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声调 (shēng diào) — (noun) tone (the pitch contour of a Chinese syllable); (noun) tone of voice; intonation

Definition

声调 is the pitch contour of a Chinese syllable — the four tones of Mandarin. For tone of voice or intonation (how someone sounds), use 语气; 声调 refers specifically to lexical pitch, not the speaker's attitude.

noun
tone (the pitch contour of a Chinese syllable)tone of voiceintonation
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 声调，声调。
    Hàn yǔ yǒu sì gè shēng diào, měi gè shēng diào dōu dài biǎo bù tóng de yì si.
    Chinese has four tones, and each tone represents a different meaning.
  • 声调。
    Xué shēng diào de shí hou yí dìng yào duō tīng lì zi.
    When learning the tones, be sure to listen to many examples.
  • 声调，。
    Tā de shēng diào hěn zhǔn, yì tīng jiù zhī dào shì běi fāng rén.
    His tones are very accurate; you can tell he's from the north just by listening.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

声shēngsound
调tiáotone

声 (sound) and 调 (tone) combine to mean the tone of a sound.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聲; 声 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
耳耳ěrear
Sound part声符shēngfú
殸
殸qìng聲shēng
Same sound today

The traditional form 聲 pairs 耳 (ear) with 殸 as a sound part; the simplified 声 is a shorthand and does not show those original parts.

Open 声 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 調; 调 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
周
周zhōu調tiáo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 調 pairs 言 (speech) with 周, which shows how it was pronounced. The simplified 调 is a later shorthand.

Open 调 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Language

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