Intonation

Intonation is the speech system that conveys meaningful distinctions by way of suprasegmental properties, where suprasegmental includes pitch, word, and syllable stress, and pausing. The system is primarily concerned with pitch features, or what investigators often refer to as the “melody” of speech, but it also recognizes the role of loudness and length in creating meaning in discourse. While the terms intonation and pitch are frequently used synonymously, it is important to note that they are related but not equivalent. Pitch refers to raw, measurable properties of the speech signal such as pitch height, pitch movement, and pitch range, all of which are the result of varying types of vocal fold activity.

Intonation, on the other hand, is concerned with how those raw pitch elements are ...