Tones

I want to write about tones today.  I think this is a very complicated subject because our parents have not taught us tones and we just speak the language naturally.  So few of us are truly versed with this topic.  I think when we begin with tones as natural speakers we have to keep it simple - KISS - keep it simple stupid

We have 8 tones and we also have changing tones depending where a character is placed in a word.  Some words are made up of several characters. 

I have observed how Chinese children, natural speakers of Mandarin, learn their tones in school and I have come to believe we too have to practice our tones until it is second nature to us.  So when we hear a spoken word, we know which tones have been used.

I will not talk about tones 4 and 8 today because they special cases and I will write about them another time.  

Tones 1 and 7 do not change regardless where the character is placed in the word.  This is important as we can therefore choose any characters to practice these two tones.

As for the rest, tones 2, 3, 5 and 6 - we can only choose characters which stand on their own to form words or when the character appear at the end of a word to practice our tones.

Another important point is do not allow other people to choose the characters for you.  This is because you will never master these blessed tones, unless you have already master our Diosua Ue.  Choose characters which you already know and can say it fluently.  This exercise is for you to master the tones and not to learn the tones from scratch.

I have chosen characters which I already know and I practice them every morning.

Tone 1 si1 絲｜丝 julienne ｜gao1 勾 as in hiⁿ6gao1 耳勾 earrings ｜gui1 規｜规 as in gui1gê2 規格｜规格 protocol [middle flat tone]

Tone 2 si2 死 die ｜gao2 狗 dog ｜gui2 鬼 ghost [short tone and higher than tone 1 and falling]

Tone 3 si3 四 four ｜gao3 到 to arrive ｜ gui3 貴｜贵 expensive [fall & rise]

Tone 5 si5 匙 spoon ｜gao5 猴 monkey ｜guiⁿ5 危 tall or high [high flat tone]

Tone 6 si6 是 yes, am, is ｜ gao6 厚 thick ｜guiⁿ6 跪 to kneel [rising tone]

Tone 7 si7 豉 as in si7iu5 豉油 soya sauce ｜ there is no gao7 ｜guiⁿ7 櫃｜柜 as in seng1guiⁿ7 霜櫃｜霜柜 [low flat tone]

Learn these tones and practice them everyday - choose your own characters, and when we have mastered them, we will discuss changing tones.