<p>(This was originally a part of my answer on another <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/43231/what-is-the-proper-pronunciation-of-%E7%AD%89%E7%AD%89/43252#43252">question</a> concerning tone sandhi AND neutral tones. I feel my explanation below on just tone sandhi befits here more. Consider this a slight extension to the accepted answer.)</p>
<p>The pronunciation of words consisting of more than two adjacent third-tone characters depends on correct parsing.</p>
<p>E.g. 1 老/總統 <code>333 &gt; 323</code> (an old president): there is no need for 老 to change its tone because what is next to it (總) is already pronounced in the second tone.</p>
<p>E.g. 2 展覽/館 <code>333 &gt; 223</code> (exhibition hall): the first <code>3 &gt; 2</code> change in 展 is considered fixed within the word 展覽; the second <code>3 &gt; 2</code> change in 覽 is the result of immediate placement next to another separate third-tone character, 館.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-13T09:59:37.253Z
What about a name of a person like 李小勇? It might be mistaken to be 黎小勇? 李敏 could be 黎敏 or vice verse. And it is also very difficult to determine the right tone by first determining which word is closer to which other word in this phrase, right?
NanningYouth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-17T03:17:54.110Z
The rule still applies. I think surname–name split makes sense, so 李/小勇 (323). Also consider 李/小姐 (323) vs 李/女士 (234). To avoid confusion with 黎女士, saying 木子李 may help. / Difficult in theory, intuitive (語感) in practice. Sometimes it’s better to not think in theory, but it’s good to have it at the back of our minds.
L Parker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-16T14:17:59.423Z
2021-03-16T14:17:59.423Z
L Parker
<p>井井有条​ (to be neat and tidy) we have a sequence of the third tones. Why is it pronounced as</p>

<p>jing2 jing2 you3 tiao2</p>

<p>and not</p>

<p>jing2 jing3 you3 tiao2</p>

<p>After all, the first half goes together, and the second half goes together.</p>

<p>How can we generalize the (3, 3) |-> (2, 3) tone change rule to words greater than two characters?</p>

<p>Could we have three or four tone changes in a line of characters?</p>

<p>Is the rule that if we have N third consecutive tones, then the first N-1 change to second tones?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-09T01:58:34.623Z
last answered 2 months ago: http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/19574/how-to-pronounce-multiple-consecutive-third-tones-in-a-sentence
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-25T09:37:28.363Z
Please, what would be the rule for what Wenlin dictionary is calling " Fixed Expression " ? How apply what you wrote : " It depends on how you seperate the words, to determine which rule should be applied. " The fixed expression used in a sentence shouln't be pronunced regardless of the said sentence ? How pronunce " 小打小闹 " in 我的一点成就 不过是小打小闹 ?
faure
<pronunciation><tones><sandhi>
Generalize consecutive third tones change rule
# Generalize consecutive third tones change rule

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-10-08)

井井有条​ (to be neat and tidy) we have a sequence of the third tones. Why is it pronounced as

jing2 jing2 you3 tiao2

and not

jing2 jing3 you3 tiao2

After all, the first half goes together, and the second half goes together.

How can we generalize the (3, 3) |-> (2, 3) tone change rule to words greater than two characters?

Could we have three or four tone changes in a line of characters?

Is the rule that if we have N third consecutive tones, then the first N-1 change to second tones?

**Tags:** pronunciation, tones, sandhi
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: last answered 2 months ago: http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/19574/how-to-pronounce-multiple-consecutive-third-tones-in-a-sentence  
> **username_2**: Please, what would be the rule for what Wenlin dictionary is calling " Fixed Expression " ? How apply what you wrote : " It depends on how you seperate the words, to determine which rule should be applied. " The fixed expression used in a sentence shouln't be pronunced regardless of the said sentence ? How pronunce " 小打小闹 " in 我的一点成就 不过是小打小闹 ?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-03-16. Score: 2

(This was originally a part of my answer on another [question](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/43231/what-is-the-proper-pronunciation-of-%E7%AD%89%E7%AD%89/43252#43252) concerning tone sandhi AND neutral tones. I feel my explanation below on just tone sandhi befits here more. Consider this a slight extension to the accepted answer.)

The pronunciation of words consisting of more than two adjacent third-tone characters depends on correct parsing.

E.g. 1 老/總統 `333 > 323` (an old president): there is no need for 老 to change its tone because what is next to it (總) is already pronounced in the second tone.

E.g. 2 展覽/館 `333 > 223` (exhibition hall): the first `3 > 2` change in 展 is considered fixed within the word 展覽; the second `3 > 2` change in 覽 is the result of immediate placement next to another separate third-tone character, 館.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: What about a name of a person like 李小勇? It might be mistaken to be 黎小勇? 李敏 could be 黎敏 or vice verse. And it is also very difficult to determine the right tone by first determining which word is closer to which other word in this phrase, right?  
> **username_3**: The rule still applies. I think surname–name split makes sense, so 李/小勇 (323). Also consider 李/小姐 (323) vs 李/女士 (234). To avoid confusion with 黎女士, saying 木子李 may help. / Difficult in theory, intuitive (語感) in practice. Sometimes it’s better to not think in theory, but it’s good to have it at the back of our minds.  

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