| Tone Sandhi |
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In Mandarin Chinese , the most common tone sandhi rule is that the leading syllable in a set of two third-tone syllables is raised to the second tone. For example, ''nǐhǎo'' ( Pinyin , Chinese Character s 你好), the most common Mandarin greeting, is pronounced ''níhǎo''. Tone sandhi in Hakka is more complex; in Southern Min , more complex still, with the most complex systems found in Wu and Jin . As an example of how tone sandi may affect meaning, the Taiwanese morphemes ''kiaⁿ'' (afraid) and ''lâng'' (person) may combine to form the word ''kiaⁿ-lâng'', whose meaning varies according to the tone change. When pronounced "kiaⁿ7-lâng5", it means "to be afraid of people". When pronounced "kiaⁿ1-lâng1", it means "frightful". Cherokee has a robust tonal system in which tones may be combined in various ways, following subtle and complex tonal rules that vary from community to community. While the tonal system is undergoing a gradual simplification in many areas (no doubt due to Cherokee often falling victim to second-language status), the tonal system remains extremely important in meaning and is still held strongly by many, especially older speakers. SEE ALSO
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