Editing Tone (linguistics) (section)

==Phonetic notation==
{{see also|Phonetic transcription|Tone letter}}
There are several approaches to notating tones in the description of a language. A fundamental difference is between ''phonemic'' and ''phonetic'' transcription.

A phonemic notation will typically lack any consideration of the actual phonetic values of the tones. Such notations are especially common when comparing dialects with wildly different phonetic realizations of what are historically the same set of tones. In Chinese, for example, the "[[four tones (Middle Chinese)|four tones]]" may be assigned numbers, such as ① to ④ or – after the historical tone split that affected all Chinese languages to at least some extent – ① to ⑧ (with odd numbers for the ''yin'' tones and even numbers for the ''yang''). In traditional Chinese notation, the equivalent diacritics {{angbr|{{IPA|꜀◌ ꜂◌ ◌꜄ ◌꜆}}}} are attached to the [[Chinese character]], marking the same distinctions, plus underlined {{angbr|{{IPA|꜁◌ ꜃◌ ◌꜅ ◌꜇}}}} for the ''yang'' tones where a split has occurred. If further splits occurred in some language or dialect, the results may be numbered '4a' and '4b' or something similar. Among the [[Kradai languages]], tones are typically assigned the letters A through D or, after a historical tone split similar to what occurred in Chinese, A1 to D1 and A2 to D2. (See [[Proto-Tai language]].) With such a system, it can be seen which words in two languages have the same historical tone (say tone ③) even though they no longer sound anything alike.

Also phonemic are [[upstep]] and [[downstep]], which are indicated by the IPA diacritics {{angbr|{{IPA|ꜛ}}}} and {{angbr|{{IPA|ꜜ}}}}, respectively, or by the typographic substitutes {{angbr|{{IPA|ꜞ}}}} and {{angbr|{{IPA|ꜝ}}}}, respectively. Upstep and downstep affect the tones within a language as it is being spoken, typically due to grammatical inflection or when certain tones are brought together. (For example, a high tone may be stepped down when it occurs after a low tone, compared to the pitch it would have after a mid tone or another high tone.)

Phonetic notation records the actual relative pitch of the tones. Since tones tend to vary over time periods as short as centuries, this means that the historical connections among the tones of two language varieties will generally be lost by such notation, even if they are dialects of the same language.

