Editing Tone (linguistics) (section)

==List of tonal languages==
===Africa===
Most languages of [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] are members of the [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger-Congo family]], which is predominantly tonal; notable exceptions are [[Swahili language|Swahili]] (in the southeast), most languages spoken in the [[Senegambia]] (among them [[Wolof language|Wolof]], [[Serer language|Serer]] and [[Cangin languages]]), and [[Fula language|Fulani]]. The Afroasiatic languages include both tonal ([[Chadic languages|Chadic]], [[Omotic languages|Omotic]]) and nontonal ([[Semitic languages|Semitic]], [[Berber languages|Berber]], [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]], and most [[Cushitic languages|Cushitic]]) branches.{{sfnp|Yip|2002|p=131}} All three [[Khoisan languages|Khoisan]] language families—[[Khoe languages|Khoe]], [[Kx'a languages|Kx'a]] and [[Tuu languages|Tuu]]—are tonal. Most languages of the [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan family]] are tonal.

===Asia===
{{See also|Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area}}
Numerous tonal languages are widely spoken in [[China]] and [[Mainland Southeast Asia]]. [[Sino-Tibetan languages]] (including [[Meitei language|Meitei-Lon]], [[Burmese language|Burmese]], [[Mog language|Mog]] and most [[varieties of Chinese]]; though some, such as [[Shanghainese]], are only marginally tonal<ref name="Chen 2003 p. 74">{{cite book | last=Chen | first=Zhongmin | title=Studies on Dialects in the Shanghai Area | date=2003 | isbn=978-3-89586-978-5 | page=74 |publisher=LINCOM }}</ref>) and [[Kra–Dai languages]] (including [[Thai language|Thai]] and [[Lao language|Lao]]) are mostly tonal. The [[Hmong–Mien languages]] are some of the most tonal languages in the world, with as many as twelve phonemically distinct tones. [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] and [[Austroasiatic]] languages are mostly non-tonal, with a number of exceptions, e.g. [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] (Austroasiatic), [[Cèmuhî language|Cèmuhî]] and [[Yabem language|Yabem]] (Austronesian).{{sfnp|Yip|2002|pp=172–73}} Tones in [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Alves|first1=Mark|title=Tonal Features and the Development of Vietnamese Tones|journal=Working Papers in Linguistics: Department of University of Hawaii at Manoa|date= 1995|volume=27|pages=1–13|url= https://www.academia.edu/download/30495045/Alves_Vietnamese_Tones_Features.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.academia.edu/download/30495045/Alves_Vietnamese_Tones_Features.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|quote=Clearly, language contact with Chinese had something to do with the development of Vietnamese tones, as the tonal system of Vietnamese corresponds quite directly to the eight-way system of Middle Chinese}}{{dead link|date=July 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and [[Tsat language|Tsat]] may result from [[Chinese language|Chinese]] influence on both languages. There were tones in [[Middle Korean]]<ref name="Sohn2001">{{cite book| first = Ho-Min | last = Sohn|title=The Korean Language|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Sx6gdJIOcoQC&pg=PA48|date=29 March 2001|publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn= 978-0-521-36943-5|pages= 48–}}</ref><ref name= "LeeRamsey2000">{{cite book| first1 = Iksop | last1 = Lee| first2 =S. Robert | last2 = Ramsey|title=The Korean Language|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nVgr2BkwAdkC&pg=PA315|year=2000 |publisher=SUNY Press|isbn= 978-0-7914-4832-8 |pages= 315–}}</ref><ref name= "LeeRamsey2011">{{cite book|first1 =Ki-Moon | last1 = Lee| first2 =S. Robert | last2 = Ramsey|title=A History of the Korean Language|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=2AmspKX3beoC&pg=PA168|date=3 March 2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-49448-9|pages= 168–}}</ref> and a few tones in Japanese.<ref>Bloch, Bernard. 1950. Studies in Colloquial Japanese. Part 4: Phonemics. Language 26. 86–125.</ref><ref>Martin, Samuel E. 1952. Morphophonemics of Standard Colloquial Japanese. (Language Dissertation, 47.) Baltimore: Linguistic Society of America.</ref><ref>Jorden, Eleanor Harz. 1963. Beginning Japanese, Part 1. (Yale Linguistic Series, 5.) New Haven: Yale University Press.