This article summarizes the
phonology
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
(the sound system, or in more general terms, the
pronunciation
Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect ("correct pronunciation") or simply the way a particular ...
) of
Standard Chinese (Standard Mandarin).
Standard Chinese phonology is based on the
Beijing dialect
The Beijing dialect (), also known as Pekingese and Beijingese, is the prestige dialect of Mandarin spoken in the urban area of Beijing, China. It is the phonological basis of Standard Chinese, the official language in the People's Republic of ...
of
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
. Actual production varies widely among speakers, as they introduce elements of their native varieties (although
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
and
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
announcers are chosen for their ability to produce the standard variety). Elements of the sound system include not only the
segments – the
vowel
A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
s and
consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wi ...
s – of the language but also the
tones that are applied to each syllable. Standard Chinese has four main tones, in addition to a neutral tone used on weak syllables.
This article represents phonetic values using the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standardized representation ...
(IPA), noting correspondences chiefly with the
Pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...
system for transcription of Chinese text. For correspondences with other systems, see the relevant articles, such as
Wade–Giles
Wade–Giles () is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Francis Wade, during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert A. Giles's '' Chinese–English Dictionary'' o ...
,
Bopomofo (Zhuyin),
Gwoyeu Romatzyh, etc., and
Romanization of Chinese.
Consonants
The following table shows the consonant sounds of Standard Chinese, transcribed using the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standardized representation ...
. The sounds shown in parentheses are sometimes not analyzed as separate
phoneme
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-wes ...
s; for more on these, see below. Excluding these, and excluding the
glide
Glide may refer to:
* Gliding flight, to fly without thrust
Computing
*Glide API, a 3D graphics interface
*Glide OS, a web desktop
*Glide (software), an instant video messenger
*Glide, a molecular docking software by Schrödinger (company), Schr ...
s , , and (for which see below), there are 19 consonant phonemes in the inventory.
Between pairs of
stops or
affricates
An affricate is a consonant that begins as a stop and releases as a fricative, generally with the same place of articulation (most often coronal). It is often difficult to decide if a stop and fricative form a single phoneme or a consonant pair ...
having the same
place of articulation
In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation (also point of articulation) of a consonant is a location along the vocal tract where its production occurs. It is a point where a constriction is made between an active and a passive articula ...
and
manner of articulation, the
primary distinction is not
voiced
Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced.
The term, however, is used to refer ...
vs. voiceless (as in
French or
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
), but unaspirated vs.
aspirated (as in
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...
or
Icelandic). The unaspirated stops and affricates may however become voiced in weak syllables (see below). Such pairs are represented in the
pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...
system mostly using letters which in
Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language ...
generally denote voiceless/voiced pairs (for example and ), or in
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, E ...
often denotes
fortis/lenis pairs (for example initial aspirated voiceless/unaspirated voiced pairs such as and ). However, in pinyin they denote aspirated/unaspirated pairs, for example and are represented with ''p'' and ''b'' respectively.
More details about the individual consonant sounds are given in the following table.
All of the consonants may occur as the
initial
In a written or published work, an initial capital, also referred to as a drop capital or simply an initial cap, initial, initcapital, initcap or init or a drop cap or drop, is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that ...
sound of a syllable, with the exception of (unless the zero initial is assigned to this phoneme; see
below). Excepting the
rhotic coda, the only consonants that can appear in
syllable coda (final) position are and (although
may occur as an allophone of before labial consonants in fast speech). Final , may be pronounced without complete oral closure, resulting in a syllable that in fact ends with a long
nasalized
In phonetics, nasalization (or nasalisation) is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered, so that some air escapes through the nose during the production of the sound by the mouth. An archetypal nasal sound is .
In the Internationa ...
vowel. See also , below.
Denti-alveolar and retroflex series
The consonants listed in the first table above as
denti-alveolar
In linguistics, a denti-alveolar consonant or dento-alveolar consonant is a consonant that is articulated with a flat tongue against the alveolar ridge and the upper teeth, such as and in languages such as French, Italian and Spanish. That is, ...
are sometimes described as
alveolars, and sometimes as
dentals. The affricates and the fricative are particularly often described as dentals; these are generally pronounced with the tongue on the lower teeth.
The
retroflex consonant
A retroflex ( /ˈɹɛtʃɹoːflɛks/), apico-domal ( /əpɪkoːˈdɔmɪnəl/), or cacuminal () consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the h ...
s (like those of
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
) are actually
apical
Apical means "pertaining to an apex". It may refer to:
*Apical ancestor, refers to the last common ancestor of an entire group, such as a species (biology) or a clan (anthropology)
*Apical (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features loc ...
rather than
subapical, and so are considered by some authors not to be truly retroflex; they may be more accurately called post-alveolar. Some speakers not from Beijing may lack the retroflexes in their native dialects, and may thus replace them with dentals.
Alveolo-palatal series
The alveolo-palatal consonants (pinyin ''j'', ''q'', ''x'') are standardly pronounced . Some speakers realize them as
palatalized dentals , , ; this is claimed to be especially common among children and women, although officially it is regarded as substandard and as a feature specific to the Beijing dialect.
In phonological analysis, it is often assumed that, when not followed by one of the high front vowels or , the alveolo-palatals consist of a consonant followed by a palatal glide ( or ). That is, syllables represented in pinyin as beginning , , , , , (followed by a vowel) are taken to begin , , , , , . The actual pronunciations are more like , , , , , (or for speakers using the dental variants, , , , , , ). This is consistent with the general observation (see under ) that medial glides are realized as palatalization and/or labialization of the preceding consonant (palatalization already being inherent in the case of the palatals).
