Key Terms for the First Two Topics
Kinds of sounds
Vowels
Consonants
Nasals
Stops
Released stops
Unreleased stops
Syllable
Syllable make-up/structure
Number and kinds of sounds
How they are combined
What restrictions there are, such as
asymmetry between the beginning and end of syllable
no consonant clusters
Tones
Level tones
Contour tones
Ways to indicate tones
Tone sandhi
Homophony
Transliteration of foreign words
Why can one and the same thing be called a separate language or dialect of a language?
What are the major Chinese “dialect” families and sub-families?
Where are the Chinese dialects geographically distributed?
Why are there different names for the same dialect?
What is the commonality and difference between tone and intonation?
How are tones indicated?
What are some differences between a Chinese syllable and an English syllable?
What are some differences between Mandarin and Cantonese in syllable structure?
What is the number of possible syllables in Mandarin (with and without tones)?
What are some consequences of the simple syllable structure in Chinese?