抑揚頓挫

see 頓挫抑揚|顿挫抑扬[dun4 cuo4 yi4 yang2]

to restrain / to restrict / to keep down / or

modulation (rising and falling pitch) / intonation / a cadence / to rise and fall (of a body floating in water)

abbr. for 揚州|扬州[Yang2 zhou1] / surname Yang

to raise / to hoist / the action of tossing or winnowing / scattering (in the wind) / to flutter / to propagate

to stop / to pause / to arrange / to lay out / to kowtow / to stamp (one's foot) / at once / classifier for meals, beatings, scoldings etc: time, bout, spell, meal

a transition (stop and change) in spoken sound, music or in brush strokes / a cadence / punctuated by a transition / with syncopated cadence (brush stroke in painting)

obstructed / to fail / to oppress / to repress / to lower the tone / to bend back / to dampen