ChineseLesson 3 of 4 in the course Chinese phonology

Linguistic Tone: Contrasts, Systems, Functions, and Notation

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

This lesson introduces linguistic tone and distinguishes it from the use of pitch for ordinary intonation. Understanding that distinction helps explain how pitch can function as part of a word’s sound system.

In linguistics, tone is the use of pitch level, pitch movement, or both to distinguish word meanings or grammatical forms. A tone may remain level, rise, fall, or combine movements. In some languages, changing the tone of a syllable while keeping its consonants and vowels the same can change the word.

All flashcards

What is grammatical tone?
Tone that marks grammatical information, such as tense, person, number, or polarity.
What is tone sandhi?
A systematic change in tone triggered by the tonal context of neighboring syllables.
What is a floating tone?
A tone without its own pronounced consonant or vowel that can affect neighboring tones.
What is tonogenesis?
The historical development of contrastive tones in a language.
How do phonemic and phonetic tone notation differ?
Phonemic notation records meaningful tone categories; phonetic notation records details of their pronunciation.

Quiz questions

  1. What does pitch register describe in a tone system?Answer: The relative pitch level of a tone.
  2. In a syllable-tone language, how are tonal choices organized?Answer: Tone can be assigned independently to each syllable.
  3. What is tone terracing?Answer: A staircase-like lowering of tones across a sequence.
  4. How is the neutral tone commonly represented in Mandarin pinyin?Answer: It is commonly left unmarked.
  5. What does phonemic tone notation primarily record?Answer: Meaningful tone categories, without specifying every detail of pronunciation.

Based on the Wikipedia article Tone (linguistics), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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