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Tone(linguistics)
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Toneistheuseofpitchinlanguagetodistinguishlexicalorgrammatical
meaningthatis,todistinguishortoinflectwords.[1]Allverbal
languagesusepitchtoexpressemotionalandotherparalinguistic
informationandtoconveyemphasis,contrast,andothersuchfeaturesin
whatiscalledintonation,butnotalllanguagesusetonestodistinguish ThefourmaintonesofStandard
wordsortheirinflections,analogouslytoconsonantsandvowels. Mandarin,pronouncedwiththesyllable
Languagesthatdohavethisfeaturearecalledtonallanguagesthe ma.
distinctivetonepatternsofsuchalanguagearesometimescalledtonemes
/tonim/,[2]byanalogywithphoneme.Tonallanguagesareextremely 0:00 MENU
commoninAfrica,EastAsia,andMexico,butrareelsewhereinAsiaand
inEuropeasmanyasseventypercentofworldlanguagesmaybetonal.[1]

InmanytonalAfricanlanguages,suchasmostBantulanguages,tonesaredistinguishedbytheirpitchlevel
relativetoeachother,knownasaregistertonesystem.[3]Inmultisyllablewords,asingletonemaybecarriedby
theentirewordratherthanadifferenttoneoneachsyllable.Often,grammaticalinformation,suchaspastversus
present,"I"versus"you",orpositiveversusnegative,isconveyedsolelybytone.

Inthemostwidelyspokentonallanguage,MandarinChinese,tonesaredistinguishedbytheirdistinctiveshape,
knownascontour,witheachtonehavingadifferentinternalpatternofrisingandfallingpitch.[4]Manywords,
especiallymonosyllabicones,aredifferentiatedsolelybytone.Inamultisyllabicword,eachsyllableoftencarries
itsowntone.UnlikeinBantusystems,toneplayslittleroleinmodernChinesegrammarthoughthetonesdescend
fromfeaturesinOldChinesethathadmorphologicalsignificance(suchaschangingaverbtoanounorvice
versa).

ContoursystemsaretypicaloflanguagesoftheMainlandSoutheastAsialinguisticarea,includingTaiKadai,
VieticandSinoTibetanlanguages.TheAfroasiatic,Khoisan,NigerCongoandNiloSaharanlanguagesspokenin
Africaaredominatedbyregistersystems.[5]Somelanguagescombinebothsystems,suchasCantonese,which
producesthreevarietiesofcontourtoneatthreedifferentpitchlevels,[6]andtheOmotic(Afroasiatic)language
Bench,whichemploysfiveleveltonesandoneortworisingtonesacrosslevels.[7]

Manylanguagesusetoneinamorelimitedway.InJapanese,fewerthanhalfofthewordshaveadropinpitch
wordscontrastaccordingtowhichsyllablethisdropfollows.Suchminimalsystemsaresometimescalledpitch
accentsincetheyarereminiscentofstressaccentlanguages,whichtypicallyallowoneprincipalstressedsyllable
perword.However,thereisdebateoverthedefinitionofpitchaccentandwhetheracoherentdefinitioniseven
possible.[8]

Contents
1 Listoftonallanguages
1.1 Africa
1.2 Asia
1.3 IndoEuropeanlanguages
1.4 Australasia
1.5 America

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1.6 Summary
2 Mechanics
3 Toneandintonation
4 Registertonesandcontourtones
4.1 Registerphonation
5 Toneterracingandtonesandhi
5.1 Toneterracing
5.2 Tonesandhi
6 Wordtonesandsyllabletones
7 Tonalpolarity
8 Usesoftone
9 Phoneticnotation
9.1 Africa
9.2 Asia
9.3 NorthAmerica
9.4 SouthAmerica
9.5 Europe
10 Practicalorthographies
11 Numberoftones
12 Origin
13 Seealso
14 References
15 Bibliography
16 Externallinks

Listoftonallanguages
Africa

MostlanguagesofSubSaharanAfricaaremembersoftheNigerCongofamily,whichispredominantlytonal
notablyexceptingSwahili(intheSoutheast),mostlanguagesspokenintheSenegambia(amongthemWolof,Serer
andCanginlanguages),KoyraChiiniandFulani.TheAfroasiaticlanguagesincludebothtonal(Chadic,Omotic)
andnontonal(Semitic,Berber,Egyptian,andmostCushitic)branches.[9]

Asia

NumeroustonallanguagesarewidelyspokeninChinaandMainlandSoutheastAsia.SinoTibetanandTaiKadai
languagesaremostlytonal,includingThai,Lao,allthevarietiesofChinese(thoughsome,suchasShanghainese,
areonlymarginallytonal)andBurmesewithfewexceptionsuchasAmdoTibetan.TheHmongMienlanguages
aresomeofthemosttonallanguagesintheworld,withasmanyastwelvephonemicallydistincttones.
Austroasiatic(suchasKhmerandMon)andAustronesian(suchasMalay)languagesaremostlynontonalwiththe
rareexceptionofAustroasiaticlanguageslikeVietnamese,andAustronesianlanguageslikeCmuhandUtsul.[10]
TonesinVietnamese[11]andUtsulmayresultfromheavyChineseinfluenceonbothlanguages.Thereweretones
inMiddleKorean.[12][13][14]Otherlanguagesrepresentedintheregion,suchasMongolian,Uyghur,andJapanese
belongtolanguagefamiliesthatdonotcontainanytonalityasdefinedhere.

IndoEuropeanlanguages

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InEurope,Swedish,Norwegian,SerboCroat,Slovene,Lithuanian,LatvianandLuxemburgishhavetonal
characteristics.AmongtheIndoEuropeanlanguagesofAsia,threeIndoAryanlanguageshavetonality:Punjabi,
DogriandLahnda.[15][16][17][18]

Australasia

AlthoughtheAustronesianlanguagefamilyhassometonalmemberssuchasNewCaledonia'sCmuhlanguage,
notonallanguageshavebeendiscoveredinAustralia.

