What is the difference between pitch and inflection?

Answer 1

ENGLISH LANGUAGE SPEAKING

The pitch is the level of the sound frequency at which the word(s) are spoken. Speaking at a higher pitch conveys excitement, even nervousness perhaps, whereas lower pitches convey calmness and can indicate confidence and certainty.

An inflection is a change in the pitch. For example, an upward inflection is common at the end of a question e.g. You might ask a friend who is visiting you: "Hungry?"

Different inflections convey different meanings. Saying "Really?" with a downward inflection at the end implies doubt and suspicion, but with an upward inflection it conveys surprise and interest.

Consider the many ways you could say 'Really'. e.g. bored, or very surprised, or with deep sympathy, etc. the various meanings being communicated just by appropriate inflection.

Inflections are used throughout speech. Without inflection all words will sound inhuman, mechanical and flat, and true meaning will be absent.

POWER, PACE, PITCH and INFLECTION

Test Yourself: How could you start to tell this story:

• "Once upon a time, there were three bears!"

Notice the natural change in pitch and inflectionwhen you say 'a time' in that sentence, and how you increased your power(volume) when you said bears!

And doubtless you could make it even more exciting, simply by just varying the power, the pace, the pitch and the inflections!

Yet, in some quarters--specifically in English Grammar--"inflection" is defined as the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, mood, voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case..which, admittedly, can be confusing.

Consistent with the definition on this page...As a dialectician, I will add that different dialects within a given language-e.g., Irish, Standard American and Texan, will feature different pronunciation, word choice, inflection patterns, emphasis, rhythm and varying syntax (the characteristic way sentences are assembled).