Understanding Tone Contours

Tone contours describe how pitch moves across a syllable. Some tones rise, some fall, others dip or remain level. In tonal languages, these contours can change word meaning entirely.

You can model contours in the ToneBox using:

• Single tones: 5 (level high)
• Compound tones: 214 (low → dip → mid)
• Split tones: 21'45 (dipping + rising)

The apostrophe ' marks a break — it may represent a glottal stop or tonal 'split' like Vietnamese ngã or Chinese entering tones.

Experiment with:

• 33 → flat tone
• 241 → contour dip and fall
• 323 → bouncing tone (common in expressive speech)

Pay attention to how your throat and voice feel when mimicking each shape — that muscle feedback is part of your memory system.