Online Phonology Clinic III Course Designer and Tutor: Prof. Diana Martínez Salatín pronunciaciondelingles@yahoo.com.ar

1. Prominence and Intonation in Discourse

15. Prominence and Intonation in Discourse Pitch variation has an important role to play in communication, adding meaning additional to that conveyed by the segmental phonemes. We can distinguish two significant ways in which pitch functions, namely (1) ( lexical ) tone and (2) intonation . In many languages, it is possible to use pitch differences to distinguish the dictionary meaning of words. This function of pitch is known as tone and such languages are termed tone languages . In tonal languages such as Chinese, Navajo, or Yoruba, differences in pitch can signify differences of meaning within a word. The classic example from Mandarin Chinese is the word ma, which can mean either "mother," "scold,“ "hemp," or "horse," depending on its pitch pattern (high level vs. high falling, etc.).