* The easiest notation from a typographical perspective – but one that is internationally ambiguous – is a numbering system, with the pitch levels assigned digits and each tone transcribed as a digit (or as a sequence of digits if a contour tone). Such systems tend to be idiosyncratic (high tone may be assigned the digit 1, 3, or 5, for example) and have therefore not been adopted for the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]]. For instance, high tone is conventionally written with a 1 and low tone with a 4 or 5 when transcribing the [[Kru languages]] of Liberia, but with 1 for low and 5 for high for the [[Omotic languages]] of Ethiopia. The tone {{angle bracket|53}} in a Kru language is thus the same pitch contour as one written {{angle bracket|35}} in an Omotic language. Pitch value 1 may be distinguished from tone number 1 by doubling it or making it superscript or both. 
* For simple tone systems, a series of diacritics such as {{angbr|ó}} for high tone and {{angbr|ò}} for low tone may be practical. This has been adopted by the IPA, but is not easy to adapt to complex contour tone systems (see under Chinese below for one workaround). The five IPA diacritics for level tones are {{angbr IPA|ő ó ō ò ȍ}}, with doubled high and low diacritics for ''extra high'' and ''extra low'' (or 'top' and 'bottom'). The diacritics combine to form contour tones, of which {{angbr IPA|ô ǒ o᷄ o᷅ o᷆ o᷇ o᷈ o᷉}} have Unicode font support (support for additional combinations is sparse). Sometimes, a non-IPA vertical diacritic is seen for a second, higher mid tone, {{angbr IPA|o̍}}, so a language with four or six level tones may be transcribed {{angbr IPA|ó o̍ ō ò}} or {{angbr IPA|ő ó o̍ ō ò ȍ}}. For the [[Chinantecan languages]] of Mexico, the diacritics {{angbr|{{IPA|◌ꜗ ◌ꜘ ◌ꜙ ◌ꜚ}}}} have been used, but they are a local convention not accepted by the IPA. 
* A retired IPA system, sometimes still encountered,<ref name="Heselwood 2013 p. 1">{{cite book | last=Heselwood | first=Barry | title=Phonetic Transcription in Theory and Practice | publisher=Edinburgh University Press | year=2013 | isbn=978-0-7486-9101-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HVarBgAAQBAJ | access-date=2023-07-22 | page=7}}</ref> traces the ''shape'' of the tone (the [[pitch trace]]) before the syllable, where a stress mark would go. Thus level, rising, falling, peaking and dipping tones on [o] are {{angbr IPA|ˉo ˊo ˋo ˆo ˇo }}; these are read as high tones when contrasted with the low tones {{angbr IPA|ˍo ˏo ˎo ꞈo ˬo}} or with mid tones, which are poorly supported by Unicode (e.g. falling {{angbr IPA|˴o}}). For a concrete example, when the diacritics are applied to the [[Hanyu Pinyin]] syllable [sa] used in [[Standard Chinese]], it becomes easier to identify more specific rising and falling tones: {{IPA|[ˆsa]}} (high peaking tone), {{IPA|[ˍsa]}} (low level tone), etc. This system was used in combination with stress marks to indicate intonation as well, as in English {{IPA|[ˈgʊd ˌɑːftə`nuːn]}} (now transcribed {{IPA|[ˈgʊd ˌɑːftə↘nuːn]}}).
* The most flexible system, based on the previous spacing diacritics but with the addition of a stem (like the staff of musical notation), is that of the IPA-adopted [[Chao tone letter]]s, which are iconic schematics of the pitch trace of the tone in question. Because musical staff notation is international, there is no international ambiguity with the Chao/IPA tone letters: a line at the top of the staff is high tone, a line at the bottom is low tone, and the shape of the line is a schematic of the contour of the tone (as visible in a [[pitch trace]]). They are most commonly used for complex contour systems, such as those of the languages of Liberia and southern China.
:The Chao tone letters have two variants. The left-stem letters, {{angbr|{{IPA|꜒ ꜓ ꜔ ꜕ ꜖}}}}, are used for [[tone sandhi]]. These are especially important for the [[Min Chinese]] languages. For example, a word may be pronounced {{IPA|/ɕim˥˧/}} in isolation, but in a compound the tone will shift to {{IPA|/ɕim˦mĩʔ˧˨/}}. This can be notated morphophonemically as {{angle bracket|{{IPA|//ɕim˥˧꜓mĩʔ˧˨//}}}}, where the back-to-front tone letters simultaneously show the underlying tone and the value in this word. Using the local (and internationally ambiguous) non-IPA numbering system, the compound may be written {{angle bracket|{{IPA|//ɕim⁵³⁻⁴⁴ mĩʔ³²//}}}}. Left-stem letters may also be combined to form contour tones. 
:The second Chao letter variant are the dotted tone letters {{angbr|{{IPA|꜈ ꜉ ꜊ ꜋ ꜌}}}}, which are used to indicate the pitch of [[neutral tone]]s. These are phonemically null, and may be indicated with the digit '0' in a numbering system, but take specific pitches depending on the preceding phonemic tone. When combined with tone sandhi, the left-stem dotted tone letters {{angbr|{{IPA|꜍ ꜎ ꜏ ꜐ ꜑}}}} are seen.

