Editing Chewa language (section)

===Tones===
{{Main|Chichewa tones}}
Like most other Bantu languages, Chewa is a [[tone (linguistics)|tonal]] language; that is to say, the pitch of the syllables (high or low) plays an important role in it. Tone is used in various ways in the language. First of all, each word has its own tonal pattern, for example:<ref>Mtanthauziramawu wa Chinyanja (2002).</ref>
*{{lang|ny|munthu}} {{IPA|[mu.ⁿtʰu]}} 'person' (Low, Low)
*{{lang|ny|gal'''ú'''}} {{IPA|[ɡă.𝼈ú]}} 'dog' (Rising, Mid)
*{{lang|ny|mb'''ú'''zi}} {{IPA|[ᵐbû.zi]}} 'goat' (Falling, Low)
*{{lang|ny|ch'''í'''manga}} {{IPA|[t͡ʃí.ma.ᵑɡa]}} 'maize' (High, Low, Low)

Usually there is only one high tone in a word (generally on one of the last three syllables), or none. However, in compound words there can be more than one high tone, for example:
*{{lang|ny|ch'''á'''kúdy'''á'''}} {{IPA|[t͡ʃá.kú.ɗʲá]}} 'food' (High, High, High; derived from {{lang|ny|chá}} + {{lang|ny|kudyá}}, 'a thing of eating')

A second important use of tone is in the verb. Each tense of the verb has its own characteristic tonal pattern (negative tenses usually have a different pattern from positive ones).<ref>Mtenje (1986), pp.195; 203–4; 244ff; Mtenje (1987), p.173.</ref> For example, the present habitual has high tones on the initial syllable and the penultimate, the other syllables being low:
*{{lang|ny|nd'''í'''-ma-thand'''í'''za}} 'I (usually) help'

The recent past continuous and present continuous, on the other hand, have a tone on the third syllable:
*{{lang|ny|ndi-ma-th'''á'''ndiza}} 'I was helping'
*{{lang|ny|ndi-ku-th'''á'''ndiza}} 'I am helping'

Tones can also indicate whether a verb is being used in a [[independent clause|main clause]] or in a [[dependent clause]] such as a relative clause:<ref name="Stevick et al. 1965, p.147">Stevick et al. (1965), p.147.</ref><ref>Mchombo (2004), pp.17–18.</ref>
*{{lang|ny|sabatá yatha}} 'the week has ended'
*{{lang|ny|sabatá y'''á'''tha}} 'the week which has ended (i.e. last week)'

A third use of tones in Chewa is to show phrasing and sentence [[Intonation (linguistics)|intonation]]. For example, immediately before a pause in the middle of a sentence the speaker's voice tends to rise up; this rise is referred to as a [[boundary tone]].<ref>Kanerva (1990), p.147.</ref> Other intonational tones are sometimes heard, for example a rising or falling tone at the end of a yes-no question.<ref>Hullquist (1988), p.145.</ref><ref>Downing & Mtenje (2017), p. 263.</ref>