# Singing In Chinese

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-in-chinese/61344>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 9, 2001, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-in-chinese/61344 "2001-04-09T13:00:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2001, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-in-chinese/61344/1 "2001-04-09T13:00:04Z")

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Edlyn and I went to a Chinese buffet this weekend. The music was a selection of very soft western-type contemporary. The vocals (like the wait staff and kitchen staff) were Chinese. I have no idea what the lady was singing, but it sounded much like soft love ballads by Olivia Newton John or something.

My question is this: given the tonality of Chinese, how hampered is a lyricist in terms of what she must fit into a melody? Is meaning lost or altered within the rising and falling tones of the harmonies? Must a Chinese lyricist dig for words that “fit” a melody, or can sense be made out of the words by context?

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2001, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-in-chinese/61344/2 "2001-04-09T14:01:36Z")

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Excellent question. You’re not the first that’s wondered this.

The answer depends, in part, on whether the song is in Mandarin or Cantonese. See the **sci.lang FAQ** , [How are tone languages sung?](http://zompist.com/lang21.html#25). The sci.lang FAQ is a great source of linguistic information, and goes into other questions posed on this message board, like the different names for Germany.