2-character words with same pinyin-spelling but different tone

[Tamu]

There are many, many 2-character words which differ only by the tone, i.e. same pinyin-spelling/sound but different tone. If you use a pinyin input on a computer, you see them constantly.

 

I was curious which pairs are fairly frequent. I couldn't find any list on the internet, so for fun I kept track of ones that I actually encounter often in daily conversation.  No real purpose, just I thought I'd share. In the last few days, here's what I came across:

 

 

睡觉，水饺  : shuìjiào, shuǐjiǎo

有用，游泳  : yǒuyóng, yòuyǒng

搭讪， 大山 : dāshàn, dàshān

强调， 腔调 : qiángdiào, qiāngdiào

上海， 伤害 : shànghǎi, shānghài

预付，渔夫  : yùfù, yúfū

练习，联系  : liànxí, liánxì

眼睛 , 眼镜  : yǎnjīng, yǎnjìng

一共，义工  : yīgóng, yìgōng

城市/程式，诚实 : chéngshì/chéngshì, chéngshí

认识，人士  : rènshí, rénshì

老师，老实  : lǎoshī, lǎoshí

距离，举例  : jùlí, jǔlì

[Lu]

程度 / 成都 chéngdù / Chéngdū

 

I think for a number of words there you have the tones wrong.

[Tamu]

Hi Lu - Thanks for pointing out the wrong tone markings. Kinda odd, actually. It's a bit of a "dog ate my homework" excuse, but the tones I had were right. But for some reason I don't understand, when copying them into the forum, some of the tone marks got changed (2nd tone became 4th tone, etc). No idea why, some type of encoding difference I guess? I tried to fix, hopefully it sticks.

 

Chengdu, nice one

[Guest realmayo]

Maybe your browswer speaks a different dialect? 

[li3wei1]

先生，先声，险胜

[li3wei1]

星期，兴起，性气

[Guest realmayo]

外教 外交

[Lu]

 

No idea why, some type of encoding difference I guess? I tried to fix, hopefully it sticks.

Do you have pinyinput yet? Link is on the forums, very useful tool.

[muirm]

统一 同意 同一

[tooironic]

1. 仙人

2. 先人

3. 闲人

4. 贤人

5. 现任

6. 线人

7. 纤人

1. 狮子

2. 师资

3. 十字

4. 识字

5. 柿子

6. 石子

7. 世子

And 拭子 but that term is a bit technical.

We could go on all day. The possible number of combinations is endless.

[Allen Zhang]

1. 故乡 古巷gù xiāng  gǔ xiàng 

2. 想起 象棋xiǎng qǐ  xiàng qí 

3. 期盼 棋盘qī pàn  qí pán 

4. 叛逃 蟠桃pàn táo  pán táo 

5. 逃生 涛声táo shēng  tāo shēng 

6. 盛世 声势shèng shì  shēng shì

7. 时间 实践shí jiān  shí jiàn 

8. 见到 剪刀jiàn dào  jiǎn dāo

9. 道理 倒立dào lǐ  dǎo lì

10. 丽姿 栗子lì zī  lì zǐ 

11. 姊妹 子美zǐ mèi  zǐ měi 

12. 美化 梅花měi huà  méi huā 

13. 花瓣 滑板huā bàn  huá bǎn

14. 班级 班机bān jí  bān jī

15. 基金 激进jī jīn  jī jìn 

16. 进取 禁区jìn qǔ  jìn qū 

17. 去污 取物qù wū  qǔ wù

18. 物理 武力 wù lǐ  wǔ lì

19. 力气 离奇lì qì  lí qí 

20. 凄凉 气量qī liáng  qì liàng 

21. 良医 凉意liáng yī  liáng yì 

22. 仪器 义气yí qì  yì qì 

23. 气宇 奇遇qì yǔ  qí yù 

24. 语句 寓居yǔ jù  yù jū

25. 距离 举例jù lí  jǔ lì 

26. 例证 力争 lì zhèng  lì zhēng 

27. 证明 争鸣zhèng míng  zhēng míng 

28. 名声 名胜míng shēng  míng shèng 

29. 笙箫 生效shēng xiāo  shēng xiào 

30. 笑话 消化xiào huà  xiāo huà

and so  on

[Mindmaxd]

A poem worte by one pinyin and with different tones:

《施氏食狮史》
石室诗士施氏，嗜狮，誓食十狮。
施氏时时适市视狮。
十时，适十狮适市。
是时，适施氏适市。
氏视是十狮，恃矢势，使是十狮逝世。
拾是十狮尸，适石室。
石室湿，氏使侍拭石室。
石室拭，氏始试食是十狮。
食时，始识是十狮，实十石狮尸。
试释是事。

[xh207hi]

Wouldn't this thread be even more useful if people who are kindly posting the words write pinyin with tones as well...? at least to the less common of the two (or more) words within the comparison. Otherwise it is difficult to easily and quickly comprehend all these useful examples. Just my little suggestion...

[alanmd]

Here's an attempt at adding toned pinyin to the above examples:

 

先生 xiān sheng

先声 xiān shēng

险胜 xiǎn shèng

 

星期 xīng qī

兴起 xīng qǐ

性气 xìng qì

 

外教 wài jiào

外交 wài jiāo

 

统一 tǒng yī

同意 tóng yì

同一 tóng yī

 

1. 仙人 xiān rén

2. 先人 xiān rén

3. 闲人 xián rén

4. 贤人 xiánrén

5. 现任 xiàn rèn

6. 线人 xiàn rén

7. 纤人 xiān rén

 

1. 狮子 shī zi

2. 师资 shī zī 

3. 十字 shí zì

4. 识字 shì zì

5. 柿子 shì zi

6. 石子 shí zǐ

7. 世子 shì zi

[alanmd]

Of course, being me, I'm not satisfied with a human generated list, so here's an exhaustive list of all homophones (I think that's the correct term; it's close enough...) according to CC-CEDICT：http://hskhsk.pythonanywhere.com/homophones

 

There is a page for each word length that has homophones, and definitions can be expended inline. As usual the words have popup definitions and are clickable, and the arrow ⇒ links go to the Advanced search page for downloading a homonym list as a flashcard text file etc. You can select whether or not to ignore the tones in the results.