On the above analysis, the alveolo-palatals are in
complementary distribution
In linguistics, complementary distribution, as distinct from contrastive distribution and free variation, is the relationship between two different elements of the same kind in which one element is found in one set of environments and the other ele ...
with the dentals , with the
velars
Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth (known also as the velum).
Since the velar region of the roof of the mouth is relatively extensive an ...
, and with the
retroflexes , as none of these can occur before high front vowels or palatal glides, whereas the alveolo-palatals occur ''only'' before high front vowels or palatal glides. Therefore, linguists often prefer to classify not as independent phonemes, but as
allophone
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor '' phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in '' ...
s of one of the other three series. The existence of the above-mentioned dental variants inclines some to prefer to identify the alveolo-palatals with the dentals, but identification with any of the three series is possible (unless the
empty rime is identified with , in which case the velars become the only candidate; see
below). The
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
and
Wade–Giles
Wade–Giles () is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Francis Wade, during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert A. Giles's '' Chinese–English Dictionary'' o ...
systems mostly treat the alveolo-palatals as allophones of the retroflexes;
Tongyong Pinyin
Tongyong Pinyin () was the official romanization of Mandarin in Taiwan between 2002 and 2008. The system was unofficially used between 2000 and 2002, when a new romanization system for Taiwan was being evaluated for adoption. Taiwan's Ministry ...
mostly treats them as allophones of the dentals; and
Mainland Chinese Braille
(Mainland) Chinese Braille is a braille script used for Standard Mandarin in China. Consonants and basic finals conform to international braille, but additional finals form a semi-syllabary, as in zhuyin (bopomofo). Each syllable is writt ...
treats them as allophones of the velars. In standard pinyin and
bopomofo, however, they are represented as a separate sequence.
The alveolo-palatals arose historically from a merger of the dentals and velars before high front vowels and glides. Previously, some instances of modern were instead , and others were . The change took place in the last two or three centuries at different times in different areas. This explains why some European transcriptions of Chinese names (especially in
postal romanization) contain , , , where an alveolo-palatal might be expected in modern Chinese. Examples are ''Peking'' for
Beijing (), ''Chungking'' for
Chongqing (), ''Fukien'' for
Fujian (cf. ''
Hokkien
The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...
''), ''Tientsin'' for
Tianjin (); ''Sinkiang'' for
Xinjiang (, and ''Sian'' for
Xi'an (). The complementary distribution with the retroflex series arose when syllables that had a retroflex consonant followed by a medial glide lost the medial glide.
Zero onset
A full syllable such as ''ai'', in which the vowel is not preceded by any of the standard initial consonants or glides, is said to have a ''null initial'' or ''zero onset''. This may be realized as a consonant sound: and are possibilities, as are and in some non-standard varieties. It has been suggested by San Duanmu that such an onset be regarded as a special phoneme, or as an instance of the phoneme , although it can also be treated as no phoneme (absence of onset). By contrast, in the case of the particle ''a'', which is a
weak onsetless syllable, linking occurs with the previous syllable (as described under , below).
When a stressed vowel-initial Chinese syllable follows a consonant-final syllable, the consonant does not directly link with the vowel. Instead, the zero onset seems to intervene in between. ("cotton jacket") becomes , . However, in
connected speech
In linguistics, connected speech or connected discourse is a continuous sequence of sounds forming utterances or conversations in spoken language. Analysis of connected speech shows sound changes affecting linguistic units traditionally described ...
none of these output forms is natural. Instead, when the words are spoken together the most natural pronunciation is rather similar to , in which there is no nasal closure or any version of the zero onset, and instead
nasalization
In phonetics, nasalization (or nasalisation) is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered, so that some air escapes through the nose during the production of the sound by the mouth. An archetypal nasal sound is .
In the Internation ...
of the vowel occurs.
Glides
The
glide
Glide may refer to:
* Gliding flight, to fly without thrust
Computing
*Glide API, a 3D graphics interface
*Glide OS, a web desktop
*Glide (software), an instant video messenger
*Glide, a molecular docking software by Schrödinger (company), Schr ...
s , , and sound respectively like the ''y'' in English ''yes'', the ''(h)u'' in
French ''huit'', and the ''w'' in English ''we''. (
Beijing speakers often replace initial with a
labiodental
In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lip and the upper teeth.
Labiodental consonants in the IPA
The labiodental consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:
The IPA chart shades out ''labio ...
, except when it is followed by .) The glides are commonly analyzed not as independent phonemes, but as consonantal allophones of the
high vowels: . This is possible because there is no ambiguity in interpreting a sequence like ''yao/-iao'' as , and potentially problematic sequences such as do not occur.
The glides may occur in
initial
In a written or published work, an initial capital, also referred to as a drop capital or simply an initial cap, initial, initcapital, initcap or init or a drop cap or drop, is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that ...
position in a syllable. This occurs with in the syllables written ''yu'', ''yuan'', ''yue'', and ''yun'' in pinyin; with in other syllables written with initial ''y'' in pinyin (''ya'', ''yi'', etc.); and with in syllables written with initial ''w'' in pinyin (''wa'', ''wu'', etc.). When a glide is followed by the vowel of which that glide is considered an allophone, the glide may be regarded as
epenthetic
In phonology, epenthesis (; Greek ) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially in the beginning syllable ('' prothesis'') or in the ending syllable (''paragoge'') or in-between two syllabic sounds in a word. The word ''epent ...
