<p>The essential part for military drills is to sound loud and vibrant. It is hard to sound loudly when the drill is given in tones rising and falling, so all the characters in drills are pronounced in a level tone, only with the pitch varying. So those of higher pitch will seem like the #1 tone, and those lower pitch will seem like the #3 tone as compared.</p>

<p>向右转 443 -> 331 “想有——专——” or 131 “香有——专——”</p>

<p>齐步走 243 -> 331 “起补——邹——” or 131 “七补——邹——”</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-20T07:21:51.353Z
2017-11-20T07:21:51.353Z
Garlic Xu
<p>The tones used in military training actually do not correspond to any tones in chinese - "以哦以" and "起补奏" are close, but not accurate descriptions of the tones used in military drills.</p>

<p>Here is a (very simplified) tonal diagram of how I shout the two commands mentioned before.
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/CboEfm.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/CboEfm.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>
*Tones range from mid-high to low</p>

<p>This most likely happens because the rising and falling tone matches the rhythm of the marching and is much more breath-conserving than yelling in high/extra high tones. The differences between the tones is also greater than the original (first and second tones), making it easier to differentiate between each number. This would also explain why "向右转" (xiang4you4zhuan4) has its tones completely changed (follows roughly the second pattern I drew).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-20T08:29:19.133Z
2017-12-20T08:29:19.133Z
as4s4hetic
<p>I notice from my observation  that the tones of words of mandarin in military drills are different from the normal ones given by dictionary, which is best illsutrated by a forum post of a local Chinese. What he said is true? Or is there any story or history behind this phenomenon?
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Glndz.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Glndz.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-27T19:55:41.593Z
Partially because one of the earliest military academy (Baoding Military Academy) and officers were mostly from Hebei, Henan, Shandong(southeast), Anhui (north) after imperial China.
Nathan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-27T20:09:11.977Z
Similar occasions could be "Why most rappers carry African American accent" or "Why trap rappers all sound like they are from Atlanta".
Nathan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-19T13:40:14.080Z
You can find a old video (before 1949) that records the 东北军 操练, they use 东北土话...
sfy
<grammar>
Tones of Mandarin words in military drills
# Tones of Mandarin words in military drills

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-10-27)

I notice from my observation that the tones of words of mandarin in military drills are different from the normal ones given by dictionary, which is best illsutrated by a forum post of a local Chinese. What he said is true? Or is there any story or history behind this phenomenon?
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/Glndz.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/Glndz.jpg)

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Partially because one of the earliest military academy (Baoding Military Academy) and officers were mostly from Hebei, Henan, Shandong(southeast), Anhui (north) after imperial China.  
> **username_1**: Similar occasions could be "Why most rappers carry African American accent" or "Why trap rappers all sound like they are from Atlanta".  
> **username_2**: You can find a old video (before 1949) that records the 东北军 操练, they use 东北土话...  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-11-20. Score: 1

The essential part for military drills is to sound loud and vibrant. It is hard to sound loudly when the drill is given in tones rising and falling, so all the characters in drills are pronounced in a level tone, only with the pitch varying. So those of higher pitch will seem like the #1 tone, and those lower pitch will seem like the #3 tone as compared.

向右转 443 -> 331 “想有——专——” or 131 “香有——专——”

齐步走 243 -> 331 “起补——邹——” or 131 “七补——邹——”


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### Answer by username_4 on 2017-12-20. Score: 1

The tones used in military training actually do not correspond to any tones in chinese - "以哦以" and "起补奏" are close, but not accurate descriptions of the tones used in military drills.

Here is a (very simplified) tonal diagram of how I shout the two commands mentioned before.
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/CboEfm.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/CboEfm.jpg)  
\*Tones range from mid-high to low

This most likely happens because the rising and falling tone matches the rhythm of the marching and is much more breath-conserving than yelling in high/extra high tones. The differences between the tones is also greater than the original (first and second tones), making it easier to differentiate between each number. This would also explain why "向右转" (xiang4you4zhuan4) has its tones completely changed (follows roughly the second pattern I drew).


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