Mpi language
Encyclopedia
Phonology
Mpi has six tonesTone (linguistics)
Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information, and to convey emphasis, contrast, and other such features in what is called...
and two phonation
Phonation
Phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the definition used among those who study laryngeal anatomy and physiology...
s in its vowel
Vowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
s, modal voice
Modal voice
Modal voice is the vocal register used most frequently in speech and singing in most languages. It is also the term used in linguistics for the most common phonation of vowels...
and stiff voice
Stiff voice
The term stiff voice describes the pronunciation of consonants or vowels with a glottal opening narrower, and the vocal cords stiffer, than what occurs in modal voice. Although there is no specific IPA diacritic for stiff voice, the voicing diacritic may be used in conjunction with the symbol for...
:
| Tone | Modal voice | Stiff voice |
|---|---|---|
| Low | sì 'blood' | sì̬ 'seven' |
| Low rising | si᷅ 'putrid' | si̬᷅ 'dried up' |
| Mid | sī (a color) | sī̬ (a classifier) |
| Mid rising | sǐ 'to roll' | sǐ̬ 'to smoke' |
| High | sí 'four' | sí̬ (a name) |
| High rising | si᷄ 'to die' | si̬᷄ (a name) |