Tonal Meaning
/ˈtoʊnəl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjOf or relating to tones or tonality.
adjOf or relating to the general character, mood, or trend of something.
Sentence Examples
Chinese is a tonal language.
Dogri is a tonal language, which makes it rare among Indo-European languages.
How do you learn a tonal language like Chinese?
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The music had a very distinct ____ quality that made it sound melancholic.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The composer used a unique ____ structure to create a very modern and interesting sound in his recent musical piece today.
Word Origin & History
From tone + -al.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Songs for the family-table on Sabbaths and holidays—songs which give those various holy days tonal expression and which aim to spiritualize the meals."
— 1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 358:
"The lurid way the story played out felt like a tonal shift for Empire, but not necessarily a bad one—in the process of shedding its cool costume-drama attitude for grotesque family dysfunction, the episode felt for once less like a story about Prohibition and more one about a specific set of people."
— 2011 December 5, James Poniewozik, “Boardwalk Empire Watch: Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?”, in Time:
"When a tonal suffers misfortune or death, the same thing happens to the person associated with it."
— 1989, Robert Bartley Taylor, Indians of Middle America: an introduction to the ethnology of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, page 122:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The music had a very distinct ____ quality that made it sound melancholic.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The composer used a unique ____ structure to create a very modern and interesting sound in his recent musical piece today.