America

AlargenumberofNorth,SouthandCentralAmericanlanguagesaretonal,includingmanyoftheAthabaskan
languagesofAlaskaandtheAmericanSouthwest(includingNavajo),[19]andtheOtoMangueanlanguagesof
Mexico.AmongtheMayanlanguages,whicharemostlynontonal,Yucatec(withthelargestnumberofspeakers),
Uspantek,andonedialectofTzotzilhavedevelopedtonesystems.However,althoughtonesystemshavebeen
recordedformanyAmericanlanguages,littletheoreticalworkhasbeencompletedforthecharacterizationoftheir
tonesystems.Indifferentcases,OtoMangueantonelanguagesinMexicohavebeenfoundtopossesstonesystems
similartobothAsianandAfricantonelanguages.[20]

Summary

Languagesthataretonalinclude:

SomeoftheSinoTibetanlanguages.MostoftheSiniticlanguages(mostprominently,Chinese),some
Tibeticlanguages,includingthestandardlanguagesofLhasaandBhutan,andBurmese.
IntheAustroAsiaticfamily,VietnameseandothermembersoftheVieticlanguagesfamilyarestrongly
tonal.Otherbranchesofthisfamily,suchasMon,Khmer,andtheMundalanguages,areentirelynontonal.
SomeoftheMalayoPolynesianbranchofAustronesianlanguagesinNewCaledonia(suchasPaicand
Cmuh)andNewGuinea(suchasMor,Ma'yaandMatbat)plussomeoftheChamiclanguagessuchasTsat
inHainanaretonal.
TheentireTaiKadailanguagesfamily,spokenmainlyinChina,Vietnam,Thailand,andLaos,andincluding
ThaiandLaoistonal.
TheentireHmongMienfamilyishighlytonal.
ManyAfroasiaticlanguagesintheChadicandOmoticbrancheshaveregistertonesystems,includingHausa.
Omoticlanguagesareanexceptioninhavingbothcontourandregistertones.SomeCushiticlanguagesalso
havetonesystems.
ThevastmajorityofNigerCongolanguages,suchasEwe,Igbo,Lingala,Maninka,Yoruba,andtheZulu,
haveregistertonesystems.TheKrulanguageshavecontourtones.NotablenontonalNigerCongo
languagesareSwahili,Fula,andWolof.
MostNiloSaharanlanguagesincludingDinkaandLuohaveregistertonesystems.
AllKhoisanlanguagesinsouthernAfricahavecontourtonesystemssomelanguageslikeSandawehave
mixedtonesystemslikethatofCantonese.
SlightlymorethanhalfoftheAthabaskanlanguages,suchasNavajo,haveregistertonesystems(languages
inCalifornia,OregonandafewinAlaskaexcluded).TheAthabaskantonelanguagesfallintotwo"mirror
image"groups.Thatis,awordwhichhasahightoneinonelanguagewillhaveacognatewithalowtonein
another,andviceversa.
IroquoianlanguageslikeMohawkcommonlyhaveregistertoneOklahomaCherokeehasthemostextensive
tonalinventory,withsixtones,ofwhichfourarecontours.[21]Herethecorrelationbetweencontourtoneand
simplesyllablestructuresisclearlyshownwhereasMohawk,withthreeregistertonesinstressedsyllables
only,permitsalargenumberofconsonantclusters,Cherokeephonotacticspermitonlysyllablesofthe
structure(s)(C)V.

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AllOtoMangueanlanguagesaretonal.Mosthaveregistertone,thoughsomehavecontourtonesaswell.In
somecases,aswithMixtec,tonesystemvariationsbetweendialectsaresufficientlygreattocausemutual
unintelligibility.
ManylanguagesofNewGuinealikeSianepossessregistertonesystems.
SomeIndoEuropeanlanguagesaswellasotherspossesswhatistermedpitchaccent,whereonlythe
stressedsyllableofawordcanhavedifferentcontourtonesthesearenotalwaysconsideredtobecasesof
tonelanguage.
SomeEuropeanbasedcreolelanguages,suchasSaramaccanandPapiamento,havetonefromtheirAfrican
substratumlanguages.

Insomecasesitisdifficulttodeterminewhetheralanguageistonal.Forexample,theKetlanguagehasbeen
describedashavinguptoeighttonesbysomeinvestigators,ashavingfourtonesbyothers,butbysomeashaving
notoneatall.Incasessuchasthese,theclassificationofalanguageastonalmaydependontheresearcher's
interpretationofwhattoneis.Forinstance,theBurmeselanguagehasphonetictone,buteachofitsthreetonesis
accompaniedbyadistinctivephonation(creaky,murmuredorplainvowels).Itcouldbearguedeitherthatthetone
isincidentaltothephonation,inwhichcaseBurmesewouldnotbephonemicallytonal,orthatthephonationis
incidentaltothetone,inwhichcaseitwouldbeconsideredtonal.Somethingsimilarappearstobethecasewith
Ket.

The19thcenturyconstructedlanguageSolresolcanconsistofonlytone,although,unlikeallnaturaltonal
languages,Solresol'stoneisabsoluteratherthanrelativeandnotonesandhioccurs.

Mechanics
Mostlanguagesusepitchasintonationtoconveyprosodyandpragmatics,butthisdoesnotmakethemtonal
languages.Intonallanguages,eachsyllablehasaninherentpitchcontour,andthusminimalpairs(orlarger
minimalsets)existbetweensyllableswiththesamesegmentalfeatures(consonantsandvowels)butdifferent
tones.

HereisaminimaltonesetfromMandarinChinese,whichhasfivetones,heretranscribedbydiacriticsoverthe
vowels:

1.Ahighleveltone://(pinyin)
2.Atonestartingwithmidpitchandrisingtoahighpitch://(pinyin)
3.Alowtonewithaslightfall(ifthereisnofollowingsyllable,itmaystartwithadipthenrisetoahigh
pitch)://(pinyin)
4.Ashort,sharplyfallingtone,startinghighandfallingtothebottomofthespeaker'svocalrange://(pinyin
)
5.Aneutraltone,withnospecificcontour,usedonweaksyllablesitspitchdependschieflyonthetoneofthe
precedingsyllable.

Thesetonescombinewithasyllablesuchasmatoproducedifferentwords.Aminimalsetbasedonmaare,in
pinyintranscription,

1.m(/)'mother'
2.m(/)'hemp'
3.m(/)'horse'
4.m(/)'scold'
5.ma(/)(aninterrogativeparticle)

Thesemaybecombinedintotherathercontrivedsentence,

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?/?
Pinyin:mmammdemma?
IPA/mmammtmma/
Translation:'Ismumscoldingthehorse'shemp?'

AwellknowntonguetwisterinStandardThaiis:

.
IPA:/mimimimi/
Translation:'Doesnewsilkburn?'[22]

Vietnamesehasitsversion:Bynaybybybybyby.

