Tones and Tone Sandhi
There are 8 tones in Teochew, the tone values are listed as follows.
| Name |
Yin Ping |
Yin Shang |
Yin Qu |
Yin Ru |
Yang Ping |
Yang Shang |
Yang Qu |
Yang Ru |
| Example |
詩 (si1) |
死 (si2) |
世 (si3) |
薛 (sih4) |
時 (si5) |
是 (si6) |
示 (si7) |
蝕 (sih8) |
| Mark |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Value |
33 |
53 |
213 |
2 |
55 |
35 |
11 |
5 |
Tone Sandhi
In words that are constituted of 2 characters, the initial character generally undergoes tone sandhi (tone change), while the final character's tone remains unchanged.
For instance, the two characters in the word "日頭 (sun)" are read as [zig8] - [tao8] individually. However, when they are compounded into one word, the word is read as [zig(4) tao8]. If a word is constituted of more than 2 characters, then every but the last undergoes tone sandhi.
The exact patterns of the initial character's tone sandhi depend on the final character, as listed below:
| Orig. Tone of Init. Char. | | Orig. Tone of Final Char. |
|
(1)
 33 |
(2)
 53 |
(3)
 213 |
(4)
 2 |
(5)
 55 |
(6)
 35 |
(7)
11 |
(8)
 5 |
| (2) 53 |
33 |
 35 |
 53 |
 5 |
 11 |
 21 |
11 |
 2 |
| (5) 55 |
| (8) 5 |
| (1) 33 |
 24 |
 42 |
 3 |
| (3) 213 |
| (4) 2 |
| (6) 35 |
(7)  11 |
|
For the convenience of denoting changed tones, the above table is simplified as below. The changed tones are denoted using the marks/values of original 8 tones, and are marked inside brackets.
| Original Tone |
(1) |
(2) |
(3) |
(4) |
(5) |
(6) |
(7) |
(8) |
| Changed Tone |
1 |
6 |
2 |
8 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
4 |
|
 |
| Table of Tone Sandhi |
