intonation

The way in which the level of the voice changes in order to add meaning to what is being said. For example, when someone asks a question, the level (or ‘pitch’) of his or her voice usually rises towards the end of the question: ‘Are you coming with us tomorrow?’

Intonation is important when a sentence in the form of a statement is in fact a question: ‘You don't believe me?’ (The intonation in the question is shown in writing by a question mark.) The level of a person's voice is changed to show different attitudes, for example to show sarcasm, impatience, anger, or disbelief.

The expression ‘Don't look at me in that tone of voice’ means that the speaker's body language is aggressive. The expression usefully illustrates the significance of tone. It is the body language of the voice. A simple sentence, such as ‘I gave you that book’, can be given five different meanings by stressing any one of the words. Even such basic words as ‘yes’ and ‘no’ can have a range of meaning according to the tonal emphasis. A ‘yes’, in fact, can be so nearly a tonal ‘no’ that a doubtful ‘no’ would be more positive.