intonation
See also: Intonation
English edit
Etymology edit
From French intonation, from Medieval Latin intonatio, from intonō + -tiō.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
intonation (countable and uncountable, plural intonations)
- (linguistics) The rise and fall of the voice in speaking.
- Emotive stress used to increase the power of delivery in speech.
- 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 210:
- She well knew the power of intonation, and thought that, in the absence of the curled lip, the contemptuous twitch of the nose, and the supercilious toss of the head, her message might be acceptable for Louisa's sake,...
- A sound made by, or resembling that made by, a musical instrument.
- 1805, Titus Lucretius Carus, The nature of things: a didactic poem:
- This additional cause of the intonation of thunder, together with the simile with which it is illustrated, is copied from our poet, both by Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii, 431, and Isidorus, Orig. xiii.
- 1808, Richard Cumberland, The Exodiad: A Poem, page 375:
- As when sulphureous fires, within the caves
Of earth long pent, with intonation loud
Burst through the riven rocks, and far as eye
Can reach their furious devastation spread,
So sudden, so resistless was the force
Of this blasphemer's bold appeal to arms.
- 1824, Sir James Bland Burges afterwards Lamb, The Dragon Knight: A Poem in Twelve Cantos, page 77:
- In anxious expectation stood the crowd,
When the shrill clarion's intonation loud
Gave notice that the challenger drew nigh.
- 1825, Friedrich Heinrich Karl Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqué, The Magic Ring; a Romance, from the German, Etc, page 287:
- but Sir Hugh still exclaimed, —"Louder, old man, far louder!" till at last the minstrel, in obedience to his best and dearest friend, struck the harp with such violence, that not only did the strings break, but even the instrument itself burst asunder with a long melancholy intonation.
- Singing or playing in good tune or otherwise.
- Her intonation was false.
- Reciting in a musical prolonged tone; intonating or singing of the opening phrase of a plain-chant, psalm, or canticle by a single voice, as of a priest.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Terms related to intonation
Translations edit
the rise and fall of the voice in speaking
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singing or playing in good tune or otherwise
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intonating or singing of the opening phrase of a plain-chant, psalm, or canticle by a single voice
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References edit
- “intonation”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “intonation”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
French edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Noun edit
intonation f (plural intonations)
- intonation (all senses)
Further reading edit
- “intonation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.