Tone 4 and Tone 3 Discrimination in Modern Standard Chinese

Productions of Tone 4 and Tone 3 ( mài/măi, ‘sell’/‘buy’) in comparable sentences suggest that although the two tones are realized in different ways by different speakers in different speech acts, some features are constant. Tone 3 is connected with a low pitch level throughout the second half of the vowel and Tone 4 with a gradual fall over the main part of the vocalic segment. These observations were tested in a series of manipulations of pitch movements over mài from Tone 4 to Tone 3 in the sentence Sòng Yán mài niúròu. The manipulated sentences were presented in a test, in which listeners were asked if they heard mài or năi. The result confirmed the observed constant features and indicated in addition that it was important for both tones to have a clear reference. The identification of Tone 4 was favoured by an introductory rising or level part, and for Tone 3 an introductory fall seemed to be important. Creaky voice is a concomitant but not a necessary feature of Tone 3.