IPA:[i nai i i ai i i ]
Translation:'Allalongyou'vesetuptheseventrapsincorrectly!' Thetonecontoursof
StandardChinese.Inthe
Toneismostfrequentlymanifestedonvowels,butinmosttonallanguageswhere conventionforChinese,1
voicedsyllabicconsonantsoccurtheywillbeartoneaswell.Thisisespecially islowand5ishigh.The
commonwithsyllabicnasals,forexampleinmanyBantuandKrulanguages,butalso correspondingtoneletters
occursinSerboCroatian.Itisalsopossibleforlexicallycontrastivepitch(ortone)to are.
spanentirewordsormorphemesinsteadofmanifestingonthesyllablenucleus
(vowels),whichisthecaseinPunjabi.[23]

Tonescaninteractincomplexwaysthroughaprocessknownastonesandhi.

Toneandintonation
Bothlexicalorgrammaticaltoneandprosodicintonationarecuedbychangesinpitch,aswellsometimesby
changesinphonation.Lexicaltonecoexistswithintonation,withthelexicalchangesofpitchlikewaves
superimposedonlargerswells.Forexample,Luksaneeyanawin(1993)describesthreeintonationalpatternsin
Thai:falling(withsemanticsof"finality,closednessanddefiniteness"),rising("nonfinality,opennessandnon
definiteness")and"convoluted"(contrariness,conflictandemphasis).Thephoneticrealizationofthese
intonationalpatternssuperimposedonthefivelexicaltonesofThai(incitationform)areasfollows:[24]

ToneplusintonationinThai
Falling Rising Convoluted
intonation intonation intonation
Highleveltone
Midleveltone
Lowleveltone
Fallingtone , ,
Risingtone

Withconvolutedintonation,itappearsthathighandfallingtoneconflate,whilethelowtonewithconvoluted
intonationhasthesamecontourasrisingtonewithfallingintonation.

Registertonesandcontourtones
Tonesystemsfallintotwobroadpatterns,accordingtowhethercontourtonesexist.
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MostvarietiesofChineseusecontourtonesystems,wherethedistinguishingfeatureofthetonesaretheirshiftsin
pitch(thatis,thepitchisacontour),suchasrising,falling,dipping,orlevel.MostBantulanguages,ontheother
hand,havenoncontourtone(orregistertone)systemswherethedistinguishingfeatureistherelativedifference
betweenthepitches,suchashigh,mid,orlow,ratherthantheirshapes.Insuchsystemsthereisadefaulttone,
usuallylowinatwotonesystemormidinathreetonesystem,thatismorecommonandlesssalientthanother
tones.Therearealsolanguagesthatcombinerelativepitchandcontourtones,suchasmanyKrulanguages,where
nounsaredistinguishedbycontourtonesandverbsbypitch.Others,suchasYoruba,havephoneticcontours,but
thesecaneasilybeanalysedassequencesofsinglepitchtones,withforexamplesequencesofhighlow//
becomingfalling[],andsequencesoflowhigh//becomingrising[].

Fallingtonestendtofallfurtherthanrisingtonesrisehighlowtonesarecommon,whereaslowhightonesare
quiterare.Alanguagewithcontourtoneswillalsogenerallyhaveasmanyormorefallingtonesthanrisingtones.
However,exceptionsarenotunheardofMpi,forexample,hasthreelevelandthreerisingtones,butnofalling
tones.

Registerphonation

InanumberofEastAsianlanguages,tonaldifferencesarecloselyintertwinedwithphonationdifferences.In
Vietnamese,forexample,thengandsctonesarebothhighrisingbuttheformerisdistinguishedbyhaving
glottalizationinthemiddle.Similarly,thenngandhuyntonesarebothlowfalling,butthenngtoneisshorter
andpronouncedwithcreakyvoiceattheend,whilethehuyntoneislongerandoftenhasbreathyvoice.Insome
languages,suchasBurmese,pitchandphonationaresocloselyintertwinedthatthetwoarecombinedinasingle
phonologicalsystem,whereneithercanbeconsideredwithouttheother.Thedistinctionsofsuchsystemsare
termedregisters,nottobeconfusedwith"registertones"describedabove.

Toneterracingandtonesandhi
Toneterracing

Tonesarerealizedaspitchonlyinarelativesense."Hightone"and"lowtone"areonlymeaningfulrelativetothe
speaker'svocalrangeandincomparingonesyllabletothenext,ratherthanasacontrastofabsolutepitchsuchas
onefindsinmusic.Asaresult,whenonecombinestonewithsentenceprosody,theabsolutepitchofahightoneat
theendofaprosodicunitmaybelowerthanthatofalowtoneatthebeginningoftheunit,becauseofthe
universaltendency(inbothtonalandnontonallanguages)forpitchtodecreasewithtimeinaprocesscalled
downdrift.

Tonesmayaffecteachotherjustasconsonantsandvowelsdo.Inmanyregistertonelanguages,lowtonesmay
causeadownstepinfollowinghighormidtonestheeffectissuchthatevenwhilethelowtonesremainatthe
lowerendofthespeaker'svocalrange(whichisitselfdescendingduetodowndrift),thehightonesdrop
incrementallylikestepsinastairwayorterracedricefields,untilfinallythetonesmergeandthesystemhastobe
reset.Thiseffectiscalledtoneterracing.

Sometimesatonemayremainasthesolerealizationofagrammaticalparticleaftertheoriginalconsonantand
voweldisappear,soitcanonlybeheardbyitseffectonothertones.Itmaycausedownstep,oritmaycombine
withothertonestoformcontours.Thesearecalledfloatingtones.

Tonesandhi

Inmanycontourtonelanguages,onetonemayaffecttheshapeofanadjacenttone.Theaffectedtonemaybecome
somethingnew,atonethatonlyoccursinsuchsituations,oritmaybechangedintoadifferentexistingtone.This
iscalledtonesandhi.InMandarinChinese,forexample,adippingtonebetweentwoothertonesisreducedtoa
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simplelowtone,whichotherwisedoesnotoccurinMandarinChinese,whereasiftwodippingtonesoccurina
row,thefirstbecomesarisingtone,indistinguishablefromotherrisingtonesinthelanguage.Forexample,the
words[xn]('very')and[xa]('good')producethephrase[xnxa]('verygood').

