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xi
The Tone Mark
a
o
e
i
u
ü
The tone mark is always placed above a final. When a syllable
contains more than one finals, the tone mark should be placed above
the finals in this order:
“
a
–
o
–
e
–
i
–
u
–
ü
”
. For example, the tone
mark should be placed above
“
a
”
. If
“
a
”
is not there, then it should be
placed above
“
o
”
. If
“
o
”
is not there, it should be placed above
“
e
”
and so
on. The dot above the final
“
i
”
should be erased if the tone mark is
placed above it.
If “i” and “u”
are together, mark the tone on the last final.
In addition to the four basic tones, there is a neutral tone. A
syllable in the neutral tone does not have a tone mark in spelling and is
pronounced in a very soft and short voice.
Listen and pronounce the four tones below.
-
/
˅
\
ā
á
ă
à
ō
ó
ŏ
ò
ē
é
ě
è
ī
í
ĭ
ì
ū
ú
ŭ
ù
ǖ
ǘ
ǚ
ǜ
Mandarin for All : Book 1 (Second Edition)