MUSIC + SPEECH
It's like playing a Bach prelude in a transposed key; mathematically it's merely a matter of ratio, but different chords strike different emotions in us; similarly, different pitch denotes different meanings in several languages. In English, serious, joking or sarcastic tones can be crucial for comprehension. In Chinese, tonation, as a foundation of meaning, is indespensible.
In Indoeuropean languages, firstly, the pitch indicates how we are related to what we are saying. You can make it clear that you're just kidding if you speak in a sarcastic tone by dropping your voice or using swooping lilts in pitch. Speaking in the news has a different sound than someone talking to a good friend, and usually you can tell the difference even in a language you don't speak. Think how silly all of these situations would sound if they used the same varied, vibrant tonation as is used for example in an abnoxious commercial whose only goal is to get your attention.
Let's say every sentence is a song. Everyone knows regardless of language if a song is sad or up-beat. Speech is similar: it can be an angry song with loud, heavy words, which then slows to soft legato whipsering and staccatto tears. But every language entails a different system of meaning and metaphor within its sounds, tones, tempo and dynamics.
In Indoeuropean languages, firstly, the pitch indicates how we are related to what we are saying. You can make it clear that you're just kidding if you speak in a sarcastic tone by dropping your voice or using swooping lilts in pitch. Speaking in the news has a different sound than someone talking to a good friend, and usually you can tell the difference even in a language you don't speak. Think how silly all of these situations would sound if they used the same varied, vibrant tonation as is used for example in an abnoxious commercial whose only goal is to get your attention.
Let's say every sentence is a song. Everyone knows regardless of language if a song is sad or up-beat. Speech is similar: it can be an angry song with loud, heavy words, which then slows to soft legato whipsering and staccatto tears. But every language entails a different system of meaning and metaphor within its sounds, tones, tempo and dynamics.