{| class=wikitable
|+Conventions for five-pitch transcription{{sfnp|International Phonetic Association|1989|p=76}}
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center;"
! Name
|style="width: 6em;"| Top tone (extra-high)
|style="width: 6em;"| High tone
|High-mid tone
| style="width: 6em;" | Mid tone
|Low-mid tone
| style="width: 6em;" | Low tone
|style="width: 6em;"| Bottom tone (extra-low)
|-align=center
! IPA tone diacritic
| {{IPA symbol2|◌̋ }}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌́ }}
|
| {{IPA symbol2|◌̄ }}
|
| {{IPA symbol2|◌̀ }}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌̏ }}
|- align=center
! IPA chart tone letter
|
| {{IPA symbol2|◌˥}}
|{{IPA symbol2|◌˦}}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌˧}}
|{{IPA symbol2|◌˨}}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌˩}}
|
|- align=center
! Neutral tone letter
|
| {{IPA symbol2|◌꜈}}
|{{IPA symbol2|◌꜉}}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌꜊}}
|{{IPA symbol2|◌꜋}}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌꜌}}
|
|- align=center
! Sandhi tone letter{{efn|name=extIPA|These extended Chao tone letters were accepted at the IPA Kiel convention, and are often used in conjunction with the chart letters.}}
|
| {{IPA symbol2|◌꜒}}
|{{IPA symbol2|◌꜓}}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌꜔}}
|{{IPA symbol2|◌꜕}}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌꜖}}
|
|- align=center
! Sandhi neutral tone letter
|
| {{IPA symbol2|◌꜍}}
|{{IPA symbol2|◌꜎}}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌꜏}}
|{{IPA symbol2|◌꜐}}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌꜑}}
|
|}

{| class=wikitable
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center;"
! Name
|style="width: 6em;"| Falling tone
|style="width: 6em;"| High falling tone
|style="width: 6em;"| Low falling tone
|-align=center
! IPA tone diacritic
| {{IPA symbol2|◌̂ }}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌᷇ }}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌᷆ }}
|-valign=top
! &nbsp;<br />&nbsp;<br />IPA tone letters
| {{IPA symbol2|{{nowrap|˥˩, ˥˨, ˥˧, ˥˦,<br /> ˦˩, ˦˨, ˦˧,<br /> ˧˩, ˧˨, ˨˩}}}}
| {{IPA symbol2|{{nowrap|◌˥˧, ◌˥˦,}} ◌˦˧,}} &c.
| {{IPA symbol2|{{nowrap|◌˧˩, ◌˧˨,}} ◌˨˩,}} &c.
|}

{| class=wikitable
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center;"
! Name
|style="width: 6em;"| Rising tone
|style="width: 6em;"| High rising tone
|style="width: 6em;"| Low rising tone
|-align=center
! IPA tone diacritic
| {{IPA symbol2|◌̌ }}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌᷄ }}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌᷅ }}
|-valign=top
! &nbsp;<br />&nbsp;<br />IPA tone letters
| {{IPA symbol2|{{nowrap|˩˥, ˩˦, ˩˧, ˩˨,<br />˨˥, ˨˦, ˨˧,<br />˧˥, ˧˦, ˦˥}}}}
| {{IPA symbol2|{{nowrap|◌˧˥, ◌˦˥,}} ◌˧˦,}} &c.
| {{IPA symbol2|{{nowrap|◌˩˧, ◌˨˧,}} ◌˩˨,}} &c.
|}

{| class=wikitable
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center;"
! Name
|style="width: 6em;"| Dipping tone <br/><small>(falling–rising)</small>
|style="width: 6em;"| Peaking tone <br/><small>(rising–falling)</small>
|-
! IPA tone diacritic
| {{IPA symbol2|◌᷉ }}
| {{IPA symbol2|◌᷈ }}
|-
! IPA tone letters
| {{Collapsible list
| | title = (various)
| | {{IPA symbol2|{{nowrap|˨˩˨,˨˩˧,˨˩˦,˨˩˥,<br />˧˩˨,˧˩˧,˧˩˦,˧˩˥,<br />˧˨˧,˧˨˦,˧˨˥,<br />˦˩˨,˦˩˧,˦˩˦,˦˩˥,<br />˦˨˧,˦˨˦,˦˨˥,<br />˦˧˦,˦˧˥,<br />˥˩˨,˥˩˧,˥˩˦,˥˩˥,<br />˥˨˧,˥˨˦,˥˨˥,<br />˥˧˦,˥˧˥,<br />˥˦˥}}}}
| }}
| {{Collapsible list
| | title = (various)|{{IPA symbol2|{{nowrap|˦˥˦,˦˥˧,˦˥˨,˦˥˩,<br />˧˥˦,˧˥˧,˧˥˨,˧˥˩,<br />˧˦˧,˧˦˨,˧˦˩,<br />˨˥˦,˨˥˧,˨˥˨,˨˥˩,<br />˨˦˧,˨˦˨,˨˦˩,<br />˨˧˨,˨˧˩,<br />˩˥˦,˩˥˧,˩˥˨,˩˥˩,<br />˩˦˧,˩˦˨,˩˦˩,<br />˩˧˨,˩˧˩,<br />˩˨˩}}}}
| }}
|}

