Tone letters are symbols used to represent different tones in languages with tonal nuances. They are classified by rising or falling pitch and are important for correct phonology. Mandarin has five tones with unique symbols, while other languages use tone numbers as substitutes.
Tone letters are sets of symbols assigned to individual tones in a language to help with correct phonology and enunciation. The use of tonal letters is especially important when writing in a language with many spoken tonal nuances. Words in some languages are spelled exactly the same, but can have very different meanings when the speaker simply alters the pitch of a syllable. The symbols used for tone letters are classified according to tones that rise or fall in pitch, and these sets of marks are normally called tone outlines. Several Asian and some African languages use tone letter and number systems for clarity in written words.
The basic contour tones of a language are usually designated as rising or falling. One such sound that drops in pitch before rising is called a down pitch, and one that rises before falling is known as a peak tone. These pitch changes generally need to be long enough in sound duration to fit into these categories. The shorter, more abrupt changes in pitch are usually called firm or cut tones. Words with truncated tones are normally pronounced with a specific enunciation technique known as an explosive stop.
The symbols used to designate each of the tone letter categories vary according to the specific language. The Mandarin language of China has a range of five tones with each pitch assigned its own tone contour symbol. The tone letters for the highest two tones are typically written as two long vertical bars per tone with a short horizontal dash at the top of one bar and the bottom of the other. The three central pitches of this rich tonal language are written as vertical lines with dashes at various points along them. Most other tone-contoured languages also have five-tone intervals with sound variations based on each language’s unique phonology.
Standard typed text has some difficulties for written tone letters because conventional computer keyboards do not have letter keys assigned to these symbols. Many word processing software programs also have a limited number of these symbols that can be inserted into text. Tone numbers provide a convenient solution as symbol substitutions, as most languages have variations in the pitches corresponding to each number. Some Chinese tonal ranges have the lowest numbers assigned to the lowest pitch, and some African ones have the opposite values assigned to the high and low pitch ranges.
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