Linguistic Focus
Tone:
Unlike, Pashto or Urdu, Torwali is a Tonal Language. This means that pitch plays a significant role in distinguishing lexical meaning within the language. In some cases, pitch is the only acoustic element that distinguishes one word from another.
Torwali Tones:
Based on the research of Lunsford using PRAAT and Speech Analyzer, Torwali has four contrastive tone patterns: High (H), Low (L), Rising (LH) and Falling (HL).
Written Example of Tone:
The word [ʐatʰ] has four different meanings only distinguishable by their various tones.
[ʐatʰ] produced with the Falling Tone (HL) means Morning.
[ʐatʰ] produced with the Rising Tone (LH) means Night.
[ʐatʰ] produced with the High Tone means Blood (singular) - as in one drop.
[ʐatʰ] produced with the Low Tone means Blood (plural) - as in a pool of blood.
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