Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A Chinese family in Century Park
David Shen Kai/Apa Publications
BASIC RULES
Tones make it difficult for foreigners to speak Mandarin, as different tones give the same syl-
lable completely different meanings. Take the four tones of the syllable ma for instance: the
first tone má means 'mother'; the second tone má means 'hemp'; the third tone mă means
'horse'; and the fourth tone mà means 'to scold'. There is also a fifth, 'neutral' tone. There is
a standard set of diacritical marks to indicate tones:
mā = high and even tone
má = rising tone
mă = falling then rising tone
mà = falling tone
