ATLAS OF LANGUAGE

AT-NAV-G05-025 · ATLAS 259

Tone

Tone here concerns contrastive pitch or pitch contours contributing to lexical or grammatical distinctions.

Part of the subject path Sound, Phonetics and Phonology

Why is this entry in the Atlas?

G · Foundational concept R2 · Necessary foundation

Tone is needed to distinguish contrastive linguistic pitch from sentence intonation and musical sound. Its linguistic sense requires labelling and lexical or grammatical evidence.

Colours and admission grounds

The rectangular label identifies the entry function: F – linguistic figure or procedure; A – analytical concept; G – foundational concept; E – selected concrete case. The rounded badge indicates the admission ground: R1 – distinctive contribution; R2 – necessary foundation; R3 – justified illustrative case. This editorial rationale explains the current selection rather than claiming an undocumented original selection history.

Explanation

Tone here concerns contrastive pitch or pitch contours contributing to lexical or grammatical distinctions. It does not mean every acoustic tone or every whole-sentence melody. Analysis must specify the tone-bearing unit, categorical contrasts and possible contextual changes. Absolute frequency alone is insufficient because vocal range and speaking conditions vary. The relationship to pitch accent is described differently across languages and theories. A prominent syllable therefore does not establish a particular tone or accent system without further investigation.

Movement of thought

1. Identify the tone-bearing unit. 2. Compare contrasting patterns. 3. Control the segmental context. 4. Record contextual variants. 5. Test lexical and grammatical functions.

Scientific use case

Phonological research combines acoustic measurement with meaning and distribution tests.

Example

In a schematic tone system, [má] and [mà] can distinguish words; the example illustrates the contrast without claiming actual word meanings.

Counterexample

A louder syllable does not thereby carry a lexical high tone.

Distinction

Distinguish tone from loudness, musical tone, sentence intonation and unrestricted equivalence with pitch accent.

Effect on thought and perception

Tone reveals pitch as a resource for linguistic distinctions.

Resonance

A movement in pitch can open another word.

Provenance

Parallel corpus 98f0950771ae4662f291d2f15f5c51b6797f3c20ba458a68615cdb177002ea18; case-bounded source review accepted; human specialist review not claimed.

Cite this entry

Reich, Michael (Hrsg./ed.): „Tone“. Atlas der Sprache, AT-NAV-G05-025. ATLAS 259, data model 1.6.0. https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-NAV-G05-025

https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-NAV-G05-025

The address remains stable; editorial content may evolve. Editorial reading state: 2026-10-15. Include your access date for precise references.