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Tone sandhi Wikipedia

Tone sandhi refers to tone manipulation rules governing the pronunciation of tonal languages. Sandhi in Sanskrit means "putting together".

Languages with such rules include:

• Most varieties of spoken Chinese

• Cherokee language|Cherokee

• Ewe language|Ewe

In Mandarin Chinese, the most common tone sandhi rule is that the leading syllable in a set of two third-tone syllables is raised to the second tone. For example, nǐhǎo (pinyin), the most common Mandarin greeting, is pronounced n?hǎo. Tone sandhi in Hakka (linguistics)|Hakka is more complex; in Southern Min, more complex still. As an example of how tone sandi may affect meaning, the Taiwanese (linguistics)|Taiwanese morphemes kiaⁿ (afraid) and l?ng (person) may combine to form the word kiaⁿ-l?ng, whose meaning varies according to the tone change. When pronounced "kiaⁿ7-l?ng5", it means "to be afraid of people". When pronounced "kiaⁿ1-l?ng1", it means "frightful".

Cherokee has a robust tonal system in which tones may be combined in various ways, following subtle and complex tonal rules that vary from community to community. While the tonal system is undergoing a gradual simplification in many areas (no doubt as part of Cherokee's often falling victim to second-language status), the tonal system remains extremely important in meaning and is still held strongly by many, especially older speakers.

de:Tonsandhi

Last Modified:   2005-04-13