INTONATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does intonation mean? 

• INTONATION (noun)
  The noun INTONATION has 4 senses:

1. rise and fall of the voice pitch

2. singing by a soloist of the opening piece of plainsong

3. the act of singing in a monotonous tone

4. the production of musical tones (by voice or instrument); especially the exactitude of the pitch relations

  Familiarity information: INTONATION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INTONATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Rise and fall of the voice pitch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

intonation; modulation; pitch contour

Hypernyms ("intonation" is a kind of...):

inflection; prosody (the patterns of stress and intonation in a language)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "intonation"):

intonation pattern (intonations characteristic of questions and requests and statements)

drone; droning; monotone (an unchanging intonation)

singsong (a regular and monotonous rising and falling intonation)

Derivation:

intonate (recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm)

intonate (speak carefully, as with rising and falling pitch or in a particular tone)

intone (recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm)

intone (speak carefully, as with rising and falling pitch or in a particular tone)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Singing by a soloist of the opening piece of plainsong

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("intonation" is a kind of...):

singing; vocalizing (the act of singing vocal music)

Derivation:

intonate; intone (recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of singing in a monotonous tone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

chanting; intonation

Hypernyms ("intonation" is a kind of...):

singing; vocalizing (the act of singing vocal music)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "intonation"):

cantillation (liturgical chanting)

Derivation:

intonate; intone (recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm)

intone (utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The production of musical tones (by voice or instrument); especially the exactitude of the pitch relations

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("intonation" is a kind of...):

music (musical activity (singing or whistling etc.))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "intonation"):

fixed intonation (the intonation of keyboard instruments where the pitch of each note is fixed and cannot be varied by the performer)

Derivation:

intonate; intone (recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm)

 Context examples 

Meg obediently following the long grass-blade which her new tutor used to point with, read slowly and timidly, unconsciously making poetry of the hard words by the soft intonation of her musical voice.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Profound silence fell when he had uttered that word, with deep but low intonation.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Then, by observation, whenever opportunity offered, by study of action, speech, and the very intonations of the voice, he slowly learned the intimacy and the degree of favour they enjoyed with the master.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

You shall, I trust, rest here with me awhile, so that by our talking I may learn the English intonation; and I would that you tell me when I make error, even of the smallest, in my speaking.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I believe it to be an intuitive discernment, a quick but never-failing power of judgment, a penetration into the causes of things, unequalled for clearness and precision; add to this a facility of expression and a voice whose varied intonations are soul-subduing music.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Henry grunted with an intonation that was not all sympathy, and for a quarter of an hour they sat on in silence, Henry staring at the fire, and Bill at the circle of eyes that burned in the darkness just beyond the firelight.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The old man motioned me in with his right hand with a courtly gesture, saying in excellent English, but with a strange intonation:—"Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own will!"

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)