Comment on Why do all languages share the same intonation for questions?

bamfic@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• iknowitwheniseeit@lemmynsfw.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’m learning Chinese now and it seems to have a similar change in pitch as European languages when asking a question. 你说汉语吗？

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  • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    That’s just a coincidence. 吗, meaning “what?”, is pronounced má which has the ascending tone. This is not true of all questions in Chinese. For example: 谁在你的右边 meaning “who is on your right?” does not end with 吗, and 边 is pronounced bian which has the flat tone.

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    • Desso@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Hi! I’m Chinese and this is incorrect. 吗 (mā) and 边 (biān) actually have the same flat intonation, so there isn’t a rise in pitch in either of the questions. To answer OP, the word 吗 in particular is just typically used to end off some sentences in order to differentiate whether they are statements or questions, ie. 你要回家。(you want to go home) vs 你要回家吗？(do you want to go home?)

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