Those Freaking Tones ...

So one of the most foreign—some might say most annoying—features of the Chinese language from the perspective of a Western learner is the importance of tones; the meaning of a certain sound completely changes depending on the inflection you say it with. For example, take the sound “yo.” If you say it with an upward tone it means oil, as said when describing food or something with petroleum; a downward tone means the direction “right”; and a short downward, then immediate upward inflection means “to have.” Remembering not only the sound, but also the specific tone for each word can be maddening.

I had assumed this was something that people who learn Chinese as their first language just pick up naturally, but I found out recently that they sometimes get this wrong as well. While in Xi’an, we had some extra time at one of the tourist spots so we were able to converse with some of the native Xi’anese. During the course of the conversation, I asked them what their favorite place in China was; one answered that he liked a particular town, which he gave us the name of (I forget it now, let’s say it was Guangzhou). Almost as soon as he told us though, his friend jumped in and corrected him; the name wasn’t Guangzhou, it was Guangzhou. This man was probably in his thirties and had likely spoken nothing but Mandarin Chinese his whole life, but he made a mistake with the tones. I laughed out loud and instantly felt a connection with the guy.  It is a huge relief to know that I’ll never have to know these tricky inflections absolutely perfectly!

As difficult as learning the tones is, however, I do have to say that I actually really enjoy that aspect of the language. I think this could possibly be because I have a somewhat extensive musical background. Now I can’t quite say that the use of specific tones makes Chinese sound more beautifully musical, but it does add a sort of melodic element to conversations. Normal, mundane sentences became much more dynamic and can be quite fun to say once you have them down. And, like memorizing characters, the more words you learn the easier it becomes. So while the existence of tonal differences certainly puts the brakes on the process of learning Mandarin, I can’t say I mind too much.