<p>Well... I'm not sure I understand your exact question, since I didn't read the book XD</p>
<p>I assume the &quot;tonal variations&quot; that you refer to means the Chinese charactor changed tone from it's orignal tone, in the context.</p>
<p>Those noremally happens when you'd like to emphasise the emontion, like the stress change in English or other language.</p>
<p>For example: when you say “不(b<strong>ù</strong>)行”， which slitly emphasise the disapproval, where the “不(b<strong>ū</strong>)” was the orignal tone.</p>
<p>However, I cannot say there's exact rule for it, and this is really not very common and only apply to some exceptional cases, and doesn't really change the meaning of a sentence.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-25T12:47:40.700Z
2024-10-25T12:55:01.427Z
2024-10-25T12:55:01.427Z
Weishan Yang
<p>Excerpted from <a href="https://asiasociety.org/education/episode-12-chinese-tones#:%7E:text=Chinese%20is%2C%20as%20many%20know,to%20as%20the%20fifth%20tone." rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;Chinese Tones&quot;, Asia Society</a></p>
<p>Chinese is, as many know, a tonal language. There are four tones: one flat, one rising, one that falls and then rises, and one falling. There is also the possibility for a syllable to be said with no tone at all, which some refer to as the fifth tone.</p>
<p>The five Chinese tonal marks are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>First tone ( <strong>ˉ</strong> ), high level.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Second tone (<strong>ˊ</strong>), middle rising.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Third tone ( <strong>ˇ</strong> ), low dipping.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Fourth tone (<strong>ˋ</strong>), high falling.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Fifth tone/Neutral tone (with a dot above the first symbol in &quot;Zhuyin (注音) system, or without any marks in &quot;Pinyin(拼音)&quot; system, low-level unstressed syllable.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Examples: 妈(<strong>mā</strong>), 麻 (<strong>má</strong>), 马 (<strong>mǎ</strong>), 骂 (<strong>mà</strong>), 吗 (<strong>ma</strong>)</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>“The tone of how you say the word completely changes the meaning, to the point where a lot of times, especially without context, Chinese people have no idea what you’re saying if you say the word in the wrong way.”</p>
<p>Jesse gives a number of examples, referring to the similar pronunciations of the provinces <strong>山西 and 陕西</strong> (<strong>Shānxī and Shǎnxī</strong>, respectively, though the latter is written as Shaanxi in English) and the similarity of the words <strong>橡胶</strong> (<strong>Xiàngjiāo, rubber</strong>) and <strong>香蕉</strong> (<strong>Xiāngjiāo, banana</strong>).</p>
<p>One of my [the author's] high school Chinese teacher’s favorite examples was when we learned the word for <strong>panda</strong> (<strong>熊猫</strong>) which is pronounced <strong>Xióngmāo</strong>; she drilled into us the correct tones for it because she said she didn’t want to have us saying that we liked going to see <strong>胸毛</strong>（<strong>Xiōngmáo</strong>), or “<strong>chest hair</strong>”.</p>
<p>Being able to differentiate between purely tonal differences is not something that is easy to pull off. Anyone who remembers when they started out studying Chinese knows that there is a long period, exacerbated at the beginning, when certain intonations seem to sound exactly the same. They remember not being able to tell if a word was a second or a third tone, or being told that their fourth tone was not strong enough, or being reminded that a third tone is actually sometimes a second tone under certain circumstances. There can also be a lag period between the development of listening and speaking abilities, where the capacity to differentiate one tone from another is developed, but the ability to replicate it in speech is not..</p>
<p>Have fun :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-24T01:06:28.980Z
Fifth tone 輕聲, 有符號的！  Ref: https://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/dictView.jsp?ID=1044&q=1&word=%E5%98%9B#order2
James
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-24T01:09:13.340Z
Ref: https://language.moe.gov.tw/001/Upload/files/site_content/M0001/juyin/html_ch/index.html , 參、國字注音示例（直式） `子`
James
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2024-10-24T18:39:57.777Z
@James See the updated text about the fifth tone. Yes, it has, but often neglected.
r13
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2024-10-25T07:11:24.083Z
In Traditional Chinese, it's *NEVER* neglected.
James
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-25T16:13:22.993Z
@James Yes, you are correct if you mean in the "注音符號 or ㄅㄆㄇㄈ" system, which can be used regardless of the type of characters, whether it is Traditional or Simplified.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-22T22:34:58.650Z
2024-10-25T16:04:44.673Z
2024-10-25T16:04:44.673Z
r13
<p>As a native speaker, this is for those who want quick tips on how to pronounce tones simply.</p>
<p>the first tone ˉ: make your voice higher or just make your voice stay in a stable tone. like the &quot;wa&quot; in &quot;water&quot;.</p>
<p>the second tone ˊ: make a questioning-like sound and you'll get it. like in &quot;Yes?&quot;</p>
<p>the third tone ˇ: make your voice as low as possible, though lots of people say it should be &quot;first low then high&quot;, but nobody actually pronounces it like that. like &quot;sis&quot; in &quot;analysis&quot;.</p>
<p>the fourth tone ˋ: make a strong or stressed sound. like &quot;dip&quot;.</p>
<p>the fifth tone ˙: You don't have to really pronounce it in my region(Taiwan), we always pronounce it as a short third tone.</p>
<p>edit:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>we always pronounce it as the third tone.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>we always pronounce it as a short third tone.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-25T09:39:23.397Z
I think this description of the fifth, or neutral, tone, is simply wrong and it's misleading. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese_phonology#Neutral_tone for some detailed analysis - that's far too long for a beginner, of course. So I'm downvoting this answer.
goPlayerJuggler
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-24T13:26:47.680Z
2024-11-30T00:57:00.350Z
2024-11-30T00:57:00.350Z
知識日常 Know Scratcher
<p>I was reading a phrasebook by Lonely Planet a couple of days ago, and I was wondering what exactly it meant by tonal variations in different tonal patterns, and I still haven't figured out exactly how they work. How should I pronounce these tonal variations in different circumstances?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-30T11:39:32.157Z
Youtube is your good friend. You can search it to get many videos related to your question.
joehua
<tones>
Tonal Variations in Different Tone Patterns
# Tonal Variations in Different Tone Patterns

