adj
Meaning 1
Of or relating to tones or tonality.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
tonal
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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General-American: /ˈtoʊnəl/
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtəʊnəl/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -əʊnəl
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CMU ARPABET: T OW1 N AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Of or relating to the general character, mood, or trend of something.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Employing tones that have a predictable relationship to some tonic.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Employing differences in pitch (tones) to distinguish differences in the meaning of otherwise similar words (words which would otherwise be homophonic).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
An animal companion which accompanies a person from birth to death.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
Meaning 6
having tonality; i.e. tones and chords organized in relation to one tone such as a keynote or tonic
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: atonal
adjective
Meaning 7
employing variations in pitch to distinguish meanings of otherwise similar words
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- Chinese is a tonal language
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: tonic
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From tone + -al.
From Nahuatl tōnalli (“day, day sign”).
Across languages
Translations
22 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: тонален (tonalen) — of or relating to tones or tonality
- Catalan: tonal — of or relating to tones or tonality
- Dutch: tonaal — of or relating to tones or tonality
- Finnish: tonaalinen — of or relating to tones or tonality
- French: tonal — of or relating to tones or tonality
- German: tonal — of or relating to tones or tonality
- Irish: tonúil — of or relating to tones or tonality
- Italian: tonale — of or relating to tones or tonality
- Portuguese: tonal — of or relating to tones or tonality
- Romanian: tonal — of or relating to tones or tonality
- Russian: тона́льный (tonálʹnyj) — of or relating to tones or tonality
- Russian: то́новый (tónovyj) — of or relating to tones or tonality
- Spanish: tonal — of or relating to tones or tonality
- Finnish: tonaalinen — employing tones that have a predictable relationship to some tonic
- German: tonal — employing tones that have a predictable relationship to some tonic
- Irish: tonúil — employing tones that have a predictable relationship to some tonic
- Spanish: tonal — employing tones that have a predictable relationship to some tonic
- Finnish: tonaalinen — employing differences in pitch to distinguish differences in meaning
- German: tonal — employing differences in pitch to distinguish differences in meaning
- Irish: tonúil — employing differences in pitch to distinguish differences in meaning
- Italian: tonale — employing differences in pitch to distinguish differences in meaning
- Romanian: tonal — employing differences in pitch to distinguish differences in meaning
Real reading context