</ref> Other languages represented in the region, such as [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] and [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]] belong to language families that do not contain any tonality as defined here. In South Asia tonal languages are rare, but some [[Indo-Aryan languages]] have tonality, including [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Haryanvi language|Haryanvi]], [[Kauravi dialect|Khariboli]], and [[Dogri language|Dogri]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Lexical Anaphors and Pronouns in Selected South Asian Languages|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=1999|isbn= 978-3-11-014388-1|editor1-last=Lust|editor1-first=Barbara|page=637|editor2-last=Wali|editor2-first= Kashi|editor3-last=Gair|editor3-first=James|editor4-last= Subbarao|editor4-first =K. V.|display-editors= 3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.omniglot.com/writing/gurmuki.htm|title= Punjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ/پنجابی)|editor-last= Ager|editor-first= Simon|website= Omniglot|access-date= January 30, 2015|archive-date= 2011-04-29 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110429180826/http://www.omniglot.com/writing/gurmuki.htm|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.cle.org.pk/Publication/Crulp_report/CR02_21E.pdf|title=Phonemic Inventory of Punjabi|last= Karamat|first=Nayyara|publisher= Center for Research in Urdu Language Processing|access-date=January 30, 2015|archive-date=2015-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923204619/http://www.cle.org.pk/Publication/Crulp_report/CR02_21E.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Crossing Boundaries|last=Sen|first=Geeti|publisher=Orient Blackswan|year= 1997 |isbn=978-81-250-1341-9|page= 132 |quote=Possibly, Punjabi is the only major South Asian language that has this kind of tonal character. There does seem to have been some speculation among scholars about the possible origin of Punjabi's tone-language character but without any final and convincing answer.}}</ref> [[Sylheti language|Sylheti]],<ref>{{citation|last1=Raychoudhury|first1=Priti|last2=Mahanta|first2=Shakuntala|title=The three way tonal system of Sylheti|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341623819_The_three_way_tonal_system_of_Sylheti|year=2020}}</ref> [[Chittagonian language|Chittagonian]], [[Rohingya language|Rohingya]], [[Noakhali language|Noakhailla]], [[Chakma language|Chakma]] as well as the [[Eastern Bengali]] dialects.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pal|first=Animesh K.|date=1965|title= Phonemes of a Dacca Dialect of Eastern Bengali and the Importance of Tone|journal=Journal of the Asiatic Society|volume=VII|pages= 44–45 |quote= The tonal element in Panjabi as well as in Eastern Bengali has been noticed in respect of various new ways of treating the voiced aspirates and 'h'.}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Masica|first= Colin P.|title=The Indo-Aryan Languages|year=1991|publisher= Cambridge University Press|page=102|quote= Glottalization is often connected with tone and in the East Bengali cases seem to be related to the evolution of tone from the voiced aspirates.}}</ref>

===America===
A large number of North, South and Central American languages are tonal, including many of the [[Athabaskan languages]] of [[Alaska]] and the [[Southwestern United States|American Southwest]] (including [[Navajo language|Navajo]]),{{sfnp|Kingston|2005}} and the [[Oto-Manguean languages]] of Mexico. Among the [[Mayan languages]], which are mostly non-tonal, [[Yucatec Maya language|Yucatec]] (with the largest number of speakers), [[Uspantek language|Uspantek]], and one dialect of [[Tzotzil language|Tzotzil]] have developed tone systems. The [[Ticuna language]] of the western Amazon is perhaps the most tonal language of the Americas. Other languages of the western Amazon have fairly simple tone systems as well. However, although tone systems have been recorded for many American languages, little theoretical work has been completed for the characterization of their tone systems. In different cases, Oto-Manguean tone languages in Mexico have been found to possess tone systems similar to both Asian and African tone languages.{{sfnp|Yip|2002|pp=212–14}}

