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Downstep

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147:, occurs when high and low tones come in the sequence H L (L) H; the second high tone tends to be lower than the first because of the intervening low toned syllable. That phenomenon is common in African languages, such as 213:(see for an overview of downstep in African languages). When two high tones are in succeeding syllables (thus in the sequence H H), and the second is lower than the first, there is said to be a downstep. 243:
It has been shown that in most, if not all, cases of downstep proper, the lowering of the second high tone occurs when an intervening low-toned syllable has dropped out. What was H (L) H has become H
464: 151:. It has also been argued that the same phenomenon is heard in English sentences, if these sentences are pronounced with a falling intonation, for example 611: 111: 678: 514: 575: 263:
is a floating low tone. With a noun in isolation, it docks to the preceding vowel and turns a high tone into a falling tone:
236:⟩ () because of typographic constraints, though technically that would mean an incompletely or lightly articulated 495: 556: 130:(for example, both with a high tone or both with a low tone), the second syllable is lower in pitch than the first. 217: 93: 620: 671: 312: 300: 281: 269: 244: 233: 225: 107: 103: 37: 28: 925: 858: 664: 89: 522:, Bielefeld University, Germany: Typology of African Prosodic Systems Workshop, archived from 850: 874: 789: 744: 8: 523: 920: 915: 817: 807: 726: 706: 598: 487: 127: 879: 602: 562: 552: 491: 797: 590: 479: 260: 252: 229: 840: 802: 716: 294:
However, when it occurs between two high tones, it downsteps the following tone:
133:
Two main kinds of downstep can be distinguished. The first, more usually called
764: 544: 237: 148: 123: 594: 483: 909: 889: 864: 769: 711: 566: 248: 210: 835: 739: 734: 869: 779: 774: 221: 830: 45: 759: 693: 139: 576:"Boundary tones and the phonetic implementation of tone in Chichewa" 380: 884: 825: 701: 99: 656: 392: 356: 209:, is another phenomenon found in many African languages such as 754: 331: 247:
H. The missing low-toned syllable creates what is known as a '
894: 619:(PhD). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived from 256: 416: 463:
Beckman, Mary E. & Pierrehumbert, Janet B. (1986).
228:⟩ (). It is common to see instead a superscript 428: 462: 440: 398: 362: 98:. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see 404: 216:The symbol for the second kind of downstep in the 613:The Phonology and Phonetics of English Intonation 344: 16:Lowering in pitch of a second, same-tone syllable 907: 465:"Intonational Structure in English and Japanese" 368: 112:IPA ยง Brackets and transcription delimiters 542: 422: 672: 609: 386: 536:A dictionary of linguistics & phonetics 679: 665: 126:in which if two syllables have the same 637: 533: 512: 446: 434: 410: 908: 660: 573: 374: 549:Intonation in African tone languages 516:Downdrift, Downstep, and Declination 102:. For the distinction between , 686: 646: 350: 13: 334:, which is less commonly phonemic. 14: 937: 642:. University of California Press. 610:Pierrehumbert, Janet B. (1980). 