In tonal languages, tone and pronunciation work together to communicate meaning. But even though every language uses different tones, not every language is a tonal language.
So what makes a language tonal—and how does it affect the way you learn that language? Follow our guide to tonal languages to learn more about these fascinating ways of speaking.
Table of Contents
What is a tonal language?
A tonal language is any language where the pitch or inflection of a word changes its meaning. Changing the tone of a word in these languages can changes a word’s entire meaning.
Most of these pitch changes indicate what direction the tone is going. A “flat” tone has a neutral pitch, while a “rising” pitch starts with a low tone and ends higher. A “falling” pitch is the opposite, with a higher pitch going down in tone.
List of tonal languages
Over one billion people speak a tonal language, including Mandarin and other languages in Asian and African countries. Some Native American languages also include tonal elements.
Modern tonal languages include:
- Cantonese
- Igbo
- Mandarin
- Navajo
- Punjabi
- Thai
- Vietnamese
- Yoruba
- Zulu
Examples of tonal languages
Unless you already speak a tonal language, it may be difficult to understand how changing the pitch of one word or syllable can affect the word’s meaning.
Learn more about how tonal languages work with our examples of commonly spoken tonal languages and words.
Examples of tone changes in Mandarin
Mandarin is a well-known example of a tonal language and one of the most spoken languages in the world. Tone can change the meaning of a word entirely in Mandarin.
When writing Mandarin in English, we use the Pinyin (sound spelling) writing system. Pinyin includes tone marks above syllables to indicate which tone each syllable uses. Note how the word ma changes when you apply different tones.
| Tone | Type | Mandarin | English | |
| first tone | 阴平 (yīnpíng) | level tone | mā | mother |
| second tone | 阳声 (yángpíng) | rising tone | má | hemp |
| third tone | 上声 (shàngshēng) | dipping tone | mǎ | horse |
| fourth tone | 去声 (qùshēng) | falling tone | mà | to scold |
| fifth tone | 轻声 (qīngshēng) | neutral tone | ma | indicates a question |
You may also see each tone indicated with subscript numbers within the Anglicized word. For example, ma1 uses the level tone, while ma4 uses the falling tone.
Examples of tone changes in Punjabi
Approximately 150 million people speak Punjabi worldwide, primarily in India and Pakistan. While Punjabi is a tonal language, it does not rely on tones to the same extent as others, such as Mandarin. It has only three tones used in everyday speech.
However, like Mandarin, changing the tone of a word can change the meaning quite a bit:
| Type of Tone | Punjabi | English |
| high falling | ਚੜ੍ਹ (chaṛh) | rise |
| low falling | ਘਰ (ghar) | house |
| level (neutral) | ਕਰ (kar) | doing |
Punjabi is one of the only Indo-Aryan languages that includes tonal elements. Other Indo-Aryan languages, including Hindi and Bengali, don’t rely on pitch changes to clarify word meanings.
Examples of tone changes in Vietnamese
More than 85 million people worldwide speak Vietnamese, primarily in Vietnam. There are six tones in Vietnamese, and each one can change the meaning of a word. The six tones reflect variations in pitch, length, contour, and intensity in how you constrict your vocal cords.
When written, Vietnamese diacritic marks guide pronunciation and are largely represented by symbols that closely match the sound.
| Tone | Type | Intent | Vietnamese | English |
| thanh ngang | flat | neutral | ma | ghost |
| thanh sắc | high rising | sharp or angry | mà | but |
| thanh huyền | low falling | grave or serious | má | mother |
| thanh hỏi | low rising | question | mả | grave |
| thanh ngã | broken | stumbling | mã | appearance |
| thanh nặng | dropping | heavy | mạ | coating |
While Vietnamese is a tonal language, it is syllable-timed rather than stress-timed. This means that each syllable within a word takes roughly the same amount of time to say.
Examples of tone changes in Cantonese
Around 75 million people speak Cantonese in southern Chinese provinces, including Guangdong and Guangxi, as well as Hong Kong. Its tones range from high to low with varying levels of rising and falling, indicating changes in both word meaning and emotional intent.
