Tones
Cantonese has nine tones in six distinct tone contours.
| Tone name | Yīn Píng (陰平) |
Yīn Shàng (陰上) |
Yīn Qù (陰去) |
Yáng Píng (陽平) |
Yáng Shàng (陽上) |
Yáng Qù (陽去) |
Yīn Rù (陰入) |
Zhōng Rù (中入) |
Yáng Rù (陽入) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tone Number | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 (1) | 8 (3) | 9 (6) |
| Tone name in English | high level or high falling | mid rising | mid level | low falling | low rising | low level | entering high level | entering mid level | entering low level |
| Contour | 55 / 53 | 35 | 33 | 21 / 11 | 13 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Character Example | 分 | 粉 | 訓 | 焚 | 奮 | 份 | 忽 | 發 | 佛 |
| Example | fan1 | fan2 | fan3 | fan4 | fan5 | fan6 | fat7 (fat1) | faat8 (faat3) | fat9 (fat6) |
Read more about this topic: Cantonese Pinyin
Famous quotes containing the word tones:
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