===Europe===
Norwegian<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marm |first=Ingvald |title=Teach Yourself Norwegian |publisher=The English Universities Press Ltd |year=1967 |isbn=978-0-82888376-4 |edition=2nd |location=Aylesbury, England |pages= 13–14}}</ref> and Swedish share tonal language features via the 'Single' and 'Double' tones, which can be marked in phonetic descriptions by either a preceding ' (single tone) or ៴ (double tone). The single tone starts low and rises to a high note ({{IPA|˩˦}}). The double tone starts higher than the single tone, falls, and then rises again to a higher pitch than the start ({{IPA|˨˩˦}}), similar to the Mandarin third tone (as in the word ''nǐ'', {{IPA|/ni˨˩˦/}}).

Examples in Norwegian: 'bønder (farmers) and ៴bønner (beans) are, apart from the intonation, phonetically identical (despite the spelling difference). Similarly, and with in this case identical spelling, 'tømmer (timber) and ៴tømmer (present tense of verb tømme – to empty) are distinguished only through intonation. Entire phrases can also change meaning depending on intonation, like the phrase "Hagen gror igjen" which can mean either "The garden is growing again" or "The garden is getting overgrown".

According to Watson, [[Scouse]] contrasts certain tones.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Watson |first=Kevin |title=Illustrations of the IPA: Liverpool English |publisher=Journal of the International Phonetic Association 37 |year=2007 |edition=Cambridge University Press |pages=351–360}}</ref>

