There are 8 tones in Teochew. In many resources, you will see a number after each syllable, indicating which tone it is. On this website, different accent marks are used.
| Tone | Description | Example | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle | shirt | sa: | 衫 | |
| 2 | Falling | hand | chiù | 手 | |
| 3 | Low Falling, Rising | vegetables | chăi | 菜 | |
| 4 | Middle Short | meat | bhat | 肉 | |
| 5 | High | head | tāo | 头 | |
| 6 | Rising | old | láo | 老 | |
| 7 | Low | big | duạ | 大 | |
| 8 | High Short | white | bēt | 白 | |
Many words undergo tone change when placed in front of another word. The table below shows the same words as above, but placed in front of another word to demonstrate how their tones change.
| Original Tone | Changed Tone | Example | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | clothes | sa: kŏu | 衫裤 | |
| 2 | 6 | finger | chiú jài: | 手指 | |
| 3 | 2 | radish | chài tāo | 菜头 | |
| 4 | 8 | dried, shredded pork | bhāt yōng | 肉绒 | |
| 5 | 7 | hair (on your head) | tạo mō | 头毛 | |
| 6 | 7 | great grandmother | lạo mà | 老妈 | |
| 7 | 7 | aunt (dad's oldest sister) | duạ gou | 大姑 | |
| 8 | 4 | napa cabbage | bet chăi | 白菜 |