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Wed 8 Jan, 2014 12:55 pm
Chinese names for tones
When discussing tones with native Mandarin speakers, I use the following names to identify the 5 tones of Mandarin.
(1) 阴平声 high, (2) 阳平声 rising, (3) 上声 dipping, (4) 去声 falling, (5) 轻声 neutral
This is fine for discussing any of the 5 tones of Mandarin Chinese. However, when I want to identify a tone outside of Mandarin Chinese, this is where I need the opinion of native Mandarin speakers.
Here are some tones (outside of Mandarin) that I am refering to by their name in Chinese.
低平声 (literally low level tone)
入声 (literally entering tone) (i.e. a syllable that ends in a glottal stop)
中平声 (literally mid level tone)
So my question is this. Would you understand 低平声, 入声 and 中平声 if I used these words with you?