===Summary===
Languages that are tonal include:
* Over 50% of the [[Sino-Tibetan languages]]. All [[Sinitic languages]] (most prominently, the [[Varieties of Chinese|Chinese languages]]), some [[Tibetic languages]], including the standard languages of [[Tibet]] and [[Bhutan]], and [[Burmese language|Burmese]].
* In the [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]] family, [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] and other members of the [[Vietic languages]] family are tonal. Other branches of this family, such as [[Mon language|Mon]], [[Khmer language|Khmer]], and the [[Munda languages]], are entirely non-tonal.
* Some of the [[Malayo-Polynesian languages|Malayo-Polynesian]] branch of [[Austronesian languages]] in [[New Caledonia]] (such as [[Paicî language|Paicî]] and [[Cèmuhî language|Cèmuhî]]) and [[New Guinea]] (such as [[Mor language (Austronesian)|Mor]], [[Ma'ya language|Ma'ya]] and [[Matbat language|Matbat]]) plus some of the [[Chamic languages]] such as [[Tsat language|Tsat]] in [[Hainan]] are tonal. 
* The entire [[Kra–Dai languages|Kra–Dai]] family, spoken mainly in China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos, and including [[Thai language|Thai]] and [[Lao language|Lao]], is tonal.
* The entire [[Hmong–Mien languages|Hmong–Mien]] family is highly tonal.
* Many [[Afroasiatic languages]] in the Chadic and Omotic branches have tone systems, including [[Hausa language|Hausa]].
* The vast majority of [[Niger–Congo languages]], such as [[Ewe language|Ewe]], [[Igbo language|Igbo]], [[Lingala language|Lingala]], [[Maninka language|Maninka]], [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]], and [[Zulu language|Zulu]], have tone systems. The [[Kru languages]] and [[Southern Mande languages]] have the most complex. Notable non-tonal Niger–Congo languages are [[Swahili language|Swahili]], [[Fula language|Fula]], and [[Wolof language|Wolof]].
* All [[Nilotic languages]] such as the [[Dinka language]], the [[Maa languages]], the [[Luo languages]] and [[Kalenjin languages]] have tone systems.
* All [[Khoisan languages]] in southern Africa have tone systems; some languages like [[Sandawe language|Sandawe]] have tone systems like that of Cantonese.
* Slightly more than half of the [[Athabaskan languages]], such as [[Navajo language|Navajo]], have tone systems (languages in California and Oregon, and a few in Alaska, excluded). The Athabaskan tone languages fall into two "mirror image" groups. That is, a word which has a high tone in one language will have a cognate with a low tone in another, and vice versa.
* [[Iroquoian languages]] like [[Mohawk language|Mohawk]] commonly have tone; the [[Cherokee language]] has the most extensive tonal inventory, with six tones, of which four are contours.<ref name= "Cherokee">{{cite thesis |last=Montgomery-Anderson |first=Brad |date=May 30, 2008 |title=A Reference Grammar of Oklahoma Cherokee |type=Ph.D. |publisher=University of Kansas |page=49 |url=http://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/4212/umi-ku-2613_1.pdf;jsessionid=37CBA1DB07BC9860F19A7737A89B3F70?sequence=1 |access-date=2015-01-30  |archive-date=2016-03-16  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316152954/https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/4212/umi-ku-2613_1.pdf;jsessionid=37CBA1DB07BC9860F19A7737A89B3F70?sequence=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> Here the correlation between contour tone and simple syllable structures is clearly shown; Cherokee phonotactics permit only syllables of the structure (s)(C)V.
* All [[Oto-Manguean languages]] are tonal. In some cases, as with [[Mixtec languages|Mixtec]], tone system variations between dialects are sufficiently great to cause mutual unintelligibility.
* The [[Ticuna language]] of the western Amazon is strongly tonal. Various [[Arawakan languages]] have relatively basic tone systems. 
* Many languages of [[New Guinea]] like [[Siane language|Siane]] possess register tone systems.
* Some Indo-European languages (notably [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], [[Latvian language|Latvian]], and [[Serbo-Croatian]]) as well as others possess what is termed [[pitch accent]], where only the stressed syllable of a word can have different contour tones; these are not always considered to be cases of tone language. However some languages, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family, are tonal such as [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] and [[Dogri language|Dogri]].
** Some English dialects, such as [[Scouse|Liverpool]] and [[Ulster English#Belfast and surroundings|Belfast English]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=English intonation in the British Isles |url=http://www.phon.ox.ac.uk/files/apps/old_IViE/ |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=www.phon.ox.ac.uk}}</ref>
** Some European-based [[creole language]]s, such as [[Krio language|Krio]],<ref name="Finney 2004 pp. 221–236">{{cite book | last=Finney | first=Malcolm Awadajin | title=Creoles, Contact, and Language Change | chapter=10. Tone assignment on lexical items of English and African origin in Krio | series=Creole Language Library | publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company | publication-place=Amsterdam | year=2004 | volume=27 | issn=0920-9026 | doi=10.1075/cll.27.11fin | pages=221–236 | isbn=978-90-272-5249-4 |url=https://doi.org/10.1075/cll.27.11fin }}</ref> [[Saramaccan language|Saramaccan]] and [[Papiamento]], have tone from their African [[Stratum (linguistics)#Substratum|substratum]] languages.

In some cases, it is difficult to determine whether a language is tonal. For example, the [[Ket language]] of [[Siberia]] has been described as having up to eight tones by some investigators, as having four tones by others, but by some as having no tone at all. In cases such as these, the classification of a language as tonal may depend on the researcher's interpretation of what tone is. For instance, the Burmese language has phonetic tone, but each of its three tones is accompanied by a distinctive [[phonation]] (creaky, murmured or plain vowels). It could be argued either that the tone is incidental to the phonation, in which case Burmese would not be [[phoneme|phonemically]] tonal, or that the phonation is incidental to the tone, in which case it would be considered tonal. Something similar appears to be the case with Ket.

The 19th-century [[constructed language]] [[Solresol]] can consist of only tone, but unlike all natural tonal languages, Solresol's tone is absolute, rather than relative, and no tone sandhi occurs.