Tónmálfræði

Tónmálfræði is the study of how pitch patterns function in languages. It concerns both lexical tone, where different pitches distinguish word meanings, and prosodic patterns that organize utterances. The field investigates how tones interact with phonology, morphology, syntax, and phonetics, and how pitch is realized acoustically in speech.

Core topics include lexical tone systems, contour and level tones, tone sandhi and other tone-altering processes, and intonation in phrases and sentences. It distinguishes between lexical tone languages, pitch-accent languages, and languages in which tone is primarily an aspect of suprasegmental prosody. The study also examines how tone interacts with stress, syllable structure, and adjacent sounds.

Methods and theories combine field data collection with acoustic analysis of pitch (F0), duration, and amplitude, along with phonological representations such as level versus contour tones and autosegmental analyses. Theoretical frameworks include tonal phonology and autosegmental-metrical approaches, with annotation schemes like ToBI used to describe intonation patterns.

Typology and examples: languages with lexical tone include Mandarin Chinese and Yoruba, where tone changes the meaning of words. Languages with pitch-accent systems include Japanese and Swedish, while many languages rely mainly on intonation to convey meaning and grammatical structure.

Current research emphasizes cross-linguistic typology, historical change in tonal systems, and applications in speech technology and language documentation. It also examines how tone interfaces with morphology and syntax and how tonal systems are learned and processed.