DEFINITIONS

tonic accent

noun

prominence given to a syllable in speaking, usually due to a change, especially a rise, in pitch.

Content related to tonic accent

What Makes Accents Appealing?What makes certain accents sexy and others harsh? “The RINE in SPINE fawls MINELY on tha PLINE!” In the song “The Rain in Spain” from the musical My Fair Lady, phonetics professor Henry Higgins (‘enry ‘iggins) pleads with Eliza Doolittle to say “Ay not I, O not Ow.” By the end of the song Eliza’s “AY-ing” and “O-ing” and pronouncing all her H’s. The guttersnipe is …
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What Does It Mean To Be “Fluent” In A Language?We have all heard how differently people in London, New York, or Baton Rouge speak English, but are those different speakers still fluent in English? Where does accent stop and fluency begin?
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Words nearby tonic accent

tonguing, tonguing-and-grooving plane, tongzhou, toni, tonic, tonic accent, tonic contraction, tonic convulsion, tonic epilepsy, tonic pupil, tonic sol-fa

Origin of tonic accent

First recorded in 1865–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for tonic accent

tonic accent

noun

emphasis imparted to a note by virtue of its having a higher pitch, rather than greater stress or long duration relative to other notes
another term for pitch accent
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012