tonal
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
- Rhymes: -əʊnəl
Etymology 1 [edit]
Adjective [edit]
tonal (comparative more tonal, superlative most tonal)
- Of or relating to tones or tonality.
- (music) Employing tones that have a predictable relationship to some tonic.
- (linguistics) Employing differences in pitch (tones) to distinguish differences in the meaning of otherwise similar words (words which would otherwise be homophonic).
Antonyms [edit]
Related terms [edit]
Etymology 2 [edit]
From Nahuatl tōnalli (“day, day sign”)
Alternative forms [edit]
Noun [edit]
tonal (plural tonals)
- (in Mesoamerican mythology) An animal companion which accompanies a person from birth to death.
- 1989, Robert Bartley Taylor, Indians of Middle America: an introduction to the ethnology of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, page 122:
- When a tonal suffers misfortune or death, the same thing happens to the person associated with it.
- 1989, Robert Bartley Taylor, Indians of Middle America: an introduction to the ethnology of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, page 122:
