All Sino-Tibetan languages are ultimately related to Chinese (all dialects), they are all tonal languages to varying degrees (where changing the tone alters the meaning of the word). Other languages also have tonal features, such as Norwegian/Swedish , native North American languages and the Bantu languages (but not Swahilli ). Sino-Tibetan languages are made up from a series of mono-syllablic sounds.
When listening to a radio broadcast from the Far East, a Sino-Tibetan language will sound tonal. Commonly heard Sino-Tibetan languages include Chinese (any dialect), Vietnamese , Thai (including its close relative Lao ), Khmer or Burmese . If the language is not obviously tonal, it may be Japanese , Korean , Tagalog (spoken in the Philippines) or Malay/Indonesian .
None of the tonal Sino-Tibetan languages have a long trilled r
sound but use l.
[Articles/_private/langnavbar.htm]Sinitic
- Chinese : Mandarin, Wu (Shanghai), Min, Yue (Cantonese), Hakka, Xiang
Tibeto-Burman
- Tibetan
- Burmese
- various languages of Burma, China, India and Nepal