Why tonal languages can be tricky

Tonal languages are hard for westerners not because we lack tones in the West, but because tones carry extra-semantic meaning. Superimposing this extra-semantic meaning where it isn't needed is disinformative but deeply ingrained in the way we speak.

Tones suggest to other English speakers that we asking a questions, being sarcastic, begging, and more. You can say the same sentence in several ways, and some parts of what you're varying are tones. So it's not that we don't hear tones, it's that we don't recognize tones as having to do with distinguishing one syllable from another but deciding whether someone is happy, upset, or confused. In English, tones are melodies. In Chinese, they're verses.

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