Tone

Use of pitch in speech to distinguish words or convey meaning.

In language, tone refers to the use of pitch in speech to distinguish words or convey meaning. In tonal languages, different pitches can change the semantic value of a word.

Tone comes from the Old French word 'ton,' meaning sound, and ultimately from the Latin 'tonus.'

Tone is like how your voice changes when you're excited or sad - it helps people understand not just *what* you say, but *how* you feel.

What is tone? It refers to variations in pitch when speaking
How does it differ from intonation? Intonation focuses on the overall melodic contour of a sentence, while tone is a smaller variation
Can tone change the meaning? Yes, it can alter how a sentence is interpreted

linguistics phonology

pitch accent lexical tone

language speech