(automatically inserted), and not as a separate realization of the phoneme. Hence the syllable ''yi'', pronounced , may be analyzed as consisting of the single phoneme , and similarly ''yin'' may be analyzed as , ''yu'' as , and ''wu'' as . It is also possible to hear both from the same speaker, even in the same conversation. For example, one may hear the number "one" as either or .
The glides can also occur in
medial position, that is, after the initial consonant but before the main vowel. Here they are represented in pinyin as vowels: for example, the ''i'' in ''bie'' represents , and the ''u'' in ''duan'' represents . There are some restrictions on the possible consonant-glide combinations: does not occur after labials (except for some speakers in ''bo'', ''po'', ''mo'', ''fo''); does not occur after retroflexes and velars (or after ); and occurs medially only in ''lüe'' and ''nüe'' and after alveolo-palatals (for which see
above). A consonant-glide combination at the start of a syllable is articulated as a single sound – the glide is not in fact pronounced after the consonant, but is realized as palatalization , labialization , or both , of the consonant. (The same modifications of initial consonants occur in syllables where they are followed by a high vowel, although normally no glide is considered to be present there. Hence a consonant is generally
palatalized when followed by ,
labialized
Labialization is a secondary articulatory feature of sounds in some languages. Labialized sounds involve the lips while the remainder of the oral cavity produces another sound. The term is normally restricted to consonants. When vowels involve ...
when followed by , and both when followed by .)
The glides and are also found as the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
element in some syllables. These are commonly analyzed as
diphthongs
A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech ...
rather than vowel-glide sequences. For example, the syllable ''bai'' is assigned the underlying representation . (In pinyin, the second element is generally written or , but is written as .)
Syllabic consonants
The syllables written in pinyin as ''zi'', ''ci'', ''si'', ''zhi'', ''chi'', ''shi'', ''ri'' may be described as a sibilant consonant (''z, c, s, zh, ch, sh, r'' in pinyin) followed by a
syllabic consonant (also known as apical vowel in classic literature):
*
~ a laminal denti-alveolar voiced continuant, in ''zi'', ''ci'', ''si'' ();
*
~ an apical retroflex voiced continuant, in ''zhi'', ''chi'', ''shi'', ''ri'' ().
Alternatively, the nucleus may be described not as a syllabic consonant, but as a vowel:
*, similar to Russian and the vowel in American "roses", in ''zi'', ''ci'', ''si'', ''zhi'', ''chi'', ''shi'', ''ri'' ().
Phonologically, these syllables may be analyzed as having their own vowel phoneme, . However, it is possible to merge this with the phoneme (to which it is historically related), since the two are in
complementary distribution
In linguistics, complementary distribution, as distinct from contrastive distribution and free variation, is the relationship between two different elements of the same kind in which one element is found in one set of environments and the other ele ...
– provided that the is either left unmerged, or is merged with the
velars
Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth (known also as the velum).
Since the velar region of the roof of the mouth is relatively extensive an ...
rather than the retroflex or alveolar series. (That is, , , and all exist, but and do not exist, so there is no problem merging both and at the same time.)
Another approach is to regard the syllables assigned above to as having an (underlying) empty nuclear slot ("empty rhyme", Chinese ), i.e. as not containing a vowel phoneme at all. This is more consistent with the syllabic consonant description of these syllables, and is consistent with the view that phonological representations are minimal (underspecified). When this is the case, sometimes the phoneme is described as shifting from voiceless to voiced, e.g. ''sī'' becoming .
Syllabic consonants may also arise as a result of weak syllable reduction; see
below. Syllabic nasal consonants are also heard in certain
interjection
An interjection is a word or expression that occurs as an utterance on its own and expresses a spontaneous feeling or reaction. It is a diverse category, encompassing many different parts of speech, such as exclamations ''(ouch!'', ''wow!''), curse ...
s; pronunciations of such words include , , , , .
Vowels
![Beijing Mandarin diphthongs chart - part 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Beijing_Mandarin_diphthongs_chart_-_part_2.svg)
Standard Chinese can be analyzed as having between two to six vowel phonemes. (which may also be analyzed as underlying glides) are
high (close) vowels, is
mid whereas is
low (open).
The precise realization of each vowel depends on its phonetic environment. In particular, the vowel has two
broad allophones and (corresponding respectively to pinyin ''e'' and ''o'' in most cases). These sounds can be treated as a single underlying phoneme because they are in
complementary distribution
In linguistics, complementary distribution, as distinct from contrastive distribution and free variation, is the relationship between two different elements of the same kind in which one element is found in one set of environments and the other ele ...
. The mid vowel phoneme may also be treated as an underspecified vowel, attracting features either from the adjacent sounds or from default rules resulting in . (Apparent counterexamples are provided by certain
interjection
An interjection is a word or expression that occurs as an utterance on its own and expresses a spontaneous feeling or reaction. It is a diverse category, encompassing many different parts of speech, such as exclamations ''(ouch!'', ''wow!''), curse ...
s, such as , , , and , but these are normally treated as special cases operating outside the normal phonemic system.)
Transcriptions of the vowels'
allophone
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor '' phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in '' ...
s (the ways they are pronounced in particular phonetic environments) differ somewhat between sources. More details about the individual vowel allophones are given in the following table (not including the values that occur with the
rhotic coda).
Zhuyin
Bopomofo (), or Mandarin Phonetic Symbols, also named Zhuyin (), is a Chinese transliteration system for Mandarin Chinese and other related languages and dialects. More commonly used in Taiwanese Mandarin, it may also be used to transcribe ...
represents vowels differently from normal romanisation schemes, and as such is not displayed in the above table.
