Intonationally

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a manner relating to the patterns of pitch and tone in spoken language that contribute to meaning and emotion
2. Expressing or involving the modulation of voice pitch and rhythm to convey linguistic or expressive nuances
3. Characterized by the use or study of vocal inflections that shape the melodic contour in speech communication

Etymology: "Intonationally" is a plain formation: the adjective "intonational" with the adverbial suffix "-ly" attached. The adjective in turn is "intonation" with "-al" added. "Intonation" comes from the Latin "intonare," meaning to thunder or to sound forth, built from "in-" and "tonare," to thunder. The idea of sounding out pitch, as in singing or chanting, is what carried into English. The adjective "-al" traces back through Old French and Latin "-ālis" to a root meaning something like "of the kind of," a suffix that has been attached to countless nouns over the centuries. The final "-ly" comes from Old English "-līċe," which was related to the word "like" in its sense of "having the form of." So the adverb is, at its base, a description of doing something in a way that has the shape or form of the pitch-based sounds of speech.

Synonyms: melodically, tonally, prosodically, inflectionally, expressively

Antonyms: monotonously, flatly, unexpressively