<p>No. It does not always apply.</p>

<p>xi0 might be another way of writing the neutral tone. I haven't seen it before.</p>

<p>For 东西, dong1xi1 (east and west) and dong1xi(thing) have different meanings.</p>

<p>To make sure whether a word ends with a neutral tone, without hearing how natives are using it, you'll have to look it up in a dictionary.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-30T23:46:26.617Z
2017-09-30T23:46:26.617Z
fefe
<p>One cause of neutralization of tone is when a meaning is repeated. This is why 爸爸 is ba4ba0, for example. In the case of 喜欢，both syllables basically mean the same thing, so the second one becomes neutral. Same as 东西：even though they are opposites, in this context they just refer to &quot;stuff over in that direction&quot;, so they are essentially repeating the same meaning as well. This is why if you pronounce the second syllable's tone as 1st tone, they you get the meaning of East-West: you have signaled that you actually mean them as opposites. 衣服 is another example, though you will find many examples of this.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-27T20:29:11.613Z
2022-07-27T20:29:11.613Z
Buddy L
<p>Or the 西 (xi1) in 东西 (dong1xi0) is pronounced with no tone?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-30T23:46:12.960Z
for answers at this site search Q&A using e.g. "neutral tone"
user6065
<pronunciation><tones><sandhi>
Tone Change: Why is 欢 (huan1) in 喜欢 (xi3huan0) pronounced with a neutral tone? Would you do that for all words ending in a first tone?
# Tone Change: Why is 欢 (huan1) in 喜欢 (xi3huan0) pronounced with a neutral tone? Would you do that for all words ending in a first tone?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-09-30)

Or the 西 (xi1) in 东西 (dong1xi0) is pronounced with no tone?

**Tags:** pronunciation, tones, sandhi

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: for answers at this site search Q&A using e.g. "neutral tone"  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-09-30. Score: 2

No. It does not always apply.

xi0 might be another way of writing the neutral tone. I haven't seen it before.

For 东西, dong1xi1 (east and west) and dong1xi(thing) have different meanings.

To make sure whether a word ends with a neutral tone, without hearing how natives are using it, you'll have to look it up in a dictionary.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2022-07-27. Score: 0

One cause of neutralization of tone is when a meaning is repeated. This is why 爸爸 is ba4ba0, for example. In the case of 喜欢，both syllables basically mean the same thing, so the second one becomes neutral. Same as 东西：even though they are opposites, in this context they just refer to "stuff over in that direction", so they are essentially repeating the same meaning as well. This is why if you pronounce the second syllable's tone as 1st tone, they you get the meaning of East-West: you have signaled that you actually mean them as opposites. 衣服 is another example, though you will find many examples of this.


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