The vowel nuclei may be preceded by a glide , and may be followed by a coda . The various combinations of glide, vowel, and coda have different surface manifestations, as shown in the tables below. Any of the three positions may be empty, i.e. occupied by a null meta-phoneme .
Five vowel analysis (pinyin-based)
The following table provides a typical five vowel analysis according to and . In this analysis, the high vowels are fully phonemic and may form sequences with the nasal codas .
:
1 ''ü'' is written as ''u'' after ''j'', ''q'', or ''x'' (the phoneme never occurs in these positions)
:
2 ''uo'' is written as ''o'' after ''b'', ''p'', ''m'', or ''f''.
Two vowel analysis (bopomofo-based)
Some linguists prefer to reduce the number of vowel phonemes further (at the expense of including underlying glides in their systems).
Edwin G. Pulleyblank
Edwin George "Ted" Pulleyblank (August 7, 1922 – April 13, 2013) was a Canadian sinologist and professor at the University of British Columbia. He was known for his studies of the historical phonology of Chinese.
Life and career
Edwin G. ...
has proposed a system which includes underlying glides, but no vowels at all. More common are systems with two vowels; for example, in
Mantaro Hashimoto's system,
there are just two vowel nuclei, . In this analysis, the high vowels are analyzed as glides which surface as vowels before or .
Other notes
As a general rule, vowels in
open syllables (those which have no coda following the main vowel) are pronounced
long
Long may refer to:
Measurement
* Long, characteristic of something of great duration
* Long, characteristic of something of great length
* Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate
* Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...
, while others are pronounced short. This does not apply to weak syllables, in which all vowels are short.
In Standard Chinese, the vowels and
harmonize
In music, harmonization is the chordal accompaniment to a line or melody: "Using chords and melodies together, making harmony by stacking scale tones as triads".
A harmonized scale can be created by using each note of a musical scale as a ...
in backness with the coda. For , it is fronted before and backed before . For , it is fronted before and backed before .
Some native Mandarin speakers may pronounce , , and as , , and respectively in the
first or second tone.
Rhotic coda
Standard Chinese features syllables that end with a
rhotic coda . This feature, known in Chinese as ''
erhua
Erhua ( ); also called erization or rhotacization of syllable finals) is a phonological process that adds r-coloring or the "er" (注音:, common words: 、、) sound (transcribed in IPA as ) to syllables in spoken Mandarin Chinese. Erhuayin () i ...
'', is particularly characteristic of the
Beijing dialect
The Beijing dialect (), also known as Pekingese and Beijingese, is the prestige dialect of Mandarin spoken in the urban area of Beijing, China. It is the phonological basis of Standard Chinese, the official language in the People's Republic of ...
; many other dialects do not use it as much, and some not at all. It occurs in two cases:
#In a small number of independent words or
morpheme
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology.
In English, morphemes are often but not necessarily words. Morphemes that stand alone are ...
s pronounced or , written in pinyin as ''er'' (with some tone), such as ''èr'' "two", ''ěr'' "ear", and (
traditional
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
) ''ér'' "son".
#In syllables in which the rhotic coda is added as a
suffix to another morpheme. This suffix is represented by the character ("son"), to which meaning it is historically related, and in pinyin as ''r''. The suffix combines with the final sound of the syllable, and regular but complex sound changes occur as a result (described in detail under
erhua
Erhua ( ); also called erization or rhotacization of syllable finals) is a phonological process that adds r-coloring or the "er" (注音:, common words: 、、) sound (transcribed in IPA as ) to syllables in spoken Mandarin Chinese. Erhuayin () i ...
).
The ''r'' final is pronounced with a relatively lax tongue, and has been described as a "retroflex vowel".
In dialects that do not make use of the rhotic coda, it may be omitted in pronunciation, or in some cases a different word may be selected: for example, Beijing ''zhèr'' "here" and ''nàr'' "there" may be replaced by the synonyms ''zhèli'' and ''nàli''.
Syllables
Syllables in Standard Chinese have the maximal form (CG)V(X)
T, traditionally analysed as an "initial"
consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wi ...
C, a "final", and a
tone T. The final consists of a "medial" G (which may be one of the
glide
Glide may refer to:
* Gliding flight, to fly without thrust
Computing
*Glide API, a 3D graphics interface
*Glide OS, a web desktop
*Glide (software), an instant video messenger
*Glide, a molecular docking software by Schrödinger (company), Schr ...
s ), a
vowel
A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
V, and a
coda X, which may be one of . The vowel and coda may also be grouped as the "
rhyme", sometimes spelled "
rime
Rime may refer to:
*Rime ice, ice that forms when water droplets in fog freeze to the outer surfaces of objects, such as trees
Rime is also an alternative spelling of "rhyme" as a noun:
*Syllable rime, term used in the study of phonology in ling ...
". Any of C, G, and X (and V, in some analyses) may be absent. However, in some analyses, C cannot be absent, due to the zero initial being considered a consonant.
Many of the possible combinations under the above scheme do not actually occur. There are only some 35 final combinations (medial+rime) in actual syllables (see
pinyin finals). In all, there are only about 400 different syllables when tone is ignored, and about 1300 when tone is included. This is a far smaller number of distinct syllables than in a language such as English. Since Chinese syllables usually constitute whole words, or at least
morpheme
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology.
