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
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—Herman Melville (1819–1891)