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2. Tone Practice

Introduction
Tone changes (sandhi)
Spellings used
Citation Tones
Tone sandhi
Sandhi in 1st tone
Sandhi in 2nd tone
Sandhi in 3rd tone + Review
Sandhi in 5th tone
Sandhi in 7th tone
Sandhi plus 5th tone
Sandhi plus 4th and 8th tones
Sandhi in 4th and 8th (p/t/k)
Sandhi in 4th and 8th (h)
Patterned Tone Mixing
Extra Practice

Southern Min has eight tones. The 6th tone is pronounced the same way as the 2nd tone, so we can count a total of 7 tonal contours. These seven tones will be represented in the first two romanizations. For the sake of simplicity for beginners and ease of use, I have simplified this into 4 tones: high, falling, rising, and low. All seven tones are distinguished with the use of three marks: acute accent, grave accent, and an underline. Two tones are high without any accent mark; one tone is rising; one tone is falling; and three tones are low, which are marked with an underline, among which one is also a falling tone. The beginner should not find too much difficulty being understood if the three low tones are pronounced in the same way. The use of these four tones will also facilitate remembering the tone changes that occur.

Many people find Taiwanese tones difficult to learn at first because of the many tone changes. With the right amount of practice, you should be able to get familiar with these changes. The tone changes will be introduced in the second half of this section. To make it easier, the pinyin romanization in the lessons has the tone and pronunciation changes written for you. Tone changes are not usually written in romanized Taiwanese for a couple reasons. People who are familiar with spelling recognize words by the way they are spelled including the tone marks, and native speakers can easily change the tones correctly due to habit. Another reason is that the original tones (citation tones) are frequently used and these spellings provide the meanings of words. It is best to get a feeling for how the tones change naturally.

You may refer to the tone tutorial and tone data for Southern Min dialects for more information. In compound words and phrases, all tones but the last undergo a tone change. There are two spellings used in this tutorial. The traditional spelling is always given first and this tone page is spelled with the traditional method, although later in the site, I use numbers only. The pinyin spelling I use at this site is the second romanization in the lessons, and I use tone markings that resemble what the tones sound like, so this may be easier to read. First, let's introduce the seven tones and their pronunciations:

  • First tone: same as Mandarin, high and flat, no tone mark written. Corresponds to Mandarin and Cantonese 1st tone.
  • Second tone: similar to Mandarin 4th, high and falling. Corresponds to Mandarin 3rd tone and Cantonese 2nd tone. Traditional spelling uses "á" which I write as "a2" in the lessons, my pinyin spelling uses "à"
  • Third tone: low and falling. Corresponds to Mandarin 4th tone and Cantonese 3rd tone. Traditional spelling uses "à" which I write as "a3" in the lessons, my pinyin spelling uses "à"
  • Fourth tone: low and short and always followed by a stop consonant. Corresponds to some Mandarin 2nd & 4th tones, all Cantonese 7th and 8th tones. No tone mark written in traditional spelling and I use "ap4" in the lessons. For pinyin spelling I use "ap"
  • Fifth tone: low and rising, similar to Taiwanese Mandarin 2nd. Corresponds to Mandarin 2nd tone and Cantonese 4th tone. Traditional spelling uses "â" which I write as "a5", for pinyin I use "á"
  • Sixth tone: same as 2nd tone. Includes words with traditionally voiced consonants, corresponds to Cantonese 5th tone.
  • Seventh tone: low and flat. Corresponds to Mandarin 4th tone and Cantonese 6th tone. Traditional spelling uses "ā" which I write as "a" on this page and as "a7" in the lessons. For pinyin I use "a"
  • Eighth tone: high and short and always followed by a stop consonant. Corresponds to Cantonese 9th tone. Traditional spelling uses "a̍p" which I write as "ap8" in the lessons. For pinyin I use high tone "ap"

Here's a table for comparison:

Tone Traditional This page Lessons
(Traditional) 		Lessons
(Pinyin) 		Contour
1 a a a1 a high flat
2 á á a2 à falling
3 à à a3 à low falling
4 ap ap ap4 ap short low
5 â â a5 á rising
7 ā a a7 a low flat
8 a̍p ap ap8 ap short high

Practice the following words in each of the tones:

Tone 1: hi
? 		si
? 		tong
? 		the
?
Tone 2: hí
? 		sí
? 		tóng
? 		thé
?
Tone 3: hì
? 		sì
? 		tòng
? 		thè
?
Tone 4: hap
? 		tiah
? 		sit
? 		sek
? 		ioh
?
Tone 5: hî
? 		sî
? 		iû
? 		hân
? 		sêng
?
Tone 7: tsia
? 		liau
? 		li
? 		la
? 		uan
?
Tone 8: hap
? 		tiah
? 		sit
? 		sek
? 		ioh
?

