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An Introduction to Linguistic Tone

An Introduction to Linguistic Tone. What Is Tone?. We use our vocal cords to change the pitch of speech. (Think about the pitch of a simple English question like “What?” The pitch changes, rising at the end of the question.)

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An Introduction to Linguistic Tone

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  1. An Introduction to Linguistic Tone

  2. What Is Tone? • We use our vocal cords to change the pitch of speech. (Think about the pitch of a simple English question like “What?” The pitch changes, rising at the end of the question.) • The vocal cords vibrate; the faster they vibrate, the higher the pitch of the resulting speech. • Tone languages use changes in pitch to convey differences in lexical meaning • A different pitch pattern can make the difference between “mother” and “horse”!

  3. The Vocal Cords in Action Here we can see repeated cycles of vocal cord vibration. Video taken from Ladefoged (2000), Vowels and Consonants.

  4. Contour Each tone is complex, typically with one or more dramatic pitch changes Each syllable bears a complex tone pattern Tones cannot be decomposed Register Each tone is level, with little internal change in pitch Each syllable bears a level tone, or a combination of level tones Two Types of Tone Language

  5. Contour Tone Languages • Many of the languages of southeast Asia are contour tone languages • “Chinese” (actually a number of related languages) is a classic example of a tone language • Two well-known varieties, Mandarin and Cantonese, have different tones in their inventories

  6. Mandarin, Tone 1 • This is the pitch track of a high level tone • Steady F1 (fundamental frequency of vibration) of ~150 Hz (male speaker) • Starting point and ending point are very close in frequency

  7. Mandarin, Tone 2 • This is the high rising tone of Mandarin • Begins at ~110 Hz and ends around ~160 Hz

  8. Mandarin, Tone 3 • This pitch track represents the low falling rising tone • Begins around 100 Hz, falls below 70 Hz, and finishes around 90 Hz

  9. Mandarin, Tone 4 • Finally, the high falling tone of Mandarin • Starts at 170 Hz and falls to about 80 Hz

  10. Interim Summary • The tone inventory of Mandarin includes four unitary contour tones • A contour language may include tones which are described as “level” • The dynamic tones (such as high falling) never break down into free sequences of level tones (such as high and low) • Cantonese is another example of a contour language, but with 6 tones

  11. Cantonese, Tone 1 • This is the high falling tone of Cantonese • Ranges from a starting point of 270 Hz and falls to 240 Hz (female speaker)

  12. Cantonese, Tone 2 • This is the mid level tone of Cantonese • Begins at 240 Hz and ends at 220 Hz • Note that this is not actually completely level (no tone is) • Minimal divergence in F1

  13. Cantonese, Tone 3 • This is the low level tone of Cantonese • Begins around 220 Hz and falls below 200 Hz • Again, there is a pitch change here, but it is not particularly dramatic

  14. Cantonese, Tone 4 • This is the extra low tone of Cantonese • It begins at ~220 Hz and ends at ~180 Hz

  15. Cantonese, Tone 5 • This is the high rising tone of Cantonese • It begins at ~200 Hz and rises to >240 Hz

  16. Cantonese, Tone 6 • Finally, the mid rising tone of Cantonese • This tone begins ~200 Hz and ends up at ~220 Hz

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