Which term covers properties like pitch, loudness, tempo, and rhythm in language?

Which term covers properties like pitch, loudness, tempo, and rhythm in language?

• A. Phonotactics
• B. Prosody
• C. Polysemy
• D. Utterance

Answer: (B)

Prosody refers to the melody and timing of speech—the aspects that go beyond the individual sounds themselves. Pitch, loudness, tempo, and rhythm are all prosodic features. They carry meaning and emotion: a rising pitch at the end of a sentence can indicate a question; higher volume and faster tempo can show excitement or urgency; rhythm and stress patterns help emphasize parts of a sentence and signal its structure. Other terms don’t capture this bundle of vocal expression: phonotactics is about which sound sequences are allowed in a language; polysemy concerns words with multiple related meanings; an utterance is simply a spoken (or written) statement, not a description of how it sounds.

Prosody refers to the melody and timing of speech—the aspects that go beyond the individual sounds themselves. Pitch, loudness, tempo, and rhythm are all prosodic features. They carry meaning and emotion: a rising pitch at the end of a sentence can indicate a question; higher volume and faster tempo can show excitement or urgency; rhythm and stress patterns help emphasize parts of a sentence and signal its structure. Other terms don’t capture this bundle of vocal expression: phonotactics is about which sound sequences are allowed in a language; polysemy concerns words with multiple related meanings; an utterance is simply a spoken (or written) statement, not a description of how it sounds.