Definition

1. Noun:
   • Tone / Intonation: The particular quality, feeling, or attitude conveyed by the way someone speaks, which can change the meaning or implication of the words. It is the emotional or attitudinal "color" of speech.
   • Manner of speaking: The overall style or mode of expression in speech, including pitch, stress, and rhythm, which indicates the speaker's intent (e.g., serious, sarcastic, questioning, gentle).

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Anh ấy nói với ngữ khí rất tức giận. (He spoke with a very angry tone.)
  • Bạn nên chú ý đến ngữ khí khi đặt câu hỏi. (You should pay attention to your intonation when asking a question.)
  • Ngữ khí của cô ấy nghe có vẻ mỉa mai. (Her tone of voice sounded sarcastic.)

Advanced Usage

• "ngữ khí từ": In linguistics, this can refer to "modal particles" or words that express the speaker's attitude or mood without changing the core propositional meaning of a sentence.
  • Các từ như "nhé", "đấy" thường được dùng như ngữ khí từ trong tiếng Việt. (Words like "nhé", "đấy" are often used as modal particles in Vietnamese.)

Variants and Related Words

• Giọng điệu (n): tone, manner of speaking. Often used interchangeably with "ngữ khí," though "giọng điệu" can also refer to literary or writing style.

  • Đừng dùng giọng điệu đó với tôi. (Don't use that tone with me.)

• Âm điệu (n): melody, intonation, cadence. Focuses more on the musical or rhythmic pattern of speech.

  • Âm điệu của bài thơ rất hay. (The intonation of the poem is very beautiful.)

Synonyms

• Tone: the general character or attitude of speech or writing.
• Intonation: the rise and fall of the voice in speaking.
• Manner of speaking: one's characteristic style of speech.

Related Concepts

• Sarcasm: the use of irony to mock or convey contempt, often heavily reliant on a specific ngữ khí.

  • Nếu không nghe ngữ khí, bạn sẽ không nhận ra câu nói đầy châm biếm đó. (If you don't listen to the tone, you won't recognize that highly sarcastic remark.)

• Pragmatics: the branch of linguistics dealing with language in use and the contexts that influence meaning, where ngữ khí is a crucial element.

  • Ngữ khí là một phần quan trọng trong nghiên cứu ngữ dụng học. (Tone is an important part of pragmatics research.)

1. Tone, intonation