upstep
upstep noun: an upward shift of tone between the syllables or words of a tonal language.
Noun
upstep (plural upsteps)
- An upward shift of tone between the syllables or words of a tonal language.
- Such an upstep appears in only a few constructions, and it is conceivable on the basis of the limited evidence cited that it should be attributed to an intonational pattern having a status different from that of downstep, which occurs more commonly in the language. […] After an upstep, following...1974, William E. Welmers, African Language Structures, Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press, →ISBN, page 90
Verb
upstep (third-person singular simple present upsteps, present participle upstepping, simple past and past participle upstepped)
- To apply an upward shift of tone between the syllables or words of a tonal language.
- Thomas (1974:25) considers, but rejects, an analysis very similar to the present proposal […] on the grounds that an analysis that simply upsteps a high-toned TBU before a low tone (one component) is simpler than one that requires the three components just stated.1999, Keith Snider, “Tonal 'Upstep' in Engenni”, in Journal of West African Languages, volume 27, number 1, page 14
upstep meaning in Tamil
upstep in Tamil
- உயர்படி முறை
Forms of upstep
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | upsteps |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | upsteps |
| present participle | upstepping |
| past participle | upstepped |
| past | upstepped |
Origin of upstep
From up- + step.
Questions about upstep
- What does upstep mean?
- Upstep means an upward shift of tone between the syllables or words of a tonal language.
- What is upstep in Tamil?
- Upstep in Tamil is உயர்படி முறை. See Upstep meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is upstep?
- Upstep can be a noun or a verb.
- What is the plural of upstep?
- The plural of upstep is upsteps.
Words near upstep in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: upstep (page history and authors); upstep (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “upstep.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/upstep. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.