Tone

Cantonese has a complicated tone system. The six tones are represented in the following table.

Tones 1 2 3 4 5 6 Shape High level High rising Mid level Low falling Low rising Low level Pitch contour* 55 25 33 21 23 22 Example 師 史 嗜 時 市 是

 

*To visualize the pitch contours of the tones, the following figure shows you the pitch trajectories of all the tones in Cantonese. In the figure, 5 is the highest in your pitch range, and 1 the lowest.