声せい調ちょう言げん語ご

noun

tone language; tonal language

Linguistic term for a language where pitch or tone distinguishes word meaning, such as Chinese or Thai.

• 中ちゅう国ごく語ごは声せい調ちょう言げん語ごの一ひとつです。

  Chinese is one of the tone languages.

• 声せい調ちょう言げん語ごでは、同おなじ音おん節せつでも声せい調ちょうが違ちがうと意い味みが変かわります。

  In a tonal language, even the same syllable can have different meanings depending on the tone.