tonology

Noun

tonology (countable and uncountable, plural tonologies)

1. (uncountable) The study of tone in human languages.
   • In practice, the deciphering of complex verbal tonology is done in reverse: to arrive at the lexical and morphological tones, one typically has to factor out the postlexical tone rules. Since nominal tonology is usually more transparent, it can be used as a guide to unravel the tonology of verbs.2004, Larry M. Hyman, Knut J. Olawsky, “Dagbani Verb Tonology”, in Chege Githiora, Heather Littlefield, Victor Manfredi, editors, Kinyĩra Njĩra! – Step Firmly on the Pathway (Trends in African...
2. (countable) The system of rules governing tones in a particular language.
   • Anomalies such as those found in the comparative tonology of these three language divisions indicate antecedent morphological or morphosyntactic features that would otherwise have gone unnoticed by the historical analyst.1987, Alfons Weidert, “Introductory Remarks”, in Tibeto-Burman Tonology: A Comparative Account (Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science. Series IV, Current Issues in...
   • This thesis represents a beginning rather than an ending. Specifically, it is an attempt to explore the tonology of Venda (more correctly, Tshiveṉdá), a Bantu language spoken in the Zoutpansberg district of the Northern Transvaal in South Africa as well as in parts of Zimbabwe.1992, Farida Cassimjee, “Introduction”, in Jorge Hankamer, editor, An Autosegmental Analysis of Venda Tonology (Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics), New York, N.Y.; London: Garland Publishing...