The four tones of Chinese

Many of you have wanted to know more about the tones, and seems like some of you have a wrong understanding of what the tones are. A friend of mine asked me if tones in Chinese were like English words with multiple pronunciations and meanings. He used the word polish as his example.

pol·ish [pol-ish]: to make smooth and glossy, especially by rubbing or friction

Po·lish [poh-lish]: of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Poland, its inhabitants, or their language

When said differently the word polish can mean two completely different things. While I like his analogy, the Chinese tones are not exactly the same. So I thought it will be a good idea to write one more post on the tones. Let’s look at a different example this time.

1^st tone (flat): 低 (dī): low

2^nd tone (rising): 笛 (dí): flute

3^rd tone (falling & rising): 底 (dǐ): bottom

4^th tone (falling): 地 (dì): land

Maybe this video will help

Don't get toned out...

My Chinese professor always commended my reading and writing skills, but I struggled when it came to speaking. Chinese language has four tones and it took me a while to get used to them. If said with a different tone, the same word can mean something completely different. The most common example is:

1^st tone: 妈 (mā): mother

2^nd tone: 麻 (má): hemp

3^rd tone: 马 (mǎ): horse

4^th tone: 骂 (mà): scold

Now you don’t want to call your mom a horse or the other way around (unless you are a horse of course).

Using the wrong tone can also get you into trouble (or maybe not depending on how it ends). Look at the following two meanings for wen:

吻 (wěn): kiss

问 (wèn): ask

Make sure that you don’t say “Can I kiss you?” to someone when you meant to say “Can I ask you?”

To complicate things even more:

吻 (wěn): kiss

刎 (wěn): cut one’s throat

I know both of them have the same tone.