Editing Mandarin Chinese (section)

===Tones===
{{Chinese tones}}
In general, no two Mandarin-speaking areas have exactly the same set of [[tone (linguistics)|tone]] values, but most Mandarin-speaking areas have very similar tone ''distribution''.  For example, the dialects of [[Jinan]], [[Chengdu]], [[Xi'an]] and so on all have four tones that correspond quite well to the [[Beijing dialect]] tones of {{IPA|[˥]}} (55), {{IPA|[˧˥]}} (35), {{IPA|[˨˩˦]}} (214), and {{IPA|[˥˩]}} (51). The exception to this rule lies in the distribution of syllables formerly ending in a stop consonant, which are treated differently in different dialects of Mandarin.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|pp=194–196}}

[[Middle Chinese]] stops and affricates had a three-way distinction between tenuis, voiceless aspirate and voiced (or breathy voiced) consonants.
In Mandarin dialects the voicing is generally lost, yielding voiceless aspirates in syllables with a Middle Chinese level tone and non-aspirates in other syllables.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=191}}
Of the [[four tones]] of Middle Chinese, the level, rising and departing tones have also developed into four modern tones in a uniform way across Mandarin dialects; the Middle Chinese level tone has split into two registers, conditioned on voicing of the Middle Chinese initial, while rising tone syllables with voiced obstruent initials have shifted to the departing tone.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|pp=194–195}}
The following examples from the standard language illustrate the regular development common to Mandarin dialects (recall that pinyin ''d'' denotes a non-aspirate {{IPA|/t/}}, while ''t'' denotes an aspirate {{IPA|/tʰ/}}):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin:1em auto 1em auto"
|+ Reflexes of Middle Chinese initials and tones in modern Mandarin
|-
! Middle Chinese tone
| colspan=4 | "level tone"<br/>({{zhi|c=平|p=píng}})
| colspan=4 | "rising tone"<br/>({{zhi|p=shǎng|c=上}})
| colspan=4 | "departing tone"<br/>({{zhi|p=qù|c=去}})
|-
! Example
| {{linktext|丹|lang=zh}} || {{linktext|灘|lang=zh}} || {{linktext|蘭|lang=zh}} || {{linktext|彈|lang=zh}}
| {{linktext|亶|lang=zh}} || {{linktext|坦|lang=zh}} || {{linktext|懶|lang=zh}} || {{linktext|但|lang=zh}}
| {{linktext|旦|lang=zh}} || {{linktext|炭|lang=zh}} || {{linktext|爛|lang=zh}} || {{linktext|彈|lang=zh}}
|-
! Middle Chinese
| tan || tʰan || lan || dan
| tan || tʰan || lan || dan
| tan || tʰan || lan || dan
|-
! Standard Chinese
| {{zhi|p=dān}} || {{zhi|p=tān}} || {{zhi|p=lán}} || {{zhi|p=tán}}
| {{zhi|p=dǎn}} || {{zhi|p=tǎn}} || {{zhi|p=lǎn}} || colspan="2" | {{zhi|p=dàn}} || {{zhi|p=tàn}} || {{zhi|p=làn}} || {{zhi|p=dàn}}
|-
! Modern Mandarin tone
| colspan=2 | 1 ({{zhi|p=yīnpíng}})
| colspan=2 | 2 ({{zhi|p=yángpíng}})
| colspan=3 | 3 ({{zhi|p=shǎng}})
| colspan="5" | 4 ({{zhi|p=qù}})
|}

In traditional Chinese phonology, syllables that ended in a stop in Middle Chinese (i.e. /p/, /t/ or /k/) were considered to belong to a special category known as the "[[entering tone]]".
These final stops have disappeared in most Mandarin dialects, with the syllables distributed over the other four modern tones in different ways in the various Mandarin subgroups.

In the Beijing dialect that underlies the standard language, syllables beginning with original voiceless consonants were redistributed across the four tones in a completely random pattern.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=195}} For example, the three characters {{linktext|lang=zh|積}}{{linktext|lang=zh|脊}}{{linktext|lang=zh|跡}}, all ''tsjek'' in Middle Chinese ([[Baxter's transcription for Middle Chinese|William H. Baxter's transcription]]), are now pronounced {{zhi|p=jī}}, {{zhi|p=jǐ}} and {{zhi|p=jì}} respectively.  Older dictionaries such as ''[[Mathews' Chinese-English Dictionary]]'' mark characters whose pronunciation formerly ended with a stop with a superscript 5; however, this tone number is more commonly used for syllables that always have a neutral tone (see below).

In Lower Yangtze dialects, a minority of Southwestern dialects (e.g. [[Minjiang dialect|Minjiang]]) and Jin Chinese (sometimes considered non-Mandarin), former final stops were not deleted entirely, but were reduced to a [[glottal stop]] {{IPA|/ʔ/}}.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=195}} (This includes the dialect of [[Nanjing]] on which the [[Postal Romanization]] was based; it transcribes the glottal stop as a trailing ''h''.) This development is shared with [[Wu Chinese]] and is thought to represent the pronunciation of [[Old Mandarin]]. In line with traditional Chinese phonology, dialects such as Lower Yangtze and Minjiang are thus said to have five tones instead of four.  However, modern linguistics considers these syllables as having no [[phonemic]] tone at all.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin:1em auto 1em auto"
|+ Reflexes of the Middle Chinese entering tone in Mandarin dialects<ref>Li Rong's 1985 article on Mandarin classification, quoted in {{harvp|Yan|2006|p=61}} and {{harvp|Kurpaska|2010|p=89}}.</ref>
|-
! rowspan=2 | subgroup
! colspan=3 | Middle Chinese initial
|-
! voiceless
! voiced [[sonorant]] 
! voiced obstruent
|-
| Beijing
| rowspan=2 | 1,3,4
| rowspan=4 | 4
| rowspan=6 | 2
|-
| Northeastern
|-
| Jiao–Liao
| 3
|-
| Ji–Lu
| 1
|-
| Central Plains
| colspan=2 | 1
|-
| Lan–Yin
| colspan=2 | 4
|-
| Southwestern
| colspan=3 | 2
|-
| Lower Yangtze
| colspan=3 | marked with final glottal stop ({{zhi|p=rù}})
|}

