Universal #696
Legacy number: 696
| Number | 693 |
| Original | The two intonation shapes that are found everywhere are fall and rise, with their targets, low and high. The meanings are as uniform as the shapes: falls for ‘being through’, rises for ‘not being through’. Spreading from each is a net of metaphor. ‘Not being through’ is akin to ‘being aroused’, and since we are most aroused by what is most important, a high pitch becomes the normal sign of importance. |
| Standardized | The two intonation shapes that are found everywhere are fall and rise, with their targets, low and high. The meanings are as uniform as the shapes: falls for ‘being through’, rises for ‘not being through’. Spreading from each is a net of metaphor. ‘Not being through’ is akin to ‘being aroused’, and since we are most aroused by what is most important, a high pitch becomes the normal sign of importance. |
| Keywords | intonation |
| Domain | phonology, semantics |
| Type | unconditional |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | absolute |
| Basis | languages mentioned in Bolinger 1978 |
| Source | Bolinger 1978, cited in Holenstein 1985: 133 |
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