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-10-22)

I was reading a phrasebook by Lonely Planet a couple of days ago, and I was wondering what exactly it meant by tonal variations in different tonal patterns, and I still haven't figured out exactly how they work. How should I pronounce these tonal variations in different circumstances?

**Tags:** tones

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Youtube is your good friend. You can search it to get many videos related to your question.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-10-25. Score: 0

Well... I'm not sure I understand your exact question, since I didn't read the book XD

I assume the "tonal variations" that you refer to means the Chinese charactor changed tone from it's orignal tone, in the context.

Those noremally happens when you'd like to emphasise the emontion, like the stress change in English or other language.

For example: when you say “不(b**ù**)行”， which slitly emphasise the disapproval, where the “不(b**ū**)” was the orignal tone.

However, I cannot say there's exact rule for it, and this is really not very common and only apply to some exceptional cases, and doesn't really change the meaning of a sentence.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-10-22. Score: 0

Excerpted from ["Chinese Tones", Asia Society](https://asiasociety.org/education/episode-12-chinese-tones#:%7E:text=Chinese%20is%2C%20as%20many%20know,to%20as%20the%20fifth%20tone.)

Chinese is, as many know, a tonal language. There are four tones: one flat, one rising, one that falls and then rises, and one falling. There is also the possibility for a syllable to be said with no tone at all, which some refer to as the fifth tone.

The five Chinese tonal marks are:

* First tone ( **ˉ** ), high level.
* Second tone (**ˊ**), middle rising.
* Third tone ( **ˇ** ), low dipping.
* Fourth tone (**ˋ**), high falling.
* Fifth tone/Neutral tone (with a dot above the first symbol in "Zhuyin (注音) system, or without any marks in "Pinyin(拼音)" system, low-level unstressed syllable.
* Examples: 妈(**mā**), 麻 (**má**), 马 (**mǎ**), 骂 (**mà**), 吗 (**ma**)

“The tone of how you say the word completely changes the meaning, to the point where a lot of times, especially without context, Chinese people have no idea what you’re saying if you say the word in the wrong way.”

Jesse gives a number of examples, referring to the similar pronunciations of the provinces **山西 and 陕西** (**Shānxī and Shǎnxī**, respectively, though the latter is written as Shaanxi in English) and the similarity of the words **橡胶** (**Xiàngjiāo, rubber**) and **香蕉** (**Xiāngjiāo, banana**).

One of my [the author's] high school Chinese teacher’s favorite examples was when we learned the word for **panda** (**熊猫**) which is pronounced **Xióngmāo**; she drilled into us the correct tones for it because she said she didn’t want to have us saying that we liked going to see **胸毛**（**Xiōngmáo**), or “**chest hair**”.

Being able to differentiate between purely tonal differences is not something that is easy to pull off. Anyone who remembers when they started out studying Chinese knows that there is a long period, exacerbated at the beginning, when certain intonations seem to sound exactly the same. They remember not being able to tell if a word was a second or a third tone, or being told that their fourth tone was not strong enough, or being reminded that a third tone is actually sometimes a second tone under certain circumstances. There can also be a lag period between the development of listening and speaking abilities, where the capacity to differentiate one tone from another is developed, but the ability to replicate it in speech is not..

Have fun :)

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Fifth tone 輕聲, 有符號的！  Ref: https://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/dictView.jsp?ID=1044&q=1&word=%E5%98%9B#order2  
> **username_4**: Ref: https://language.moe.gov.tw/001/Upload/files/site_content/M0001/juyin/html_ch/index.html , 參、國字注音示例（直式） `子`  
> **username_3**: @username_4 See the updated text about the fifth tone. Yes, it has, but often neglected.  
> **username_4**: In Traditional Chinese, it's *NEVER* neglected.  
> **username_3**: @username_4 Yes, you are correct if you mean in the "注音符號 or ㄅㄆㄇㄈ" system, which can be used regardless of the type of characters, whether it is Traditional or Simplified.  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2024-10-24. Score: -1

As a native speaker, this is for those who want quick tips on how to pronounce tones simply.

the first tone ˉ: make your voice higher or just make your voice stay in a stable tone. like the "wa" in "water".

the second tone ˊ: make a questioning-like sound and you'll get it. like in "Yes?"

the third tone ˇ: make your voice as low as possible, though lots of people say it should be "first low then high", but nobody actually pronounces it like that. like "sis" in "analysis".

the fourth tone ˋ: make a strong or stressed sound. like "dip".

the fifth tone ˙: You don't have to really pronounce it in my region(Taiwan), we always pronounce it as a short third tone.

edit:

> we always pronounce it as the third tone.

we always pronounce it as a short third tone.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: I think this description of the fifth, or neutral, tone, is simply wrong and it's misleading. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese_phonology#Neutral_tone for some detailed analysis - that's far too long for a beginner, of course. So I'm downvoting this answer.  

---

