New answers tagged linguistics
1
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Is English really a non-tonal language?
Let's dissect what British Council Teaching English site says, first:
English is not a tonal language.
This is a true statement. Why it's true? Because in English:
pitch changes in words do not ...
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-2
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Is English really a non-tonal language?
There are cases in English of complete tonal expression. For instance, I can say "I don't know", mouth closed, using only tones.
But, like "Sorry?", they are the exception instead ...
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3
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Is English really a non-tonal language?
"Sorry!" in that example is the entire sentence and English, like many other non-tonal language, does have sentence-level tones. Another example is questions have a rising pitch.
There are a ...
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51
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Is English really a non-tonal language?
You seem to be confusing intonation with tonality. English definitely has intonation (pretty much all natural languages do), but it is not a tonal language.
Tonal languages use tonality for either ...
6
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Is English really a non-tonal language?
English is a semi-tonal or, more commonly, a pitch-accent language. The reasons you state are exactly why this category exists. Our tones don't literally change words like in Chinese, but can ...
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60
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Accepted
Is English really a non-tonal language?
Sorry is still the word sorry no matter your intonation, though it may have different meanings in context. In a tonal language, say Mandarin Chinese, it would be an entirely different written form ...
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