Re: IPA tones

From: "H. S. Teoh"

> > Surely you meant 55, 15, 214, 52.
> 55??? I'd have thought it was 33, or at most, 44, 'cos 52 *definitely*
> starts with a higher pitch than the 1st tone. Or am I misunderstanding
> something obvious?
I don't think so. I tend to use these numbers as relatives and not
absolutes. For me, e.g., Mandarin third tone is more 212 or 213, but I get
the idea if one says 214. 55 and 52 work for me, but if you want to haggle
over 55 or 44, I can understand. I think 33 pushes the envelope, however,
for a Mandarin first tone. The distinction can be made in Hokkien:

ao1  is 55, it means "Europe"

ao7 is 33, it means "after, back" (as in 'ao7mng5', back door)

Mandarin has nothing comparable to Hokkien's seventh tone.

Kou