Mandarin Chinese

Learning Mandarin Chinese

A Step-by-Step Guide by Qiu Gui Su, About.com Guide

Begin your study of Mandarin Chinese with the four tones. These are the cornerstones to good pronunciation, and once you ha e mastered them, e erything e!se wi!! fa!! in p!ace. There are four Mandarin tones - high and !e e!" rising" fa!!ing and rising" and fa!!ing. A sy!!ab!e #s!og$ ta%es its meaning from both the sound and tone. &or e'amp!e, the sy!!ab!e (ma( can mean (horse,( (mother,( (sco!d,( or (hemp( depending on which tone is used.

1. The Four Mandarin Tones:

Mandarin Chinese is a tona! !anguage. The way a word or sy!!ab!e is pronounced changes its meaning. Mastery of the four Mandarin tones is the essentia! first step to !earning this !anguage. )ou must be ab!e to pronounce and discern the four Mandarin tones.

Understanding Mandarin Tones

The Mandarin Tone System: The Mandarin !anguage has a fundamenta! difference from *estern !anguages+ it is tona!. Tones are one of the biggest cha!!enges for Mandarin !earners, but their mastery is essentia!. ,ncorrect tones can ma%e your spo%en Mandarin difficu!t or impossib!e to understand, but using the correct tones wi!! a!!ow you to e'press yourse!f c!ear!y. Mandarin tones are especia!!y difficu!t for spea%ers of *estern !anguages. -ng!ish, for e'amp!e, uses tones for inf!ection #promena$, but this is a ery different usage from Mandarin. .ising tones in -ng!ish often imp!y a /uestion or sarcasm. &a!!ing tones may be used for emphasis #nag!a0a an1e$. Changing the tones of a Mandarin sentence, though, cou!d comp!ete!y change the meaning. 2et3s ta%e an e'amp!e. Suppose you are reading a boo% and your brother #or sister or chi!d$ %eeps on interrupting you. )ou are !i%e!y to become e'asperated and say 4,3m trying to read a boo%56 ,n -ng!ish, this wou!d be said with an emphatic fa!!ing tone at the end. But if you use a fa!!ing tone in Mandarin, the meaning comp!ete!y changes. W yo kn sh = I ant to read a !ook. W yo k"n sh# = I ant to $ut trees% The second ersion of this sentence wou!d ha e your !isteners scratching their heads. So practice your tones5 They are essentia! for spea%ing and understanding Mandarin.

Page 7

Mandarin Chinese

Introducing the Four Tones

The Four Tones o& Mandarin: Mandarin uses four tones to c!arify the meanings of words. Since many characters ha e the same sound, tones are used to differentiate words from each other. The four tones in Mandarin are+ high !e e! 8 first tone rising 8 second tone fa!!ing rising 8 third tone fa!!ing 8 fourth tone 9inyin uses either numbers or tone mar%s to indicate the tones. :ere is the word ;ma3 with tone mar%s+ &irst tone+ Second tone+ Third tone+ &ourth tone+ ma7 or m< ma= or m> ma? or m@ maA or mB

The tones are used to determine the meaning of a Mandarin word. So m@ #horse$ is ery different from m< #mother$. *hen !earning new ocabu!ary you must practice both the pronunciation of the word and its tone. The wrong tones can change the meaning of your sentences. 9inyin Chinese Character m< m> m@ mB Meaning mother hemp #%onop!1a$ horse sco!d #grditi$

The tones must be practiced indi idua!!y as we!! as in combination with other tones555 &irst and Second Tones p< p> d< d> m<o m>o tC tD %<ng %>ng mEn mFn &irst and Third Tones m<o m@o fEi fGi !< !@ !Ei !Gi guC guH t< t@ &irst and &ourth Tones %<i %Bi m< mB b< bB n< nB guC guI /i<n /iBn

Page =

Mandarin Chinese

Second and &irst Tones t>i t<i m>o m<o p> p< b> b< %F %E dJ dK Third and &irst Tones h@n h<n t@n t<n tMu tQu f@ f< s@n s<n wGi wEi

Second and Third Tones gF gG guD guH gLu gMu bJ bN shD shH fJ fN Third and Second Tones rG rF t@o t>o gG gF b@i b>i n@n n>n gN gJ

Second and &ourth Tones hJ hO mJ mO gF gP shFn shPn >i Bi /J /O Third and &ourth Tones sH sI !Gi !Pi mGi mPi yMu yRu wN wO hN hO

&ourth and &irst Tones shO shK bPn bEn fPn fEn shI shC /I /C bB b<

&ourth and Second Tones wBn w>n Pr Fr dI dD fBn f>n !iO !iJ 1iO 1iJ

&ourth and Third Tones pB p@ mB m@ bPi bGi tB t@ shO shN %P %G

Page ?