Lexical Tone
Definition:
Lexical tone is the distinctive pitch level carried by the syllable of a word which is an essential feature of the meaning of that word.
Discussion:
An inventory of minimally distinctive pairs and sets in the lexicon will give you some idea of the functional load of tone in the lexicon.
Examples:
(Yaka [Bantu pygmy, Central African Republic])
Note:
- Tone is marked as follows:
- The acute accent |á| means high tone
- The unmarked |a| means low tone
These are examples of lexical tone in nouns.
- mbóka village’
- mboká ‘field’
- mbóka ‘civet cat’
- kusu ‘termite hill’
- kúsú ‘species of tree’
- mɔkɔ ‘evening’
- mɔkɔ́ ‘kind of honey’
- mɔ́kɔ ‘ceinture degrimpage’
These are examples of lexical tone in verbs:
- tanga ‘to drip’
- tánga ‘to count, to read’
- kála ‘to take all in one go’
- kala ‘to escape’
(Ngiti [Central Sudanic, Zaire])
Note:
- Tone is marked as follows:
- The acute accent |á| means high tone
- The grave accent |à| means low tone
- The unmarked |a| means mid tone
- The wedge |ǎ| means rising tone
These are examples of lexical tone in pronouns:
- ma
- mǎ ‘we’
- nyɨ ‘you’ (singular)
- nyɨô ‘you’ (plural)
- àbadhi ‘he’
- abádh" ‘they’
See Also:
This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library. Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003.