Question:

Which of the following statement/s is/are TRUE about tones in Indian languages?

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Lexical tone is a rare feature in major Indian language families except for certain Tibeto-Burman and Eastern Indo-Aryan languages.
Updated On: Apr 26, 2025
  • All Tibeto-Burman languages in India are tonal
  • All Austroasiatic languages in India are tonal
  • All Dravidian languages in India are non-tonal
  • All Indo-Aryan languages in India are non-tonal
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The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Understand tone in Indian languages.
Tone is the use of pitch to distinguish word meaning.

Step 2: Evaluate the options.

(A) False — Not all Tibeto-Burman languages in India are tonal; some like Meitei may have limited tone use or pitch accent.
(B) False — While some Austroasiatic languages are tonal, not all are consistently so in India.
(C) True — Dravidian languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam do not use lexical tone.
(D) False — Some Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, like Dogri and Punjabi, have tonal features.
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