Examples of tonal changes in Cantonese words with a vowel ending or nasal consonant (a consonant in which air continues to flow when the word ends) include:
| Tone | Type | Cantonese | English |
| 陰平 (dark flat) | high | 詩 (si1) | poem |
| 陰上 (dark rising) | low to high (rising) | 史 (si2) | history |
| 陰去 (dark departing) | mid | 試 (si3) | try |
| 陽平 (light flat) | low (falling) | 時 (si4) | time |
| 陽上 (light rising) | low to mid (rising) | 市 (si5) | city |
| 陽去 (light departing) | low | 是 (si6) | yes |
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Three additional tones exist in Cantonese words that end with a stop consonant (a word ending in which airflow stops). These tones are:
| Tone | Type | Cantonese | English |
| 上陰入 (upper dark entering) | high | 識 (sik1) | know |
| 下陰入 (lower dark entering) | mid | 錫 (sek6) | kiss |
| 陽入 (light entering) | low | 試 (sik6) | eat |
Cantonese is closely related to ancient Chinese and is regarded as one of the most difficult languages to learn. Its varied vowel length and six tones make word meanings somewhat unpredictable. Additionally, Guangzhou Cantonese adds three additional tones in words
Examples of tone changes in Thai
Like other tonal languages, Thai uses tone marks to indicate the pitch and meaning of a word. Words with more than one syllable can have more than one pitch, allowing the word to take on as many meanings as it has pitch combinations.
The five tones in the Thai language are:
| Tone | Type | Thai | English |
| เอก (èek) | low | ไก่ (gài) | chicken |
| สามัญ (sǎa-man) | mid | มา (maa) | come |
| ตรี (dtrii) | high | นับ (náp) | count |
| โท (thoo) | falling | ได้ (dâai) | can |
| จัตวา (jàt-dtà-waa) | rising | ฉัน (chăn) | I |
Of the 40 million Thai speakers around the world, most learn Thai from birth. Their ability to change a word’s meaning comes more naturally than someone learning Thai as a second language. However, once you know more about the Thai tones and tone marks, it’s much easier to understand new words and phrases in Thai.
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Is English a tonal language?
English is not a tonal language. But if you’re a native English speaker, you’ve likely played with tone when posing a question. The rising intonation at the end of your sentence indicates that you’re looking for an answer. Think of how you might say, “John went to the movies,” versus “John went to the movies?”
However, it’s important to remember that in tonal languages, the tones aren’t used to convey questions or emotions. They’re an essential part of communicating each word in itself.
Pitch-accent languages vs. tonal languages
Pitch-accent languages differ from tonal languages in that only one syllable of a word receives a change in pitch, rather than every syllable (as in tonal languages). Additionally, tonal language speakers often use the intensity and length of a syllable to change a word’s meaning, while pitch-accent languages only use a varied pitch in the one syllable.
Common pitch-accent languages include:
- Ancient Greek
- Japanese
- Norwegian
- Swedish
- Tagalog
- Turkish
Because some pitch accents resemble tonal languages in their pitch changes, some linguists consider them to be in a subcategory of tonal languages. However, pitch-accent languages are much less dependent on tone changes than languages like Mandarin, Vietnamese, or Cantonese.
Tonal languages vs. agglutinative languages
You may hear about tonal languages and agglutinative languages in the same context, as both types of languages require subtle changes to alter the meaning of a word.
While tonal languages rely on changes in pitch to change a word’s meaning, agglutinative languages change meaning by adding affixes at the beginning or ending of a root word. Korean, Finnish, and Hungarian are commonly spoken agglutinative languages that add several affixes to common root words.
Japanese and Turkish are also agglutinative languages—and they are pitch-accent languages as well. They change word meanings both by adding affixes to a word and changing one syllable’s pitch. If you learn how both types of languages work, Japanese and Turkish would be much easier to learn!
Is it easy to learn a tonal language?
Because of their tone systems and varied word meanings based on specific pitch changes, tonal languages are considered difficult to learn. Cantonese and Punjabi, in particular, are challenging for learners who don’t know related languages or for people who have never spoken tonal languages before.
However, many language learners pick up tonal languages with study, practice, and strong learning tools. Mandarin is a common second language for students, especially in the international business world. With Rosetta Stone, you can learn a new language effectively, whether it’s Mandarin, another tonal language, or a completely different language altogether.
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