Tone 1 pronounced as Tone 4 in monosyllabic words

  • The native speaker's reading of Tone 1 in "胚" is flat and leveled, little difference in pitch value is found through out the whole tone contour.
  • The two learners' reading of Tone 1 in “胚” exhibit obvious falling trend from the start to the end of the tone contour. Pitch range is large from 160Hz to 250 Hz.

Tone 1 pronounced as Tone 4 in multisyllabic words

  • The problem "Tone 1 pronounced as Tone 4" is very frequently found in the reading of multisyllabic words by Hong Kong Cantonese speakers.
  • The native speaker's reading of Tone 1 in "標" is flat and leveled, little difference in pitch value is found through out the whole tone contour.
  • The learners' reading of Tone 1 in “標” show falling trend from around the 3rd timepoint (30% of the whole tone pronunciation) to the end of the tone contour. Difference between maximum and minimum pitch values is around 40Hz to 80Hz.

Suggestions for teachers:

  • pay attention to students' pronunciation to find if they also have this problem
  • remind students to keep pitch high and leveled, especially from the 30% timepoint to the end of the tone contour

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