basic mandarin chinese | lesson 1 | grasp the tones in mandarin!

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Nǐ hǎo Lesson 1 on Basic Mandarin!

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Welcome to Culture Alley - Mandarin

Welcome to your first Mandarin lesson! We hope you're as excited as we are about your

cultural voyage to China!

Today, we will introduce you to Mandarin and discover different tones in the language!

So let’s get started…

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Mandarin

There are about 13 sub-languages

within the Chinese language

The most spoken is Mandarin (about

850 million), followed by Wu (90

million), Cantonese (Yue) (70 million)

Mandarin has the largest number of

native speakers in the world

Mandarin is the official language of

China and Singapore

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Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese (including Mandarin) characters into Latin script

It is often used to teach Chinese (includingMandarin) and

spell names in foreign publications and used as aninput

method to enter Chinese characters intocomputers

You = 你 (Chinese characters) You = nǐ (Pinyin) To view this with Audio and practice games, visit www.CultureAlley.com/Mandarin

Lesson objectives

1 Tones in Mandarin

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Tones in Mandarin

Let's get started by understanding the concept of tones in Mandarin

You will usually encounter symbols on certain characters, eg: ǒ, ě, ā etc

Each letter in Mandarin has a distinct tone (pitch of voice) associated with it

Pinyin uses four easily - remembered marks to tell you what the tones of words are

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Tones in Mandarin

Eg: 'mā' means 'Mother' But

'mǎ' means 'Horse'

So if you don't say the word right, you'd end up calling your mother a horse and land into trouble!

:)

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Tones in Mandarin

Let's look at the tonal variations of 'ma' mā má mǎ mà ma

Meaning : 'mother', 'hemp', 'horse', 'scold' and a question particle respectively

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As we saw...

Each syllable in Mandarin has a distinct tone(pitch

of voice) associated with it

Let's now look at the easily - remembered marks which will help us in identifying the tones

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Tones in Mandarin

We shall now take a look at various tones using 'Ma' as an example

Let’s begin!

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Tones in Mandarin - First tone

The first tone ( ˉ ) starts at a high level and remains

constant at that level

It is the same as saying 'Aaaaa' without a change in voice

Say it as if singing a high note

This will now be referred to as the 'high level tone (1st)'

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Tonal tip

Mother = Mā

It is pronounced using a high level tone (1st)

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Tonal tip

Let's try and say Mā

It is said with a high level tone - also known as the first tone, Mā

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So remember!

The first tone is denoted by ( ˉ )

It is a constant, high level tone It is said as 'Aaaaa'

For example : Mā

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Tones in Mandarin - Second tone

The second tone (ˊ) starts at the middle of thetone and goes

to the top

It is similar to saying 'Whát?' in English

This will now be referred

to as the 'mid rising tone (2nd)'

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Tonal tip

Hemp (type of fabric) = Má

It is pronounced using a mid rising tone (2nd)

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Tonal tip

Let's try and say Má

It is said with a mid rising tone - or second tone, Má

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So remember!

The second tone is denoted by (ˊ)

It is said with a mid rising tone It is similar to the ‘a’ in ‘Whát?’

For example : Má

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Tones in Mandarin - Third tone

The third tone (ˇ) starts at the middle, drops and picks up again

It is a falling-rising tone

Say it by pushing the tone and then lettinggo, 'Ǎ'

This will now be referred to as the 'falling rising tone (3rd )'

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Tonal tip

Horse = Mǎ

It is pronounced using a

falling rising tone (3rd )

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Tonal tip

Let's try and say Mǎ

Once again,with a falling rising tone - also known as the third tone, Mǎ

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So remember!

The third tone is denoted by (ˇ)

It is said in a falling rising tone It is said by pushing the tone and then

letting it go

For example : Mǎ

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Tones in Mandarin - Fourth tone

The fourth tone (ˋ) starts at a high level and falls sharp at the

bottom

It has a rapidly falling pitch, like while saying a command,

example (Stop!)

This will now be referred to as the 'falling tone (4th )'

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Tonal tip

Scold = Mà

It is pronounced using a falling tone (4th)

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Tonal tip

Let's try and say Mà

It is said with a falling tone - also known as the fourth tone, Mà

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So remember!

The fourth tone is denoted by (ˋ)

It is a falling tone

It shares intonation with commands such as Stop!

For example : Mà

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Revision - Tones in Mandarin

1.High level tone (1st) ( ˉ ) : Say the first tone as if you were

singing a high note

2.Mid rising tone (2nd) (ˊ) : Pronounced like a question in

English, with your pitch rising at the end of the

syllable (Whát?)

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Revision - Tones in Mandarin

3. Falling rising tone (3rd) ( ˇ ) : middle to low to high,

dipping pitch

4. Falling tone (4th) (ˋ) : high to low, rapidly falling pitch that is pronounced like a

command (Stop!)

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Did you notice?

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Let's see if you remember…

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Pick the right option

How do we say 'mother' in Mandarin?

1

Mā

2

Mǎ

3

Mà

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Solution

How do we say 'mother' in Mandarin?

1

Mā

2

Mǎ

3

Mà

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So remember!

Mother = Mā is said with a constant high level tone - also known

as the first tone

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Pick the right option

How do we say 'horse' in Mandarin?

1

Mā

2

Mǎ

3

Mà

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Solution

How do we say 'horse' in Mandarin?

1

Mā

2

Mǎ

3

Mà

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So remember!

Horse = Mǎ is said with a falling rising tone - also known as the third tone

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Pick the right option

What tone does 'Má' carry?

1

High level

(First)

2

Falling (Fourth)

3

Mid rising

(Second)

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Solution

What tone does 'Má' carry?

1

High level

(First)

2

Falling (Fourth)

3

Mid rising

(Second)

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So remember!

The mid rising tone is the second tone

In this tone 'Má' means 'Hemp'

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Pick the right option

What tone does 'Scold' = Mà carry?

1

High level

2

Mid rising

3

Falling

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Solution

What tone does 'Scold' = Mà carry?

1

High level

2

Mid rising

3

Falling

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So remember!

'Mà' means 'Scold' and carries the falling tone

The falling tone is also known as the fourth tone

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Tones in Mandarin

It might seem overwhelming, but don't worry, youwill get

a hang of the tones as you go along!

They are important as different tones convey different meanings

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Let's revise!

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Revision - Tones

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Revision-Vocabulary

English Mandarin

Mother Mā

Hemp Má

Horse Mǎ

Scold Mà

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Culture Leaf

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Culture leaf- History of China

China boasts of more than 5000 years of history beginning with the semi-mythological

Shang dynasty around 1500 B.C

It was at this time that the Chinese symbolic writing was developed by priests

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Culture leaf

The Chinese civilization originated in and along the Yellow River (China's

mother River) in the Neolithic era

(12000- 10,000 B.C)

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Culture leaf

Chinese society has progressed through five major stages - Primitive Society,

Slave Society, Feudal Society, Semi-feudal and Semi-colonial Society, and Socialist Society

It has seen the rise and fall of several ruling dynasties in its 4500 year history

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Culture leaf

Today China is a vibrant economy and a leading superpower which is making strides in all fields -

from manufacturing to technology to culture, arts,and tourism as well!

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What's next?

In the next lesson we will learn how to say ‘Hello’ in Mandarin!

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Credits

Content Team CultureAlley, Sunny Dang

http://www.chinatraveldiscovery.com/china-history/index.htm

Images http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/China/West/phot

o306017.htm André Holdrinet

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See you at the Alley!

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