Difference between revisions of "Tone pair"

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{{Pronunciation Box}}
 
{{Pronunciation Box}}
  
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== The concept ==
 
== The concept ==
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Most learners can accurately pronounce the tone of a single syllable after enough practice. But they find that once they try to pronounce two tones in a row, it all falls apart: they get the second one totally wrong, or the first, or even both. Stringing tones together is a skill that needs to be practiced, and the foundation for this skill is to practice every combination of tones in the smallest unit possible: '''tone pairs'''.
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The logic here is pretty clear: if you can string two tones together accurately, you can build on that, stringing more and more together, until you can do whole sentences. This is not a quick process, however. You're going to need quite a bit of practice, and you should expect this practice to take up a good chunk of your pronunciation practice as an elementary (A2) learner.
  
 
== The 20 pairs ==
 
== The 20 pairs ==
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<tr>
 
<tr>
 
<td>1st Tone</td>
 
<td>1st Tone</td>
<td>1-1</td>
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<td>[[1-1]]</td>
<td>1-2</td>
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<td>[[1-2]]</td>
<td>1-3</td>
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<td>[[1-3]]</td>
<td>1-4</td>
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<td>[[1-4]]</td>
<td>1-0</td>
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<td>[[1-0]]</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
 
<td>2nd Tone</td>
 
<td>2nd Tone</td>
<td>2-1</td>
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<td>[[2-1]]</td>
<td>2-2</td>
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<td>[[2-2]]</td>
<td>2-3</td>
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<td>[[2-3]]</td>
<td>2-4</td>
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<td>[[2-4]]</td>
<td>2-0</td>
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<td>[[2-0]]</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
 
<td>3rd Tone</td>
 
<td>3rd Tone</td>
<td>3-1</td>
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<td>[[3-1]]</td>
<td>3-2</td>
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<td>[[3-2]]</td>
<td>3-3❋</td>
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<td>[[3-3]]❋</td>
<td>3-4</td>
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<td>[[3-4]]</td>
<td>3-0</td>
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<td>[[3-0]]</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
 
<tr>
 
<tr>
 
<td>4th Tone</td>
 
<td>4th Tone</td>
<td>4-1</td>
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<td>[[4-1]]</td>
<td>4-2</td>
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<td>[[4-2]]</td>
<td>4-3</td>
+
<td>[[4-3]]</td>
<td>4-4</td>
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<td>[[4-4]]</td>
<td>4-0</td>
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<td>[[4-0]]</td>
 
</tr>
 
</tr>
 
</table>
 
</table>
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=== Websites ===
 
=== Websites ===
  
* Sinosplice: [http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2006/10/29/new-feature-mandarin-chinese-tone-pair-drills New Feature: Mandarin Chinese Tone Pair Drills]
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* Sinosplice: [http://www.sinosplice.com/learn-chinese/learning-tones The Process Of Learning Tones]
* Sinosplice: [http://www.sinosplice.com/learn-chinese/tone-pair-drills Mandarin Chinese Tone Pair Drills]
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* Sinosplice: [http://www.sinosplice.com/learn-chinese/tone-pair-drills Mandarin Chinese Tone Pair Drills], [http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2006/10/29/new-feature-mandarin-chinese-tone-pair-drills New Feature: Mandarin Chinese Tone Pair Drills]
 
* Hacking Chinese: [http://www.hackingchinese.com/focusing-on-tone-pairs-to-improve-your-mandarin-pronunciation/ Focusing on tone pairs to improve your Mandarin pronunciation]
 
* Hacking Chinese: [http://www.hackingchinese.com/focusing-on-tone-pairs-to-improve-your-mandarin-pronunciation/ Focusing on tone pairs to improve your Mandarin pronunciation]
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* About.com: [http://mandarin.about.com/od/How-to-learn-Mandarin-Chinese/fl/How-tone-pairs-can-improve-your-Mandarin-pronunciation.htm How tone pairs can improve your Mandarin pronunciation]
  
 
=== Videos ===
 
=== Videos ===

Revision as of 08:08, 25 May 2018

Tone pairs are an important unit of pronunciation to focus on as learner's tones gradually improve.

The concept

Most learners can accurately pronounce the tone of a single syllable after enough practice. But they find that once they try to pronounce two tones in a row, it all falls apart: they get the second one totally wrong, or the first, or even both. Stringing tones together is a skill that needs to be practiced, and the foundation for this skill is to practice every combination of tones in the smallest unit possible: tone pairs.

The logic here is pretty clear: if you can string two tones together accurately, you can build on that, stringing more and more together, until you can do whole sentences. This is not a quick process, however. You're going to need quite a bit of practice, and you should expect this practice to take up a good chunk of your pronunciation practice as an elementary (A2) learner.

The 20 pairs

There are 20 tone pairs because there are four main tones and one neutral tone, but a neutral tone can never be the first syllable in a word or phrase.

+ 1st Tone + 2nd Tone + 3rd Tone + 4th Tone + Neutral Tone
1st Tone 1-1 1-2 1-3 1-4 1-0
2nd Tone 2-1 2-2 2-3 2-4 2-0
3rd Tone 3-1 3-2 3-3 3-4 3-0
4th Tone 4-1 4-2 4-3 4-4 4-0

❋ You might be tempted to think that 3-3 doesn't count, because after the tone change it's the same as 2-3. But actually, you really need to practice this tone change as part of a tone pair, so you'll definitely want to practice 3-3 pairs, just like all the others.

Sources and further reading

Websites

Videos