Register  Login  Active Topics  Maps  

Tone Question

  Tags: Phonetics | Mandarin
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages Post Reply
ScottScheule
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
scheule.blogspot.com
Joined 5229 days ago

645 posts - 1176 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Latin, Hungarian, Biblical Hebrew, Old English, Russian, Swedish, German, Italian, French

 
 Message 1 of 3
11 September 2013 at 3:20pm | IP Logged 
The tones in this exercise are said to be 4 and 2, but for the life of me it sounds like 4 and 3. Does it sound that way to a native speaker, or at least, somewhat ambiguous?

http://mandarin.about.com/library/audio/tone_exercises/4-12. mp3
1 person has voted this message useful



vermillon
Triglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4679 days ago

602 posts - 1042 votes 
Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, Mandarin
Studies: Japanese, German

 
 Message 2 of 3
11 September 2013 at 4:09pm | IP Logged 
Well, I would say it is a very low 2nd tone, and usually the 3rd tone is realised as "a low tone", so it's a bit confusing, indeed.

However, strictly technically speaking, here's the pitch contour of the sound file:

We can see very clearly the 4th tone, but the 2nd tone is a very very gentle rise.

edit: The initial drop in the second syllable is just because the consonant is perceived as having a high pitch (normal as it is an affricate), it's not actually a vowel pitch drop.

Edited by vermillon on 11 September 2013 at 4:11pm

6 persons have voted this message useful



ScottScheule
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
scheule.blogspot.com
Joined 5229 days ago

645 posts - 1176 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Latin, Hungarian, Biblical Hebrew, Old English, Russian, Swedish, German, Italian, French

 
 Message 3 of 3
11 September 2013 at 4:15pm | IP Logged 
Vermillon, thanks! That's immensely helpful.


1 person has voted this message useful



If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register


Post ReplyPost New Topic Printable version Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page was generated in 0.1563 seconds.


DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization.