If Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language, meaning that the inflection of one’s voice changes the meaning of the word, then how is it properly understood when being sung?

Question

I’ve been a fan of the Chinese singer Faye Wong for a couple years now and have always wondered this.

In: Other

Answer 1

In music, you sing to the melody by matching the pitch of the word.

In Chinese, the defining tones of words have no specific pitch. They are about the change in pitch.

The four Mandarin tones are defined as flat, rising, fall and rise, and falling.

These can be whatever pitch you want to sing them to as long as you sing them with the change in pitch as well.