2.3 The fifth tone in Mandarin: The light, flexible tone

Neutral tone = light tone → soft, short, and unstressed.

No tone mark in Pinyin.

Often used with particles (ma, ne, de) or the second syllable of common words (xièxie, māma).

🔑 Key Points

Neutral tone’s pitch is not fixed — it depends on the tone before it:

• After 1st tone → low pitch (≈2). → māma, gēge
• After 2nd tone → middle-low pitch (≈3). → yéye, érzi
• After 3rd tone → high pitch (≈4). → jiějie, nǎinai
• After 4th tone → very low pitch (≈1). → mèimei, xièxie