45,234
edits
A Beginner's Guide to Taiwanese: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
A Beginner's Guide to Taiwanese (view source)
Revision as of 10:39, 22 September 2018
, 10:39, 22 September 2018→Tone sandhi: cidsut'ar png
(→Tone sandhi: cidsut'ar) |
(→Tone sandhi: cidsut'ar png) |
||
| Line 254: | Line 254: | ||
[[File:Tone Circles.png|right|frame|The seven tones, and how they change due to tone sandhi.]] | [[File:Tone Circles.png|right|frame|The seven tones, and how they change due to tone sandhi.]] | ||
The basic unit of speech is the syllable, which can change tone depending on | The basic unit of speech is the syllable, which can change tone depending on its environment. This is referred to as [[tone sandhi]], which is extensive in Taiwanese. | ||
Generally, a syllable inside of a word changes tone according to the Tone Circles. For example, the single-syllable word for "duck" (bird): ''{{x|aq}}''. Its original tone is low-short. After adding the suffix ''{{x|ar}}'', the tone becomes high-short: ''{{x|ah'ar}}''. | |||
More examples: | |||
* ''jit'' (sun) + ''thaau'' (head) = ''{{x|jidthaau}}'' (the sun) | * ''jit'' (sun) + ''thaau'' (head) = ''{{x|jidthaau}}'' (the sun) | ||
* ''cit'' (one) + ''sud'' (a bit) + ''ar'' = ''{{x|cidsut'ar}}'' (a little amount of something) | * ''cit'' (one) + ''sud'' (a bit) + ''ar'' = ''{{x|cidsut'ar}}'' (a little amount of something) | ||
Inside a sentence, the last syllable of most nouns don't change tone. But if that noun is actually used as an adjective, it will. For example, in ''cidsut'ar png'' (a bit of rice), the ''ar'' changes to high tone when spoken. Furthermore, in ''{{x|ciah}} cidsut'ar png'', the verb ''ciah'' (to eat) changes to low-short tone when spoken. | |||
These tone changes are probably by far the hardest part of learning Taiwanese. | You may have realized by now that tone change is connected to grammar. These tone changes are probably by far the hardest part of learning Taiwanese. | ||
=== Three special symbols === | === Three special symbols === | ||