Tone 3 Variation
/



    • note
    In the previous lesson we saw how tone 3 dips and rises when pronounced in isolation (2-1-4). In addition, when it comes at the end of a word and is not immediately followed by anything else it retains the full dip and rise, like in these examples.


    note
    However, when tone 3 comes before another syllable the rise is completely lost (2-1 rather than 2-1-4). This is for practicality, it's not possible to pronounce the full version immediately before another syllable (or if you did it would sound strange). Some people analyse tone 3 as being simply "low", with the dip and rise only appearing when convenient. You can think of Běijīng as being pronounced low-high.


    note
    Examples of tone 3 followed by a neutral tone. The neutral tone is pronounced higher when following tone 3 than when it following other tones (around 4 instead of 2 or 3 like normal).


    note
    It's important to be aware that in fast or casual speech the rise of tone 3 is lost even in cases where it would otherwise be pronounced. In such cases tone 3 is pronounced as in the previous example (low, or as a very low dip).


    note
    Here are other examples of tone 3 pronounced casually. The most important characteristic of the casual tone 3 is that it has a low pitch. This is the way most people speak in everyday life.


    note
    There is also one further rule regarding tone 3. When two tone 3s are pronounced back-to-back the first one changes to a rise (in all circumstances, formal or casual). It's like the full version only this time with the dip removed and the rise retained (3-5 or 2-4). This version is very similar to tone 2.


    note
    Note that this rule applies across different words. For example, zhège píngguǒ hǎo means "this apple is good". Notice how the guǒ at the end of píngguǒ changes to a rise due to the following tone also being a tone 3, so the actual pronunciation is similar to "zhège píngguó hǎo".


    note
    In cases where there are three tone 3s in a row, the first two are pronounced as a rise. The actual pronunciations are similar to jiúbái mǐ, língdáozhě and zhánlánguǎn.


    note
    The exception to this is when there is a 1/2 split (a one character word followed by a two character word). In such cases the first word is pronounced as normal (i.e. in a low pitch). The actual pronunciations here are wǒ kéyǐ, yǒu yíngxiǎng and hǎo shuíguǒ.


    note
    Let's take a look at some more comparisons of words that differ only in tone. Here we have Běijīng (the city) and bèijǐng (background).


    note
    kěyǐ (can, able to), kěyí (suspicious, dubious) and kèyì (deliberate, painstaking).


    note
    tóngyì (agree) and tǒngyī (unite, unity).
    ;