An IPA/Chao tone letter will rarely be composed of more than three elements (which are sufficient for peaking and dipping tones). Occasionally, however, peaking–dipping and dipping–peaking tones, which require four elements – or even double-peaking and double-dipping tones, which require five – are encountered. This is usually only the case when [[prosody (linguistics)|prosody]] is superposed on lexical or grammatical tone, but a good computer font will allow an indefinite number of tone letters to be concatenated. The IPA diacritics placed over vowels and other letters have not been extended to this level of complexity.

===Africa===
In African linguistics (as well as in many African orthographies), a set of diacritics is usual to mark tone. The most common are a subset of the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|High tone
|acute
|á
|-
|Mid tone
|macron
|ā
|-
|Low tone
|grave
|à
|}

Minor variations are common. In many three-tone languages, it is usual to mark high and low tone as indicated above but to omit marking of the mid tone: ''má'' (high), ''ma'' (mid), ''mà'' (low). Similarly, in two-tone languages, only one tone may be marked explicitly, usually the less common or more 'marked' tone (see [[markedness]]).

When digits are used, typically 1 is high and 5 is low, except in [[Omotic languages]], where 1 is low and 5 or 6 is high. In languages with just two tones, 1 may be high and 2 low, etc.

===Asia===
In the Chinese tradition, digits are assigned to various tones (see [[tone number]]). For instance, [[Standard Mandarin Chinese]], the official language of China, has four lexically contrastive tones, and the digits 1, 2, 3, and 4 are assigned to four tones. Syllables can sometimes be toneless and are described as having a neutral tone, typically indicated by omitting tone markings. Chinese varieties are traditionally described in terms of four tonal categories ''ping'' ('level'), ''shang'' ('rising'), ''qu'' ('exiting'), ''ru'' ('entering'), based on the traditional analysis of [[Middle Chinese]] (see [[Four tones]]); note that these are not at all the same as the four tones of modern standard Mandarin Chinese.{{efn|Specifically, words that had the Middle Chinese ''ping'' (level) tone are now distributed over tones 1 and 2 in Mandarin Chinese, while the Middle Chinese ''shang'' (rising) and ''qu'' (exiting) tones have become Mandarin Chinese tones 3 and 4, respectively. Words with the former ''ru'' (entering) tone, meanwhile, have been distributed over all four tones.}} Depending on the dialect, each of these categories may then be divided into two tones, typically called ''yin'' and ''yang.'' Typically, syllables carrying the ''ru'' tones are closed by voiceless stops in Chinese varieties that have such coda(s) so in such dialects, ''ru'' is not a tonal category in the sense used by Western linguistics but rather a category of syllable structures. Chinese phonologists perceived these [[checked syllable]]s as having concomitant short tones, justifying them as a tonal category. In [[Middle Chinese]], when the tonal categories were established, the ''shang'' and ''qu'' tones also had characteristic final obstruents with concomitant tonic differences whereas syllables bearing the ''ping'' tone ended in a simple sonorant. An alternative to using the Chinese category names is assigning to each category a digit ranging from 1 to 8, sometimes higher for some Southern Chinese dialects with additional tone splits. Syllables belonging to the same tone category differ drastically in actual phonetic tone across the [[varieties of Chinese]] even among dialects of the same group. For example, the ''yin ping'' tone is a high level tone in Beijing Mandarin Chinese but a low level tone in Tianjin Mandarin Chinese.

