Tone Sandhi
Sandhi in Wu dialects tends to be fairly complex as compared to Mandarin. While not nearly as complex as the Suzhou dialect of Wu, Changzhou dialect is no exception.
In the case of pairs of syllables have the stress on the second syllable, the only notable changes are the second syllable changing from (523) to (52) in the case of the fourth tone or from (13) to (11) with the second tone.
| 1st | 3rd | 4th | 6th | 2nd | 5th | 7th | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| first | 33:33 | 55:32 | 55:32 | 55:3 | 33:33 | 55:32 | 55:3 |
| third | 53:22 | 53:22 | 53:22 | 53:2 | 53:22 | 53:22 | 53:2 |
| fourth | 55:55 | 53:22 | 55:55 | 55:5 | 55:55 | 55:55 | 55:5 |
| sixth | 5:55 | 5:55 | 5:42 | 5:5 | 5:55 | 5:42 | 5:5 |
| second | 11:33 | 11:55 | 11:33 | 11:5 | 11:33 | 11:33 | 1:3 |
| fifth | 32:23 | 32:23 | 35:32 | 32:23 | 32:13 | 35:32 | 32:23 |
| seventh | 23:33 | 23:33 | 23:42 | 23:3 | 23:33 | 23:32 | 23:3 |
Read more about this topic: Changzhou Dialect, Phonetics and Phonology, Tones
Famous quotes containing the word tone:
“It hurts me to hear the tone in which the poor are condemned as “shiftless,” or “having a pauper spirit,” just as it would if a crowd mocked at a child for its weakness, or laughed at a lame man because he could not run, or a blind man because he stumbled.”
—Albion Fellows Bacon (1865–1933)