Tone / Pitch Contrast
Does pitch change the word or grammar?
Signification
Lexical or grammatical meaning encoded by pitch level or contour on syllables, words, or phrases.
Comment le repérer
Listen for pitch patterns that distinguish words or meanings.
Exemples
high tone|falling tone|rising tone|pitch accent
tone pattern|pitch contrast
Pitch can change the word meaning in tonal languages.
Visual guide
word or syllable
+
pitch pattern
(high / rising / falling)
=
meaning
Pitch can change the word.
Pitch profile: absent: no word contrast marginal: few contrasts pitch accent: one marked spot lexical tone: tone contrasts words grammar tone: tone marks grammar + intonation: sentence melody Ask: what level carries meaning?
Vue par langue
Dans votre langue maternelle
French is not tonal; pitch does not normally distinguish lexical word meaning.
bon
good
Dans votre langue d’apprentissage
English is not a tonal language in the usual lexical sense, though pitch and intonation are important.
record (noun) vs record (verb) differs by stress, not lexical tone.
English uses stress contrast, not lexical tone like Mandarin.
Learners of tonal languages should not expect English words to be distinguished by lexical tone.
Good transfer potential
This block behaves relatively similarly, so you can transfer intuition more safely between the two languages.