In English, morphemes are often but not necessarily words. Morphemes that stand alone are ...
s, the smallness of the syllable inventory results in large numbers of
homophone
A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (p ...
s. However, in Standard Chinese, the average word length is actually almost exactly two syllables, practically eliminating most homophony issues even when tone is disregarded, especially when context is taken into account as well. (Still, due to the limited phonetic inventory,
homophonic puns in Mandarin Chinese
Standard Chinese, like many Sinitic varieties, has a significant number of homophonous syllables and words due to its limited phonetic inventory. The Cihai dictionary lists 149 characters representing the syllable "yì". (However, modern Chi ...
are very common and important in
Chinese culture
Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...
.
)
For a list of all Standard Chinese syllables (excluding tone and rhotic coda) see the
pinyin table This pinyin table is a complete listing of all Hanyu Pinyin syllables used in Standard Chinese. Each syllable in a cell is composed of an initial (columns) and a final (rows). An empty cell indicates that the corresponding syllable does not exist in ...
or
zhuyin table
This Zhuyin table is a complete listing of all Zhuyin (Bopomofo) syllables used in the Republic of China (Taiwan) as auxiliary to Chinese language studies while in Mainland China an adaptation of the Latin alphabet is used to represent Chinese phon ...
.
Full and weak syllables
Syllables can be classified as ''full'' (or ''strong''), and ''weak''. Weak syllables are usually
grammatical markers such as ''le'', or the second syllables of some compound words (although many other compounds consist of two or more full syllables).
A full syllable carries one of the four main
tones, and some degree of
stress
Stress may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition
* Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
. Weak syllables are
unstressed, and have
neutral tone
This article summarizes the phonology (the sound system, or in more general terms, the pronunciation) of Standard Chinese (Standard Mandarin).
Standard Chinese phonology is based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. Actual production varies wide ...
. The contrast between full and weak syllables is distinctive; there are many
minimal pair
In phonology, minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, spoken or signed, that differ in only one phonological element, such as a phoneme, toneme or chroneme, and have distinct meanings. They are used to demonstrate ...
s such as ''yàoshì'' "important matter" and ''yàoshi'' "key", or ''dàyì'' "main idea" and (with the same characters) ''dàyi'' "careless", the second word in each case having a weak second syllable. Some linguists consider this contrast to be primarily one of stress, while others regard it as one of tone. For further discussion, see under
Neutral tone
This article summarizes the phonology (the sound system, or in more general terms, the pronunciation) of Standard Chinese (Standard Mandarin).
Standard Chinese phonology is based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. Actual production varies wide ...
and
Stress
Stress may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition
* Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
, below.
There is also a difference in syllable length. Full syllables can be analyzed as having two
mora
Mora may refer to:
People
* Mora (surname)
Places Sweden
* Mora, Säter, Sweden
* Mora, Sweden, the seat of Mora Municipality
* Mora Municipality, Sweden
United States
* Mora, Louisiana, an unincorporated community
* Mora, Minnesota, a city
* M ...
e ("heavy"), the vowel being lengthened if there is no coda. Weak syllables, however, have a single mora ("light"), and are pronounced approximately 50% shorter than full syllables. Any weak syllable will usually be an instance of the same
morpheme
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology.
In English, morphemes are often but not necessarily words. Morphemes that stand alone are ...
(and written with the same character) as some corresponding strong syllable; the weak form will often have a modified pronunciation, however, as detailed in the following section.
Syllable reduction
Apart from differences in tone, length, and stress, weak syllables are subject to certain other pronunciation changes (reduction).
*If a weak syllable begins with an unaspirated
obstruent (/p, t, k, t͡s, t͡ʂ, t͡ʃ, t͡ɕ/), that consonant may become
voiced
Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced.
The term, however, is used to refer ...
(/b, d, g, d͡z, d͡ʐ, d͡ʒ, d͡ʑ/ respectively). For example, in ''zuǐba'' ("mouth"), the second syllable is likely to begin with a sound, rather than an unaspirated .
*The vowel of a weak syllable is often
reduced, becoming more central. For example, in the word ''zuǐba'' just mentioned, the final vowel may become a
schwa .
*The coda (final consonant or offglide) of a weak syllable is often dropped (this is linked to the shorter, single-mora nature of weak syllables, as referred to above). If the dropped coda was a nasal consonant, the vowel may be
nasalized
In phonetics, nasalization (or nasalisation) is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered, so that some air escapes through the nose during the production of the sound by the mouth. An archetypal nasal sound is .
In the Internationa ...
. For example, ''nǎodai'' ("head") may end with a monophthong rather than a diphthong, and ''chūntian'' ("spring") may end with a centralized and nasalized vowel .
*In some cases, the vowel may be dropped altogether. This may occur, particularly with high vowels ''i, u, ü'', when the unstressed syllable begins with a fricative ''f, h, sh, r, x, s'' or an aspirated ''p, t, k, q, ch, c'' consonant; for example, ''dòufu'' ("tofu") may be said as ''dòu-f'', and ''wènti'' ("question") as ''wèn-t'' (the remaining initial consonant is pronounced as a
syllabic consonant). The same may even occur in full syllables that have low ("half-third") tone. The vowel (and coda) may also be dropped after a nasal, in such words as ''wǒmen'' ("we") and ''shénme'' ("what"), which may be said as ''wǒm'' and ''shém'' – these are examples of the merger of two syllables into one, which occurs in a variety of situations in
connected speech
In linguistics, connected speech or connected discourse is a continuous sequence of sounds forming utterances or conversations in spoken language. Analysis of connected speech shows sound changes affecting linguistic units traditionally described ...
.
