Yes? No? The Importance of Tones in The Language
“To be or not to be, that is the question” (Shakespeare).
It is hard to understand the emotion of Hamlet from just reading only the words. However, if one reads this line with a tone, and watches the movie casts by actors, and listens to the way the actor says it, it is easier to understand the strong and complex feeling that Hamlet is expressing. Therefore, the tone that is being used in a language plays an essential role in communication and understanding the language.
A tone is the use of pitch to distinguish vocabulary and grammatical meaning. In many languages, there are different tones to help people to understand the meaning of the words. In Chinese, there are four tones: first, second, third, and fourth. Each word in Chinese may sound the same, but they can have different meanings with different tones. For example, a word pronounced “tian” can represent different meaning by using different tones. If the word is pronounced in the first tone, it could mean “sky.” If the word is pronounced in the second tone, it could mean “sweet.” If a Chinese talk monotonic, it will be difficult to understand the idea and meaning the speaker tries to convey. Different tones used in the same words can represent different meanings, and it applies to all word usages in Chinese and other languages as well.
Tones also help people to facilitate daily conversations. “Yes” or “no,” probably the simplest way one can express his/her feelings in any languages whether it is a simple expression or complex feelings, is playing a big role in our daily life. They are used and expressed to make little decisions in life such as refusing to accept your essay grade or making important decisions such as passing a law in the government. However, these two words can be interpreted into different meanings depending on the tone of the speaker. For example, one asks, “We don’t have to do this assignment right?” The other person may answer, “No.” This answer can have different meanings, which are, “no, we don’t have to do it,” and “no, we have to do it.” If this question was asked to a Chinese person, he/she might answer, “Yes.” Same as the interpretation of using no, “yes” in this context can have two meanings. People are more likely to misunderstand the meaning without further clarification from the speaker. These two words have no definite ways on how to use them in any culture and country. Words as simple as “yes” and “no” can even cause misinterpretation because each person uses it differently. Without a tone, the meaning of these two words can be easily misunderstood and ambiguous in many languages without clarification.
Language can be a barrier to communication because the forms of characters and sentence structures are different. However, tones act as a bridge to communication in different languages because of the stress of words of speakers to convey their idea compare to just merely words on paper. Words have different connotations and meanings in different contexts, but the tone of the language is universal. These tones make a language more vivid and more comfortable for people to communicate and understand. Without the tone of the speaker, it is easy to cause misunderstanding and confusion, and the language loses its vitality. It is even possible for people to use only simple words to respond in a conversation because people can interpret the feeling, some sophisticated thoughts, and emotions through the tones of those simple words. This can be a reason why people learn a language faster verbally than just reading from books and writing on paper. Although language is different, the tone is similar, and the tones in language are the bridge that connects different languages. So, do you not understand my thoughts?
