Standard Chinese, a modular approach.
Resource module on pronunciation and romanization.
Tape 6.
So far in this series of tapes on pronunciation and romanization,
we've been dealing with single syllables.
All of our examples have been single syllable surnames.
On this tape we're going to take up two syllable combinations.
Most of our examples will be place names.
We'll be primarily concerned with sequences of tones,
but our examples just happen to review all the vowel and consonant sounds and spellings we've covered.
You've probably already started on the orientation module.
If you have,you've already come across syllables in what we call the neutral tone.
That is unstressed syllables which cannot be assigned to any of the four tones.
Examples from unit one are the second syllables of
先生,小姐,你呢?
in 太太.
Display one gives you four examples of the neutral tone.
We need four examples because what we call the neutral tone
is actually slightly different after each of the four full tones.
Listen to the high tone verb to fly,
the rising tone verb to be fat,
the low tone verb to slander,
and the falling tone verb to waste,
each with the neutral tone ending luh attached.
Faila,faila,faila,faila.
Again,faila,faila,faila,faila.
Notice that there is no tone mark over the neutral tone syllable in the romanization.
A toneless syllable or what we call a syllable in the neutral tone has a definite pitch,
but this pitch doesn't belong to the syllable the way a tone does.
Instead it's determined by the tone of the preceding syllable,
as you can see in the tone diagrams in the display.
Notice the different heights of the dots representing the neutral tone,
and listen for the correspondingly different pitches of the neutral tone
as the speaker reads the syllables.
Faila,faila,faila,faila.
Again,faila,faila,faila.
We won't go into it on this tape,
but the pitch of the neutral tone is also affected by the tone of a following syllable.
We also won't go into a freestanding neutral tone syllable
and sequences of neutral tone syllables.
After the high tone,the pitch of the neutral tone is almost at the bottom.
Listen for the drop.
Faila,faila,faila.
Try imitating it.
Faila,faila,faila.
After the rising tone,the pitch of the neutral tone is in the middle.
Listen for the drop.
Faila,faila,faila.
Try imitating it.
Faila,faila.
Faila.
You may have noticed that the low tone of two slanders stayed low before the neutral tone of low.
There was no rising tail.
As a matter of fact,the low tone only has its rising tail when nothing follows it immediately.
We'll go further into this in a moment.
After this tail is low tone,which is sometimes called the half third tone,
the pitch of the neutral tone is near the top.
Listen for the jump.
Faila,faila,faila.
Try imitating it.
Faila,faila,faila.
After the falling tone,the pitch of the neutral tone is at the bottom.
It really takes the place of the tip of the tail of the falling tone.
Listen for the steady fall.
Faila,faila,faila.
Try imitating it.
Faila,faila,faila.
Now try repeating each example after the speaker.
Faila,faila.
Again.
Faila,faila.
This time try saying each example ahead of the speaker.
Here we go.
Faila,faila.
Again.
Faila,faila.
Exercise 1 has these four examples in scrambled order.
Read and repeat.
One,faila.
Two,faila.
Three,faila.
Four,faila.
Five,faila.
Six,faila.
Seven,faila.
Eight,faila.
Nine,faila.
Ten,faila.
Eleven,faila.
Twelve,faila.
We notice that the low tone stays low before the neutral tone.
It also stays low before the high, rising and falling tones.
In other words,it stays low before any tone except another low tone.
Listen to examples in display too.
台北,北京,永平,保定.Again.
台北,北京,永平,保定.
The syllable 北,which means north, is in the low tone.
In台北,the name of the largest city in Taiwan,it comes at the end and so it has its rising tail.
In Beijing,Peking,it comes before a different full tone and so it loses its rising tail.
The same thing happens in 永平 and 保定.
Try repeating these examples after the speaker.
台北,北京,永平,保定.Again.
台北,北京,永平,保定.
When a low tone comes before another low tone,something quite different happens.
It changes to a rising tone.
Display 3 has the names of two lakes in Peking.
Nanhai,literally South Sea and 北海,literally North Sea.
Notice that the tone diagrams are the same for both names.
Before the low tone of 海,the low tone of 北 becomes a rising tone,indistinguishable from the rising tone of 南.
Listen.
南海,北海.Again.
南海,北海.Try repeating.
南海,北海.Again.
南海,北海.
Try repeating the examples in exercise 2 and repeat after the speaker.
台北,北海.
北京,3.
永平,4.
北海,5.
保定,6.
北海,7.
北京,8.
台北,9.
北海,10.
保定,11.
永平,12.
北海.
Now look at the 20 examples in display 4,representing all two tone sequences.
Listen to the speaker read across the rows,paying particular attention to the neutral tone and to the irregular low tones.
山西,昆明,香港,開花,飞了.
延安,云南,台北,羅定,肥了.
北京,永平,北海,廣信,肥了.
四川,热河,上海,奉意,肥了.
台北,北海,廣信,肥了.
飞了,high neutral,3.
羅定,rising falling,4.
北海,rising low,the basic low tone of bay has become a rising tone,5.
热河,falling rising,6.
四川,falling high,7.
永平,low rising,8.
開花,high falling,10.
香港,high low,11.
云南,rising rising,12.
北京,low high,13.
飞了,falling neutral,14.
上海,falling low,15.
廣信,low falling,16.
飞了,rising neutral,17.
昆明,high rising,18.
延安,rising high,19.
飞了,low neutral,20.
奉意,falling falling.
Now read and repeat the examples in exercise 4,concentrating on getting the tone sequences right.
3.云安,4.飞了,5.
四川,6.昆明,7.廣信,8.
奉意,9.北海,10.
飞了,11.永平,12.上海,13.
飞了,14.云南,16.台北,16.
挪定,17.开化,18.飞了,19.北京,20.
任何.
昌州,泽州,武昌,浙江,芝芙,杰石,九龙,
越南,青岛,隋原,浦儿,日本,
波翼,盟字,旅顺,万千,飞了,飞了,飞了,飞了.
exercise 5 is another tone dictation exercise. Mark the tones appropriately, repeating as you do so.
falling rising,3.旅顺,low falling,4.武昌,low high,5.隋原,
rising low,6.飞了,high neutral,7.之福,high rising,8.万千,falling falling,9.浙江,
falling high,10.浦儿, rising low,the basic low tone of 浦 has become a rising tone.
11.飞了, rising neutral,12.杰石, rising rising,13.波翼,high falling,14.
藏州,high high,15.日本,falling low,16.飞了,low neutral,17.九龙,low rising,18.
盟字,rising falling,19.泽州,rising high,20.青岛,high low.
now read and repeat the examples in exercise 6, concentrating on the tone sequences.
汤州,2.浙江,3.九龙,4.隋原,5.波翼,6.
万千,7.飞了,8.泽州,9.之福,10.
越南,11.浦儿,12.盟字,13.飞了,14.飞了,15.
武昌,16.杰石,17.青岛,18.日本,19.
隋原,20.飞了,20.