TonesQues

Tones: Question to Consider media type="file" key="tone questions.mp3"

Choose three of the following questions. Think about them, then write up a short paragraph for each and email it to the instructor. You do not need to do any research to find the answers; these are questions for you to think about.

Why does Mandarin have four tones while Cantonese has 6 (or 7 or 8 or 9 depending on how you look at them)?

Are tones an efficient way of determining meaning in a language?

Can someone who is tone deaf learn Chinese? What happens to a Chinese person who is tone deaf?

If you spoke Chinese without tones, would anyone be able to understand what you say?

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