A Beginner's Guide to Taiwanese: Difference between revisions

→‎Tone sandhi: 2 examples
(→‎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 Circle diagram. 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.
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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