Things You'll Need:
- An open ear
- Ability to discern changes in tone or inflections
-
Step 1
Tones Used For Meaning Instead of Emotion
In the English language, the tone of our speech is most often used to convey emotion. Raising one's voice may convey excitement, anger, anxiety. While lowering it, may convey respect, sadness, calmness. We even use tone as markers like when we raise the tone of the last word to denote a question.
Chinese speakers use five tones to convey meaning. If you are not careful, you could call someone's mother a "horse" instead of "mother". Read on to find out how. -
Step 2
First Tone
The first tone begins and end at the same higher pitch. To try this, open your mouth and say the word "la" as in the "do-re-mi" song. The sound that the "a" makes is the first tone.
In Pinyin writing, it is shown as a straight line above the affected vowel. -
Step 3
Second Tone
The second tone rises from a midpoint to the level of the first tone. You may think of this as though you were asking a question with the word. I'm sure you know someone who asks a question with each word of their English speech :)
In Pinyin writing, it is shown as a line slanted to the right above the affected vowel (like an '/'). -
Step 4
Third Tone
The third tone is the most difficult. This tone starts from a midlevel, goes to the low tone, and rises quickly to the first tone. It is almost like a "wobble" in one's voice and is best distinguished from the other tones because it takes just a little bit longer to make. This isn't an exaggerated transition; it is much more subtle.
In Pinyin writing, it is shown as an upside down carat '^' placed above the affected vowel. -
Step 5
Fourth Tone
The fourth tone is opposite of the second tone. It starts from the first tone and quickly moves lower. Think about stomping your foot as you say it to get the right frame of mind. It is a harsher tone that the others, meaning it is more abrupt.
In Pinyin writing, it is shown as a line slanted to the left above the affected vowel (line an '\'). -
Step 6
Now, How About That Horse?
There are a finite number of allowable vowel and consonant combinations, it stands to reason that some words will be pronounced the same with the exception of the tone.
In Mandarin, a "horse" is called "ma" with tone 3 on the 'a'. The word for "mother" is also "ma" but with tone 1. In writing is is clearer since a horse is written as 马 and mother is written as 妈. -
Step 7
Fifth Tone and Emotion
The fifth tone has no markings in Pinyin and is neutral, meaning you don't make a special effort to change the tone.
You may wonder if tones are used for meaning, how is emotion conveyed in speech (without the obvious visual cues). There are special words for emotion.
"Ma" without a tone is placed at the end of a question and is actually pronounced (unlike the English question mark). "La" is a signal of excitement or apprehension. And, "Ba" is used to mark a suggestion. For example, in English you might say "Shall we go" but is Mandarin you would say zou3 (third tone) ba (no tone). This is written as 走吧.
