Beijing dialect has 4 basic tones, usually called 1st,2nd,3rd and 4th tone. When a syllable is pronounced in different tones , it has different meaning.
1st Tone - neutral tone is pronounced with no fluctuation in the pitch
2nd Tone - High tone is pronounced with high pitch . It goes from low to high.
3rd Tone - It a wave. High-low-high
4th Tone - Falling Tone. High- low
Please see the picture below to understand the tones.
When a syllable contains only a single vowel, the tone graph is placed above it. If the vowel is " i " , we remove the dot over " i " and place the tone graph above it.
If the final is a compound vowel we place the tone graph above the main element.
Please hear the audio file for better understanding.
Changes in 3rd tone
When a 3rd tone is followed by any other tone except another 3rd tone, it changes into a rising tone and a 3rd tone .
When a 3rd tone is followed by any other tone except 3rd tone , it changes into a falling tone and a 3rd tone.
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