hangsávú

Hangsávú is a term used in linguistics to describe a type of prosodic phenomenon related to pitch variation within speech. It specifically refers to the contour or pattern of pitch changes over a syllable or a word. This contour is not static but rather dynamic, rising, falling, or staying relatively level to convey various linguistic and paralinguistic meanings.

The concept of hangsávú is particularly relevant in the study of tonal languages, where pitch is a crucial element in distinguishing word meaning. For instance, in Mandarin Chinese, a word like "ma" can have different meanings depending on its hangsávú: a high level tone, a rising tone, a falling-rising tone, or a falling tone. While more prominent in tonal languages, hangsávú also plays a role in intonation in non-tonal languages, contributing to the expression of sentence types (question, statement, exclamation), emotional states, and emphasis.

Researchers analyze hangsávú using acoustic methods, measuring fundamental frequency (F0) over time. The perception of hangsávú by listeners is also a key area of study, as it directly impacts the understanding of spoken language. Understanding hangsávú helps linguists and speech technologists to better comprehend and reproduce natural-sounding speech.