Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Jul 14, 2006 08:09
17 yrs ago
French term
polytonie
French to English
Social Sciences
Linguistics
This denotes the feature in languages such as Chinese or (purportedly) Ancient Greek whereby vowels have a certain pitch that determines the meaning of the word.
I would think it's called polytony in English, but while the adjective polytonic is quite common in the context of the Ancient Greek alphabet, I haven't found 'polytony' in any dictionary or on the web, so I'm wondering if a different term is used.
Also see "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_(linguistics)"
I would think it's called polytony in English, but while the adjective polytonic is quite common in the context of the Ancient Greek alphabet, I haven't found 'polytony' in any dictionary or on the web, so I'm wondering if a different term is used.
Also see "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_(linguistics)"
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +9 | tone |
Angela Dickson (X)
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| 4 +2 | polytonicity |
Nick Lingris
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| 5 -1 | polythony |
BelkisDV
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| 3 +1 | My two bobs' worth.... |
Richard Benham
|
Proposed translations
+9
1 hr
Selected
tone
It's just called 'tone' - the feature of language that enables differences in pitch to carry meaning. French has 'polytonie' but, like it or not, English doesn't have a word that makes explicit the idea that there are many tones. The Wikipedia article that you cite contains what you need to know.
'polythony' doesn't exist as far as I am aware.
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Note added at 2 hrs (2006-07-14 10:54:24 GMT)
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this is the Wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_(linguistics)
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Note added at 2 hrs (2006-07-14 10:55:28 GMT)
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This is the current standard textbook on the subject:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521774454/103-7995005-7669...
'polythony' doesn't exist as far as I am aware.
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Note added at 2 hrs (2006-07-14 10:54:24 GMT)
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this is the Wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_(linguistics)
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2006-07-14 10:55:28 GMT)
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This is the current standard textbook on the subject:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521774454/103-7995005-7669...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
-1
8 mins
polythony
Ok this is it.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Assimina Vavoula
47 mins
|
| disagree |
awilliams
: Do you have any references?//100% confidence and "OK this is it" with no refs ("polythony" doesn't seem to even exist anyway) is hugely misleading
2 hrs
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| disagree |
Richard Benham
: Incorrect spelling and bad word.
5 hrs
|
+1
5 hrs
Richard Benham
France
France
Native in English
Specializes in field
France
When quality counts
Native in: English 
Works in: German to English, French to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
4
My two bobs' worth....
I don't have a lot to add here. Vicky has informed us about the polytonic accent system in Greek, and how it was replaced by the monotonic system (officially, at least), reflecting the fact the modern-day Greek is non-tonal. Angela has suggested the word "tone".
I have often read that Chinese is a "tonal language", or actually several. The same goes for quite a few other languages, mostly in Asia. Whether I would want to call (ancient) Greek "tonal" is another matter. The accents were changed (in both positon and quality) according to set rules, and I am not aware of any case where changing from one tone to another would change the meaning, rather than just making the sentence wrong. (I am sure some smart bugger could construct a sentence where the *position* of the accent could change the word division and create a new meaning, but I am talking about the *type* of accent: acute, grave or circumflex.) So I don't think the tones were a significative feature in ancient Greek, as they are in many modern Asian languages.
To sum up: I think the polytonic accent in Greek and the tones of modern Asian languages are separate concepts in English, and rightly so.
I have often read that Chinese is a "tonal language", or actually several. The same goes for quite a few other languages, mostly in Asia. Whether I would want to call (ancient) Greek "tonal" is another matter. The accents were changed (in both positon and quality) according to set rules, and I am not aware of any case where changing from one tone to another would change the meaning, rather than just making the sentence wrong. (I am sure some smart bugger could construct a sentence where the *position* of the accent could change the word division and create a new meaning, but I am talking about the *type* of accent: acute, grave or circumflex.) So I don't think the tones were a significative feature in ancient Greek, as they are in many modern Asian languages.
To sum up: I think the polytonic accent in Greek and the tones of modern Asian languages are separate concepts in English, and rightly so.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Angela Dickson (X)
: here, have an 'agree' - the asker wanted the English word for what in French is (apparently) called 'polytonie' - whether ancient Greek used tone in this way is another matter.//indeed you are right - despite protests, English has no such word.
