Intonation - Intonation (English spelling)

Generally, it refers to the intonation of the voice in spoken language. In music, it refers to the opening part of a monophonic chant sung without accompaniment. It also refers to the exact pitch of a note.

In linguistics, it refers to the change in pitch over time in spoken language, reading aloud, etc. It distinguishes between the conclusion and continuation of phrases and sentences, indicates the distinction between declarative, assertive, imperative, and interrogative sentences, and also expresses the speaker's emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. It has a great impact on content comprehension, especially since it indicates syntactic structure and the focus of a speech.

In general, the pitch at the end of a sentence is low, and the pitch at the end of a phrase that continues into the next phrase is slightly higher. In questions, the pitch rises at the end of the sentence. The degree of the rise differs between languages ​​and dialects, with Japanese showing a smaller rise than English, and the Kinki dialect showing a smaller rise than the Tokyo dialect. The rise at the end of a question is thought to be a common feature of all languages, but it often differs depending on the language. In English, the end of a sentence that is preceded by an interrogative word does not rise, but questions that can be answered with Yes or No do rise at the end. There are many languages ​​like this, but in Russian, in the sentence "Mama doma?" (Is mom at home?), the pitch rises sharply at до and falls sharply at the end.

In so-called stress-accented languages, accent is considered to be a change in strength, and intonation is a change in pitch. Recent experimental results have shown that the most important component of accent is pitch, which is accompanied by changes in strength, duration, and tone quality. Intonation is also mainly a change in pitch, but it can also be accompanied by changes in strength, duration, and tone quality. For example, the difference between a declarative sentence and an interrogative sentence is a change in the fundamental frequency at the end (a change in pitch), and expressions of emotions such as joy, anger, and sadness involve not only a change in pitch, but also changes in tone quality, duration, and strength.

The acoustic characteristics of emotional expression are universal to humans, but also vary by language, with Japanese showing less variation than English. As with accent, there are many points to consider regarding intonation from both the perspectives of production (speech) and perception (hearing).

[Miyoko Sugito]

"Intonation" by Yoshizawa Norio (included in "National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics Report 18: Spoken Language Patterns (1): Research Based on Dialogue Materials", 1960, National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics)" ▽ "Japanese-English Intonation Method" by Abe Isamu (1973, Gaku Shobo)" ▽ "Accent and Intonation" by Sugito Miyoko (included in "Japanese-English Comparative Lectures 1: Sound and Morphology" edited by Kunihiro Tetsuya, 1980, Taishukan Shoten) and "Voices of the Japanese" (1994, Izumi Shoin)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

一般には、話しことばにおける声の抑揚をいう。音楽では無伴奏で歌われる単声聖歌の始めの部分。また、正確な音の高さをもいう。

　言語学では、話しことば、朗読などにおける声の高さの時間的変化をいう。句や文の終結と連続とを区別し、平叙文、断定文、命令文、疑問文の別を示し、また、喜怒哀楽など話者の感情を表出する。とくに統語構造、話の焦点などを明示するため、内容理解への影響が大きい。

　一般に、文の末尾は低く、次の句へ連続する場合の句末はやや高い。疑問文では文末が上昇する。上昇の度合いには、言語差および方言差があり、英語より日本語のほうが上昇幅が少なく、東京方言より近畿方言のほうがより少ない傾向がある。疑問文における末尾の上昇は各言語に共通する特徴と考えられているが、言語により異なる場合も少なくない。英語では、疑問詞が先行する文の末尾は上昇せず、Yes, Noで答えられる疑問文は末尾が上昇する。この種の言語は多いが、ロシア語では、「マーマ・ドーマ？」Мама　дома?（お母さんはお家？）の場合、доで急に上昇し、末尾で急に下降する。

　いわゆる強弱アクセントの言語では、アクセントは強さ、イントネーションは高さの変化であるとされる。最近の実験結果によれば、アクセントのもっとも重要な成分は高さであり、強さ、長さおよび音質の変化がこれに伴う。イントネーションも高さの変化が主体であるが、これとともに、強さ、長さおよび音質の変化が伴う場合がある。たとえば、平叙文と疑問文とは末尾の基本周波数の変化（高さの変化）であり、喜び、怒り、悲しみなどの感情表現は、高さの変化だけではなく、音質と長さおよび強さの変化を伴う。

　感情表現における音響的特徴においても、人間としての普遍性があるとともに、言語による差異があり、英語より日本語のほうが変化が少ない。イントネーションに関しても、アクセントと同様に、生成（発話）と知覚（聞こえ）の両面から検討すべき点が多い。

［杉藤美代子］

『吉沢典男著「イントネーション」（『国立国語研究所報告18　話しことばの文型(1)　対話資料による研究』所収・1960・国立国語研究所）』▽『安倍勇著『日英イントネーション法』（1973・学書房）』▽『杉藤美代子著「アクセントとイントネーション」（国広哲弥編『日英比較講座1　音声と形態』所収・1980・大修館書店）・『日本人の声』（1994・和泉書院）』

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