The example of ''shénme → shém'' also involves
assimilation, which is heard even in unreduced syllables in quick speech (for example, in ''guǎmbō'' for ''guǎngbō'' "broadcast"). A particular case of assimilation is that of the sentence-final exclamatory particle ''a'', a weak syllable, which has different characters for its assimilated forms:
Tones
![Mandarin_Tone_Contours_(Taipei_Standard)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Mandarin_Tone_Contours_%28Taipei_Standard%29.png)
Standard Chinese, like all
varieties of Chinese
Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of ma ...
, is
tonal. This means that in addition to consonants and vowels, the pitch contour of a syllable is used to distinguish words from each other. Many non-native Chinese speakers have difficulties mastering the tones of each character, but correct tonal pronunciation is essential for intelligibility because of the vast number of words in the language that only differ by tone (i.e. are
minimal pair
In phonology, minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, spoken or signed, that differ in only one phonological element, such as a phoneme, toneme or chroneme, and have distinct meanings. They are used to demonstrate ...
s with respect to tone). Statistically, tones are as important as vowels in Standard Chinese.
The following table shows the four main tones of Standard Chinese, together with the neutral (or fifth) tone. To describe the pitch of the tones, its representation on a five-level scale is used, visualized with Chao
tone letters. The values of the pitch for each tone described by Chao are traditionally considered standard, however slight regional and idiolectal variations in tone pronunciation also occur.
The Chinese names of the main four tones are respectively ''yīnpíng'' ("dark level"), ''yángpíng'' ("light level"), ''shǎng'' or ''shàng'' ("rising"), and ''qù'' ("departing"). As descriptions, they apply rather to the predecessor Middle Chinese tones than to the modern tones; see
below.
Most
romanization systems, including pinyin, represent the tones as
diacritic
A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacriti ...
s on the vowels (as does
zhuyin
Bopomofo (), or Mandarin Phonetic Symbols, also named Zhuyin (), is a Chinese transliteration system for Mandarin Chinese and other related languages and dialects. More commonly used in Taiwanese Mandarin, it may also be used to transcribe ...
), although some, like
Wade–Giles
Wade–Giles () is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Francis Wade, during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert A. Giles's '' Chinese–English Dictionary'' o ...
, use
superscript numbers at the end of each syllable. The tone marks and numbers are rarely used outside of language
textbook
A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbook ...
s: in particular, they are usually absent in public signs, company logos, and so forth.
Gwoyeu Romatzyh is a rare example of a system where tones are represented using normal letters of the alphabet (although without a one-to-one correspondence).
First tone
First tone is a high-level tone. It is a steady high sound, produced as if it were being sung instead of spoken. Its pitch is usually 55 or 44, at the same level where the fourth tone starts, or a little lower. Occasionally, slightly rising or falling high pitch ( 54 or 45) is also possible.
In a few syllables, the quality of the vowel is changed when it carries first tone; see the
vowel table above.
Second tone
Second tone is a rising tone. It is usually described as a high-rising ( 35), with the sound that rises from middle to high pitch (like in the English "What?!"). It starts at around 3 or 2 pitch level, and then rises towards the level of the first tone pitch (5 or 4).
It may also start with a falling or flat segment, which is quite short in male speakers (a quarter of the total second tone length), but longer in female speakers, reaching nearly half of the total length of the second tone. This initial dip is more apparent in Southern China Mandarin accent, including Standard
Taiwanese Mandarin
Taiwanese Mandarin, ''Guoyu'' ( zh, s=, t=國語, p=Guóyǔ, l=National Language, first=t) or ''Huayu'' ( zh, s=, t=華語, p=Huáyǔ, first=t, l=Mandarin Language, labels=no) refers to Mandarin Chinese spoken in Taiwan. A large majority of the T ...
, where the second tone is also lower and alternatively described as dipping or low-rising with overall contour of 323 (its start is still slightly lower than its final pitch).
This tone is usually one of the most difficult to master for Mandarin learners, as well as the speakers of non-Mandarin Chinese varieties, who often pronounce their second tone close to (full) third tone, especially in the word-final position before a pause.
Third tone
Third tone is a low tone. It is also often termed a "dipping tone".
This tone is often demonstrated as having a rise in pitch after the low fall; however, third tone syllables that include the rise are significantly longer than other syllables. When a third-tone syllable is not said in isolation, this rise is normally heard only if it appears at the end of a sentence or before a pause, and then usually only on stressed monosyllables. The third tone without the rise is sometimes called ''half third tone''.
The overall pitch contour of the third tone is traditionally described as 214, but for modern Standard Chinese speakers, the rise, if present, is not that high. The third tone starts lower or around the starting point for the second tone. In Beijing, its value inclines to 213 or 212, while in Taiwan it is usually 312 (Taiwanese Standard Chinese speakers also tend to never pronounce the rising part in any context). Unlike the other tones, third tone is pronounced with
breathiness or murmur.
Two consecutive third tones are avoided by changing the first to second tone; see below.
Fourth tone
Fourth tone is a falling tone. It features a sharp fall from high to lower pitch (as is heard in curt commands in English, such as "Stop!").
It starts at the same pitch level or higher than the first tone, and then drops to the pitch 1 or 2. In connected speech, when followed by syllables with other full tones, it tends to fall only from high to mid-level. Similarly to the third tone, the final part is only pronounced before a pause or an unstressed syllable. Two consecutive fourth tones are pronounced in a zigzag pattern, with the first one higher, and the second one lower (˥˧ 53 - ˦˩ 41).
