Tone change rules

Revision as of 17:50, 22 February 2015 by WikiSysop (talk | contribs)
Also known as: tone sandhi and 变调规则 (biàndiào guīzé).

There are certain circumstances under which a Chinese word or character's normal tone will regularly change to a specific different tone. These tone changes (also called tone sandhi) must be learned in order to pronounce Chinese correctly.

There are three main tone change rules that every learner needs to know. These rules are not normally reflected in the tone marks of pinyin; you just have to know them.

Tone Changes for 不 (bù)

Tone Changes for 一 (yī)

Tone Changes for Multiple Third Tones

Why Tone Changes Are Not Written

Sources and further reading