More iconic systems use tone numbers or an equivalent set of graphic pictograms known as "[[Y. R. Chao|Chao]] [[tone letter]]s". These divide the pitch into five levels, with the lowest being assigned the value 1 and the highest the value 5. (This is the opposite of equivalent systems in Africa and the Americas.) The variation in pitch of a [[tone contour]] is notated as a string of two or three numbers. For instance, the four Mandarin Chinese tones are transcribed as follows (the tone letters will not display properly without a [[International Phonetic Alphabet#Typefaces|compatible font]] installed):

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin:1em auto 1em auto"
|+Tones of Standard Chinese (Mandarin)
|High tone
|55
| {{IPA|˥}}
|(Tone 1)
|-
|Mid rising tone
|35
| {{IPA|˧˥}}
|(Tone 2)
|-
|Low dipping tone
|21(4)
| {{IPA|˨˩˦}}
|(Tone 3)
|-
|High falling tone
|51
| {{IPA|˥˩}}
|(Tone 4)
|}
A mid-level tone would be indicated by /33/, a low level tone /11/, etc. The doubling of the number is commonly used with level tones to distinguish them from tone numbers; tone 3 in Mandarin Chinese, for example, is not mid /3/. However, it is not necessary with tone letters, so /33/ = {{IPA|/˧˧/}} or simply {{IPA|/˧/}}. If a distinction is made, it may be that {{IPA|/˧/}} is mid tone in a register system and {{IPA|/˧˧/}} is mid level tone in a contour system, or {{IPA|/˧/}} may be mid tone on a short syllable or a mid [[checked tone]], while {{IPA|/˧˧/}} is mid tone on a long syllable or a mid unchecked tone.

IPA diacritic notation is also sometimes seen for Chinese. One reason it is not more widespread is that only two contour tones, rising {{IPA|/ɔ̌/}} and falling {{IPA|/ɔ̂/}}, are widely supported by IPA fonts while several Chinese varieties have more than one rising or falling tone. One common workaround is to retain standard IPA {{IPA|/ɔ̌/}} and {{IPA|/ɔ̂/}} for high-rising (e.g. {{IPA|/˧˥/}}) and high-falling (e.g. {{IPA|/˥˧/}}) tones and to use the subscript diacritics {{IPA|/ɔ̗/}} and {{IPA|/ɔ̖/}} for low-rising (e.g. {{IPA|/˩˧/}}) and low-falling (e.g. {{IPA|/˧˩/}}) tones.

===North America===
Several North American languages have tone, one of which is [[Cherokee language|Cherokee]], an [[Iroquoian language]]. Oklahoma Cherokee has six tones (1 low, 2 medium, 3 high, 4 very high, 5 rising and 6 falling).<ref name="Cherokee"/> The [[Tanoan languages]] have tone as well. For instance, [[Kiowa language|Kiowa]] has three tones (high, low, falling), while [[Jemez language|Jemez]] has four (high, mid, low, and falling).

In Mesoamericanist linguistics, /1/ stands for high tone and /5/ stands for low tone, except in [[Oto-Manguean]] languages for which /1/ may be low tone and /3/ high tone. It is also common to see acute accents for high tone and grave accents for low tone and combinations of these for contour tones. Several popular orthographies use {{angbr|j}} or {{angbr|h}} after a vowel to indicate low tone. The [[Southern Athabascan languages]] that include the [[Navajo language|Navajo]] and [[Apache languages]] are tonal, and are analyzed as having two tones: high and low. One variety of [[Hopi language|Hopi]] has developed tone, as has the [[Cheyenne language]].