Wordtonesandsyllabletones
Anotherdifferencebetweentonallanguagesiswhetherthetonesapplyindependentlytoeachsyllableortothe
wordasawhole.InCantonese,Thai,andtosomeextenttheKrulanguages,eachsyllablemayhaveatone,
whereasinShanghainese,theScandinavianlanguages,andmanyBantulanguages,thecontourofeachtone
operatesatthewordlevel.Thatis,atrisyllabicwordinathreetonesyllabletonelanguagehasmanymoretonal
possibilities(333=27)thanamonosyllabicword(3),butthereisnosuchdifferenceinawordtonelanguage.
Forexample,Shanghainesehastwocontrastivetonesnomatterhowmanysyllablesareinaword.Manylanguages
describedashavingpitchaccentarewordtonelanguages.

Tonesandhiisanintermediatesituation,astonesarecarriedbyindividualsyllables,butaffecteachothersothat
theyarenotindependentofeachother.Forexample,anumberofMandarinChinesesuffixesandgrammatical
particleshavewhatiscalled(whendescribingMandarinChinese)a"neutral"tone,whichhasnoindependent
existence.Ifasyllablewithaneutraltoneisaddedtoasyllablewithafulltone,thepitchcontouroftheresulting
wordisentirelydeterminedbythatothersyllable:

RealizationofneutraltonesinMandarinChinese
Tonepatternwith
Toneinisolation Example Pinyin Englishmeaning
addedneutraltone
high bli glass
rising bbo elderuncle
dipping lba horn
falling tzi rabbit

Afterhighlevelandhighrisingtones,theneutralsyllablehasanindependentpitchthatlookslikeamidregister
tonethedefaulttoneinmostregistertonelanguages.However,afterafallingtoneittakesonalowpitchthe
contourtoneremainsonthefirstsyllable,butthepitchofthesecondsyllablematcheswherethecontourleaves
off.Andafteralowdippingtone,thecontourspreadstothesecondsyllable:thecontourremainsthesame()
whetherthewordhasonesyllableortwo.Inotherwords,thetoneisnowthepropertyoftheword,notthe
syllable.Shanghainesehastakenthispatterntoitsextreme,asthepitchesofallsyllablesaredeterminedbythe
tonebeforethem,sothatonlythetoneoftheinitialsyllableofawordisdistinctive.

Tonalpolarity
Languageswithsimpletonesystemsorpitchaccentmayhaveoneortwosyllablesspecifiedfortone,withtherest
ofthewordtakingadefaulttone.Suchlanguagesdifferinwhichtoneismarkedandwhichisthedefault.In
Navajo,forexample,syllableshavealowtonebydefault,whereasmarkedsyllableshavehightone.Intherelated
languageSekani,however,thedefaultishightone,andmarkedsyllableshavelowtone.[19]Thereareparallelswith
stress:Englishstressedsyllableshaveahigherpitchthanunstressedsyllables,whereasinRussian,stressed
syllableshavealowerpitch.

Usesoftone

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InEastAsia,toneistypicallylexical.ThisischaracteristicofheavilytonallanguagessuchasChinese,
Vietnamese,Thai,andHmong.Thatis,toneisusedtodistinguishwordswhichwouldotherwisebehomonyms,
ratherthaninthegrammar,butsomeYueChinesedialectshaveminimalgrammaticaluseoftone.

However,inmanyAfricanlanguages,especiallyintheNigerCongofamily,toneiscrucialtothegrammar,with
relativelylittlelexicaluse.IntheKrulanguages,acombinationofthesepatternsisfound:nounstendtohave
complextonesystemsreminiscentofEastAsiabutarenotmuchaffectedbygrammaticalinflectionswhereas
verbstendtohavesimpletonesystemsofthetypemoretypicalofAfrica,whichareinflectedtoindicatetenseand
mood,person,andpolarity,sothattonemaybetheonlydistinguishingfeaturebetween"youwent"and"Iwon't
go".

IncolloquialYoruba,especiallywhenspokenquickly,vowelsmayassimilatetoeachother,andconsonantselide
somuchofthelexicalandgrammaticalinformationiscarriedbytone.InlanguagesofWestAfricasuchasYoruba,
peoplemayevencommunicatewithsocalled"talkingdrums",whicharemodulatedtoimitatethetonesofthe
language,orbywhistlingthetonesofspeech.

Notethattonallanguagesarenotdistributedevenlyacrossthesamerangeasnontonallanguages.[5]Instead,the
majorityoftonelanguagesbelongtotheNigerCongo,SinoTibetanandVieticgroups,whicharethencomposed
byalargemajorityoftonelanguagesanddominateasingleregion.Onlyinlimitedlocations(SouthAfrica,New
Guinea,Mexico,Brazilandafewothers)aretonelanguagesoccurringasindividualmembersorsmallclusters
withinanontonedominatedarea.Insomelocations,likeCentralAmerica,itmayrepresentnomorethanan
incidentaleffectofwhichlanguageswereincludedwhenoneexaminesthedistributionforgroupslikeKhoiSan
inSouthernAfricaandPapuanlanguages,wholefamiliesoflanguagespossesstonalitybutsimplyhaverelatively
fewmembers,andforsomeNorthAmericantonelanguages,multipleindependentoriginsaresuspected.

Ifgenerallyconsideringonlycomplextonevs.notone,itmightbeconcludedthattoneisalmostalwaysanancient
featurewithinalanguagefamilythatishighlyconservedamongmembers.However,whenconsideredinaddition
to'simple'tonesystemsthatincludeonlytwotones,tone,asawhole,appearstobemorelabile,appearingseveral
timeswithinIndoEuropeanlanguages,severaltimesinAmericanlanguages,andseveraltimesinPapuan
families.[5]Thatmayindicatethatratherthanatraituniquetosomelanguagefamilies,toneisalatentfeatureof
mostlanguagefamiliesthatmaymoreeasilyariseanddisappearaslanguageschangeovertime.[25]

A2015studybyCalebEverettarguedthattonallanguagesaremorecommoninhotandhumidclimates,which
makethemeasiertopronounce,evenwhenconsideringfamilialrelationships.Thisisthefirstknowncaseof
influenceoftheenvironmentonthestructureofthelanguagesspokeninit.[26][27]

Phoneticnotation
Therearethreemainapproachestonotatingtonesinphoneticdescriptionsofalanguage.

