Minimal pair · Standard Mandarin (Putonghua), isolated citation tones
Mandarin /˥/ vs /˥˩/Level or falling?
One of the six tone comparisons included in Dong et al.; these particular words are not appendix-confirmed.
Practice these sounds/˥/
The ˥ category
Listen for the target sound in each word.
As in妈
/˥˩/
The ˥˩ category
Listen for the target sound in each word.
As in骂
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
A small change.
A different word.
The syllables mā/mà, shū/shù and tāng/tàng share their consonants and vowels within each pair. The tone changes their lexical identity.
Listen for the target sound in each word.
A common trap
A high voice and a low voice have different pitch ranges. Listen for level versus falling within the speaker, rather than expecting a fixed note.
Sound examples
Tap to hear each word妈
/ma˥/mother八
/pa˥/eight搭
/ta˥/put up; erect诗
/ʂɻ̩˥/poem汤
/tʰɑŋ˥/soup鸡
/tɕi˥/chicken七
/tɕʰi˥/seven西
/ɕi˥/west烟
/jɛn˥/smoke猪
/ʈʂu˥/pig方
/fɑŋ˥/square分
/fən˥/divide; separate书
/ʂu˥/book骂
/ma˥˩/scold爸
/pa˥˩/dad; father大
/ta˥˩/big是
/ʂɻ̩˥˩/be; is烫
/tʰɑŋ˥˩/scald; scalding hot记
/tɕi˥˩/remember气
/tɕʰi˥˩/air; gas细
/ɕi˥˩/thin; fine燕
/jɛn˥˩/swallow, the bird住
/ʈʂu˥˩/live; reside放
/fɑŋ˥˩/put; place份
/fən˥˩/portion; share树
/ʂu˥˩/tree26 words. Words stay hidden during practice unless you choose to reveal them.