Neutral tone
![Mandarin_Tone_Contours_(Neutral)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Mandarin_Tone_Contours_%28Neutral%29.png)
Also called fifth tone or zeroth tone (in Chinese , literal meaning: "light tone"), the neutral tone is sometimes thought of as a lack of tone. It is associated with
weak syllables, which are generally somewhat shorter than tonic syllables.
In Standard Chinese, about 15-20% of the syllables in written texts are considered unstressed, including certain suffixes, clitics, and particles. Second syllables of some disyllabic words are also unstressed in Northern Mandarin accents, but many Mandarin speakers in Southern China tend to preserve their inherent tone.
The pitch of a syllable with neutral tone is determined by the tone of the preceding syllable. Chao (1968) considered the neutral tone syllables to not have pitch contour. He introduced special dotted tone letters to denote its pitch. Later studies, however, found that the neutral tone syllables do have pitch contour. The following table shows the pitch at which the neutral tone is pronounced in Standard Chinese after each of the four main tones. For contoured pitch analysis, first column shows the pitch contour directly after the full tone syllable, and second column shows the pitch contour after another neutral tone syllable.
Although the contrast between
weak and full syllables is often distinctive, the neutral tone is often not described as a full-fledged tone; some linguists feel that it results from a "spreading out" of the tone on the preceding syllable. This idea is appealing because without it, the neutral tone needs relatively complex
tone sandhi
Tone sandhi is a phonological change occurring in tonal languages, in which the tones assigned to individual words or morphemes change based on the pronunciation of adjacent words or morphemes.
It usually simplifies a bidirectional tone into a ...
rules to be made sense of; indeed, it would have to have four
allotone
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor '' phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in '' ...
s, one for each of the four tones that could precede it. However, the "spreading" theory incompletely characterizes the neutral tone, especially in sequences where more than one neutral-tone syllable is found adjacent. In
Modern Standard Mandarin as applied in ''
A Dictionary of Current Chinese
''Xiandai Hanyu Cidian'' (), also known as ''A Dictionary of Current Chinese'' or ''Contemporary Chinese Dictionary'' is an important one-volume dictionary of Standard Mandarin Chinese published by the Commercial Press, now into its 7th (2016) ed ...
'', the second syllable of words with a 'toneless final syllable variant' (重·次輕詞語) can be read with either a neutral tone or with the normal tone.
Relationship between Middle Chinese and modern tones
The
four tones of Middle Chinese are not in one-to-one correspondence with the modern tones. The following table shows the development of the traditional tones as reflected in modern Standard Chinese. The development of each tone depends on the initial consonant of the syllable: whether it was a
voiceless
In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies ...
consonant (denoted in the table by v−), a voiced
obstruent (v+), or a
sonorant (s). (The voiced–voiceless distinction has been lost in modern Standard Chinese.)
Tone sandhi
Pronunciation also varies with context according to the rules of
tone sandhi
Tone sandhi is a phonological change occurring in tonal languages, in which the tones assigned to individual words or morphemes change based on the pronunciation of adjacent words or morphemes.
It usually simplifies a bidirectional tone into a ...
. Some such changes have been noted above in the descriptions of the individual tones; however, the most prominent phenomena of this kind relate to consecutive sequences of third-tone syllables. There are also a few common words that have variable tone.
Third tone sandhi
The principal rule of third tone sandhi is:
*When there are two consecutive third-tone syllables, the first of them is pronounced with second tone.
For example, ''lǎoshǔ'' 老鼠 ("mouse") is pronounced as if it were ''láoshǔ''. It has been investigated whether the rising contour () on the prior syllable is in fact identical to a normal second tone. It has been concluded that it is identical at least in terms of auditory perception.
When there are three or more third tones in a row, the situation becomes more complicated since a third tone that precedes a second tone resulting from third tone sandhi may or may not be subject to sandhi itself. The results may depend on word boundaries, stress, and dialectal variations. General rules for three-syllable third-tone combinations can be formulated as follows:
# If the first word is two syllables and the second word is one syllable, the first two syllables become second tones. For example, ''bǎoguǎn hǎo'' 保管好 ("to take good care of") is pronounced ''báoguán hǎo'' .
# If the first word has one syllable, and the second word has two syllables, the second syllable becomes second tone, but the first syllable remains third tone. For example, ''lǎo bǎoguǎn'' 老保管 ("to take care of all the time") is pronounced ''lǎo báoguǎn'' .
Some linguists have put forward more comprehensive systems of sandhi rules for multiple third tone sequences. For example, it has been proposed that modifications are applied cyclically, initially within rhythmic feet (trochees; see
below) and that sandhi "need not apply between two cyclic branches".
Tones on special syllables
Special rules apply to the tones heard on the words (or
morpheme
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology.
In English, morphemes are often but not necessarily words. Morphemes that stand alone are ...
s) ''bù'' ("not") and ''yī'' ("one").
For ''bù'':
# is pronounced with second tone when followed by a fourth tone syllable.
#: Example: (''bù''+''shì'', "to not be") becomes ''búshì''
# In other cases, is pronounced with fourth tone. However, when used between words in an
A-not-A question, it may become neutral in tone (e.g., ''shìbushì'').
For ''yī'':
# is pronounced with second tone when followed by a fourth tone syllable.
#: Example: (''yī''+''dìng'', "must") becomes ''yídìng''
# Before a first, second or third tone syllable, 一 is pronounced with fourth tone.
#: Examples: (''yī''+''tiān'', "one day") becomes ''yìtiān'' , (''yī''+''nián'', "one year") becomes ''yìnián'' , (''yī''+''qǐ'', "together") becomes ''yìqǐ'' .