Theeasiestfromatypologicalperspectiveisanumberingsystem,withthepitchlevelsassignednumerals
andeachtonetranscribedasanumeralorsequenceofnumerals.Suchsystemstendtobeidiosyncratic(high
tonemaybeassignedthenumeral1,3,or5,forexample)andhavenotbeenadoptedfortheInternational
PhoneticAlphabet.
Alsosimpleforsimpletonesystemsisaseriesofdiacriticssuchasforhightoneandforlowtone.
ThishasbeenadoptedbytheIPA,butisnoteasytoadapttocomplexcontourtonesystems(seeunder
Chinesebelowforoneworkaround).ThefiveIPAdiacriticsforleveltonesare,withdoubledhigh
andlowdiacriticsforextrahighandextralow.Thediacriticscombinedtoformcontourtones,ofwhich
oooooohaveUnicodefontsupport(supportforadditionalcombinationsissparse).Sometimes,anon
IPAverticaldiacriticisseenforasecondhighermidtone,osoinalanguagewithfourorsixleveltones,
theymaybetranscribedooro.
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AretiredIPAsystem,sometimesstillencountered,[28]tracestheshapeofthetone(thepitchtrace)beforethe
syllable,whereastressmarkwouldgo(e.g.,ooooooooooo).Foramoreconcreteexample,
taketheHanyuPinyinsyllable[sa]usedinStandardChinese,afterapplyingthediacriticsitbecomeseasier
toidentifymorespecificrisingandfallingtones:[sa](highpeakingtone),[sa](lowleveltone),etc.Itwas
usedincombinationwithstressmarkstoindicateintonationaswell,asinEnglish[goodafter`noon].
Themostflexiblesystem,basedonthepreviousspacingdiacritics,isthatoftoneletters,whichareiconic
schematicsofthepitchtraceofthetoneinquestion.Theyaremostcommonlyusedforcomplexcontour
systems,asinLiberiaandsouthernChina.

Name Toptone Hightone Midtone Lowtone Bottomtone

Tonediacritic
Toneletter
Name Fallingtone Highfalling Lowfalling
tone tone

Tonediacritic

,,,, ,, ,,
Toneletters
,,, ,&c. ,&c.
,,
Name Risingtone Highrising Lowrising
tone tone

Tonediacritic

,,,, ,, ,,
Toneletters
,,, ,&c. ,&c.
,,
Name Dippingtone Peakingtone
(fallingrising) (risingfalling)

Tonediacritic
Toneletters (various) (various)

Veryrarely,atoneletterconsistsofmorethanthreeelements(peakingordippingtones),butoccasionally,double
peakingordoubledippingtonesareencountered.Reversedtonelettersmaybeusedfortonesandhi,anddotplus
bartonelettersforneutraltones.

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Africa

InAfricanlinguistics(aswellasinmanyAfricanorthographies),asetofdiacriticsisusualtomarktone.Themost
commonareasubsetoftheInternationalPhoneticAlphabet:

Hightone acute
Midtone macron
Lowtone grave

Severalvariationsarefound.Inmanythreetonelanguages,itiscommontomarkhighandLowtoneasindicated
abovebuttoomitmarkingofthemidtone:m(high),ma(mid),m(low).Similarly,insometwotonelanguages,
onlyonetoneismarkedexplicitly,usuallythelesscommonone.

Withmorecomplextonalsystems,suchasintheKruandOmoticlanguages,itisusualtoindicatetonewith
numbers,with1forhighand4or5forlowinKru,but1forlowand5forhighinOmotic.Contourtonesarethen
indicated14,21,etc.

Asia

IntheChinesetradition,numeralsareassignedtovarioustones(seetonenumber).Forinstance,Standard
MandarinChinese,theofficiallanguageofChina,hasfourlexicallycontrastivetones,andthenumerals1,2,3,
and4areassignedtofourtones.Syllablescansometimesbetonelessandaredescribedashavinganeutraltone,
typicallyindicatedbyomittingtonemarkings.Chinesevarietiesaretraditionallydescribedintermsoffourtonal
categoriesping('level'),shang('rising'),qu('exiting'),ru('entering'),basedonthetraditionalanalysisofMiddle
Chinese(seeFourtones)notethatthesearenotatallthesameasthefourtonesofmodernstandardMandarin
Chinese.[29]Dependingonthedialect,eachofthesecategoriesmaythenbedividedintotwotones,typicallycalled
yinandyang.Typically,syllablescarryingtherutonesareclosedbyvoicelessstopsinChinesevarietiesthathave
suchcoda(s)soinsuchdialects,ruisnotatonalcategoryinthesenseusedbyWesternlinguisticsbutrathera
categoryofsyllablestructures.Chinesephonologistsperceivedthesecheckedsyllablesashavingconcomitant
shorttones,justifyingthemasatonalcategory.InMiddleChinese,whenthetonalcategorieswereestablished,the
shangandqutonesalsohadcharacteristicfinalobstruentswithconcomitanttonicdifferenceswhereassyllables
bearingthepingtoneendedinasimplesonorant.AnalternativetousingtheChinesecategorynamesisassigning
toeachcategoryanumeralrangingfrom1to8,sometimeshigherforsomeSouthernChinesedialectswith
additionaltonesplits.Syllablesbelongingtothesametonecategorydifferdrasticallyinactualphonetictoneacross
thevarietiesofChineseevenamongdialectsofthesamegroup.Forexample,theyinpingtoneisahighleveltone
inBeijingMandarinChinesebutalowleveltoneinTianjinMandarinChinese.

Moreiconicsystemsusetonenumbersoranequivalentsetofgraphicpictogramsknownas"Chaotoneletters."
Thesedividethepitchintofivelevels,withthelowestbeingassignedthevalue1andthehighestthevalue5.(This
istheoppositeofequivalentsystemsinAfricaandtheAmericas.)Thevariationinpitchofatonecontouris
notatedasastringoftwoorthreenumbers.Forinstance,thefourMandarinChinesetonesaretranscribedas
follows(notethatthetoneletterswillnotdisplayproperlywithoutacompatiblefontinstalled):

TonesofStandardChinese
Hightone 55 (Tone1)
Midrisingtone 35 (Tone2)
Lowdippingtone 214 (Tone3)
Highfallingtone 51 (Tone4)

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Amidleveltonewouldbeindicatedby/33/,alowleveltone/11/,etc.Thedoublingofthenumberiscommonly
usedwithleveltonestodistinguishthemfromtonenumberstone3inMandarinChinese,forexample,isnotmid
/3/.However,itisnotnecessarywithtoneletters,so/33/=simple//.

