intonation; tone of voice; pitch modulation
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesnoun
intonation; tone of voice; the rise and fall of pitch in speech expressing mood and emotion
In linguistics, refers to suprasegmental features of pitch variation across a sentence or phrase, distinct from lexical tone (声调).
Tā他
de的
yǔ语
diào调
hěn很
wēn温
hé和
，
ràng让
rén人
gǎn感
dào到
ān安
xīn心
。
His tone of voice was very gentle, making people feel at ease.
Qǐng请
yòng用
kěn肯
dìng定
de的
yǔ语
diào调
huí回
dá答
zhè这
gè个
wèn问
tí题
。
Please answer this question in an affirmative tone.
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Tā她
de的
yǔ语
diào调
tīng听
qǐ起
lái来
hěn很
bēi悲
shāng伤
，
hǎo好
xiàng像
gāng刚
gāng刚
kū哭
guò过
。
Her intonation sounded very sad, as if she had just been crying.
Zài在
hàn汉
yǔ语
zhōng中
，
yǔ语
diào调
de的
biàn变
huà化
kě可
yǐ以
biǎo表
dá达
bù不
tóng同
de的
yǔ语
qì气
。
In Chinese, changes in intonation can express different moods.