Tone Sandhi: Note the following tone changes (citation tones on left, sandhi tones on right, or refer to the tone tutorial at this site):

  • High tone becomes mid tone (1 → 7)
  • Rising tone becomes mid tone (5 → 7)
  • Falling tone becomes high tone (2 → 1)
  • Low falling becomes falling tone (3 → 2)
  • Mid tone becomes low falling (7 → 3)
  • Short low+p/t/k becomes short high (4 → 8)
  • Short high+p/t/k becomes short low (8 → 4)
  • Short low+h becomes falling tone (4 → 2)
  • Short high+h becomes low tone (8 → 3)

Here is a chart that makes it easier to understand:

First practice with different combinations of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd tones.The following two-syllable words start with first tone. The first tone changes to 7th (low flat). Listen and practice:

Practice: keng-tsio
?? 		tsin-tsu
?? 		hong-tshue
?? 		hong-thai
?? 		tshian-tshiu
??
Practice: hue-khan
?? 		h?-tsio
?? 		hui-ki
?? 		kang-hu
?? 		tshin-hue
??
Practice: thian-tsai
?? 		hiun-k?
?? 		tsham-tshi
?? 		tshiu-thin
??

The following two-syllable words start with 2nd tone which changes to 1st tone. Listen and practice:

Practice: khí-kang
?? 		sí-si
?? 		káu-kang
?? 		áu-khiau
?? 		pái-kha
??
Practice: í-au
?? 		hí-su
?? 		hú-pai
?? 		ú-tiu
?? 		piáu-si
??
Practice: hí-aì
?? 		tháu-pàng
?? 		pá-hì
?? 		pí-kàu
?? 		kháu-khì
??

Review by practicing the following.

Practice: sàn-sàn
?? 		sán-sán
?? 		thiàn-thàng
?? 		kha-tòng
?? 		sè-san
??
Practice: sì-ki
?? 		sé-hàn
?? 		thau lim
??

Now try a 5th tone which acts the same as a 1st tone. The following two-syllable words start with 5th or 1st tone which change to 7th tone. Listen and practice:

Practice: hî-kau
?? 		khai-siau
?? 		sî-ki
?? 		ta-sang
?? 		su-khia
??
Practice: i-ti
?? 		sai-hu
?? 		khai-pan
?? 		si-tai
?? 		khi-hu??
Practice: thî-khau
?? 		phî-khì
?? 		kha-siàu
?? 		si-kù
?? 		sai-sì
??

Now let's practice 7th tone. The following two-syllable words start with 7th tone which changes to 3rd tone. Listen and practice:

Practice: hau-kang
?? 		au-kha
?? 		u-siau
?? 		hu-tam
?? 		pa-kang
??
Practice: su-au
?? 		au-tai
?? 		tiam-tiam
?? 		pan-su
?? 		pi-pan
??
Practice: siu-khì
?? 		au-sì
?? 		tai-khài
?? 		hau-sià
?? 		tai-sài
??

Now let's practice 5th tone in second position. The first group starts with 2nd tone which changes to 1st tone. The second group starts with 3rd tone which changes to 2nd tone. The next two groups start with 7th tone which changes to 3rd tone. The next 3 groups start with 1st or 5th tone which change to 7th tone. Listen and practice:

Practice: tsúi-tî
?? 		hó-lâng
?? 		kháu-khîm
?? 		lí-iû
?? 		tsiú-lâu
??
Practice: àm-sî
?? 		lòng-kiû
khì-iû
?? 		siàu-liân
?? 		tshùi-tûn
??
Practice: tian-tî
?? 		bang-kiû
?? 		au-lâi
?? 		u-êng
?? 		su-tsêng
??
Practice: tau-iû
?? 		hian-sî
?? 		tua-lâng
?? 		kin-lâi
?? 		su-lîm
??
Practice: Tâi-uân
?? 		ka-têng
?? 		tang-sî
?? 		po-lê
?? 		suî-sî
??
Practice: ông-lâi
?? 		sio-thâi
? 		tshia-thâu
?? 		Ke-lâng
?? 		kau-puê
??
Practice: bô-êng
?? 		sin-bûn
?? 		pêng-siông
?? 		pang-kiû
?? 		leng-gû
??

Now let's practice 4th and 8th tones in second position. Listen and practice:

Practice: hái-kap háng-huah kái-kuat kuán-hat lé-huat
Practice: hî-pih huê-tap iau-huat khui-khuah ku-khak
Practice: au-piah hau-huat lai-kak ku-huat e-kak
Practice: khí-thiap pé-pak hó-thak thé-lat láu-sit
Practice: kha-tah hô-hiap kho-hak la-puah i-hak
Practice: liam-thak u-lat tai-hak loan-tah lau-siap

Now let's practice 4th and 8th tones ending in p/t/k in first position. 4th tone becomes 8th tone and 8th tone becomes 4th tone (swapping high and low). Listen and practice:

Practice: tit-tit sit-sit sek-sek siap-siap lak-tsiah

Now let's practice 4th and 8th tones ending in -h in first position. 4th tone becomes 2nd tone and 8th tone becomes a low flat tone, similar to 7th but lower. Listen and practice:

Practice: sioh-sioh tsioh-mih ke-piah tsioh-to
Practice: peh-peh tsiah-toh

Observe how in each row below the first syllable's tone is pronounced the same. Listen and practice:

Practice: tsioh-to tsiò-to toh-kha tò-kha tò-khau
Practice: tsioh-toh tsiò-toh tsioh-pit phuè-kip tò-siak
Practice: tsiah-toh tsiah-lé tsioh-toh lah-pit lah-tsek
Practice: tsiah-kiun sia-lé liah-ku lah-tiâu lai-to

Extra practice:

Practice: tang-tàn tak-lit liah-tshat phah-lah huat-lut

Lessons 1-145

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