IPAdiacriticnotationisalsosometimesseenforChinese.Onereasonitisnotmorewidespreadisthatonlytwo
contourtones,rising//andfalling//,arewidelysupportedbyIPAfontswhileseveralChinesevarietieshave
morethanonerisingorfallingtone.OnecommonworkaroundistoretainstandardIPA//and//forhighrising
(/35/)andhighfalling(/53/)tonesandtousethesubscriptdiacritics//and//forlowrising(/13/)andlowfalling
(/31/)tones.

HangulincludedtonemarksforMiddleKoreantones.However,GyeongsangDialectKorean,whichisusedin
SoutheasternregionsofSouthKorea,areknowntohaveastronginfluencecomingfromtones.

StandardCentralThaihasfivetonesmid,low,falling,highandrisingoftenindicatedrespectivelybythenumbers
zero,one,two,threeandfour.TheThaiwrittenscriptisanalphasyllabary,whichspecifiesthetone
unambiguously.Toneisindicatedbyaninteractionoftheinitialconsonantofasyllable,thevowellength,thefinal
consonant(ifpresent),andsometimesatonemark.Aparticulartonemarkmaydenotedifferenttonesdepending
ontheinitialconsonant.

VietnameseusestheLatinalphabet,andthesixtonesaremarkedbydiacriticsaboveorbelowacertainvowelof
eachsyllable.Inmanywordsthatendindiphthongs,however,thevowelmarkeddependsonthewriter'sstyle.
NotationforVietnamesetonesareasfollows:

TonesofnorthernVietnamese
Name Contour Diacritic Example
ngang midlevel, notmarked a
huyn lowfalling, graveaccent
sc highrising, acuteaccent
hi dipping, hookabove
ng creakyrising, tilde
nng creakyfalling, dotbelow

TheLatinbasedHmongandIuMienalphabetsusefulllettersfortones.InHmong,oneoftheeighttones(the
tone)isleftunwrittenwhiletheothersevenareindicatedbythelettersb,m,d,j,v,s,gattheendofthesyllable.
SinceHmonghasnophonemicsyllablefinalconsonants,thereisnoambiguity.ThatsystemenablesHmong
speakerstotypetheirlanguagewithanordinaryLatinletterkeyboardwithouthavingtoresorttodiacritics.Inthe
IuMien,thelettersv,c,h,x,zindicatetonesbutunlikeHmong,italsohasfinalconsonantswrittenbeforethetone.

NorthAmerica

SeveralNorthAmericanlanguageshavetone,oneofwhichisCherokee,anIroquoianlanguage.Oklahoma
Cherokeehassixtones(1low,2medium,3high,4veryhigh,5risingand6falling).[21]

InMesoamericanistlinguistics,/1/standsforhightoneand/5/standsforlowtone,exceptinOtoManguean
languagesforwhich/1/maybelowtoneand/3/hightone.Itisalsocommontoseeacuteaccentsforhightoneand
graveaccentsforlowtoneandcombinationsoftheseforcontourtones.Severalpopularorthographiesusejor
hafteravoweltoindicatelowtone.SouthernAthabascanlanguagesthatincludetheNavajoandApache
languagesaretonal,andareanalyzedashavingtwotones:highandlow.OnevarietyofHopihasdevelopedtone,
ashastheCheyennelanguage.

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TheMesoamericanlanguagestockcalledOtoMangueanisfamouslytonalandisthelargestlanguagefamilyin
Mesoamerica,containinglanguagesincludingZapotec,Mixtec,andOtom,someofwhichhaveasmanyasfive
registertones(Trique,UsilaChinantec)andothersonlytwo(MatlatzincaandChichimecaJonaz).Otherlanguages
inMesoamericathathavetonesareHuichol,YukatekMaya,theTzotzilofSanBartolo,Uspanteko,andone
varietyofHuave.

SouthAmerica

ManylanguagesofSouthAmericaaretonal.Forexample,variousanalysesofthePirahlanguagedescribeeither
twoorthreetones.TheTicunalanguageisolateisexceptionalforhavingfiveregistertones(theonlyother
languagesintheAmericastohavesuchasystemareTriqueandUsila,mentionedabove).

Europe

BothSwedishandNorwegianhavesimplewordtonesystems,oftencalledpitchaccent(althoughtheyareactually
contourtones),appearingonlyinwordsoftwoormoresyllables.Eachwordhasalexicaltone,whichvariesby
dialect.Wordswhosepronunciationdiffersonlyintonearefrequentlymorphologicallyoretymologically
unrelatedandmaybespelleddifferently,asinNorwegiancider('cider'),sider('sides').Thetwowordtonesare
conventionallycalledtoneme1andtoneme2inNorwayandacuteaccentandgraveaccentinSweden.InNorway,
therearetwomajordialectaldivisionsbasedontone,roughlyeasternandwestern/northern,wherethetoneshave
differentvalues:intheeast,T1=levellow,T2=fallinginthewest/north,T1=falling,T2=risingfalling.

InLimburgishandtheFranconiandialectsofGermany,tonescanalsooccurinmonosyllabicwords:dg('day'),
dg('days').Limburgishistypicallyatwotonesystem,distinguishingbetweenlevelhighandfalling,butthe
tonescanberealizedinotherwaysdependingonsyntax,andsomevowelsdiphthongizeormonophthongizeunder
certaintones.Dependingonthedialect,Latvianhasatwo,threeorfourtonesystem.

Practicalorthographies
Inpracticalalphabeticorthographies,anumberofapproachesareused.Diacriticsarecommon,asinpinyin,but
theytendtobeomitted.[30]Thaiusesacombinationofredundantconsonantsanddiacritics.Tonelettersmayalso
beused,forexampleinHmongRPAandseveralminoritylanguagesinChina.Tonemaysimplybeignored,asis
possibleevenforhighlytonallanguages:forexample,theChinesenavyhassuccessfullyusedtonelesspinyinin
governmenttelegraphcommunicationsfordecades.Likewise,Chinesereportersabroadmayfiletheirstoriesin
tonelesspinyin.Dungan,avarietyofMandarinChinesespokeninCentralAsia,has,since1927,beenwrittenin
orthographiesthatdonotindicatetone.[30]Ndjuka,inwhichtoneislessimportant,ignorestoneexceptfora
negativemarker.However,thereverseisalsotrue:intheCongo,therehavebeencomplaintsfromreadersthat
newspaperswritteninorthographieswithouttonemarkingareinsufficientlylegible.

