Zhuyin Tone Marks: Why the First Tone Is Unmarked

In Zhuyin, the first tone has no mark, so a syllable with no tone symbol is read as first tone. The other three tones each have a small mark written after the last symbol of the syllable: ˊ for second, ˇ for third, ˋ for fourth. The neutral tone has a dot (˙) that sits before the syllable in horizontal text.

That is the whole system, and it is why 吃飯 is written ㄔ ㄈㄢˋ: first tone on 吃 (no mark), fourth tone on 飯.

The five tones in Zhuyin

Tone	Mark	Example	Pinyin
First	none	ㄇㄚ, 媽	mā
Second	ˊ	ㄇㄚˊ, 麻	má
Third	ˇ	ㄇㄚˇ, 馬	mǎ
Fourth	ˋ	ㄇㄚˋ, 罵	mà
Neutral	˙	˙ㄇㄚ, 嗎	ma

The marks are small enough to overlook at first. They are also easy to confuse: ˊ rises up to the right, ˇ is a dip, ˋ falls. Their shapes loosely match the pitch movement of the tones, which helps as a memory aid.

Why the first tone is unmarked

Taiwan’s Ministry of Education 國語注音符號手冊 gives the first tone a mark of its own, a short horizontal stroke, and states that it can be left out when writing Zhuyin. Everyday Zhuyin, and the Ministry’s own dictionary, leave it out.

The practical logic is simple. Leaving one tone unmarked means fewer marks on the page, and a missing mark is itself information.

This has a consequence for reading. You must treat a bare syllable as a first-tone reading, not as a missing tone. If a bare syllable looks wrong, check whether it should carry a dot, which you would see before it.

Where each mark goes

Horizontal text

The Ministry handbook states that the marks for second, third and fourth tone sit at the upper right of the last symbol of the syllable, in both horizontal and vertical writing. So you read ㄋㄧˇ with the ˇ after the ㄧ, and ㄇㄧㄥˊ with the ˊ after the ㄥ.

The mark goes after the whole syllable, not after the initial. The tone belongs to the syllable.

Vertical text

In vertical Zhuyin, which you will see beside characters in many Taiwanese children’s books, the syllable is stacked and written down the right side of the character. The marks sit to the right of the last symbol, and the neutral-tone dot goes above the syllable.

The neutral-tone dot

The neutral-tone dot is the one mark that moves. The handbook places it above the syllable in vertical text, and in front of the first symbol in horizontal text.

Examples from the Ministry’s dictionary:

• 媽媽 (māma): ㄇㄚ ˙ㄇㄚ
• 爸爸 (bàba): ㄅㄚˋ ˙ㄅㄚ
• 早上 (zǎoshang): ㄗㄠˇ ˙ㄕㄤ
• 孩子 (háizi): ㄏㄞˊ ˙ㄗ

The first syllable keeps its tone, and the dot appears before the second.

What Zhuyin writes, and what you say

Zhuyin writes the dictionary tone, not the tone you actually pronounce. In the Ministry’s dictionary, 老虎 is ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ, with a third tone on both syllables, even though in speech the first is pronounced like a second tone. Likewise 不對 is ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄨㄟˋ and 一樣 is ㄧ ㄧㄤˋ, written in the base tone. For how the spoken tone changes, see tone sandhi in Taiwan.

Which syllables are neutral is also a dictionary decision. The Ministry’s dictionary gives 我們 as ㄨㄛˇ ˙ㄇㄣ, but 先生 as ㄒㄧㄢ ㄕㄥ, with a full first tone on the second syllable. Spoken Mandarin may differ from the page, so when a word matters, check it in the Ministry dictionary rather than assuming.

Comparison with pinyin

	Zhuyin	Pinyin
First tone	no mark	ā (macron)
Second to fourth	ˊ ˇ ˋ after the syllable	á ǎ à over a vowel
Neutral	˙ before the syllable	no mark (ma)
Where	after the last symbol (dot before)	on the main vowel

Pinyin puts its mark over a vowel, and choosing which vowel takes a rule of its own. Zhuyin needs no such rule, because the tone marks always follow the syllable and the neutral dot always precedes it. That simplicity is a real advantage for reading, and in typing the tone is just one more key. See the pinyin tone mark rules.

The trade-off is the unmarked first tone. In pinyin every tone is visible on the page. In Zhuyin one tone is the absence of a mark, which takes some getting used to.

Typing tone marks

On the Zhuyin keyboard, tones are keys like any other. Apple’s documentation for its Mac Zhuyin input says the space bar enters the first tone, and its examples type ˊ with 6 and ˋ with 4. So the unmarked tone is a key press too. The next step after learning the marks is to practise them with the tone practice tool. The Zhuyin chart shows the marks on every syllable.

A short practice

Say each syllable aloud and name its tone before you check:

• ㄕㄨ (書, shū)
• ㄇㄠ (貓, māo)
• ㄒㄧㄠˇ (小, xiǎo)
• ㄑㄩˋ (去, qù)
• ㄆㄥˊ ㄧㄡˇ (朋友, péngyǒu)

If you can name the tone from the mark alone, you can read Zhuyin tones. Tone marks are quick to learn, and much of the remaining work is the symbols themselves. The day-by-day plan covers that.

Related reading

• Interactive Zhuyin Chart
• Pinyin Tone Marks: Where They Go and How to Type Ü
• How to Learn Zhuyin Fast: A Day-by-Day Plan
• Bopomofo vs Pinyin: Which Should You Learn?