# When final, or when it comes at the end of a multi-syllable word (regardless of the first tone of the next word), is pronounced with first tone. It also has first tone when used as an
ordinal number (or part of one), and when it is immediately followed by any digit (including another ; hence ''both'' syllables of the word ''yīyī'' and its compounds have first tone).
# When is used between two reduplicated words, it may become neutral in tone (e.g. ''kànyikàn'' ("to take a look of")).
The numbers ''qī'' ("seven") and ''bā'' ("eight") sometimes display similar tonal behavior as ''yī'', but for most modern speakers they are always pronounced with first tone. (All of these numbers, and ''bù'', were historically Ru tones, and as noted
above, that tone does not have predictable reflexes in modern Chinese; this may account for the variation in tone on these words.)
Stress, rhythm and intonation
Stress
Stress may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition
* Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
within words (''word stress'') is not felt strongly by Chinese speakers, although ''contrastive stress'' is perceived easily (and functions much the same as in other languages). One of the reasons for the weaker perception of stress in Chinese may be that variations in the
fundamental frequency
The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the ''fundamental'', is defined as the lowest frequency of a periodic waveform. In music, the fundamental is the musical pitch of a note that is perceived as the lowest partial present. I ...
of speech, which in many other languages serve as a cue for stress, are used in Chinese primarily to realize the
tones. Nonetheless, there is still a link between stress and pitch – the ''range'' of pitch variation (for a given tone) has been observed to be greater on syllables that carry more stress.
As discussed above,
weak syllables have neutral tone and are unstressed. Although this property can be contrastive, the contrast is interpreted by some as being primarily one of tone rather than stress. (Some linguists analyze Chinese as lacking word stress entirely.)
Apart from this contrast between full and weak syllables, some linguists have also identified differences in levels of stress among full syllables. In some descriptions, a multi-syllable word or compound is said to have the strongest stress on the final syllable, and the next strongest generally on the first syllable. Others, however, reject this analysis, noting that the apparent final-syllable stress can be ascribed purely to natural lengthening of the final syllable of a phrase, and disappears when a word is pronounced within a sentence rather than in isolation. San Duanmu takes this view, and concludes that it is the first syllable that is most strongly stressed. He also notes a tendency for Chinese to produce
trochee
In English poetic metre and modern linguistics, a trochee () is a metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one. But in Latin and Ancient Greek poetic metre, a trochee is a heavy syllable followed by a light one ( ...
s –
feet
The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...
consisting of a stressed syllable followed by one (or in this case sometimes more) unstressed syllables. On this view, if the effect of "final-lengthening" is factored out:
* In words (compounds) of two syllables, the first syllable has the main stress, and the second lacks stress.
* In words (compounds) of three syllables, the first syllable is stressed most strongly, the second lacks stress, and the third may lack stress or have
secondary stress
Secondary stress (or obsolete: secondary accent) is the weaker of two degrees of Stress (linguistics), stress in the pronunciation of a word, the stronger degree of stress being called ''primary''. The International Phonetic Alphabet symbol for ...
.
* In words (compounds) of four syllables, the first syllable is stressed most strongly, the second lacks stress, and the third or fourth may lack stress or have secondary stress depending on the
syntactic structure of the compound.
The positions described here as lacking stress are the positions in which weak (neutral-tone) syllables may occur, although full syllables frequently occur in these positions also.
There is a strong tendency for Chinese prose to employ four-syllable 'prosodic words' consisting of alternating stressed and unstressed syllables which are further subdivided into two trochaic feet. This structure, sometimes known as a 'four-character template' (四字格), is particularly prevalent in ''
chengyu'', which are classical idioms that are usually four characters in length. Statistical analysis of ''chengyu'' and other idiomatic phrases in vernacular texts indicates that the four-syllable prosodic word had become an important metrical consideration by the Wei/Jin dynasties (4th century CE).
This preference for trochaic feet may even result in polysyllabic words in which the foot and word (morpheme) boundaries do not align. For example, 'Czechoslovakia' is stressed as
捷克/
斯洛
/伐克 and 'Yugoslavia' is stressed as
南斯
/拉夫, even though the morpheme boundaries are 捷克/斯洛伐克 'Czech
slovak
a and 南/斯拉夫 'South/slav
a, respectively. The preferred stress pattern also has a complex effect on
tone sandhi
Tone sandhi is a phonological change occurring in tonal languages, in which the tones assigned to individual words or morphemes change based on the pronunciation of adjacent words or morphemes.
It usually simplifies a bidirectional tone into a ...
for the various Chinese dialects.
This preference for a trochaic metrical structure is also cited as a reason for certain phenomena of word order variation within complex compounds, and for the strong tendency to use disyllabic words rather than monosyllables in certain positions. Many Chinese monosyllables have alternative disyllabic forms with virtually identical meaning – see .
Another function of voice pitch is to carry
intonation. Chinese makes frequent use of
particle
In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass.
They vary greatly in size or quantity, from ...
s to express certain meanings such as doubt, query, command, etc., reducing the need to use intonation. However, intonation is still present in Chinese (expressing meanings rather similarly as in standard English), although there are varying analyses of how it interacts with the lexical tones. Some linguists describe an additional intonation rise or fall at the end of the last syllable of an utterance, while others have found that the pitch of the entire utterance is raised or lowered according to the desired intonational meaning.
Notes
References
Citations
Works cited
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinese Phonology
Phonology
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
Sino-Tibetan phonologies