intonation

intonation — noun

1. The pattern of upward and downward pitch changes in a person's voice during spee

1.nounB2
Definition

The pattern of upward and downward pitch changes in a person's voice during speech, which helps express whether they are asking a question, making a statement, or showing emotion.

Example

With a rising intonation at the end, Mira turned her statement into a question.

rising intonation to turn a statement into a question

Haruto could tell from his mother's intonation that she was not pleased with his grades.

Common collocations
  • rising intonation
  • falling intonation
  • flat intonation
  • question intonation
  • speech intonation
Synonyms
  • inflection

    more specific to small pitch changes within a syllable or word; technical in linguistics

  • pitch

    the general highness or lowness of a sound, not the pattern of changes

  • cadence

    the rhythmic rise and fall of speech, especially at the end of a phrase

Usage Note

Commonly paired with adjectives describing pitch direction: rising intonation (typical of yes/no questions) and falling intonation (typical of statements and commands). In language classes, intonation is often drilled together with sentence stress.

Common Mistakes

His angry intonation scared the children.
His angry tone scared the children.
'Tone' carries emotion and attitude; 'intonation' refers specifically to pitch movement patterns.

2. The accuracy with which a musician plays or sings notes at the correct pitch, wi

2.nounB2
Definition

The accuracy with which a musician plays or sings notes at the correct pitch, without sounding too high (sharp) or too low (flat).

Example

Kabir's violin teacher praised the clear intonation in his performance of the sonata.

Tuan practised scales every morning to improve his intonation on the trumpet.

practise + scales + to improve intonation on [instrument]

Common collocations
  • good intonation
  • poor intonation
  • perfect intonation
  • clear intonation
  • sharp intonation
  • flat intonation
Synonyms
  • pitch accuracy

    more technical; focuses on hitting the exact note rather than overall quality

  • tuning

    the process of adjusting pitch, often applied to instruments rather than players

Usage Note

In music contexts, intonation is uncountable and is typically modified by evaluative adjectives (good, poor, perfect, clear) or by directional terms (sharp, flat) that describe pitch deviation.

Common Mistakes

The singer has a beautiful intonation.
The singer has beautiful intonation.
'Intonation' is uncountable, so no article 'a' is used.

Word family

  • intone
    verbC1
  • intonational
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Intonation, inflection, tone, pitch, and cadence all relate to vocal quality but differ in scope. Intonation refers to the overall pattern of pitch movement across a phrase or sentence — the musical contour of speech. Inflection is a narrower term for a small pitch change on a single syllable or word, often affecting grammatical meaning (e.g., rising inflection on a question). Tone carries emotional or attitudinal content (angry tone, sarcastic tone) and is broader than intonation. Pitch is a physical property of sound — how high or low a frequency is — and is measurable in hertz. Cadence describes the rhythmic flow of speech, especially the falling pattern at the end of a sentence. For example: 'Her rising intonation made the statement sound like a question' (intonation = whole-phrase pattern), while 'His tone suggested he was annoyed' (tone = emotional quality).

inflectiontone ↗pitch ↗cadence

Common collocations

Nouns

  • intonation pattern
  • intonation practice
  • intonation exercise

Phrases

  • rise and fall of the voice

Prepositions

  • with intonation
  • in intonation

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Intonation comes from Latin 'intonare' (to thunder, to resound), formed from 'in-' (toward) and 'tonare' (to thunder). In Medieval Latin, 'intonare' acquired the meaning 'to intone, to chant' in church settings. The word passed through French 'intonation' and entered English in the 1600s, originally referring to the chanting of liturgical texts. By the 1800s, its meaning had broadened to cover the pitch patterns of ordinary speech.