Intonation languages and tone languages In intonation languages such as English and Icelandic, tone is a property of the sentence. The same sentence can.

Intonation languagesand tone languages

• In intonation languages such as English and Icelandic, tone is a property of the sentence. The same sentence can have different tones, and the same word can have different tones. The lexical meaning of the word does not change.

• In tone languages such as Beijing Chinese and Hausa, tone is a property of the lexical item: a change of tone means mispronunciation, or a new word with a new meaning.

111 tasoshi

113 talaka

121 itache

132 iyaka

133 ajali

211 asiri

213 fÆntaña

213 alama

213 wahala

221 anfani

221 awgwagwwa