I could be wrong here, but it seems to me that a common aspect amongst all languages is the tendency to raise the pitch of your voice slightly when asking a question. Especially at the end of a question sentence.

If I’m wrong about this raised pitch being common amongst all languages, at the very least do all languages change their tone slightly to indicate that a question is being asked?

I guess there needs to be some way to indicate what is and isn’t a question. Perhaps a higher pitched voice reflects uncertainty. Is this something deep rooted in humans, or just an arbitrary choice when language developed?

  • Deconceptualist@lemm.eeEnglish
    7·
    3 hours ago

    That’s just emphasis. You can tell because you can shift it to another word.

    • What’s your name? (more pointed)
    • How old are you? (as if it’s now suddenly of concern)
    • Where are you from? (maybe the person has an unusual accent)
    • Where are you from? (more pointed)
    • How old is your daughter? (shifting from discussing someone else’s daughter)
    • Botzo@lemmy.world
      2·
      2 hours ago

      I wonder if it’s more because we frame the question by altering the structure to indicate the appropriate response.

      We could just as well ask “you are from where?” Or “your name is what?” That matches the expected sentence structure of a response, and the natural pitch rises.