399:Beckman & Pierrehumbert 1986 363:Beckman & Pierrehumbert 1986 538:. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 130. 455: 218:International Phonetic Alphabet 94:International Phonetic Alphabet 583:Studies in African Linguistics 1: 651:. Cambridge University Press. 338: 638:Welmers, William E. (1974). 7: 640:African Language Structures 423:Downing & Rialland 2017 325: 10: 942: 849: 816: 788: 725: 692: 595:10.32473/sal.v25i1.107403 484:10.1017/S095267570000066X 72: 59: 54: 44: 35: 26: 21: 543:Downing, Laura J. & 389:, pp. 139ff, 329ff. 251:'. An example occurs in 534:Crystal, David (2003). 513:Connell, Bruce (2001), 255:, a language spoken in 90:phonetic transcriptions 551:. Berlin: De Gruyter. 207:non-automatic downstep 87:This article contains 574:Myers, Scott (1996). 224:down arrow, ⟨ 647:Yip, Moira (2002). 122:is a phenomenon in 926:Tone (linguistics) 472:Phonology Yearbook 387:Pierrehumbert 1980 318:it's not the river 259:. In Bambara, the 135:automatic downstep 903: 902: 323: 322: 292: 291: 83: 82: 933: 798:Secondary stress 681: 674: 667: 658: 657: 652: 643: 634: 632: 631: 625: 618: 606: 580: 570: 539: 530: 528: 521: 509: 507: 506: 500: 494:. Archived from 469: 450: 444: 438: 437:, pp. 82ff. 432: 426: 420: 414: 408: 402: 396: 390: 384: 378: 372: 366: 360: 354: 348: 314: 306:it's not a river 302: 297: 296: 283: 271: 266: 265: 261:definite article 246: 235: 230:exclamation mark 227: 109: 105: 76: 68: 63: 40: 39: 31: 30: 19: 18: 941: 940: 936: 935: 934: 932: 931: 930: 906: 905: 904: 899: 845: 841:Extra-shortness 812: 803:Vowel reduction 784: 721: 717:Vowel reduction 688: 687:Suprasegmentals 685: 655: 629: 627: 623: 616: 578: 559: 545:Rialland, Annie 529:on 13 June 2007 526: 519: 504: 502: 498: 467: 458: 453: 445: 441: 433: 429: 421: 417: 409: 405: 397: 393: 385: 381: 373: 369: 361: 357: 349: 345: 341: 328: 203:Downstep proper 117: 116: 115: 74: 66: 61: 36: 27: 17: 12: 11: 5: 939: 929: 928: 923: 918: 901: 900: 898: 897: 892: 887: 882: 877: 872: 867: 862: 855: 853: 847: 846: 844: 843: 838: 833: 828: 822: 820: 814: 813: 811: 810: 805: 800: 794: 792: 786: 785: 783: 782: 777: 772: 767: 765:Tone terracing 762: 757: 752: 747: 742: 737: 731: 729: 723: 722: 720: 719: 714: 709: 704: 698: 696: 690: 689: 684: 683: 676: 669: 661: 654: 653: 644: 635: 607: 571: 558:978-3110503524 557: 540: 531: 510: 459: 457: 454: 452: 451: 439: 427: 415: 403: 401:, p. 273. 391: 379: 367: 365:, p. 272. 355: 353:, p. 148. 342: 340: 337: 336: 335: 327: 324: 321: 320: 315: 309: 308: 303: 290: 289: 284: 278: 277: 272: 238:alveolar click 124:tone languages 110:⟩, see 86: 85: 84: 81: 80: 77: 70: 69: 64: 57: 56: 52: 51: 48: 42: 41: 33: 32: 24: 23: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 938: 927: 924: 922: 919: 917: 914: 913: 911: 896: 893: 891: 890:Prosodic unit 888: 886: 883: 881: 878: 876: 873: 871: 868: 866: 865:Pitch contour 863: 860: 857: 856: 854: 852: 848: 842: 839: 837: 834: 832: 829: 827: 824: 823: 821: 819: 815: 809: 806: 804: 801: 799: 796: 795: 793: 791: 787: 781: 778: 776: 773: 771: 770:Floating tone 768: 766: 763: 761: 758: 756: 753: 751: 748: 746: 743: 741: 738: 736: 733: 732: 730: 728: 724: 718: 715: 713: 712:Metrical foot 710: 708: 705: 703: 700: 699: 697: 695: 691: 682: 677: 675: 670: 668: 663: 662: 659: 650: 645: 641: 636: 626:on 2015-12-13 622: 615: 614: 608: 604: 600: 596: 592: 588: 584: 577: 572: 568: 564: 560: 554: 550: 546: 541: 537: 532: 525: 518: 517: 511: 501:on 2012-03-13 497: 493: 489: 485: 481: 477: 473: 466: 461: 460: 449:, p. 87. 