A prosodic essence conjecture

This chapter begins with the difficulties underlying the distinction between tone and stress languages given how they are defined along “lexical pitch” differences. Phonetically, both stress and tone employ length, intensity, and pitch, although most research seems to have focused on the pitch dimension of tone. Associated phonological properties between stress and tone also overlap. This chapter takes the counterintuitive approach of collapsing both tone and stress, envisioning a two-parameter system [PITCH] and [CONTOUR] to reimagine our understanding of prosody. The pairing of these parameters yields a four-way typology, offering a fresh perspective on how their prosodies might be understood. Thus, this chapter offers a possible unified approach to the prosody of tone and stress languages.