This matters because intonation (the rise and fall of speech that conveys emotion, emphasis, and intent) can flip meaning ...

Intonation is an integral part of communication for all speakers. But can sign languages have intonation? A new study shows that signers use their faces to create intonational ‘melodies’ just as ...

This paper identifies modern Yiddish intonation patterns for three different semantic structures and contends that they derive from modern (Ashkenazic) talmudic chant. An examination of the ...

Have you ever noticed that a natural conversation flows like a dance—pauses, emphases, and turns arriving just in time? A new study has discovered that this isn't just intuition; there is a biological ...

Intonation or the pitch pattern of your voice is important in spoken English because it conveys meaning in many ways. In this episode and the accompanying study notes we will learn about intonation, ...

A spoken language is more than just words and sounds. Speakers use changes in pitch and rhythm, known as prosody, to provide emphasis, show emotion, and otherwise add meaning to what they say. In a ...

Tonal languages are different from non-tonal languages because tonal languages are dependent on the emphasis and pronunciation, because how a word is said will affect its meaning. It is quite ...

Raúl Sánchez and Dan Bullock are linguistics and communications specialists and NYU professors. They say improving vocalics, aka nonverbal aspects of speech, is key for effective communication. Vocal ...

When we read, it's very easy for us to tell individual words apart: In written language, spaces are used to separate words from one another. But this is not the case with spoken language – speech is a ...

Twin babies have conversations with each other, complete with gesticulations; it may sound like "dadadadada" to us, but clearly something is going on. Little girls carry on phone conversations with ...