<p>The reversed tone letter is apparently one of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modifier_Tone_Letters" rel="nofollow">Modifier Tone Letters</a> which do indeed indicate tone sandhi. I haven't yet come up with a pdf, but hazarding a guess, perhaps ˩˧ (low rising) is the recitation form and the reversed form is the sandhi form (low falling).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-26T11:31:10.527Z
added a link for pdf in question, not sure if it works or not anymore.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-26T23:47:34.930Z
Alas, no go for me.
wpt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-28T16:56:45.167Z
This is a fairly common way to notate and represent tone sandhi, especially in linguistic papers and dictionaries in Chinese, e.g. [福州话方言词典](http://www.hxydw.com.cn/11587192.pdf)
Michaelyus
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-24T12:11:04.297Z
2016-06-24T12:11:04.297Z
wpt
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/t51rP.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/t51rP.jpg" alt="yes"></a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>tian ˩˧ ˧˩</p>
</blockquote>

<p>What do these back to back tones mean?</p>

<p>Tone sandhi?</p>

<p>book should be here: <a href="http://nbct01.baidupcs.com/file/a04834fd03e33862ac150679edef1ee5?bkt=p2-nb-944&amp;fid=521867496-250528-652496989958779&amp;time=1462617078&amp;sign=FDTAXGERLBH-DCb740ccc5511e5e8fedcff06b081203-GxPinMP7PgHO5VmJ%2BNNtsqHMoEI%3D&amp;to=nbhb&amp;fm=Nin,B,U,ny&amp;sta_dx=22&amp;sta_cs=0&amp;sta_ft=pdf&amp;sta_ct=6&amp;fm2=Ningbo,B,U,ny&amp;newver=1&amp;newfm=1&amp;secfm=1&amp;flow_ver=3&amp;pkey=1400a04834fd03e33862ac150679edef1ee55883d3650000015c6168&amp;sl=76218446&amp;expires=8h&amp;rt=pr&amp;r=198989889&amp;mlogid=2963387329539921376&amp;vuk=521867496&amp;vbdid=3223180196&amp;fin=%E5%9B%9B%E5%B7%9D%E9%82%9B%E5%B4%8D%E6%B2%B9%E6%A6%A8%E6%96%B9%E8%A8%80%E8%A8%98.pdf&amp;fn=%E5%9B%9B%E5%B7%9D%E9%82%9B%E5%B4%8D%E6%B2%B9%E6%A6%A8%E6%96%B9%E8%A8%80%E8%A8%98.pdf&amp;slt=pm&amp;uta=0&amp;rtype=1&amp;iv=0&amp;isw=0&amp;dp-logid=2963387329539921376&amp;dp-callid=0.1.1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">book</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-24T09:25:12.047Z
I guess this is not Standard Mandarin, but what is it then?
imrek
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-24T11:38:04.937Z
I'm not seeing tian ˩˧ ˧˩ in the text.  Instead it looks like tian ˩˧ + another mark which is not a standard tone letter. Non-standard markings should be explained in the front matter somewhere. What dialect is it?
wpt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-24T11:41:29.317Z
This is from 《四川邛崃油榨方言记》，there are pdfs floating around...
Mou某
<tones>
Back to back tones for single character ˩˧ ˧˩?
# Back to back tones for single character ˩˧ ˧˩?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-06-24)

[![yes](https://i.sstatic.net/t51rP.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/t51rP.jpg)

> tian ˩˧ ˧˩

What do these back to back tones mean?

Tone sandhi?

book should be here: [book](http://nbct01.baidupcs.com/file/a04834fd03e33862ac150679edef1ee5?bkt=p2-nb-944&fid=521867496-250528-652496989958779&time=1462617078&sign=FDTAXGERLBH-DCb740ccc5511e5e8fedcff06b081203-GxPinMP7PgHO5VmJ%2BNNtsqHMoEI%3D&to=nbhb&fm=Nin,B,U,ny&sta_dx=22&sta_cs=0&sta_ft=pdf&sta_ct=6&fm2=Ningbo,B,U,ny&newver=1&newfm=1&secfm=1&flow_ver=3&pkey=1400a04834fd03e33862ac150679edef1ee55883d3650000015c6168&sl=76218446&expires=8h&rt=pr&r=198989889&mlogid=2963387329539921376&vuk=521867496&vbdid=3223180196&fin=%E5%9B%9B%E5%B7%9D%E9%82%9B%E5%B4%8D%E6%B2%B9%E6%A6%A8%E6%96%B9%E8%A8%80%E8%A8%98.pdf&fn=%E5%9B%9B%E5%B7%9D%E9%82%9B%E5%B4%8D%E6%B2%B9%E6%A6%A8%E6%96%B9%E8%A8%80%E8%A8%98.pdf&slt=pm&uta=0&rtype=1&iv=0&isw=0&dp-logid=2963387329539921376&dp-callid=0.1.1)

**Tags:** tones

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I guess this is not Standard Mandarin, but what is it then?  
> **username_2**: I'm not seeing tian ˩˧ ˧˩ in the text.  Instead it looks like tian ˩˧ + another mark which is not a standard tone letter. Non-standard markings should be explained in the front matter somewhere. What dialect is it?  
> **username_0**: This is from 《四川邛崃油榨方言记》，there are pdfs floating around...  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-06-24. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The reversed tone letter is apparently one of the [Modifier Tone Letters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modifier_Tone_Letters) which do indeed indicate tone sandhi. I haven't yet come up with a pdf, but hazarding a guess, perhaps ˩˧ (low rising) is the recitation form and the reversed form is the sandhi form (low falling).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: added a link for pdf in question, not sure if it works or not anymore.  
> **username_2**: Alas, no go for me.  
> **username_3**: This is a fairly common way to notate and represent tone sandhi, especially in linguistic papers and dictionaries in Chinese, e.g. [福州话方言词典](http://www.hxydw.com.cn/11587192.pdf)  

---

