. Nor have I even heard it in daily dialogue.

By: changye

changye

To be neutral, or not to be, that is the question. The neutral tone sometimes confuses me. For example, how should you pronounce “打算” (da3 suan4, da3 suan), “知道” (zhi1 dao4, zhi1 dao), and “意见” (yi4 jian4, yi4 jian) ? I guess that it is probably up to you, and some words are in the transition to “neutral ization”. Sorry, here are more confusing facts for you. There are some cumbersome words, of which meanings change depending on their tones. “妻子 (qi1 zi)” is “a wife”, but “妻子 (qi1 zi3)”, a literary word, means “a wife and children”. “地方 (di4 fang)” means “place”, but “地方 (di4 fang1)” is “local or rural”. How enjoyable! I have heard that commonly-used or everyday words more likely to be pronounced in the neutral tone. This is understandable because you can pronounce them more easily with less effort by using the neutral tone. In that sense, the number of “neutralized” words might gradually increase as time goes by.

By: changye

changye

It would not hurt you to learn another names for Chinese tones. You often find them when reading books on Chinese phonology and ancient poetry. There was also 入声 (ru4 sheng1), or the entering tone, in old Chinese, which has still been retained in some dialects. 第一声 is also called 阴平 (yin1 ping2). 第二声 is also called 阳平 (yang2 ping2). 第三声 is also called 上声 (shang4 sheng1). 第四声 is also called 去声 (qu4 shentg1).

By: nicolas

nicolas

not mentioned here, the most famous character with a neutral tone is 吗 ChinesePeraKun reminds me : unless 吗 is used to say morphine.

By: codingt

codingt

Hey xuchen!! I pretty much pictured the same thing....except like doing karate and having my hand SLAM down on something.......thanks all for helping with the tone lessons.....