Changzhou Dialect - Phonetics and Phonology - Tones - Tone Sandhi

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.

Tone sandhi for Changzhou dialect
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

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Famous quotes containing the word tone:

    When you listen to gongs and drums, listen to the music; when you listen to someone talk, listen to his tone of voice.
    Chinese proverb.