===Tone orthographies===

In Roman script orthographies, a number of approaches are used. Diacritics are common, as in [[pinyin]], but they tend to be omitted.<ref name=Dungan/> [[Thai alphabet|Thai]] uses a combination of redundant consonants and diacritics. Tone letters may also be used, for example in [[Hmong RPA]] and several minority languages in China. Tone may simply be ignored, as is possible even for highly tonal languages: for example, the Chinese navy has successfully used toneless pinyin in government telegraph communications for decades. Likewise, Chinese reporters abroad may file their stories in toneless pinyin. [[Dungan language|Dungan]], a variety of Mandarin Chinese spoken in Central Asia, has, since 1927, been written in orthographies that do not indicate tone.<ref name=Dungan>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pinyin.info/readings/texts/dungan.html |title=''Implications of the Soviet Dungan Script for Chinese Language Reform'' |access-date=2009-01-25  |archive-date=2019-08-20  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820221315/http://www.pinyin.info/readings/texts/dungan.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Ndyuka language|Ndjuka]], in which tone is less important, ignores tone except for a negative marker. However, the reverse is also true: in the Congo, there have been complaints from readers that newspapers written in orthographies without tone marking are insufficiently legible.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Standard Central [[Thai language|Thai]] has five tones–mid, low, falling, high and rising–often indicated respectively by the numbers zero, one, two, three and four. The [[Thai alphabet]] is an [[abugida|alphasyllabary]], which specifies the tone unambiguously. Tone is indicated by an interaction of the initial consonant of a syllable, the vowel length, the final consonant (if present), and sometimes a tone mark. A particular tone mark may denote different tones depending on the initial consonant. The [[Shan alphabet]], derived from the [[Burmese alphabet|Burmese script]], has five tone letters: {{shn|ႇ}}, {{shn|ႈ}}, {{shn|း}}, {{shn|ႉ}}, {{shn|ႊ}}; a sixth tone is unmarked.

[[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] uses the Latin alphabet and its six tones are marked by letters with [[diacritic]]s above or below a certain vowel. Basic notation for Vietnamese tones are as follows:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin:1em auto 1em auto"
|+ Tones of Vietnamese
! align="center" | ''Name''
! align="center" | ''Contour''
! align="center" | ''Diacritic''
! align="center" | ''Example''
|-
|ngang
| mid level, {{IPA|˧}}
|not marked
|a
|-
|huyền
| low falling, {{IPA|˨˩}}
|[[grave accent]]
|à
|-
|sắc
| high rising, {{IPA|˧˥}}
|[[acute accent]]
|á
|-
|hỏi
| dipping, {{IPA|˧˩˧}}
|[[hook above]]
|ả
|-
|ngã
| creaky rising, {{IPA|˧ˀ˦˥}}
|[[tilde]]
|ã
|-
|nặng
| creaky falling, {{IPA|˨˩ˀ}}
|[[dot (diacritic)|dot below]]
|ạ
|}

The Latin-based [[Hmong language|Hmong]] and [[Iu Mien language|Iu Mien]] alphabets use full letters for tones. In Hmong, one of the eight tones (the {{IPA|˧}} tone) is left unwritten while the other seven are indicated by the letters ''b, m, d, j, v, s, g'' at the end of the syllable. Since Hmong has no phonemic syllable-final consonants, there is no ambiguity. That system enables Hmong speakers to type their language with an ordinary Latin-letter keyboard without having to resort to diacritics. In the [[Iu Mien language|Iu Mien]], the letters ''v, c, h, x, z'' indicate tones but unlike Hmong, it also has final consonants written before the tone.

The [[Standard Zhuang]] and [[Zhuang languages]] used to use a unique set of six "tone letters" based on the shapes of numbers, but slightly modified, to depict what tone a syllable was in. This was replaced in 1982 with the use of normal letters in the same manner, like Hmong.

The syllabary of the [[Nuosu language]] depicts tone in a unique manner, having separate glyphs for each tone other than for the mid-rising tone, which is denoted by the addition of a diacritic. Take the difference between ꉬ nge [ŋɯ³³], and ꉫ ngex [ŋɯ³⁴]. In romanisation, the letters t, x, and p are used to demarcate tone. As codas are forbidden in Nuosu there is no ambiguity.