intonation
6 synonyms for intonation, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — The rise and fall of the voice in speech, which conveys meaning, mood, or whether a sentence is a statement or a question.
Synonyms
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
How to use intonation
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
rising intonation
falling intonation
natural intonation
good intonation
intonation pattern
Neutral; a technical term in linguistics, language teaching and music.
Etymology
From Medieval Latin intonare, "to sing or chant", built on Latin tonus, "tone".
Full origin of intonation →Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between intonation and pronunciation?
Pronunciation is how you form individual sounds and words. Intonation is the pitch pattern you lay over a whole phrase. You can pronounce every word perfectly and still sound unnatural if your intonation is flat.
What is the difference between intonation and accent?
An accent is the full set of features that marks where a speaker is from, including vowel sounds, consonants and rhythm. Intonation is just the pitch movement, and it is one ingredient of an accent.
Why does rising intonation make a question?
In English, lifting the pitch at the end of an utterance signals that the speaker is seeking a response or leaving something open. It is why "You're coming?" works as a question with no change in word order.