Although the system of tones is common across Mandarin dialects, their realization as [[tone contour]]s varies widely:{{sfnp|Norman|1988|pp=195–196}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin:1em auto 1em auto"
|+ Phonetic realization of Mandarin tones in principal dialects
|-
| colspan="2" | Tone name
| 1 ({{zhi|p=yīnpíng}})
| 2 ({{zhi|p=yángpíng}})
| 3 ({{zhi|p=shǎng}})
| 4 ({{zhi|p=qù}})
| marked with<br />glottal stop ({{zhi|p=rù}})
|-
| Beijing
| [[Beijing]]
| {{IPA|˥}} (55)
| {{IPA|˧˥}} (35)
| {{IPA|˨˩˦}} (214)
| {{IPA|˥˩}} (51)
|-
| Northeastern
| [[Harbin]]
| {{IPA|˦}} (44)
| {{IPA|˨˦}} (24)
| {{IPA|˨˩˧}} (213)
| {{IPA|˥˨}} (52)
|-
| Jiao–Liao
| [[Yantai]]
| {{IPA|˧˩}} (31)
| ({{IPA|˥}} (55))
| {{IPA|˨˩˦}} (214)
| {{IPA|˥}} (55)
|-
| rowspan="2" | Ji–Lu
| [[Tianjin]]
| {{IPA|˨˩}} (21)
| {{IPA|˧˥}} (35)
| {{IPA|˩˩˧}} (113)
| {{IPA|˥˧}} (53)
|-
| [[Shijiazhuang]]
| {{IPA|˨˧}} (23)
| {{IPA|˥˧}} (53)
| {{IPA|˥}} (55)
| {{IPA|˧˩}} (31)
|-
| rowspan="4" | Central Plains
| [[Zhengzhou]]
| {{IPA|˨˦}} (24)
| {{IPA|˦˨}} (42)
| {{IPA|˥˧}} (53)
| {{IPA|˧˩˨}} (312)
|-
| [[Luoyang]]
| {{IPA|˧˦}} (34)
| {{IPA|˦˨}} (42)
| {{IPA|˥˦}} (54)
| {{IPA|˧˩}} (31)
|-
| [[Xi'an]]
| {{IPA|˨˩}} (21)
| {{IPA|˨˦}} (24)
| {{IPA|˥˧}} (53)
| {{IPA|˦}} (44)
|-
| [[Tianshui]]
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|˩˧}} (13)
| {{IPA|˥˧}} (53)
| {{IPA|˦}} (44)
|-
| rowspan="2" | Lan–Yin
| [[Lanzhou]]
| {{IPA|˧˩}} (31)
| {{IPA|˥˧}} (53)
| {{IPA|˧}} (33)
| {{IPA|˨˦}} (24)
|-
| [[Yinchuan]]
| {{IPA|˦}} (44)
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|˥˧}} (53)
| {{IPA|˩˧}} (13)
|-
| rowspan="5" | Southwestern
| [[Chengdu]]
| {{IPA|˦}} (44)
| {{IPA|˨˩}} (21)
| {{IPA|˥˧}} (53)
| {{IPA|˨˩˧}} (213)
|-
| [[Xichang]]
| {{IPA|˧}} (33)
| {{IPA|˥˨}} (52)
| {{IPA|˦˥}} (45)
| {{IPA|˨˩˧}} (213)
| {{IPA|˧˩ʔ}} (31)
|-
| [[Kunming]]
| {{IPA|˦}} (44)
| {{IPA|˧˩}} (31)
| {{IPA|˥˧}} (53)
| {{IPA|˨˩˨}} (212)
|-
| [[Wuhan]]
| {{IPA|˥}} (55)
| {{IPA|˨˩˧}} (213)
| {{IPA|˦˨}} (42)
| {{IPA|˧˥}} (35)
|-
| [[Liuzhou]]
| {{IPA|˦}} (44)
| {{IPA|˧˩}} (31)
| {{IPA|˥˧}} (53)
| {{IPA|˨˦}} (24)
|-
| rowspan="2" | Lower Yangtze
| [[Yangzhou]]
| {{IPA|˧˩}} (31)
| {{IPA|˧˥}} (35)
| {{IPA|˦˨}} (42)
| {{IPA|˥}} (55)
| {{IPA|˥ʔ}} (5)
|-
| [[Nantong]]
| {{IPA|˨˩}} (21)
| {{IPA|˧˥}} (35)
| {{IPA|˥}} (55)
| {{IPA|˦˨}} (42), {{IPA|˨˩˧}} (213)*
| {{IPA|˦ʔ}} (4), {{IPA|˥ʔ}} (5)*
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> Dialects in and around the Nantong area typically have many more than 4 tones, due to influence from the neighbouring [[Wu Chinese|Wu dialects]].

Mandarin dialects frequently employ neutral tones in the second syllables of words, creating syllables whose tone contour is so short and light that it is difficult or impossible to discriminate. These atonal syllables also occur in non-Mandarin dialects, but in many southern dialects the tones of all syllables are made clear.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=195}}