Tones: Tones and pronounciation

Tones, tongue position

 

Vocal range

1st = hightest natural tone
2nd = mid to highest
3rd = mid to low to mid (zombie saying ‘brains’)
4th = highest to lowest (telling dog no)
 

Tones

b, d, g = softer than English, like beatboxing
t, p, k = more breathy than English
 

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Tongue position

zh, ch, sh, r = roof of mouth
z, c = centre teeth
j, q, x = behind bottom teeth
 

 

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Prefixes - 6 primary prefixes*

7th is ‘初’ but only used for zodiac calendar
 

 

老

Old
For familiarity or seniority

老婆 wife
老外 foreigner

小

Young

小猫 kitten
小狗 puppy

好 and 难

Good and bad

好看 pretty
难看 ugly
好吃 delicious
难吃 gross/not delicious

可

Adds ～able

可爱 lovable/cute
可笑 laughable

第

Makes numbers ordinal

第一 first
第二十 twentieth
 

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Infixes

 

得 and 不

Used between verb and result to indicate if that verb can be achieved
Not used with all verbs but used with common ones

听懂 to understand through listening
- 听得懂 Can understand/understandable
- 听不懂 Not understandable

吃完 finish eating
- 吃得完 can finish eating
- 吃不完 cannot finish eating
 

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Suffixes

Characters attaxhed to ends of words or compounds to give different meaning
 

 

儿

Makes word more casual
那儿 where
玩儿 to have fun
 

子

Makes nouns
鞋子 shoes
骗 -> 骗子 to cheat -> cheater
 

头

Makes nouns （fifth tone）
舌头 tongue
骨头 bone in body
尽头 end of something, typically directions
 

们

Plural for humans
我们 we
朋友们 friends
孩子们 children
邻居们 neighbours
 

家

Indicates expert in field
艺术 -> 艺术家 art -> artist
作家 writer
科学家 scientist
 

性

Adds ~iety, ~ness, ~ism, ~ship, or ~ence to create nouns
可能 -> 可能性 possible -> possibility
真实 -> 真实性 validity -> valiidity
 

化

Adds ~ize or ~ify to create nouns
进 -> 进化 move forward or enter -> evolve
简单 -> 简单化 simple -> to simplify
 

学

Adds ~istory or ~ology to create nouns
社会 -> 社会学 society -> sociology

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Subject predicate examples

 

地震 (ground + vibrate) = earthquake
年轻 (year + light) = young
眼熟 (eyes + familiar) = familiar looking