The tones are now commonly distinguished into two orders or grades, siong꜄ ꜀siăng, the upper or primary tones, and ha꜅ ꜀siăng, the lower or secondary tones. They are as follows:-
| 1. | 上平 | siong꜅ ꜁ping, the upper even tone. |
| 2. | 上上 | siong꜅ ꜂siong, or siong꜅ siong꜅, the upper rising tone. |
| 3. | 上去 | siong꜅ k‘ëü꜄, the upper departing or diminishing tone. |
| 4. | 上入 | siong꜅ ik꜇, the„ upper„ entering or abrupt tone. |
| 5. | 下平 | ha꜅ ꜁ping, the lower even tone. |
| 6. | 下上 | ha꜅ ꜂siong, or ha꜅ siong꜅ the lower rising tone. |
| 7. | 下去 | ha꜅ k‘ëü꜄, the lower departing or diminishing tone. |
| 8. | 下入 | ha꜅ ik꜇, the„ lower„ entering or abrupt tone. |
Description of the tones. The names given to the tones above are merely translations of the Chinese terms and furnish a very imperfect idea of their nature. The following very concise, lucid, and scientific description, with diagrams of the tones, is from the pen of Rev. Charles Hartwell of the American Board Mission.
"The tones have five elements, which are pitch, quality of voice, inflection, stress, and time.
The first tone has the pitch of a third, is the head tone in quality of voice, and is without inflection, without stress, and long in time.
The second tone is a minor third below the first, and has the pitch of sharp one. It is near the orotund in quality of voice, is without inflection, has the thorough stress, and is long in time.
The third tone begins on the pitch of a fifth below–as in diagram No. 1—and gradually rises to the key note. Or, with a consonant initial, begins on the key note of the voice—as in diagram No. 2—drops to a fifth below, and returns to the key note. It is long in time.
The fourth tone is like the third in pitch and inflection, but ends abruptly with a strong vanishing stress. It is pronounced more quickly than the third, but is properly long in time, as is shown by its changing to the first and second tones in combination, which are both long tones.