13 mins
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Thanks Angela. True, but s/he seems to think "polytony" covers both cases, and I don't think there's any word that does in English.
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+2
5 hrs
Nick Lingris
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The word is my oyster
Native in: Greek
Works in: English to Greek, Greek to English, Greek
polytonicity
I believe this is the only appropriate noun to form from polytonic.
It is not, however, widely used.
See:
http://www.google.com/search?q=polytonicity&num=100&hl=en&lr...
http://www-csli.stanford.edu/Archive/calendar/1989-90/msg000...
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Note added at 6 hrs (2006-07-14 14:30:23 GMT)
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Polytonie is Jakobson’s term and polytonicity is the only noun that can be used in this respect, in a phrase such as ‘the polytonicity of a language’.
Jakobson’s main example was the ‘Polytonie’ (tonal contrasts) of the ‘Baltic Sprachbund’ (see Schaller, 1975: 53; Koptjevskaja-Tamm, 2002: 210).
http://www.deastore.com/pdf/palgrave_april_2006/1403996571.p...
PHONOLOGY WORKSHOP
Polytonicity
University of Tromso, Norway
Polytonic languages, according to Jakobson (1931) (TCLP 4), have different tone sequences assigned to morae in stressed syllables. It is usually assumed that such a distinction is present in the lexicon in languages with polytonic stress (tonal accent), such as Scandinavian or Serbo-Croatian, but not in monotonic languages, such as English.
....
In this talk, I will present an alternative analysis of Scandinavian
polytonicity
...
An attempt will also be made to extend the analysis to other languages with lexical tone specifications, such as Chinese.
http://www-csli.stanford.edu/Archive/calendar/1989-90/msg000...
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Note added at 13 hrs (2006-07-14 21:50:02 GMT)
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On tonal language and tonality:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonal_language
On langue à tons (ou « langue tonale ») and tonalité:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langue_à_tons
It is not, however, widely used.
See:
http://www.google.com/search?q=polytonicity&num=100&hl=en&lr...
http://www-csli.stanford.edu/Archive/calendar/1989-90/msg000...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2006-07-14 14:30:23 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Polytonie is Jakobson’s term and polytonicity is the only noun that can be used in this respect, in a phrase such as ‘the polytonicity of a language’.
Jakobson’s main example was the ‘Polytonie’ (tonal contrasts) of the ‘Baltic Sprachbund’ (see Schaller, 1975: 53; Koptjevskaja-Tamm, 2002: 210).
http://www.deastore.com/pdf/palgrave_april_2006/1403996571.p...
PHONOLOGY WORKSHOP
Polytonicity
University of Tromso, Norway
Polytonic languages, according to Jakobson (1931) (TCLP 4), have different tone sequences assigned to morae in stressed syllables. It is usually assumed that such a distinction is present in the lexicon in languages with polytonic stress (tonal accent), such as Scandinavian or Serbo-Croatian, but not in monotonic languages, such as English.
....
In this talk, I will present an alternative analysis of Scandinavian
polytonicity
...
An attempt will also be made to extend the analysis to other languages with lexical tone specifications, such as Chinese.
http://www-csli.stanford.edu/Archive/calendar/1989-90/msg000...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 hrs (2006-07-14 21:50:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
On tonal language and tonality:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonal_language
On langue à tons (ou « langue tonale ») and tonalité:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langue_à_tons
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Angela Dickson (X)
: Nice word! It is not suitable for general linguistics, though - only the very specific application to Greek, as Richard tries to outline above.//Jakobson was a long time ago, and the current term is as in the textbook by Moira Yip to which I link above.
3 mins
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Polytonie, too, is an old term. If the current term were required, shouldn't we be looking at tonalité / tonality?
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| agree |
Vicky Papaprodromou
16 mins
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Thanks!
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| agree |
Elena Petelos
: Jacobson's term, and although tone/tone lang. is on every txtbk (e.g.: C. Ling.: O'Grady et al), I think any other rend. would be risky. Also, Polytonicity, ie the exist. of tonal suprasegmental oppositions in a language: http://tinyurl.com/zvwnh
7 hrs
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Thank you! Excellent link.
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