Downstep (phonetics)
Encyclopedia
In phonetics
, downstep is a phonemic
or phonetic downward shift of tone
between the syllables or words of a tonal language. It is best known in the tonal languages of West Africa, but the pitch accent
of Japanese
(a non-tonal language) is quite similar to downstep in Africa. Downstep contrasts with the much rarer upstep. The symbol for downstep in the International Phonetic Alphabet
is a superscript down arrow, ꜜ (↓). It is common to see a superscript exclamation mark, ꜝ (!), used instead due to typographic constraints.
Phonetic downstep may occur between sequences of the same phonemic tone. For example, when two mid tones occur together in Twi, the second is at a lower pitch than the first. Thus downstep plays a vital role in downdrift
and tone terracing
.
Phonemic downstep may occur when a low tone is elided
, or occurs as a floating tone
, and leaves a following tone at a lower level than it would otherwise be. An example occurs in Bambara
. In this language, the definite article
is a floating low tone. With a noun in isolation, it docks to the preceding vowel, turning a high tone into a falling tone:
However, when it occurs between two high tones, it downsteps the following tone:
Japanese pitch accent
is similar. About 80% of Japanese words have an evenly rising pitch, something like French, which carries over onto following unstressed grammatical particles. However, a word may have a drop in pitch between mora
e, or before the grammatical particle. An example is
In isolation like this, the first word has a high-low pitch, whereas the second and third are homonyms with a low-high pitch. (The first syllable is only low when the word is said in isolation.) However, all three are distinct when followed by the so-called "subject" particle ga:
Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory...
, downstep is a phonemic
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
or phonetic downward shift of tone
Tone (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...
between the syllables or words of a tonal language. It is best known in the tonal languages of West Africa, but the pitch accent
Pitch accent
Pitch accent is a linguistic term of convenience for a variety of restricted tone systems that use variations in pitch to give prominence to a syllable or mora within a word. The placement of this tone or the way it is realized can give different meanings to otherwise similar words...
of Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
(a non-tonal language) is quite similar to downstep in Africa. Downstep contrasts with the much rarer upstep. The symbol for downstep in the International Phonetic Alphabet
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...
is a superscript down arrow, ꜜ (↓). It is common to see a superscript exclamation mark, ꜝ (!), used instead due to typographic constraints.
Phonetic downstep may occur between sequences of the same phonemic tone. For example, when two mid tones occur together in Twi, the second is at a lower pitch than the first. Thus downstep plays a vital role in downdrift
Downdrift
In phonetics, downdrift is the cumulative lowering of pitch over time due to interactions among tones, called downstep, in a tonal language. It is distinct from the general lowering of the pitch during prosodic contours of a tonal or non-tonal language....
and tone terracing
Tone terracing
Tone terracing is a type of phonetic downdrift, where the high or mid tones, but not the low tone, shift downward in pitch after certain other tones...
.
Phonemic downstep may occur when a low tone is elided
Elision
Elision is the omission of one or more sounds in a word or phrase, producing a result that is easier for the speaker to pronounce...
, or occurs as a floating tone
Floating tone
A floating tone is a morpheme or element of a morpheme that contains no consonants, no vowels, but only tone. It cannot be pronounced by itself, but affects the tones of neighboring morphemes....
, and leaves a following tone at a lower level than it would otherwise be. An example occurs in Bambara
Bambara language
Bambara, more correctly known as Bamanankan , its designation in the language itself , is a language spoken in Mali by as many as six million people...
. In this language, the definite article
Definite Article
Definite Article is the title of British comedian Eddie Izzard's 1996 performance released on VHS. It was recorded on different nights at the Shaftesbury Theatre...
is a floating low tone. With a noun in isolation, it docks to the preceding vowel, turning a high tone into a falling tone:
| /bá/ | river |
| /bâ/ | the river |
However, when it occurs between two high tones, it downsteps the following tone:
| /bá tɛ́/ | it's not a river |
| /bá ꜜ tɛ́/ | it's not the river |
Japanese pitch accent
Japanese pitch accent
Japanese pitch accent is a feature of the Japanese language which distinguishes words in most Japanese dialects, though the nature and location of the accent for a given word may vary between dialects...
is similar. About 80% of Japanese words have an evenly rising pitch, something like French, which carries over onto following unstressed grammatical particles. However, a word may have a drop in pitch between mora
Mora (linguistics)
Mora is a unit in phonology that determines syllable weight, which in some languages determines stress or timing. As with many technical linguistic terms, the definition of a mora varies. Perhaps the most succinct working definition was provided by the American linguist James D...
e, or before the grammatical particle. An example is
| /kaꜜki/ | [kákì] | oyster |
| /kakiꜜ/ | [kàkí] | fence |
| /kaki/ | [kàkí] | persimmon |
In isolation like this, the first word has a high-low pitch, whereas the second and third are homonyms with a low-high pitch. (The first syllable is only low when the word is said in isolation.) However, all three are distinct when followed by the so-called "subject" particle ga:
| /kaꜜkiɡa/ | [kákìɡà] | oyster |
| /kakiꜜɡa/ | [kàkíɡà] | fence |
| /kakiɡa/ | [kàkīɡá] | persimmon |