The 6-Tone Phonetic System

Woo, Director of the Centre for Research in Linguistic Studies, City University of Macau.

In this book, we explain why the pronunciation of a dialect as complicated as Cantonese in the Chinese language, and the English language can be successfully learnt in 7 days.

Based on a correct understanding of Initials, Finals, and Tones, 7 days is enough for language students to pronounce English as well as Chinese words accurately.

Traditionally, phonetic alphabets have been devised by linguists to represent sounds of spoken languages. Today, when learning a new language, two widely used phonetic systems are the IPA system and the pinyin system. The IPA system defines tones as nothing more than suprasegmental element of speech. It differentiates between tonal and non-tonal languages. It places emphasis on stress, marginalizes the existence of tones. For the pinyin system, tones are a basic element of sound.

While we appreciate the differences in approach between these two systems, we notice there has been very little commonality in either system in order to pave the way for a constructive comparison. We are of the opinion that there is a theory, referred to as the Theory of the Six Tones (known also as the Theory of the Hexatave), which defines the common rules of human sound, and can simplify the process of learning how to pronounce words in a new language.

Dettagli