Numberoftones
Languagesmaydistinguishuptofivelevelsofpitch,thoughtheChorilanguageofNigeriaisdescribedas
distinguishingsixsurfacetoneregisters.Sincetonecontoursmayinvolveuptotwoshiftsinpitch,thereare
theoretically555=125distincttonesforalanguagewithfiveregisters.However,themostthatareactually
usedinalanguageisatenthofthatnumber.

SeveralKamSuilanguagesofsouthernChinahaveninecontrastivetones,includingcontourtones.Forexample,
theKamlanguagehas9tones:3moreorlessfixedtones(high,midandlow)4unidirectionaltones(highandlow
rising,highandlowfalling)and2bidirectionaltones(dippingandpeaking).Thisassumesthatcheckedsyllables

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arenotcountedashavingadditionaltones,astheytraditionallyareinChina.Forexample,inthetraditional
reckoning,theKamlanguagehas15tones,but6occuronlyinsyllablesclosedwith/p/,/t/or/k/,andtheother9
occuronlyinsyllablesnotendinginoneofthesesounds.

PreliminaryworkontheWobelanguageofLiberiaandCted'IvoireandtheChatinolanguagesofsouthern
Mexicosuggeststhatsomedialectsmaydistinguishasmanyasfourteentones,butmanylinguistsbelievethat
manyofthesewillturnouttobesequencesoftonesorprosodiceffects.

Origin
AndrGeorgesHaudricourtestablishedthatVietnamesetoneoriginatedinearlierconsonantalcontrastsand
suggestedsimilarmechanismsforChinese.[31]ItisnowwidelyheldthatOldChinesedidnothavephonemically
contrastivetone.Thehistoricaloriginoftoneiscalledtonogenesis,atermcoinedbyJamesMatisoff.Toneis
frequentlyanarealratherthanagenealogicalfeature:alanguagemayacquiretonesthroughbilingualismif
influentialneighbouringlanguagesaretonalorifspeakersofatonallanguageshifttothelanguageinquestionand
bringtheirtoneswiththem.Inothercases,tonemayarisespontaneouslyandsurprisinglyquickly:thedialectof
CherokeeinOklahomahastone,butthedialectinNorthCarolinadoesnotalthoughtheywereseparatedonlyin
1838.

Veryoften,tonearisesasaneffectofthelossormergerofconsonants.(Suchtraceeffectsofdisappearedtonesor
othersoundshavebeennicknamedCheshirisation,afterthelingeringsmileofthedisappearingCheshireCatin
AliceinWonderland.)Inanontonallanguage,voicedconsonantscommonlycausefollowingvowelstobe
pronouncedatalowerpitchthanotherconsonants.Thatisusuallyaminorphoneticdetailofvoicing.However,if
consonantvoicingissubsequentlylost,thatincidentalpitchdifferencemaybeleftovertocarrythedistinctionthat
thevoicinghadcarriedandthusbecomesmeaningful(phonemic).ThathappenedinPunjabi:thePunjabi
murmured(voicedaspirate)consonantshavedisappearedandlefttoneintheirwake.Ifthemurmuredconsonant
wasatthebeginningofaword,itleftbehindalowtoneattheend,itleftbehindahightone.Iftherewasnosuch
consonant,thepitchwasunaffectedhowever,theunaffectedwordsarelimitedinpitchanddidnotinterferewith
thelowandhightones.Thatproducedatoneofitsown,midtone.Thehistoricalconnectionissoregularthat
Punjabiisstillwrittenasifithadmurmuredconsonants,andtoneisnotmarked.Thewrittenconsonantstellthe
readerwhichtonetouse.

Similarly,finalfricativesorotherconsonantsmayphoneticallyaffectthepitchofprecedingvowels,andifthey
thenweakento[h]andfinallydisappearcompletely,thedifferenceinpitch,nowatruedifferenceintone,carries
onintheirstead.ThiswasthecasewithChinese.TwoofthethreetonesofMiddleChinese,the"rising"andthe
"departing"tones,aroseastheOldChinesefinalconsonants//and/s//h/disappeared,whilesyllablesthat
endedwithneitheroftheseconsonantswereinterpretedascarryingthethirdtone,"even".Mostvarieties
descendingfromMiddleChinesewerefurtheraffectedbyatonesplitinwhicheachtonedividedintwodepending
onwhethertheinitialconsonantwasvoiced.Vowelsfollowingavoicedconsonant(depressorconsonant)acquired
alowertoneasthevoicinglostitsdistinctiveness.

Thesamechangesaffectedmanyotherlanguagesinthesamearea,andataroundthesametime(AD10001500).
Thetonesplit,forexample,alsooccurredinThai,Vietnamese,andtheLhasadialectofTibetan.

Ingeneral,voicedinitialconsonantsleadtolowtoneswhilevowelsafteraspiratedconsonantsacquireahightone.
Whenfinalconsonantsarelost,aglottalstoptendstoleaveaprecedingvowelwithahighorrisingtone(although
glottalizedvowelstendtobelowtonesoiftheglottalstopcausesvowelglottalization,thatwilltendtoleave
behindalowvowel).Afinalfricativetendstoleaveaprecedingvowelwithaloworfallingtone.Vowelphonation
alsofrequentlydevelopsintotone,ascanbeseeninthecaseofBurmese.

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TonearoseintheAthabascanlanguagesatleasttwice,inapatchworkoftwosystems.Insomelanguages,suchas
Navajo,syllableswithglottalizedconsonants(includingglottalstops)inthesyllablecodadevelopedlowtones,
whereasinothers,suchasSlavey,theydevelopedhightones,sothatthetwotonalsystemsarealmostmirror
imagesofeachother.Syllableswithoutglottalizedcodasdevelopedtheoppositetone.Forexample,hightonein
NavajoandlowtoneinSlaveyareduetocontrastwiththetonetriggeredbytheglottalization.

OtherAthabascanlanguages,namelythoseinwesternAlaska(suchasKoyukon)andthePacificcoast(suchas
Hupa),didnotdeveloptone.Thus,theProtoAthabascanword*tu('water')istonelesstoinHupa,hightonetin
Navajo,andlowtonetinSlaveywhileProtoAthabascan*t('knee')istonelessotinHupa,lowtoned
inNavajo,andhightoneinSlavey.Kingston(2005)providesaphoneticexplanationfortheopposite
developmentoftonebasedonthetwodifferentwaysofproducingglottalizedconsonantswitheithertensevoice
ontheprecedingvowel,whichtendstoproduceahighF0,orcreakyvoice,whichtendstoproducealowF0.
Languageswith"stiff"glottalizedconsonantsandtensevoicedevelopedhightoneontheprecedingvoweland
thosewith"slack"glottalizedconsonantswithcreakyvoicedevelopedlowtone.

