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音调 (yīn diào) — (music) tone, pitch; (linguistics) intonation, tone of voice

Definition

Covers both senses: in music, the 'pitch' or 'key' of a note; in linguistics, the 'tone' or 'intonation' of speech. Whether 声调 (shēngdiào, Mandarin tone) or 语调 (yǔdiào, intonation) fits better depends on context.

noun
(music) tonepitch(linguistics) intonationtone of voice

Examples

  • 音调。
    Zhè shǒu qǔ zi de yīn diào fēi cháng yōu měi.
    The tone of this piece is very beautiful.
  • 音调。
    Tā shuō huà de yīn diào hěn wēn hé.
    His tone of voice is very gentle.
  • 音调。
    Zhè ge yuè qì de yīn diào hěn zhǔn.
    The pitch of this instrument is very accurate.

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.

音yīnsound
调tiáotone

音 (sound) and 调 (tone) combine to refer to pitch or intonation.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

音 adds a short stroke that seals the mouth-like part, showing a covered or muffled sound rather than speech.

Open 音 →

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 →
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