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(→Tones: extaxng -> pax) |
(→Tone sandhi: 2 examples) |
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The basic unit of speech is the syllable, which can change tone depending on where it is spoken in a sentence. This is referred to as [[tone sandhi]], which is extensive in Taiwanese. | The basic unit of speech is the syllable, which can change tone depending on where it is spoken in a sentence. This is referred to as [[tone sandhi]], which is extensive in Taiwanese. | ||
If a syllable is spoken in the middle of a word, phrase or sentence, it changes tone according to the Tone | Syllables inside of a word almost always change tone. For example: | ||
* ''aq'' (duck) + ''ar'' (suffix) = ''{{x|ah'ar}}'' (duck) | |||
* ''jit'' (sun) + ''thaau'' (head) = ''{{x|jidthaau}}'' (the sun) | |||
If a syllable is spoken in the middle of a word, phrase or sentence, it changes tone according to the Tone Circles. If a syllable is spoken at the end of a phrase or sentence, it does not change tone. The last syllable of most nouns don't change tone. | |||
These tone changes are probably by far the hardest part of learning Taiwanese. | These tone changes are probably by far the hardest part of learning Taiwanese. |
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