How do tones change the meaning of Chinese words or syllables?

In Chinese languages, tone refers to variations in the pitch of the voice used to distinguish words or syllables that are otherwise identical in their sequence of consonants and vowels. Because these languages often feature monosyllabic words, pitch serves as a critical linguistic property to differentiate meanings.123

In Modern Standard Chinese, there are four primary tones used to distinguish these meanings:
* High level
* High rising
* Low falling (with an extra rise when final)
* Falling

For example, the syllable man can mean either "deceive" or "slow" depending on the pitch applied to it. While Modern Standard Chinese utilizes four tones, other varieties such as Cantonese use at least six.12

It is important to note that tone is a property of the syllable, and the language relies on relative pitch rather than absolute pitch to convey these distinctions. Additionally, in sequences of syllables, tones may undergo changes known as tonal sandhi, where the pronunciation of a tone shifts based on the tones that follow it.14