Brian Beck participates:
>Cantonese has 9 basic tones as opposed to Mandarin's 4.
The number varies from dictionary to dictionary and certainly there are
dialectal differences as well.
> 1 yat(')
> 2 yi(_)
> 3 saam(\)
> 4 sei(--)
> 5 ng(_/)
> 6 luk(.)(not 'lok')
Alright, but there are dictionaries I've seen where it is spelled "lok". At
any rate, the "o" is certainly a high rounded vowel of some kind
nonetheless. I pronounce it a little higher than a carefully pronounced "oh"
or French "eau".
> 7 chat(')
> 8 baat(-)
> 9 gao(-/)
> 10 sap(.)
>Where:
> ' is a high clipped tone
Afaik, the falling tone I mentioned can be level or falling depending on
dialect. Clipped? Are you going by audible perception? It probably only
sounds clipped because of the contrast between short and long vowels. I
notice how you tend to regularly give the short vowels the (') marker like
/chat(')/ but give the long vowels a falling or level marker like /baat(-)/.
I think this is what causes you to believe so strongly in "nine" tones when
there are most likely less in reality. Just my thoughts anyway. Tch�s.
- gLeN
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