448: 443: 436: 431: 424: 419: 412: 407: 400: 395: 388: 383: 376: 371: 364: 359: 352: 347: 343: 333: 330: 329: 319: 316: 311: 310: 307: 304: 299: 298: 295: 288: 285: 280: 279: 276: 273: 268: 267: 264: 262: 258: 254: 250: 249:floating tone 241: 239: 231: 223: 219: 214: 212: 208: 204: 200: 198: 196: 193:berries, and 192: 188: 184: 180: 174: 172: 168: 164: 160: 156: 150: 146: 142: 141: 136: 131: 129: 125: 121: 113: 101: 97: 95: 91: 78: 71: 65: 58: 53: 49: 47: 43: 34: 25: 20: 836:Vowel length 749: 740:Pitch accent 735:Tone contour 648: 639: 628:. Retrieved 621:the original 612: 589:(1): 29โ€“60. 586: 582: 548: 535: 524:the original 515: 503:. Retrieved 496:the original 475: 471: 456:Bibliography 447:Welmers 1974 442: 435:Welmers 1974 430: 418: 411:Connell 2001 406: 394: 382: 370: 358: 346: 317: 305: 293: 286: 274: 242: 215: 206: 202: 201: 194: 190: 186: 182: 178: 176: 170: 166: 162: 158: 154: 152: 144: 138: 134: 132: 119: 118: 106:and ⟨ 88: 67:ꜜ 870:Pitch reset 780:Tone letter 775:Tone sandhi 478:: 255โ€“309. 222:superscript 910:Categories 859:Intonation 831:Gemination 630:2015-10-17 505:2015-10-17 375:Myers 1996 339:References 197:bleberries 169:ler in mag 165:zer was a 145:catathesis 46:IPA Number 921:Phonology 916:Phonetics 760:Downdrift 603:126264216 567:963605080 287:the river 240:release. 189:berries, 185:berries, 181:berries, 177:I bought 140:downdrift 62:(decimal) 885:Loudness 826:Chroneme 750:Downstep 745:Register 702:Syllable 547:(2017). 492:62734066 351:Yip 2002 326:See also 313:/bรก๊œœtษ›ฬ/ 232:⟨ 149:Chichewa 120:Downstep 104:/ / 100:Help:IPA 73:Unicode 55:Encoding 22:Downstep 861:(pitch) 851:Prosody 301:/bรกtษ›ฬ/ 253:Bambara 92:in the 60:Entity 880:Rhythm 875:Stress 818:Length 808:Accent 790:Stress 755:Upstep 694:Timing 601:  565:  555:  490:  332:Upstep 157:lly be 108:  79:U+A71C 895:Pausa 624:(PDF) 617:(PDF) 599:S2CID 579:(PDF) 527:(PDF) 520:(PDF) 499:(PDF) 488:S2CID 468:(PDF) 275:river 220:is a 205:, or 175:, or 159:lieve 96:(IPA) 75:(hex) 727:Tone 707:Mora 649:Tone 563:OCLC 553:ISBN 282:/bรข/ 270:/bรก/ 257:Mali 211:Igbo 195:bram 187:rasp 179:blue 173:sium 128:tone 591:doi 480:doi 191:mul 183:bay 167:dea 161:Ebe 155:rea 143:or 50:517 912:: 597:. 587:25 585:. 581:. 561:. 486:. 474:. 470:. 199:. 171:ne 163:ne 153:I 137:, 38:๊œโ—Œ 29:๊œœโ—Œ 680:e 673:t 666:v 633:. 605:. 593:: 569:. 508:. 482:: 476:3 425:. 413:. 377:. 245:๊œœ 234:๊œ 226:๊œœ 114:.

Index

IPA Number
phonetic transcriptions
International Phonetic Alphabet
Help:IPA
IPA ยง Brackets and transcription delimiters
tone languages
tone
downdrift
Chichewa
Igbo
International Phonetic Alphabet
superscript
exclamation mark
alveolar click
floating tone
Bambara
Mali
definite article
Upstep
Yip 2002
Beckman & Pierrehumbert 1986
Myers 1996
Pierrehumbert 1980
Beckman & Pierrehumbert 1986
Connell 2001
Downing & Rialland 2017
Welmers 1974
Welmers 1974
"Intonational Structure in English and Japanese"
doi

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