TheBantulanguagesalsohave"mirror"tonesystemsinwhichthelanguagesinthenorthwestcorneroftheBantu
areahavetheoppositetonesofotherBantulanguages.

ThreeAlgonquianlanguagesdevelopedtoneindependentlyofoneanotherandofneighboringlanguages:
Cheyenne,Arapaho,andKickapoo.InCheyenne,tonearoseviavowelcontractionthelongvowelsofProto
AlgonquiancontractedintohighpitchedvowelsinCheyennewhiletheshortvowelsbecamelowpitched.In
Kickapoo,avowelwithafollowing[h]acquiredalowtone,andthistonelaterextendedtoallvowelsfollowedby
africative.

InMohawk,aglottalstopcandisappearinacombinationofmorphemes,leavingbehindalongfallingtone.Note
thatithasthereverseeffectofthepostulatedrisingtoneinMandarinChinese,derivedfromalostfinalglottal
stop.

Seealso
Meeussen'srule
Toneletter
Tonename
Tonenumber
Tonepattern
Musicallanguage
LionEatingPoetintheStoneDen

References
1.Yip(2002),pp.13,1214.
2.R.L.Trask,ADictionaryofPhoneticsandPhonology,Routledge2004.Entryfor"toneme".
3.Odden,David(1995)."Tone:Africanlanguages".HandbookofPhonologicalTheory.Oxford:BasilBlackwell.
4.Yip(2002),pp.178184.
5.Maddieson,Ian(2013)."Tone".InDryer,MatthewS.Haspelmath,Martin.TheWorldAtlasofLanguageStructures
Online.Leipzig:MaxPlanckInstituteforEvolutionaryAnthropology.
6.Yip(2002),pp.174178.
7.Wedeking,Karl(1985)."WhyBench'(Ethiopia)hasfiveleveltonestoday".StudiaLinguisticaDiachronicaet
Sinchronica.Berlin:MoutondeGruyter.pp.881902.
8.Hyman(2009).
9.Yip(2002),p.131.
10.Yip(2002),pp.172173.

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11.Alves,Mark(1995)."TonalFeaturesandtheDevelopmentofVietnameseTones".WorkingPapersinLinguistics:
DepartmentofUniversityofHawaiiatManoa.27."Clearly,languagecontactwithChinesehadsomethingtodowiththe
developmentofVietnamesetones,asthetonalsystemofVietnamesecorrespondsquitedirectlytotheeightwaysystem
ofMiddleChinese"
12.HoMinSohn(29March2001).TheKoreanLanguage.CambridgeUniversityPress.pp.48.ISBN9780521369435.
13.IksopLeeS.RobertRamsey(2000).TheKoreanLanguage.SUNYPress.pp.315.ISBN9780791448328.
14.KiMoonLeeS.RobertRamsey(3March2011).AHistoryoftheKoreanLanguage.CambridgeUniversityPress.
pp.168.ISBN9781139494489.
15.Lust,BarbaraWali,KashiGair,Jamesetal.,eds.(1999).LexicalAnaphorsandPronounsinSelectedSouthAsian
Languages.WalterdeGruyter.p.637.ISBN9783110143881.
16.Ager,Simon(ed.)."Punjabi(/").Omniglot.RetrievedJanuary30,2015.
17.Karamat,Nayyara."PhonemicInventoryofPunjabi"(PDF).CenterforResearchinUrduLanguageProcessing.Retrieved
January30,2015.
18.Sen,Geeti(1997).CrossingBoundaries.OrientBlackswan.p.132.ISBN9788125013419."Possibly,Punjabiisthe
onlymajorSouthAsianlanguagethathasthiskindoftonalcharacter.Theredoesseemtohavebeensomespeculation
amongscholarsaboutthepossibleoriginofPunjabi'stonelanguagecharacterbutwithoutanyfinalandconvincing
answer."
19.Kingston(2005).
20.Yip(2002),pp.212214.
21.MontgomeryAnderson,Brad(May30,2008).AReferenceGrammarofOklahomaCherokee(PDF)(Ph.D.).University
ofKansas.p.49.
22.Toneschangeovertime,butmayretaintheiroriginalspelling.TheThaispellingofthefinalwordinthetonguetwister,
,indicatesarisingtone,butthewordisnowcommonlypronouncedwithahightone.Thereforeanewspelling,

,isoccasionallyseenininformalwriting.
23.Singh,ChanderShekhar(2004).PunjabiProsody:TheOldTraditionandTheNewParadigm.SriLanka:Polgasowita:
SikuruPrakasakayo.pp.7082.
24.Laver(1994)PrinciplesofPhonetics,p.477478
25.Hombert,JeanMarieOhala,JohnJ.Ewan,WilliamG.(1979)."PhoneticExplanationsfortheDevelopmentofTones".
Language.55(1):3758.doi:10.2307/412518.
26.Everett,CBlasi,D.E.Roberts,S.G.(2015)."Climate,vocalfolds,andtonallanguages:Connectingthephysiological
andgeographicdots".ProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences.112(5):13221327.
Bibcode:2015PNAS..112.1322E.doi:10.1073/pnas.1417413112.PMC4321236 .
27.https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wetisbetterfortonallanguages/
28.BarryHeselwood(2013)PhoneticTranscriptioninTheoryandPractice,EdinburghUniversityPress,p.7
29.Specifically,wordsthathadtheMiddleChineseping(level)tonearenowdistributedovertones1and2inMandarin
Chinese,whiletheMiddleChineseshang(rising)andqu(exiting)toneshavebecomeMandarinChinesetones3and4,
respectively.Wordswiththeformerru(entering)tone,meanwhile,havebeendistributedoverallfourtones.
30.ImplicationsoftheSovietDunganScriptforChineseLanguageReform(http://www.pinyin.info/readings/texts/dungan.ht
ml)
31.TheseminalreferencesareHaudricourt(1954)andHaudricourt(1961).

Bibliography
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Hombert,JeanMarieOhala,JohnJ.Ewan,WilliamG.(1979)."Phoneticexplanationsforthedevelopment
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Externallinks
Worldmapoftonelanguages(http://wals.info/feature/13?tg_format=
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