rising tone; third tone
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
2 senses · 4 examplesnoun
the rising tone; second of the four traditional tones in Middle Chinese
technicalIn the classical four-tone system (平上去入), this is the rising tone. Characters in this category mostly evolved into the third tone in modern Mandarin, though some became fourth tones (e.g., 上 itself when used as a verb/resultative).
“
Mǎ马
”
hé和
“
niǎo鸟
”
zài在
gǔ古
dài代
dōu都
shǔ属
yú于
shàng上
shēng声
。
The characters 'horse' and 'bird' both belonged to the rising tone in ancient Chinese.
Shàng上
shēng声
zì字
zài在
táng唐
shī诗
zhōng中
yǒu有
zhe着
tè特
dìng定
de的
gé格
lǜ律
wèi位
zhì置
。
Characters of the rising tone have specific prosodic positions in Tang poetry.
noun
the third tone in modern Standard Mandarin; falling-rising tone
technicalThe tone value is typically 214 (falling-rising). When followed by another third tone, it changes to a rising tone (tone sandhi). Examples include 马(mǎ), 很(hěn), and 短(duǎn).
“
Shuǐ水
”
zì字
dú读
shàng上
shēng声
。
The character 'water' is pronounced with the third tone.
Liǎng两
gè个
shàng上
shēng声
zì字
lián连
dú读
shí时
，
dì第
yī一
gè个
yào要
biàn变
chéng成
yáng阳
píng平
。
When two third-tone characters are read together, the first one changes to the second tone.