The word “baritone” comes from Greek and refers to the last syllable of a word not receiving significant stress. It can also refer to a vocal range between tenor and low register, or the lower ranges of musical instruments. Greek uses tonal accent instead of stressed accent, and some languages rely more on intonation than others.
The word baritone, which is more familiar to many English speakers as a category of singing voice, actually comes from the Greek language and also refers to an element of Greek grammar in which the last syllable of a word does not receive significant stress. The word is a hybrid of the Greek word “heavy” or “low” bary, and “pitch”. Here, the word “bass” is abstracted to refer to an accent or minor accent for a sound.
To understand baritone in Greek grammar it is first necessary to identify the various parts of a Greek word. These are commonly known as antepenult, penult, and ultima. These could otherwise be labeled as the first syllable, penultimate syllable, and last – or last – syllable. The last syllable is the syllable that is treated as a baritone. It is commonly understood to be a root/short form of the English word ‘ultimate’, meaning ‘last’.
Many people associate the word baritone with a vocal range for singing that lies between the male tenor or higher register and the low or ultra-low register. This use of the original word baritone is more concrete, where the translation to “bass” in English would directly refer to the register or pitch of the sound. This is a specially structured part of singing in most societies where the general form is based on synchronizing a set of voices in various registers. The same word can also be used to talk about the lower ranges of a variety of musical instruments.
The use of the baritone in Greek is an example of what is called an acute accent. The tonal accent is an alternative to the concept of stressed accent in English. With tonal accent, certain syllables are developed for a specific meaning or used through a variety of tone, rather than a variation of stress. Greek is an example of a language that uses tonal accent as part of language function and understanding.
Within the general category of language using tonal accent, some languages rely more on the use of intonation than others. Some languages are sometimes described as “fully tonal,” where multiple tones are an integral part of language use. Some languages use only high and low binary tones, while other languages have a more sophisticated set of three or more tones.
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