In English, if I say 'duck' as a ball is coming towards you, I obviously don't mean 'duck' as in the bird. In that vein, if I use the wrong tone when saying something in Chinese, will the listener be able to use situational or conversational context to ascertain my intended tone?
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November 13th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Saying duck (as in the verb to duck) would be in a similar situation as to, too, and two. They sound the same, but mean different things.
In regards to Chinese with tones, as long as it is not a terribly ambiguous situation, a native speaker should have no problem figuring out what you are saying. Just listen, for instance, to some movies where Mandarin is the main language. Take Chow Yun Fat in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He speaks a lot in kind of a loud, rushed, whisper…you can’t discern tones that well. The same with when someone gets angry and yells…tones are sometimes lost. From context, you can figure out what they are saying
November 13th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
All languages use context.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Question: Does the spoken Chinese language use context the same as spoken English?
Answer: Sometimes YES, sometimes NO.
Reason is:
It totally depends on the context. Tones isn’t really of much use if a person is angry or depressed.
The noun = [The] duck. The verb = "To duck", not "To the duck!"
In Chinese, sometimes a noun can be turned into a verb, but mostly it can’t.
if I use the wrong tone when saying something in Chinese, will the listener be able to use situational or conversational context to ascertain my intended tone? Yes or No, depending on how closely it is spoken when compared to correct Chinese.
When you say "Chinese", I will assume you meant Mandarin, unless otherwise listed: There’s other dialects in Chinese, where Mandarin is the official dialect.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
"to duck" and "a duck" are two different words actually…
a verb and a noun…
wrong tone may turn a word to a homonym…
if example if you hear a sentence:
"and noble night was praised by the king"
will you hear it as "night" or as "knight"?… the latter i suppose…
homonyms and variety of meanings is a common feature for any human language…