I could be wrong here, but it seems to me that a common aspect amongst all languages is the tendency to raise the pitch of your voice slightly when asking a question. Especially at the end of a question sentence.

If I’m wrong about this raised pitch being common amongst all languages, at the very least do all languages change their tone slightly to indicate that a question is being asked?

I guess there needs to be some way to indicate what is and isn’t a question. Perhaps a higher pitched voice reflects uncertainty. Is this something deep rooted in humans, or just an arbitrary choice when language developed?

  • Nibodhika@lemmy.world
    0·
    2 months ago

    Switching the emphasis on one word can completely change the meaning of a phrase, there’s one example I love: “I never said she stole his money”

    • I never said she stole his money (someone else did)
    • I never said she stole his money (absolutely not true)
    • I never said she stole his money (I wrote it down)
    • I never said she stole his money (it was someone else)
    • I never said she stole his money (she might have just borrowed it)
    • I never said she stole his money (it was someone else’s)
    • I never said she stole his money (she stole something else)