2. Tone 1 to Tone 6

We have learned all the six tones. Letโ€™s revise them together.

Tone Number
Tone 1
Tone 2
Tone 3
Tone 4
Tone 5
Tone 6
Tone Name
High level
Mid rising
Mid level
Low falling
Low rising
Low level
Diagram

The Romanization system Jyutping uses numbers to represent the tone of a syllable. It could be difficult to remember which tone is represented by which number. You can try to associate each tone with the shape of its number.

Step 1 ๐Ÿ‘‚

Listen to the syllable si in Tone 1 to Tone 6 together. Pay attention to the pitch.

--:--
--:--

si1
si1 si2
si1 si2 si3
si1 si2 si3 si4
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5 si6 โ€’
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5 si6 โ€’
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5 si6 โ€’
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5 si6 โ€’
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5 si6

Step 2 ๐Ÿ‘„

Practice saying the syllable si in Tone 1 to Tone 6. Listen and repeat.

--:--
--:--

si1
si1 si2
si1 si2 si3
si1 si2 si3 si4
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5 si6 โ€’
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5 si6 โ€’
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5 si6 โ€’
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5 si6 โ€’
si1 si2 si3 si4 si5 si6

๐Ÿ’ก Tips

If you find it difficult to remember the tones, you can remember their similar sounds in English.

Tone 1
Tone 2
Tone 3
Tone 4
Tone 5
Tone 6
si1
season
si2
sea?
si3
si4
juicy
si5
si6
sociology

Practice ๐ŸŽฎ

Practice saying Tone 1 to Tone 6 with other syllables. Listen and repeat.

--:--
--:--
  1. fu1 fu2 fu3 fu4 fu5 fu6 โ€’
    fu1 fu2 fu3 fu4 fu5 fu6 โ€’
    fu1 fu2 fu3 fu4 fu5 fu6
  2. fan1 fan2 fan3 fan4 fan5 fan6 โ€’
    fan1 fan2 fan3 fan4 fan5 fan6 โ€’
    fan1 fan2 fan3 fan4 fan5 fan6
  3. hon1 hon2 hon3 hon4 hon5 hon6 โ€’
    hon1 hon2 hon3 hon4 hon5 hon6 โ€’
    hon1 hon2 hon3 hon4 hon5 hon6
  4. soeng1 soeng2 soeng3 soeng4 soeng5 soeng6 โ€’
    soeng1 soeng2 soeng3 soeng4 soeng5 soeng6 โ€’
    soeng1 soeng2 soeng3 soeng4 soeng5 soeng6

Made with in Hong Kong.

ยฉ 2024 Open Cantonese. All rights reserved.