Words of the fourth tone naturally short, are here in a position unfavourable for the accent. Even the few cases of exception marked, do not take it exclusively on the penultimate.
29. Examples of the same tone in the antepenultimate.
| Tones. | Accent. | ||
| j.p.s. | 忒伊兩 | t’eh-í liáng, with him, | ult. |
| j.s.p. | 縮轉來 | sók tsén-lé, return, | „ |
| j.k.j. | 撥過歇 | peh-kú-h’ih, given, | ant. |
| j.k.p. | 跌下來 | tih ’au-lé, fall down, | ult. |
| j.p.p. | 織成功 | tsuh zung-kóng, completely woven, | ult. |
| j.s.j. | 搨顔色 | t’ah gnan suh, paint on colours, | pen. |
| j.j.p. | 角落頭 | koh-loh deu, corner, | ult. |
The secondary accent is on the first syllable in these examples.
30. Examples of this tone standing last of two or three words.
| Tones. | Accent. | ||
| p.j. | 天色 | t’íen suh, weather, | pen. |
| 分別 | fun pih, difference, | „ | |
| s.j. | 手筆 | seu pih, hand-writing, | ult. |
| 寶塔 | pau t’ah, pagoda, | „ | |
| k.j. | 算法 | sûn fah, method of calculation, | „ |
| j.j. | 吃粥 | k’íuk tsóh, eat rice water, | „ |
| p.j. | 頭髮 | teu fah, hair, | pen. |
| 沉殺 | dzun sah, be drowned, | „ | |
| s.j. | 顔色 | gnan suh, colour, | „ |
| 五十 | ng seh,[1] fifty, | „ | |
| k.j. | 二十 | ní seh twenty, | „ |
| 吝嗇 | ling sih parsimonious, | „ | |
| j.j. | 沒殺 | meh sah be drowned, | ult. |
| 立刻 | lih k’uh immediately, | „ | |
| p.p.j. | 骷髏骨 | kú leu kweh scull, | „ |
| p.p.j. | 龍華塔 | lúng hwó t’ah Lúng-hwá pagoda, | „ |
In the first two examples, the penultimate being in the upper first tone, the last word may be heard to fall in key.
In those marked k, j, the first word is lengthened in pronunciation, and thus passes into the lower second tone.
[ [1] The character 十 is read zeh The sound seh as heard in conversation is irregular.
31. Examples of the upper fourth tone standing second in a group of three.