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Definition
 To
the linguist [or speech therapist] 'tone' means the quality of
sound produced by the voice in uttering words.
In
a general sense, 'tone' is the attitude of the speaker or writer
as revealed in the choice of vocabulary or
the intonation of speech.
This
attitude might be immediately apparent – in tone of voice,
for instance.
It
might on the other hand be a complex and subtle manner which takes
time to establish – in an extended piece of writing, for instance.
Examples
Written or spoken communication might be
described as having a tone which is, for instance:
ironic |
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serious |
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flippant |
threatening |
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light-hearted |
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pessimistic |
Use
Tone
is used to convey an attitude. This may be done consciously or
unconsciously.
It
could be said that there is no such thing as a text or verbal utterance
without a tone.
In
most cases, tone is either taken for granted, or perceived unconsciously.
Tone,
taken at its most literal, is a feature of non-verbal communication.
It is the physical level at which the sound of the human voice
is transmitted.
Linguists
and speech therapists chart intonation patterns by a system of
marks on the page to suggest the rising and falling of the voice
tone.
Intonation
is the term by which we refer to the patterns of sound which are
evident in every utterance. We sometimes use the term 'monotone'
to imply an absence of intonation. This usually suggests some negative
state of mind on the part of the speaker.
Every
language has its standard set of intonation patterns. These have
to be learnt by the non-native speaker as an essential constituent
of the transmission of meaning.
The
intonation patterns of a language are the first things a child
learns in its progress as a speaker. They are the first elements
a child selects from the body of 'comprehensible imput' which is
necessary to trigger the acquisition process.
Interestingly,
intonation is a difficult hurdle for the second-language learner.
It seems that the intonation of one's own native language becomes
deeply internalised, and the ability to hear the intonation of
a second language is not as sharp as it is in a young child.
We
can, perhaps, appreciate these difficulties if we take the single
word 'hello' and consider the variations possible in expressing
it to imply an attitude. [This isn't easy to reproduce on screen,
but bear with us.]
'Hello, hello, hello.' |
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stereotype policeman |
'Hello?' |
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'Is anyone there?' |
'Hello!' |
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'At last I've found it!' |
'Hello!' |
|
'Here we go again!' |
'Hello!' |
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'Fancy meeting you.' |
and of course... |
'Hello!' |
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Greeting a friend |
Even
a non-verbal utterance such as a cough or a clearing of the throat
can be eloquent by means of its tone. An example of this is the
cough which says 'Be careful! People are listening in to what you're
saying'. A slightly different cough acts as a warning not to go
any further with an action or an utterance.
Intonation
as part of literary writing is conveyed
often by narrative description as in:
'Oh Jeremy!' she exclaimed in a shocked tone.
'Jeremy!' she screamed, as she saw him leap from the parapet.
As
practised readers, we infer the tone of literary dialogue without
the explicit narrative description used in the first example given
above. We hear the delivery in our mind's 'ear' as clearly as we
hear it in reality when taking part in a dialogue ourselves.
Tone
is perhaps applied more widely in an almost metaphoric sense to
convey a whole attitude. For instance we might receive a letter
from someone expressing the sentiment that they had trusted us,
but felt let down by something we had done. The letter might have
an ironic tone, or an angry tone, or an indignant tone.
Tone
in this sense is conveyed by an amalgam of choice of vocabulary and syntax on
the part of the writer. For the reader, this selection creates
an imaginary audible impression, as the tone is heard in the mind's
ear. |
