A Beginner's Guide to Taiwanese: Difference between revisions

{| class="wikitable"

| 1 || High || high level tone || [[f]] || [[af]]

| 2 || Shouting || start high, then sharp downward || [[r]] || [[ar]]

| 3 || Low Falling || start mid then downward tone || [[x]] || ax  

| 7 || Basic || mid level tone || default || a

| 8 || Short high || short high tone || ends with h, p, t or k  || [[ab'ar|ah]], ap, at, ak   

| 4 || Short low || short low tone || ends with q, b, d or g || [[ah'ar|aq]], {{x2|ab}}, {{x2|ad}}, {{x2|ag}}

| Basic || [[si (yes)|si]] || is  

| High || {{x2|hiaf}} || there  

| Shouting || {{x2|zar}} || early  

| Short high || [[ciah]] || to eat  

| Short low || {{x2|phaq}} || to hit  

| Short high || {{x2|hap}} || to close  

| Short low || {{x2|ciab}} || to catch  

| Short high || {{x2|kut}} || slippery  

There are a few special vowels for certain tones. There are five special vowels in the shouting-out tone, plus two special vowels in the high tone. There is also a shortcut for the curving tone of 'ø'.

| u  || r || uo  || {{x2|kuo}} || (''of time'') long

| i  || f || y  || [[y]] || he / she / it

[[File:Tone Circle.gif|right|thumb|527px|Taiwanese tones in isolation, and the changes they undergo when they precede another tone.]]

The basic unit of speech is the syllable, which can change tone depending on where it is spoken in a sentence. If a syllable is spoken in the middle of a word, phrase or sentence, it changes tone according to the Tone Circle diagram. If a syllable is spoken at the end of a phrase or sentence, it does not change tone. Most nouns do not change tone.